Jazzfest Bonn 2025 at Kreuzkirche

This year’s Jazzfest Bonn, which started out in early May, is at the beginning of its third block with two acts playing at the inner city Kreuzkirche last night. The venue participated for the first time. And even though it is always difficult to stage concerts in churches, both shows came across pretty well. Starting off the evening was a new project by Swiss drummer Florian Arbenz who gathered together a band which was playing for the first time. Saxophonist Greg Osby, who has played with Florian several times over the years (there is an album from 2001 called “New Connexion” with both of them playing with Michael Arbenz and Tibor Elekes, recorded live in Basel), was part of the group as well as Arno Krijger on hammond organ and British vocalist Immy Churchill. Coming right out of the Norma Winstone class, Immy was both part of the group using her voice as a play-along instrument as well as shining bright on various solo spots, especially with two pieces by American composer Charles Ives, who was totally ignored during his lifetime.

Greg Osby made several statements on his sax, accenting the free-flowing compositions with short solos, staying away from overindulgence and pathos, but rather carefully moving the music forward, setting little accents, sometimes veering toward little pointillistic spots. On his own composition “Truth” (which he recorded for his 2008 album “9 Levels”), he stretched out a bit more with some entangled notes thrown in which he then managed to put together again to make the piece a proper entity. There were a few moments when the sound of the Hammond organ almost collapsed in the vast spaces of the church, but Arno managed to keep it in tow. His solos, also kept to a minimum to save the structure of the compositions, were adept and flawless, sometimes even soothing and caressing. The heart of it all, the swing and swagger and the keeper of the groove, was Florian on drums. His compositions and his playing conjured wide open spaces, came across almost airy. The final Gershwin classic “I Loves You Porgy” came as a bit of a surprise then but in the end, it somehow fitted the overall unperturbed vibe of the set.

The second act of the evening was a pretty outstanding and very very special one. The female acapella vocal group PJEV from Zagreb preserves traditional music from the Balkan countries. They were joined by Hayden Chisholm on sax and various other instruments, and Kit Downes on the mighty church organ. Conceived by Hayden, they played a sold-out show at the Cologne Jazz Week back in 2021 which was recorded for a 2023 release. The way Kit played the organ (finished in 1956, boasting with 64 registers), was simply astounding. There were hints of sci-fi movie and TV series scores from the 60s, there were some parts going back to romanticism and renaissance, and then some really massive and stunning moments when the whole church was filled with the fat organ sounds. Complementing the four vocalists, he managed to underscore the intricate, yet highly harmonious singing of PJEV in sometimes moderate vibrancy, at other times explosive bursts. There were tiny little mischievous notes which added some fun to the proceedings too.

Hayden was mostly playing the sax leading this project, called Medna Roso, by giving them room and establishing the overall vibe of the evening. During one piece, he wandered through the church, adding some colors and textures on the sax and in the softened vocal parts, simply breathing with his mouthpiece. A true sound artist who also played the Shruti box, an Indian instrument comparable to a harmonium. And he also briefly showcased his throat singing. But the stars of the show were PJEV. With their repeating patterns in all of their traditional songs, they managed to create a feeling of meditation, sometimes almost veering towards hypnosis. An almost otherworldly experience. Their group sound is astonishingly crystalline with a deeply healing and soothing quality. And yet they were all strong enough to keep pace with the voluminous organ. Even though I didn’t understand the language, they were able to send a comforting sense of unity right through into your soul. Some songs wore a pretty mysterious hat, like the brooding “Od kad seke nismo zapjevale”, where organ and vocals were in staggering harmony. And with “Lički ojkan”, the whole set had its rousing, almost festive and highly entertaining finale.