It’s that time of year again. Starting November 3rd, over 150 musicians gather again for the 59th edition of Jazzfest Berlin. Five locations will host the guests for four days. Included in the lineup are Craig Taborn, Matana Roberts, Tomeka Reid, Hamid Drake, and Kris Davis, among others. We’ll also get Immanuel Wilkins, Isaiah Collier,…
The full programme for this year’s Jazzfest Berlin will be announced in September, but artistic director Richard Williams gave away most of the artists participating in the 2016 edition earlier this week. A total of 16 jazz bands will perform and five duo collaborations, some of which will play together for the first time. A lot…
Pianist and composer Achim Kaufmann is the recipient of this year’s Albert Mangelsdorff Award which was given to him during a little ceremony at this year’s Jazzfest Berlin on Friday afternoon. The pianist, who has studied at the Banff Centre for the Arts in Canada, visited Gina’s place a couple of months ago for a little interview….
The 24-piece Splitter Orchester opened this year’s Jazzfest Berlin last night before a sold-out audience. The 45-minute piece “Creative Construction Set” was written by trombonist George Lewis and featured a strange, if somewhat entertaining mélange of several electronics and prepared field recordings with more traditional instruments like clarinet and violin, but played in alienated fashion, uncharacteristically,…
It is going to be the first edition for Richard Williams, the new artistic director for the prestigious festival for the next three years. Like he says in the welcome notes, he wanted to present performers “…who have one thing in common: the desire to move forward.” So we’re moving again to the Haus der…
I went to the Haus der Berliner Festspiele on Friday. New artistic director Richard Williams talked to the press and the public about his first edition. But before he did, pianist Julia Kadel performed three outstanding solo pieces. The young German musician who was born in Berlin, released her first Blue Note Records album “Im…
Earlier today, I went to the press conference for this year’s Jazzfest Berlin which is the first one with Richard Williams as artistic director. Richard attended the first Berlin Festival back in 1969 and has written for Melody Maker, the Times, and Time Out and has also written several biographies. So as it turned out,…
Bert Noglik, the artistic director for the Berlin Jazzfest, now in his third year, loves irritations, as he said last night during the press conference where the anniversary edition was presented. And so, there actually are a lot of irritating moments, at least on paper, but I’m sure on stage as well, when you look…
One of the most prestigious and popular festivals in Germany, the Jazzfest Berlin, is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. Martin Luther King’s visit to Berlin in 1964 and the fall of the Berlin Wall will be topics among this year’s program. „Freedom Songs“ is the title of a specially designed evening which will feature…