Let's talk about jazz... and fearlessness
The clarinettist Rolf Kühn, who died in 2022, presents himself as "Fearless" on his new and last album of the same name, which was recently released. The twelve songs on it by the Leipzig-born musician not only provide us once again with graceful music, but also and first and foremost with an important piece of advice: Be fearless - come what may!
Of course, this is easier said than done in a world that is once again upside down and in which the US Vice President's first official act is to publicly declare that he sees freedom of expression in Europe under threat. At the same time, when the richest man in the world, in his new role as presidential advisor, repeatedly raises his right arm to give his small-minded, frenetically cheering audience a good shout-out, only to say shortly afterwards that the whole thing has nothing to do with Hitler, it becomes clear that the current US political caste - along with its intellectual relatives around the globe - has its very own understanding of humor.
But for now, let's turn our attention to other important things that are currently on the agenda - which, fortunately, brings us from Musk to music. There's plenty of that again in March. Because anyone who has mastered the basics of live music knows that springtime is tour time. Wait a minute: what does the traditionally gloomy March with its lack of sunshine have to do with springtime, some critical readers may ask - and not entirely without reason. And yet: in calendar terms, the first third of March marks the end of winter.
But before I digress, here are the most important things in a nutshell: Two Jazzclub Live concerts are on the program this month. With the Berlin indie band Der Elegante Rest, this time it's less jazzy, but all the more elegant. They will be accompanied by the all the more jazzy Eduard Neufeld Quintet. There will also be a new edition of our Flashback series in March: The Swingin' Bluebirds will take us back to the early big band sound of the Roaring Twenties at Kulturhof Gohlis. And Leipzig's number one keyboard master, Michael Wollny, will also be back on stage on the 18th of the month after his acclaimed performance at the 48th Leipzig Jazz Days - this time together with his trio at the Gewandhaus.
We also have some important news to announce at this point: Starting this month, we will be presenting an "Album of the Month" in every Jazzkalender. Our primary focus will be on works from the local scene. You can find out whose work we have chosen as our debut in this issue on the following pages.
Finally, we would like to take this opportunity to look beyond March, which also links back to the initial topic: in April, there will be a total of three theater performances at Lindenauer Markt about the fearless Edelweiss Pirates, directed by the frontman of the Golden Lemons - Schorsch Kamerun. During the Third Reich, the opposition youths preferred to listen to jazz rather than raise their right arm. In doing so, they sometimes put their own lives in danger, but also infuriated the Nazi bigwigs. It's high time to pick up where they left off!
See you soon,
Luca
Jazzkalender-Editorial office
