Let's talk about jazz... and blooming soundscapes
Music is movement - through time and space, through bodies and cultures. And it is boundless. It is not for nothing that the English term " soundscapes" is commonly used. And as with all other diverse landscapes, this also applies here: Their continued existence is symbolized in the blossom. If this basic insight is resisted, if it is sealed off from its environment and acoustic walls and barbed wire are erected, it withers away.
The new program "Fundamental Interactions" by Serbian jazz singer Jelena Kuljić also ties in with this insight. In it, she combines elements of jazz, electronics, avant-garde and poetry and implicitly deconstructs borders of a geographical nature through this form of musical cosmopolitanism. At the same time, she is celebrating the 30th anniversary of the end of the Bosnian war this year. On October 15, she will present the program live on stage - as part of the 49th Leipziger Jazztage.
Fittingly, this year's festival motto will be "Mapping Music". And although we are currently still working on finalizing the line-up, we are delighted to be able to release a few more acts into the public eye alongside Kuljić. For example, South African pianist Nduduzo Makhathini will be teaming up with Caribbean jazz musician Shabaka Hutchings to prove that he undoubtedly deserved the award in the "Live Act of the Year International" category at this year's German Jazz Awards.
His predecessor in this category in 2024 was an American colleague, namely saxophonist Immanuel Wilkins, who can now undoubtedly be counted among the most renowned representatives of the contemporary jazz scene internationally. And guess what? He will also be gracing this year's Jazz Days with a concert. As will the Estonian musician Kirke Karja, whose concert we will also be combining with a panel on the European security architecture and the question of what consequences can be derived from this for the European cultural scene.
But despite all the justified anticipation, all this is still one thing above all: dreams of the future. So let's turn our attention to September - which, after the traditional summer concert lull, once again has a wealth of highly recommended live dates in store. You can find out which ones on the following pages. As always, you will also find our "album of the month" there. This time, for once, it doesn't have a local connection, but it didn't end up in this issue by chance...
With this in mind, we wish you: Happy browsing, leafing and blooming!
See you soon,
Luca
Jazzkalender-Editorial office
