The editorial from the February issue:
LET’S
TALK
ABOUT
JAZZ,
BABY
When we dedicated last year’s Jazz Days to the “Sound of Heimat,” we wanted to show one thing above all else: the positive energy and pure joy that jazz consistently generates when diverse cultural traditions come together and flow into innovation. Now more than ever, we hope that this ideal will resonate throughout society. Transcending languages and borders, musicians engage in dialogues that captivate them just as much as they do the audience.
Several bands are also set to captivate audiences this month: from the Evgeny Ring Quartet, which will premiere its second album (Feb. 4), to the Swiss trio Things To Sounds, the Leipzig quartet MEAN, and the Iraqi-Israeli jazz singer Efrat Alony, all the way to Friedhelm Schönfeld, who ranks among the greats of the jazz avant-garde in the GDR and is now coming to Leipzig with his current quartet (Feb. 19). In contrast, the folks at Conne Island aim not to get the crowd fired up at all on February 27, but rather to lull them to sleep.
You can already mark your calendars (or secure advance tickets) for the following highlights: Flo Kästner & Frank Möbus (March 8), Nils Wogram’s Nostalgia (March 29), and the Wolfgang Muthspiel Trio with Larry Grenadier and Jorge Rossy (May 14)
As we mentioned here last month, we still have plenty up our sleeves. And that was no exaggeration: For the first time, we’re bringing the internationally acclaimed label Denovali to Leipzig. The Bochum-based independent label for dark jazz, ambient, and drone music hosts its own festivals in Essen, Berlin, and London—and this time, it’s the focus of our annual “ MusikZeit.” And this makes it a double premiere, because for the first time, our little festival is concentrated into a single day (May 17)—with four acts on the UT stage: Piano Interrupted and Poppy Ackroyd from the UK are already confirmed.
And from October 1 through 10, the 39th “ Leipziger Jazztage ” will take place, featuring—among others—oh, wait—we didn’t want to give everything away just yet…
Lots of jazz and see you soon,
your Jazzkalender editorial team
