The editorial of 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: what positive energy, what pure joy is always created in jazz when the most diverse cultural traditions meet and flow into innovation. These days, more than ever, we wish that this ideal would also resonate throughout society. Across languages and borders, musicians enter into dialogues that carry them away just as much as the audience.
This month, a number of bands will also be stirring: from the Evgeny Ring Quartet, which presents its second album for the first time (Feb. 4), to the Swiss trio Things To Sounds, the Leipzig quartet MEAN and the Iraqi-Israeli jazz singer Efrat Alony, to Friedhelm Schönfeld, who is one of the greats of the jazz avant-garde in the GDR and is now coming to Leipzig with his current quartet (Feb. 19). The colleagues from Conne Island, on the other hand, don't want to get you carried away at all, but rather lull you to sleep on February 27.
You can already make a note of (or secure in the VVK) the following highlights: Flo Kästner & Frank Möbus (8.3.), Nils Wogram's Nostalgia (29.3.) and the Wolfgang Muthspiel Trio with Larry Grenadier and Jorge Rossy (14.5.).
That there is still a lot in our quiver was said here last month. And that was no exaggeration: For the first time we bring the internationally highly esteemed label Denovali to Leipzig. The independent label for dark jazz, ambient and drone from Bochum organizes its own festivals in Essen, Berlin and London - and this time is the focus of our annual MusikZeit. And it will be a double premiere, because also for the first time our small festival will be concentrated on one single day (17.5.) - with four acts on the UT stage: Piano Interrupted and Poppy Ackroyd from the UK are already confirmed.
And from October 1 to 10, the 39th Leipziger Jazztage will take place, with - whoops - we didn't want to reveal everything yet...
Lots of jazz and see you soon,
your Jazzkalender editorial staff