From the midst of the magnificent mountain world of the Steinernes Meer, Saalfelden calls Europe's devotees of innovative jazz experiences to the summery Saalachtal. Under this year's guiding theme of "Transformation," the festival traces the emergence of unpredictable sound images from sounds of nature, everyday human life and hectic traffic flows. In 31 concerts with a focus on Scandinavia, contemporary sounds can be heard on urban stages and rustic alpine huts, as well as for the first time at the Hermitage, the last inhabited European erimitage.
Highlights include saxophonist Émile Parisien in the new trio Dadada, Miller's Tale from New York's downtown scene with pianist Sylvie Courvoisier, violinist Mark Feldman and Evan Parker on saxophone, the minimalist trio The Neck from Australia, US saxophonist Steve Lehman with power-packed jazz-hip-hop hybrid, Suomi's kantele-accompanied voice Sinikka Langeland and trumpeter Arve Henriksen with the mystical ECM album Magical Forest, bass clarinetist Michael Riessler and his Jazz, Funk and Blues avant-garde combining German-Italian Charles Mingus project "Kryptografie", Brian Marsella's piano trio with the version of John Zorn's "Book of Angels" released on Tzadik, Mats Gustafsson's NU Ensemble in the border area to Rock, Eve Risser's White Desert Orchestra with electronic soundscapes from Paris, Japan's artistic Sax Ruins in breathless rhythmically intricate punk style, Austria's saxophone hero Wolfgang Puschnig in new string quartet formation "Songs with Strings", ...