Noise baths and flute splashes, slippery globes and bass cathedrals. A short review of seven of eight festival evenings at the 49th Leipzig Jazz Days.

In the past, people had to deal with the Stasi; in the 21st century, the old-timers criticize the poster design. The city may have become more orderly and expensive, but Leipzig is never boring. In the 49th edition of the Jazztage, the organizers want to locate the "topographies of the most diverse soundscapes of contemporary jazz". Sounds abstract, but will actually be approachable.

Charm instead of shame

For example, when Laura Robles and Alejandra Cárdenas perform together. A duo with guitar and cajon was announced, but what sounds like a pedestrian zone nuisance actually immediately immerses the 150-year-old hall of the Schaubühne Lindenfels in a foaming bath of noise. Agua Dulce combine traditional Peruvian rhythms with twisted effects, analog synthesizers and distorted guitars with archaic drumming. A beguiling synthesis, danceable and trippy in equal measure. The charismatic Berliner-by-choice Robles tells stories of horses and devils, prompting shouts of "Diablo" and cheers from the audience. Thanks to her charm, there is hardly any shame in joining in.

Photo: Simon Chmel

Is this still the beach in Lima or the Berghain canteen? Nobody knows, maps become irrelevant at Agua Dulce. Borders anyway. 

The day before at the same location. The concert by Shabaka Hutchings and Nduduzo Makhathini is similarly difficult to categorize topographically. The Englishman and the South African have played together several times, but never publicly as a duo. This world premiere now brings together two internationally acclaimed, deeply spiritual men who, on this October evening, will be devoting themselves neither to dance nor hard bop-inspired music, as is familiar from both of them. Instead, the two let an almost two-hour improv set - what could be the right verb? - ripple along.

Shabaka can hardly be heard on the familiar saxophone, but on various wooden flutes, digitally playing bird sounds and rainforest atmospheres. Things get more interesting when "Britain's hottest jazz star" (The Guardian) produces a hint of rhythm with a mbira - otherwise this concert has neither structure nor tension. Even the otherwise stylistically confident Makhathini is not above singing in a vocoder-distorted voice as if he were with Daft Punk. After 90 tough minutes, the pianist plays a South African classic and the concert seems to be on the home straight - that's when Shabaka grabs the next flute and the reviewer flees.

Photo: Simon Chmel

Abstract noise

Stefan Ibrahim is responsible for the very literal mapping.

The designer has been giving the Jazztage a clear visual identity since 2019. If the murmurings in the hallway are to be believed, his poster design is too straightforward for some festival veterans. But Leipzig would be poorer without him. Ibrahim gives a lecture on "Measuring the Foreign", a short, highly entertaining history of cultural appropriation with music videos from Elvis to Madonna. Highlight: Michael Jackson's multicultural dance clip "Black or White" - "cringe" is the word today.

Ibrahim's logo this year, a melting globe, is reminiscent of the early days of environmental activism in the 1980s, but its slipperiness almost causes physical discomfort - stimulating design at its best.

Another premiere at the Jazz Days: the Völkerschlachtdenkmal is putting the destructive power of humanity on the map as a venue. Exactly 212 years after almost 100,000 died in the course of the war of liberation against Napoleon, a Norwegian noise guitarist will be performing at the site of the carnage in the south of Leipzig. Stian Westerhus always wears black and sounds like it. So it fits in with this 90-metre-high monument, which, admittedly, will make the jaws of anyone interested in architecture and fantasy drop, somewhere between a pharaoh's tomb, Nazi temple and Lord of the Rings cathedral.

Photo: Lukas Diller

Would Westerhus' somewhat lengthy set, between abstract noise and Radiohead-related art-pop, have had a similarly intense effect away from the monument's massive crypt? Long notes, distortion, bass thunderstorms with ten-second reverberations; only after a quarter of an hour does the electric guitar sound like one. "I long for your touch", Westerhus pleads in his head voice. It is certainly impressive, also thanks to the video projections by Frieder Weiss.

Slipperiness and noise

The 49th Leipziger Jazztage comes to an end with another unique event: the only German concert by the Bobo Stenson Trio. Even more than in previous years, the festival has sparked debates, placed the traditional alongside the avant-garde and old jazz cats next to up-and-coming talents (brilliant: the exciting post-rock of the Sheen Trio around bass clarinettist Shabnam Parvaresh). The 50th edition will be a must-see for all those who like to be surprised in the evening. Even if it's from glitchiness and noise.

Jan Paersch