Indulgent melodies, the thickets of sound of free improvisation: Once again, the Leipzig Jazz Days take us to the groovy rhythm of modern jazz. We draw extensively on the power and energy of the music to embark on a journey of discovery through the genre over eight festival days.

A first highlight was an evening at UT Connewitz with the duo Pino Palladino & Blake Mills, who combined delicate guitar melodies with virtuoso bass lines. Both musicians bring a variety of influences with them over their long careers: Palladino has played with Fiona Apple and John Legend, Mills with The Who and Eros Ramazotti. The predominantly young audience had traveled from far and wide to the completely sold-out venue to attend the only two concerts in Germany. With Sam Gendel (saxophone) and Chris Dave (drums), the duo had two other celebrated musicians at their side. The band thanked them with an artificial sound that proved to be just as subtly groovy and indulgent as on their last album "That Wasn't a Dream".

The premiere of the almost 60-minute documentary "Being Hipp - First lady of European Jazz" at Passage Kinos was not only worth hearing, but also worth seeing. The film by Leipzig director Anna Schmidt contains tape recordings and interviews with enthusiastic contemporary witnesses. The documentary condenses the life of Leipzig-born Jutta Hipp, a pianist of the world, who taught herself jazz and was absorbed by the creative frenzy of New York. The film also sheds light on the darker sides, the doubts and worries that accompanied her as one of the few female instrumentalists at the time.

Almost at the same time, a number of music enthusiasts gathered at the KUB gallery in the south of Leipzig to watch an international trio perform. Leipzig's Damian Dalla Torre started his musical dream journey in the white cube, which glows with gradual color changes. Singer Laura Zöschg fueled these waves by noisily crackling, whimpering or piercingly hooting. It became completely overwhelming when Delphine Joussein's flute playing dissolved into powerful noise with the help of effect devices - powerful!

After the acclaimed performances by Patricia Brennan and the duo SHABAKA & Nduduzu Makhathini at the Schaubühne Lindenfels yesterday, the exploration tour now continues - in line with this year's festival motto "Mapping Music" - through the landscapes of contemporary jazz. Special sights of the coming days: Today, Tuesday, the two untamed duos "Agua Dulce" and "Witch'n'Monk" will rage towards noise and punk at the Schaubühne Lindenfels. The following day, Serbian singer Jelena Kuljić and a brilliant ensemble of international musicians, including Olga Reznichenko (keyboard instruments) and Christian Lillinger (drums), will bring "Fundamental Interactions" to the UT Connewitz. Exciting: the concert laboratories in which improvisations and musical experiments bubble. We can listen to the first lab technicians from a group led by Markus Rom, electric guitar and sound robot, on October 16 at 6 pm in the KUB gallery.

Whether bumpy and challenging, catchy and groovy - this musical journey is a rewarding one. You are not alone in this venture, but always part of an appreciative, open community of jazz listeners in Leipzig.

Claudia Helmert