The 37th Leipziger Jazztage - our jazz festival - begins on September 27! From September 27 to October 6, we will be taking a look at Richard Wagner with a musical wink. The occasion is the 200th anniversary of Wagner's birth and the 20th anniversary of Frank Zappa's death, whose parodic treatment of Wagner was the starting point for the program design. 

Thus, the greatest hero of German late Romanticism, Siegfried from the Song of the Nibelungs, is not pitted against a dragon here, but against the yellow shark from Zappa's last album "The Yellow Shark". The audience at the Leipzig Opera House will find out how this battle turns out when the young Berlin-based Andromeda Mega Express Orchestra premieres a commissioned work on the theme.
In the fortieth year of its existence, the Jazzclub Leipzig (as organizer of the Jazztage) thus continues to show itself free of blinkers. This is also demonstrated by the project initiated by the Jazzclub at the Monument to the Battle of the Nations: the Leipzig music experimentalist Thomas Hertel will stage a "theatrical procession with mouth and knee" between rock and jazz, electronics and new music, theater and dance.
If Wagner and Zappa were each neutöners of their time, the Leipzig Jazz Days traditionally present the neutöners of contemporary jazz in addition to their theme. This year, the audience can expect great concerts with star saxophonist Joshua Redman from the USA, modern jazz icon Carla Bley, Norwegian pianist Bugge Wesseltoft together with house DJ Henrik Schwarz and bassist Dan Berglund - and many more (see below).
Many thanks to all sponsors, supporters and partners, especially the Cultural Office of the City of Leipzig, the Cultural Foundation of the Free State of Saxony, the Civic Foundation Leipzig and the premium partners BMW Leipzig Branch and Köstritzer Schwarzbierbrauerei. We would also like to thank Sparkasse Leipzig for sponsoring the "Jazz for Children" event (Oct. 5, 11 a.m. Opera House).