Pat Metheny, Antonio Sanchez, Linda Oh, Gwilym Simcock, Egberto Gismonti, Maria João, Dominic Miller, Gilad Hekselman, Jakob Bro, Tobias Hoffmann, Double Trouble, Electro Deluxe, Shai Maestro Trio feat. Mark Turner and many more. - from October 12 to 21, 2017 at the 41st Leipziger Jazztage

In the 41st edition of the Leipziger Jazztage, we present a program of nearly 30 concerts from October 12 to 21, 2017, revolving around the versatile guitar sound in contemporary jazz. Pat Metheny, Egberto Gismonti (with Maria João), Dominic Miller, Gilad Hekselman, Jakob Bro, Tobias Hoffmann, Double Trouble and others will perform at 10 venues ranging from trendy clubs to the opera house - and Electro Deluxe and the Shai Maestro Trio feat. Mark Turner will also be there.
In 2017, one year after the big festival anniversary, we present a program around that instrument that has shaped our current understanding of contemporary and popular music like no other: the guitar.
Within the festival, there is traditionally a "Jazz for Children" concert, the "Jazzelectric Night" as well as the presentation of the Leipzig Young Jazz Award and the BMW Welt Young Artist Jazz Award with prize-winner concerts.
From the beginnings of jazz in the late 19th century to the advent of rock fifty years later, music was headed for a 'guitar explosion', as recognized by the English Melody Maker in the 1960s, when within a few years the guitar dominated everything: B. B. King and Elvis, The Beatles and The Doors, Wes Montgomery and Jimi Hendrix - blues, rock'n'roll, jazz and pop all hung on six strings. In jazz, the guitar has come a long way, from the banjo of Africa to the electrically amplified and alienated 'riff board'. Many of the great jazz guitarists have been guests at the Leipzig Jazz Days over the last 40 years: Bill Frisell, John Scofield, Wayne Krantz, Nguyên Lê, Marc Ribot and many more, some several times. But never before have the different styles and techniques of jazz guitar been presented in such a wide range within just one festival.