The make-up of the orchestral ensemble was intriguing: 4 violins, 2 violas on one side of the quartet, with woodwind, brass, harp and an additional percussion on the other. This really allowed for a wide sonic variety, in how the different timbres of the instruments were overlaid. A potential muddiness of the sound was avoided by impeccable natural balance and work from the mixing desk.

Heinen’s indebtedness to the 20th century contemporary music tradition was shown by how four of the five movements were dedicated to four leading composers (Kurtag, Ligeti, Stockhausen and Bartok). Three, intriguingly, are of Hungarian heritage. Just Stockhausen is from the “purer” Western European tradition.

The first section, “Mr Vertigo”, was an original that had first appeared on his solo piano album, itself strongly influenced by two jazz piano greats, John Taylor and Fred Hersch. He was lucky that he had some particularly stand-out musicians with him. There was a haunting introduction with a beautifully articulated bowed bass solo by Andrea di Biase, leading into Heidi Vogel’s wordless vocals and soloing, playing off the rest of the orchestra, which had some quite busy interplay around. Followed by a concerto-like piano solo, with dynamic drums and percussion. In fact, one of several such solos throughout the whole work, which often seemed quite meditative.

Meanwhile, as special co-leaders of the string section, we heard Sascha Bota on viola and Alice Zawadzki. Both were able to marshal their different parts of the string section, but the ability to improvise in mind-blowing ways. Bota particularly, as he originally comes from Romania, had a certain East European flair in how his soloing developed.

The orchestra was made up of a mixture of jazz and classical students. This meant that quite a few musicians were able to solo, in addition to the members of The W, Alice Zawadzki and Sascha Bota. For example, we heard Otto Kampa on saxophone, Noah Ojumu on percussion and Olivia Hughes on euphonium. And there were also moments when Heinen brought the orchestra in behind the solos, to provide chordal stabs, rather like backing figures from a horn section. And furthermore, with a rhythm section as persuasive and propulsive as that of The W – Andrea di Biase and Gene Calderazzo – the music always kept a strong, life-affirming feeling of energised flow.

SET LIST
1 Mr. Vertigo
2 For Selim / For Kurtág
3 For Ligeti
4 For Bartók
5 For Stockhausen

PERSONNEL:
Bruno Heinen (Piano / Compositions)
Heidi Vogel (Voice)
Andrea Di Biase (Bass)
Gene Calderazzo (Drums)
Alice Zawadzki (Violin)
Sascha Bota (Viola)

Maddie Williams (Piccolo)
Poppy Helmer (Flute)
Lydia Brookes (Oboe)
Otto Kampa, Louis Sheridan-Wildi, Jake Phillips (Saxophone)
Olivia Hughes (Euphoniums)
Charlie Mellon (Trombone)
Lydia Kinowski-Don (Harp)
Alma Zupan, Robert Petik, Anna Ferrarese (Violins)
Lydia Elderfield (Viola)
Noah Ojumu (Percussion)

The post Bruno Heinen – ‘Out of Doors and Into Space’ first appeared on UK Jazz News.

The Annual Meeting in Paris of AJC (Association Jazz Croisé) includes two nights of performances. The organisation itself remains very active, both as a networking body on behalf of its 95 members (who include some from outside France, such as the Vortex!), and also as a lobbying group.

The daytime discussions covered the state of the live music sector and how the different organisations are adapting to the changing economic stringencies, as well as, on a practical note, how different collaborations evolve outside mainland France, such as with Réunion, the French département in the Indian Ocean.

JAZZ MIGRATION 10

The first night showed off the newest four groups of the Jazz Migration project, which are mentored, promoted and given performance opportunities over the course of the next two years. At this event, they perform to members, as well as other promoters from home and overseas, ahead of preparations and mentoring in this year, before gigging more next year. The gigs are also broadcast by French national radio, the first one live.

Bands for Jazz Migration are selected by the member organisations nominating, and then voting from, a shortlist.

Bands this year included NUBU, with a fascinating line up of trombone, flugabone (a sort of valve trombone looking like a flugelhorn), cello and drums, with Catherine Boxall on vocals and serpent. It overlapped a lot into medieval and also folk. The instrumentation gave it a mellowness, but allowed Boxall to soar above the band, sometimes sounding in her wordless vocalise rather like Norma Winstone. There was also a move into folk with a tune based around the kfolk ballad “Barbara Allen”.

Marsavril (MarchApril) was a more straightforward-seeming lineup of saxophone, guitar, bass and drums, though the sound they produced was more diverse. Saxophonist Matthieu Bellon doubled on keyboards to allow some extra ‘guts’ for the guitar Pierre Guimbail to explode. The bass and drums provided a strong foundation for Bellon and Guimbail, including some strong influences of hip hop and beyond, for this diverse sound world above, which included vocals from the band members which sounded a bit like a gentle horn section!

The trio Sėlēnę, from the island of Réunion, has as its crucial member Mélanie Badal on cello and voice, along with Blaise Cadenet on guitar and Mahesh Vingataredy on percussion. And she uses the cello beyond its purity. Effects of the guitar Blaise Cadenet give it an atmosphere which is heavenly. The cello as an instrument here in the UK has reached a great deal of crossover popularity with the likes of Abel Selacoe, merging classical, jazz and world music. Perhaps Sėlēnę has some of that potential?

I had previously heard [Na] at Jazzdor Strasbourg. The type of gig this time seemed to allow them to open up even more than there and they grabbed the audience.

JAZZ WITH

This is a new strand with international financial touring support from AJC, formalising something that had started at the meeting last year with bands such as Shadowlands. These are groups where there are collaborations of musicians from France and elsewhere. There were three selected from, initially, 100. They each had interesting concepts. All three tended to be quite thoughtful, repaying intenser concentration of the audience.

It was great to hear Steve Argüelles on drums, resident in Paris for 30 years, and whom I hadn’t heard for several years, in Weave 4 with his long standing collaborator Benoît Delbecq, along with two Italians, Federico Deodati on guitar and Copenhagen-domiciled Francesco Bigoni on clarinet and saxophone. As with the two Parisians, Deodati and Bigoni have played together for well over a decade. So it was a meeting of two sets of minds. A thought-provoking group, where they could take advantage of the sensitive melodiousness of the drumming and the diverse sound world conjured up by Delbecq, such that all the musicians indeed weave their sounds together to create an intense filigree experience.

“Cheel” is a group involving guitarist Paul Jarret – a much more collaborative, but also freer, lineup than I had heard him lead in Strasbourg. Two of the three members are from Germany: Max Andrzejewski on drums and Luise Volkmann on saxophones. Without a bass, the guitar glued it together to a great degree, and had a great freedom in how he joined in – bass lines, minimalistic lines. “Less is more.” The openness gave scope to both of the others too, to be heard quite clearly.

The third group, T.I.M, also had a strong acoustic element. Piano of Sébastien Palis with two Norwegians, Karoline Wallace on voice and electronics, and Inger Hannisdal on violin and Hardanger fiddle. It gave it an impact which was definitely folkier than the others. From where I was sitting, the piano came over very strongly, especially with elements of preparation, with the voice particularly sounding relatively ethereal. And there was a lot of composition, where the piano reflected the reading by the voice. But as one got used to the sound, it sucked one in to experience elements of detailed interaction.

Oliver Weindling was a guest of AJC

The post Les Rencontres AJC 2024 first appeared on UK Jazz News.

An eclectic three days at Porgy and Bess in Vienna, proving how it’s a venue really at the peak of the club scene in Europe, not frightened to extend to evenings of the new and avant garde as well as the most entertaining! But hardly surprising given the energy of the local scene, which I have been becoming more impressed by, since attending festivals this year such as Outreach in Schwaz, Südtirol/Alto Adige in Bolzano and Inntöne in Diersbach.

Kick Jazz – 5 December

Kick Jazz is an annual festival which has been running for ten years. Organised and supported through the Music Information Centre Austria it gives a chance to experience some of the new Austrian bands. I attended the second night.

It started with an intense improvised 40-minute set from nine musicians mainly from Catalonia, but also Sweden and Austria. Split into three overlapping trios moving smoothly from one to the next, it climaxed with all playing together. Similarly paced throughout, we were given a sensitive range of interaction timbre and instrumentation. It’s not often that one hears a lute and a vibraphone together!

The Valentin Duit Quartet, led by the eponymous Duit on drums, includes saxophone (a busy Robert Unterköfler), vibes and bass. The sound is energised and layered almost contrapuntally. One is able to appreciate each instrument separately, but they integrate well.

Unterköfler was back in the next band, Slowklang, more focused with perhaps a more Nordic feel. Generally mid tempo and verging on the spiritual, with Amina Bouroyen on vocals and Robin Gardermeier on 6 string bass and bass pedal organ, like one uses for a Hammond. This acted as a foundation to a broader use of his instrument, often virtuosic and often heavily effects laden. Particularly effective and moving was a Mal Waldron cover, “The Seagulls of Kristiansund”, which gave a real chance to show the group members’ individuality.

Final line up of the night was Schmack – totally different, as a groove-oriented contrast. A much more outgoing set with elements of punk and of rock blended into the jazz. I can imagine it at its best in a room where we could have been able to dance along.

Austrian Jazz Prize, 6 December

The following night we had the celebration of the first Austrian Jazz Prize for 15 years. It is especially interesting that they all come from the newer scene, with none being already known so much internationally, and had ‘beaten’ more established names such as Wolfgang Muthspiel, Blueblut (including ex-Londoner Mark Holub) and Saxofour, whom I heard the following night. But we were treated to three groups with a lot of thoughtfulness, sonic imagination and ability to grab our attention. So that justified the choices.

Live Band winner was Synesthetic 4, led by Vincent Pongracz. Based on his compositions, it has now been in existence for about a dozen years, so the members (Peter Rom on guitar, Manu Mayr on bass and Andy Lettner on drums) are well integrated and can show their personalities. Over the years, it has performed in many sizes from Synesthetic 2 (with Rom and Pongracz and which performed at the Vortex in 2019) to Synesthetic 8 (an octet). It’s great to hear how Pongracz can show off the versatility of the clarinet, with carefully chosen effects. It says a lot that legendary Hungarian clarinettist Lajos Dudas is giving him his own clarinet, so passing the ‘baton’ to the new generation and proving how he is making it a vital instrument in the current musical firmament. We heard a mesmerising set, ending with a couple of new videos, where they had been able to sync perfectly to the visuals, apparently through careful work by drummer Lettner.

E C H O Boomer, with writing by bassist Beate Wiesinger, won the Best Album category for “Timeless Warrior”. Quite an eclectic front line, including violin (doubling flute), cello, alto saxophone and trombone. The keyboard has a vital role in holding it together. At times,the live performance didn’t come over as clearly as the recording, as it’s probably difficult to balance. It moves between more careful composition and harder edge improvisation in a seamless manner.

Yvonne Moriel, the alto saxophonist whom I wrote about from Schwaz, won Best Newcomer. She has a great technique and a lot of positivity in her approach. Strong on groove and energy, her confident outgoing personality comes over well. A fascinating line up, including trumpet, keyboards and drums but no bass. Stephanie Weninger on Moog and keyboards is an important glue, and it creates a lot of space for them all.

LIST OF AWARDEES:

Best Newcomer: Yvonne Moriel
2nd: Nina Feldgrill (bass)
3rd: Lorenz Widauer (trumpet)

Best Album: Echoboomer: “Timeless Warrior”
2nd: “Dance of the Elders” (Wolfgang Muthspiel Trio) Line Up: Wolfgang Muthspiel (guitar), Scott Colley (bass) und Brian Blade (drums)
3rd: “Way To Blue” (Gina Schwarz & Multiphonics 8)

Best Live Act: Synesthetic4
2nd: Manu Delago feat. Mad About Lemon
3rd : Austrian Syndicate/ David Helbock

Saxofour, 7 December

Meanwhile, a deserved shout out for Saxofour, who performed the following night. Father figures for many whom we had heard over the previous two days. It’s a saxophone quartet which has now been going for 32 years (and also nominees for Best Live Act). And when we heard them (Florian Bramböck, Wolfgang Puschnig, Christian Maurer and ) it felt as though we were eavesdropping on an ongoing 32 year party. Their Christmas albums are amongst the best soundtracks that you could want.

The post Austrian Jazz Awards 2024 first appeared on UK Jazz News.

For the period when I was there, a daily programme took place at the university’s Planétarium, with early evening concerts, and at the local arts centre Fossés des Treize. (Unfortunately, a trio show by the new French trio of pianist Joachim Kühn just over the border in Offenburg was cancelled.)

The location and visuals at the Planétarium certainly influenced how one perceived the performances in a way really different to that it might be in a more usual venue. The first two gigs I heard were duos and somehow managed to evoke the vastness of space! They had a smart interplay between the instruments and intricacy. Though their pairings led to vastly different sonics. The first was Météore with violinist/violist Maëlle Desbrosses and tuba player Fanny Meteier. So there was quite a range between the two instruments. However the tuba was at its most lyrical, as a melodic instrument in the bass register rather than playing bass lines. Desbrosses sometimes added ethereal vocals and declamations. It was hard to separate what was written and what improvised.

Meanwhile the duo Bize, of Robin Fincker on clarinet and saxophone and Sylvaine Hélary on various flutes, also had a contrapuntal element. Here the instruments’ ranges overlapped, so that there was a filigree weaving between the two. They’ve been playing together for quite a few years, though of course we know, in London, Fincker so well for his time as one of the leaders of the LOOP Collective.

[NA] was a trio of saxophone, baritone guitar and drums. Quite a contrast from the other two bands on the previous days. Whereas the first two really evoked the vastness of space, this one seemed to be taking its higher energy music like a rocket launching into the cosmos.

There were also some fascinating double bills in the Fossés des Treize, where I went for two nights. On the first, there was the Lotus Flowers trio of pianist Bruno Angelini, with, on alto and tenor saxophones, Sakina Abdou and Angelika Niescier, showing how the festival has been so adept over the years in bringing together French and German musicians. Mainly dedicated to people who have been influential for Bruno, such as Rosetta Parks and Nelson Mandela, it was a most thoughtful set, with a chamber atmosphere. Abdou’s alto contrasted with the huskier tone of Niescier.

Next was Tilia, a new quartet of guitarist Paul Jarret. By including Sun-Mi Hong on drums, and Phillip Gropper from Berlin on tenor, he had the help of two musicians full of imagination and energy. And it was felt throughout, with all members were given space for soloing to evolve the music.

I had only had a chance to hear the trio of Manu Hermia on saxophones and flutes, with cellist Valentin Ceccaldi and drummer Sylvain Darrifourcq once live previously. They are now about to record their third album together, and we were able to get a chance to appreciate some of the new music – and also how much they relish the chance to play together. Belgian Hermia has always been most eclectic in his influences, with as much related to world music as purer jazz. Darrifourcq has an intensity in his drumming which, at the Vortex, we’ve appreciated often over the years. A clarity without overpowering the others. Meanwhile Valentin Ceccaldi is a most charismatic cellist, who constantly surprises in both his sound and his inventiveness. Overall, a mesmerising set of wondrous ingenuity, wit and joy!

Boi Akih, led by vocalist Monika Akihary from Netherlands, has been at the forefront of the Dutch scene, where they merge the free scene with influences of the music of the Moluccan islands in Indonesia. She extended her usual lineup to include bass clarinet as well as Fanny Meteier anchoring on tuba, to add to her regulars, trumpeter Peter Somuah and tenor saxophonist Yedo Gibson. This seemed to provide added punch, especially related to the strong groove later. Particularly important was also the guitar of Niels Brouwer, who acted as a glue for all this.

Best wishes to Philippe Ochem, whose achievements give a marvellous opportunity for his successor to move Jazzdor forwards. Fingers crossed!

The post Jazzdor Festival first appeared on UK Jazz News.

This mini-festival showed how top local musicians can ‘meet’ some top improvisers from the UK and can immediately find common bonds. The concept of musicians coming together like this and audiences getting to hear them really developing through dialogue and performance is a luxury all too rare in the jazz scene. In London, there have been variants over the years, here most famously Derek Bailey’s Company Week and John Russell’s Fete QuaQua at The Vortex.

The improvised music scene in Portugal, both in terms of its own musicians and imaginative venues and festivals, matches other highlights of the country, be it in terms of food, wine and weather. It has more than a match for the rest of Europe, perhaps partly influenced by having a great record label for this music, Clean Feed, based in Lisbon.

The impetus for the event came in part from live-wire trumpeter Luis Vicente, on tour earlier this year with Olie Brice and Mark Sanders. He then got into discussion with Tony Dudley-Evans and, together, they put together the line up. It was an intriguing instrumentation, but all the better for that.

The first night started with all the musicians in a tentet. Generally, it was a free improvised set, but there were a few hooks by Vicente and Brice to build from. They had a “warm-up day” playing together and this already could be felt in the power of the work from the start. So as not to tread on the toes of the other pianist in the group, Karoline Leblanc, Pat Thomas showed off his abilities on electronics, which subtly enhanced what was going on, apart from a ‘solo’ towards the end. This performance acted as a great start because from then on, all the lineups in the concerts over the next days had a cohesion. There was a total lack of tentativeness and the musicians interacted imaginatively.

While the main venue, the Salao de Brasil, always acted as the main focus for the gigs each night, some other spaces around the town were used for smaller groups. By having performances in different locations in Coimbra, that too helped the atmosphere. For each set, one was able to find some similar marvellous moments given the empathy that had developed. Sometimes sonic, sometimes contrapuntal, as much because the musicians could interact in the (creative) hothouse environment. A few particular examples can just give a small snapshot of the dynamism of the festival. In the museum, we had a gig with guitar, cello and piano. Here, Hannah Marshall and guitarist Marcelo dos Rios played off each other to create sounds where it was impossible to say which instrument they came from!

Similarly, when Ziv Taubenfeld played with Rachel Musson, earlier that day in a cellar, we had two instruments with very similar ranges, which intertwined most imaginatively, but where we could still hear the differences in timbre.

The ‘wild card’ gig of the festival was a solo by Pat Thomas on a chamber pipe organ in the Seminario, which, astonishingly, was his first ever public appearance on a church organ. He found some truly remarkable sounds on it, before switching over to the nearby grand piano for a smart version based around “All The Things You Are”.

The three days climaxed beautifully. During an energetic last concert on Saturday night, you felt that Taubenfeld might start a phrase,and Marcelo dos Reis on guitar would seamlessly continue it. It felt very much as though we had just experienced the start of some great collaborations.

Musicians:

Gonçalo Almeida – bass, Olie Brice – bass, Marcelo dos Reis – guitar, Karoline Leblanc – piano
Hannah Marshall – cello, Rachel Musson – saxophone, Mark Sanders – drums
Ziv Taubenfeld – bass clarinet, Pat Thomas – piano, organ, electronics, Luis Vicente – trumpet

Programme:

26 September: Tentet

27 September:
Gonçalo Almeida / Rachel Musson / Ziv Taubenfeld
Karoline Leblanc / Hannah Marshall / Marcelo dos Reis
Luís Vicente / Olie Brice / Mark Sanders + Pat Thomas

28 September:
Hannah Marshall/Luis Vicente/Olie Brice/Rachel Musson
Pat Thomas
Karoline Leblanc / Gonçalo Almeida / Ziv Taubenfeld / Marcelo dos Reis / Mark Sanders

The post Festival Jazz ao Centro first appeared on UK Jazz News.

The concerts tended towards the melodic and optimistic, and involved a very diverse group of acts. The programme cleverly managed to balance European visitors with bands from the local area, such as Wuppertal and Cologne. I attended the final two days – I heard great reports about the gigs the previous nights, including Yumi Ito, Pablo Caminero and Daniel Herskedal.

First I heard a concert in the foyer of the Musiktheater. Saxophonist Roger Hanschel, one of the father figures of the Cologne scene, with String Thing, a string quartet with flair and able to improvise. Swirling string sounds allowed Hanschel to soar above them.

The evening’s concert, in the museum of a local castle, Schloss Horst, had a spectacular backdrop of a beatifullly illumination and two carefully selected bands. Acoustics and p.a. were impeccable.

From Luxembourg, Dock In Absolute, now going for 10 years, has a generally positive approach, with the music by pianist Jean-Philippe Koch, though well integrated with the rest of the band. The developments of different hooks, and evolution therefrom were somewhat reminiscent of the Neil Cowley Trio. One of Jean-Philippe Koch’s extended solos showed a strong classicism reminding me of Ravel and French romantics. And none the worse for that. The only slower piece was dedicated to Koch’s daughter, Sofia. It would have been good to have had more like this.

The other band that night was the Danish band, Girls In Airports. I caught them in Garana in July, in an open air setting. Here they played music where we could closely appreciate the judicious sonics as well as melodies. They have recently reduced in size to a quartet, partly compensated by Martin Stender moving between saxophone and keyboard. And indeed, the percussion often had the feel of being a second front line instrument, and not just enhancing the rhythm section.

First gig on Sunday was the band FOXL from Cologne. In a lovely old cinema, it felt a bit like mellow krautrock fused with prog jazz and free improvisation! A lineup that was heavy on guitars (3), keyboard, bass and drums. The mesmerising ebb and flow of the music was heightened by kaleidoscopic visuals.

Second concert that day was in a modern art museum, Kunstraum Norten, newly converted from a 1960s supermarket. The singer-cellist Bison Rouge, from Berlin, managed to use loops and effects judiciously to give the textured foundation to her melodies and vocals. She drew us into her sound world.

What a contrast to the last band! In a church from the 1920s, now a concert venue, 500 people came to enjoy what was billed a ‘farewell party’ by the “in-yer face” Club de Belugas, coming from nearby Wuppertal. Calling themselves ‘nujazz’, they are a highly successful jazz-oriented party band, with a lot of lounge feel. Their Spotify plays are significantly north of 50 million. Catchy melodies and smart soloing got the crowds dancing in the aisles. So, a lively upbeat end to the festival. And hopefully giving hope for the festival’s continued success.

The post New Colours Festival 2024 in Gelsenkirchen, Germany first appeared on UK Jazz News.

It certainly seems to inspire the best from the musicians. It’s not really a festival for sitting and listen intently, because the audience area by the stage is standing room only. Generally the music worked best when it could appeal easily to the young crowd, numbering over 1000 a night, many of whom were there to savour the atmosphere as much as the music. The festival was nevertheless a catalyst to explore, listen and learn about some of the musicians on the local jazz scene.

I managed to get a snapshot of the first two nights. The groups balance the Turkish with visiting bands from elsewhere. For example, there was Alfa Mist from the UK, Girls In Airports from Denmark and Léo Phal from France. Saxophonist Phal certainly delivered quite a full-on set. It showed how music is a universal language, as we had French musicians communicating so well with an audience almost solely Turkish.

While it doesn’t generally seem to be an audience looking for the most adventurous radical musicians, it proved to be very appreciative and attentive for the concert by Klein, the band of Jérome Klein from Luxembourg. Klein is always striking as a multi-instrumentalist, both on keyboards and drums. It had an almost trancelike feel to it.

Amongst the local musicians, we heard Aydin Esen, one of the father figures of the recent Turkish scene, with a career that has included working with Wolfgang Muthspiel and Dave Liebman. The band included his wife, the vocalist Randy Esen. This was a dynamic group with influences of some of the best fusion over the years, such as Headhunters. The Bozcaada Ensemble was made up of some of the musicians who are often to be heard in Istanbul at venues such as Nardis Jazz Club. They mainly seemed to focus on jazz standards.

It was also a chance to get to identify some of the trends in the local jazz scene beyond the festival. On one lunchtime, we were lucky to hear a solo bass set by Esat Ekincioğlu, a dynamic young player, whom I had recently heard both with AVA Ensemble in Schwaz and Kuhn-Fu in Groningen, two very diverse groups. Very communicative in his playing and taking advantage of the percussive nature of the instrument’s body while adding extra percussion with ankle bells. Its earthiness at times reminded me of Charlie Haden.

Some of the younger players seem to get their ultimate stimulus by mixing their times in Turkey with other homes, especially if they want more diversity, such as from the freer end. Ekincioğlu lives in Groningen. In London, we already have Aydin’s son Cenk (who played recently at the Vortex with the band Dreamscapes). Saxophonist Korhan Futaci, who’s played Cafe Oto a few times with his band Konstrukt, is about to move here.

The area itself has exciting history and locations. Bozcaada has very strong Greek connections. Çanakkale, the main city on the mainland near Bozcaada, is on the Dardanelles and where the Gallipoli catastrophe took place in 1915. Halfway between Çanakkale and Bozcaada is the prime archaeological site of Troy. So, to the charm of an island which steeped in its history, wine, food and glorious sunsets… we can now add jazz.

Oliver Weindling was the guest of Go Türkiye and Bozcaada Jazz Festival

LINKS: Festival website
Troy Culture Route

The post Bozcaada Jazz Festival 2024, Türkiye first appeared on UK Jazz News.

The Zomerjazzfietstour (Summer Jazz Bike Tour) in Groningen has now reached its 38th edition. This was the swansong of the festival in its current format. Another team will take over, after a year’s break, in 2026.

There are 26 concerts to pick from, starting around midday on Saturday, mainly in churches and barns in villages to the north of Groningen. You have to make difficult choices

The Prologue the night before had had no such problems, being held in a single venue in Groningen! First we heard Christophe Monniot on various reed instruments, in duo with accordionist Didier Ithursarry. Such duos always seem to have such a variety and engagement. Moving between originals and rollicking French music of bal populaire style, Monniot matched his warm technique with humorous introductions and was even dancing to solos of Ithusarry.

Then there was Kuhn Fu, the brainchild of German guitarist Christoph Kühn who had in fact lived for many years in Groningen. There was something reminiscent of Billy Jenkins, in how he could bring a rockier guitar approach to harness a mouthwatering horn section of improvisers, including Tobias Delius, Frank Gratkowski, John Dikeman and Ziv Taubenfeld. He likewise included humour, such as a running joke asking whether the audience wanted improv or melodic intros to tunes. Generally, to my pleasure, the former.

So, with a morning to research my route, I was happy to catch a few tasty morsels, mostly around the hub of the festival in Garnwerd, a perfect Dutch village – cobbled main street, windmill, and old church. From the look of much of the programme we are looking at the improvised music scene of Amsterdam, and where it interacts with that other centre in Berlin. London has almost disappeared from the programme, even though the music is as imaginative as ever, and we had many who had spent considerable times in London.

Not least, the Berlin-based quartet of pianist Julie Sassoon, now playing together for nearly a decade. Lothar Ohlmeier on saxes and bass clarinet, drummer Rudy Fischerlehner and bassist Meinrad Kneer all revel in the experience and pleasure of playing together. Solos are not formally separated out. They seem to evolve and draw us in. The foundation for the basic piece seems to come from Julie’s personal experience. Such as the hecticness of “Missed Calls”, named after a lot of missed calls from her mother received during a gig!

Down the road, in another church, I heard a trio, again from Berlin, with drummer Max Andrzejewski, Camila Nebbia on saxophones, and James Banner on bass. A group where the improvisation comes out of their compositions which creates a really strong ‘conversation’ between the three of them. Started about a year ago, it’s more delicate, acoustic and less ‘free’ than Andrzejewski’s other group, Training, which I had heard in Bolzano.

Another trio that I heard was that of Ziv Taubenfeld on bass clarinet, Olie Brice (the only UK-domiciled musician performing) and energetic Danish drummer Kresten Osgood, whom we have heard at the Vortex at different times with John Russell and Django Bates. And what a positive, dynamic band: well attuned to one another even though it was their first gig together. Olie’s bass acted as the heartbeat of the group, allowing Taubenfeld and Osgood tremendous freedom of playing, in terms of timbre and sound as much as melodiousness.

Alto saxophonist Paul van Kemenade played in a long-standing duo with pianist Stevko Busch. The plangent and complex timbre of van Kemenade’s sound complemented well the flowing relative lightness of Busch.

A real highlight of the festival was the performance by Han Bennink, together with Ingrid Laubrock on tenor, and pianist Marta Warelis. Bennink and his friends from the likes of ICP Orchestra have been the heart of the festival since its start. He still plays with amazing focus and range, probably energised by his companions on stage (?) Ingrid Laubrock has a warmth and openness to her playing. Warelis, another new star in the Amsterdam-Berlin improv axis, started the set carefully and thoughtfully before opening out, and creating intriguing prepared sounds, even on a small upright. Never overpowering but integral to the trio’s success. To end the set, Bennink even sang a song written by his late sparring partner Misha Mengelberg, dedicating it to the artistic director Marcel Roelofs who has been involved since the first edition of the festival.

With the definite change in team and likely new vision, it’s impossible to guess what the future of this festival might look like. While it’s understandable that festivals like this have to adapt to a tougher economic environment,we must hope that they don’t lose the the festival’s spirit, imagination, uniqueness and breadth of programme. They are what have created its unique brand.

FUTURE GIGS BY THESE ARTISTS: Taubenfeld/Brice/Osgood, Vortex, 3 October; Newcastle Festival of Jazz and Improvised Music, 4 October

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It takes place in the Centre Culturel in Rossignol, a village in the Wallonie region of Belgium. In the grounds they are able to set up two marquees, which alternate as to which is being gigged in at any time, as well as a small concert hall and a church just a minute’s walk away.

“Jazz and Peace”

A major theme of the 2024 festival was “Jazz and Peace” which has quite a resonance: there was a massacre of 122 Rossignol residents by the Germans in August 1914.

Three main concerts were included in this theme. Thérapie de Couple, led by Daniel Erdmann, with a great band including violinist Theo Ceccaldi, lived up to the expectations based on the previous reviews for UK Jazz News. Here it had an additional poignancy, as it reflected Franco-German reconciliation.:

“No Wall, No War”, with music by Charles Loos, was a reworking of a ballet originally commissioned to celebrate the fall of the Berlin Wall. The jazz quartet, including accordion, was enhanced by choreography of Marie Simon and Guérin Phan. Precise and moving, with perhaps a meaningfulness because many of our hopes after 1989 were reflected in the ballet, but now seem to have been dashed.

The third was “Rousilvo”, Dîne Doneff’s tribute to a village, which became part of Greece after 1945, with a Macedonian population. Gradually the village was “Hellenised”, so that, by 1986, the population had vanished. Demonstrating how borders, often decided after wars, don’t reflect ethnic/cultural groupings which can get stifled by whoever is in power politically. A heart-rending piece, where it was often not possible to distinguish between improvisation and through-composed. Doneff himself moved between drums and bass, and musically it merged so well the Western and traditional Balkan idioms, in terms of rhythm, and the use of microtones, especially by the saxophonist James Wylie. Maria Hafka touched emotional heartstrings on accordion and voice.

Other concerts

This 40th edition had a further bittersweet element: Jodie Devos, a soprano mainly involved in classical and baroque music, but who lived locally, had recently died suddenly at the age of 35. The concert which had been planned as tribute to her favourite singer Judy Garland, turned into a celebratory commemoration of the both of them. The Amazing Keystone Big Band, directed by trumpeter David Ehnco, brought in new harmonies and energy. Neïma Nemouri, a friend of Devos, sang with a breathtaking power and range. The arrangements breathed new life into “Over The Rainbow”, “Get Happy” and other classics.

Another singer, who was certainly one of the headliners, was Youn Sun Nah. An intimate show, with just pianist Benjamin Moussay, who seems to be a real go-to for such circumstances, performing tracks from her latest album “Elles”, a tribute to female singers. A flawless technique, she reworked quite dramatically songs such as “Feeling Good”. However sometimes it could have had more emotion. It was reassuring to learn though that our own Norma Winstone is one of her great inspirations. So, even with no UK musicians present, the presence of our British scene could be felt!

A further side of the festival is how it encourages many bands from the region and from Luxembourg, next door. Saturday was especially strong in this regard, and especially seemed to focus on groups which had strong messages through their melody. This was certainly the case with the guitar-piano duo of Storyboard, where the two instrumentalists then intertwined, with perhaps a bit of the flavour of the duo of Bill Evans and Jim Hall.

Similarly with Mathilde Renault, a singer accompanying herself on piano. More in the mould of singer-songwriter, her originals were enhanced by the trumpeter Antoine Dawans.

The highlight of these melodic-acoustic sets was the trio of Greek pianist Tania Giannouli, with the trumpet of Jakob Baensch and oud of Kyriakos Tapakis. Playing well off each other, the band members were given the space for extended unaccompanied solos. Baensch’s had a mesmerising Bach-like intensity. To compensate for the lack of an actual percussion instrument, she prepared the piano in such a way as to build on its percussive characteristics. Perhaps reminiscent in some ways of Marta Sanchez at Inntöne a couple of weeks before.

The festival ended with a couple of very upbeat French bands, and making us leave with a spring in our step. INUI, one of the groups of Jazz Migration, seemed to relish the chance to perform on a bigger stage than when I had last heard them in Paris. The interplay of Dimitri Kogane on drums and Maya Cros on keyboards acted as a springboard for the two singers, Valeria Vitrano and Clémence Lagier, who were explosive together.

And, to end, Edredon Sensible from Toulouse. Two saxophones, and two drums, which had all those still there dancing. The lineup exuded an attitude, which seemed to have influences of both Sons of Kemet and Acoustic Ladyland’s “skronk”.

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The set-up of the nights is a hangover from Covid which has stuck: three bands each evening on the stage, playing 20 minute sets, in a sort of relay. It actually can work well. Evenings don’t ‘drag’, since there are no long gaps.

Each year has an underlying theme. This year it was “Imagine All the Optimists: Critical Mass of Positivity”. How important it is for us to have a space to hear the positive attitude of the musicians, untainted by nationalistic and similar elements that are tainting the world. And also encouraging us to go out and ‘spread’ the word. Programming is done by Hackl and bassist Clemens Rofner,

Two of the first night bands had Viennese women instrumentalists to look out for. Nina Feldgrill has just won the Ö1 Jazz Stipendium 2024 a two-year scholarship awarded by Austrian Radio. Playing a six-string electric bass, she jointly leads the band River with Robert Unterköfler on saxes. Quite a funky band, given a lot of the drive from Feldgrill, though she had a lot of lyricism as she could take advantage of the bass’s range.

Saxophonist Yvonne Moriel guested with the duo FEMALE of singer Stefanie Boltz. A thought-provoking tribute to women singers and composers, ranging from Hildegard of Bingen and Fanny Mendelssohn, to Kate Bush and Nina Simone. The jaunty saxophone of Moriel, recently selected as a “creative visioneer” by Austrian Music Export, intertwined with the directness of Boltz and added additional colour. I had heard her recording her new album with the band “Sweetlife” the week before in Vienna. More of a fusion outfit than when heard soloing in Schwaz, but certain to make waves when it appears.

Sandwiched between them – physically as well as musically – was the group Soundlib, led by Gene Pritske. New Yorker Pritsker is invariably a live wire, always giving us unexpected ways of hearing classics, including as musical director of the Outreach Orchestra, which we were to hear on Friday, and an energetic guitarist. This project was classic in some ways that it included as opener a tune based on Vivaldi, with Lara St John on violin taking a virtuoso role and fine soloing from Hackl. There followed a moving tribute to a recently deceased friend, guitarist and educator Sean Satin, sung by Chanda Rule.

The following day, we were treated to the band //kry. Mona Matbou Riahi is a live wire of a clarinettist, using effects to the full. She’s one of a group of Iranian jazz musicians, such as guitarist Mahan Mirarab, resident in Vienna who are helping shape the scene. The band celebrates complexity and control, leading us in really unexpected directions.

Kai Schumacher creates a trance-like solo around the piano, using preparation and electronics to enhance the piano’s timbre. Extended minimalism, but with elements of almost brutality in the way his touch affects his sound.

The Outreach Orchestra is the big band of the teachers, many from New York, on the summer school with a few added guests. This year it focussed on compositions by some band members. Noteworthy were the tunes by John Clark and Leo Genovese, the Grammy-winning pianist, a long-standing duo partner of Hackl. His soloing in these pieces was breathtaking, rather like a piano concerto soloist. (He has just recorded with our own Cloudmakers Trio, about which he himself was very excited.)

The final night was equally enthralling. AVA Trio (above), from Groningen in the Netherlands – Giuseppe Doronzo on baritone saxophone, Esat Ekincioglu, double bass and Pino Basile on drums – builds on Balkan and Middle Eastern sounds. They perform with energy and panache.

Synesthetic 4 is virtually a ‘supergroup’ of the new Viennese scene, including Peter Rom on guitar, Manu Mayr on bass and Andreas Lettner on drums – all names to watch out for. Clarinettist Vincent Pongracz isrewriting the instrument’s range and vocabulary, through effective use of pedals, effects and extended technique. 

For the third group, we had a total contrast. Saxophonist Daniel Schnyder, a regular at the festival, used a string quartet in a totally unique way, providing links to classical forms of the likes of Bizet and de Falla. It proved very thoughtful and drew one into the sets.

The combination of Clemens Rofner’s good feel for the current Viennese scene, with all its wildness and imagination, and Franz Hackl’s wider perspective and New York connections combine to produce a fascination cross-section of music, including the chance to witness exciting newer bands at an early stage.

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