Schedule

The annual South Coast Jazz Festival in Norfolk County, Ontario, Canada, has welcomed hundreds of Grammy, Juno, Order of Canada, and Walk of Fame performers since its inception in 2014. The 2021 edition of this festival features performances from pianist Gene DiNovi, double bassist Dave Young, and soul singer John Finley with the Lou Pomanti Trio, as well as music from pianist Charu Suri, vocalists Queen Pepper, Heather Bambrick, and Aleef Mehdi, bassist Ben Duff, and more. This special edition of the festival is co-hosted by Canadian media icon Dini Petty, and the South Coast Jazz festival’s founding director, Juliann Kuchocki.

Rotterdam’s ‘ BIRD’ is a club, café and restaurant with a live music programme that's deeply rooted in jazz, and also branches out towards soul, funk, hip-hop and electronic music as well. Its name ‘BIRD’ refers to the nickname of the legendary New York jazz saxophonist, bebop co-founder Charlie Parker (1920-1955). BIRD serves Neapolitan pizzas, good wines, no-nonsense beers and an all-round metropolitan rawness. Since 2014, this urban jazz club and DJAZZ.tv have been collaborating for a series of music programmes: ‘BIRD.tv’, allowing you to experience the best BIRD concerts and interviews as from a first row seat! In this episode, our guest is an old-timer from African music: the saxophonist and composer Orlando Julius (*1943). Doubtlessly, he is royalty among Nigerian musicians. In his music, Julius combines highlife, jazz, soul, and R&B in ground-breaking ways.

The term "jam-session" was born in the 1920s, when black and white musicians gathered in smoke-filled bars after their respective concerts to enjoy the kind of jazz they could not play in traditional sets. Bing Crosby was a regular at these sessions, and had fun marking the first and third beats of musical phrases by clapping hands, which the musicians call "jammin' the beat". Today, the Seine Sessions revive the happy years of "jam sessions", while the cream of jazz, blues, gipsy and funk Parisian scenes occurs on the boards of the legendary restaurant and jazz club Le Réservoir. Entitled "World Music", this episode hosted by Eddy King features unique performances by artists playing together for the first time, and interviews with Teófilo Chantre, Tiwitine, Kinsy Ray, and many others.

Since 2005, the Morgenland Festival of Osnabrueck has dedicated itself to the fascinating music culture of the Near and Middle East. From traditional and classical music to avant-garde, jazz, and rock, the festival program also features art, such as visual arts, dance, and theatre of interdisciplinary projects. Enjoy the musical wealth of the All Star Band in this episode of Morgenland Festival. Featuring graduate of the Boston Conservatory and vocalist Dima Oshno, both songs “Dream” and “Mugam” are played by the All Star Band and express a range of moods that vary from peaceful quietude to outbursts of energy.

Spirograph Studies have leapt onto the Australian music scene with their detailed, textural approach to playing improvised music. Post-rock, post-jazz and post-minimalism, they shamelessly steal sonic palettes from all areas to build their cinematic sound. This collaborative group features Luke Howard (piano), Fran Swinn (guitar) and James McLean (drums). This strong collection of music-makers each bring their unique voice to the stage as part a united front led by bassist Tamara Murphy.

This might come unexpected, but the Brussels Jazz Orchestra (BJO) is not the kind of jazz orchestra that sticks to standards. They prefer to achieve the highest level by composing original music, creating unique arrangements, and playing inventively as well as passionately. In fact, it really is jazz with a dynamic orchestral sound, with a classic strength in which each musician is also a brilliant soloist. Call it an ‘orchestrated passion for jazz’ that incites BJO to create world-class music. Founded in 1993 by Frank Vaganée, Serge Plume and Marc Godfroid, the Brussels Jazz Orchestra is recognised and has been subsidised by the Flemish Government since. Brussels Jazz Orchestra is orchestra in residence at Flagey in Brussels. During this project the BJO performs with David Linx. The Belgian jazz singer will resort to any idiom, any language, any time signature. Occasionally he seems to dispense with bar lines altogether, or he will go beyond lyrics, as he abandons his own words for some free-wheeling scat.

‘Ella Fitzgerald: Live in '57’ features ‘The First Lady Of Song’ in a distinct performance. It's the earliest known complete concert of Ella to be captured on film. Shot in Belgium, this 1957 concert sees her performing with jazz greats Ray Brown, Herb Ellis, Jo Jones and the legendary Oscar Peterson on classics such as ‘Lullaby Of Birdland’ and ‘It Don’t Mean A Thing (If It Ain’t Got That Swing)’. Although she wanted to be a dancer at first, Ella Fitzgerald already listened to recordings of Louis Armstrong, Bing Crosby and The Boswell Sisters at an early age. After her debut at an amateur talent show in 1934, Ella joined Chick Webb’s Orchestra with which she recorded several hits; after Webb died, she became the leader of the orchestra. In the late 1940s, Ella Fitzgerald became known as the ‘First Lady of Song’, with her wide vocal range of three octaves. The American jazz singer was particularly appreciated for her pure tone, intonation and phrasing, and unparalleled improvisational abilities. In a career that spanned close to 60 years, Fitzgerald sold 40 million albums and won 13 Grammy Awards, mainly for her definitive interpretations of the Great American Songbook.

With his spade-like hands capable of being as delicate as a lace maker, the godfather of Cuban jazz Chucho Valdés (six Grammies and three Latin Grammy Awards) is back with Jazz Batá 2 (2018). 47 years after his first eponymous volume, the giant has brought the influence of the famous batá drum into modern times (sacred Yoruba religious instrument in Cuba). So he's revived the concept of his 1972 Jazz Batá album. At the time, this simple trio project with no drums was experimental. The pianist may have dropped the small band after the roaring success of Irakere (from 1973) but he's always wanted to go back to it. So he has, "with a wider panorama and quintet", says Jésus "Chucho" Valdès. His father Bebo Valdès, the inventor of batanga beats in 1952, taught him music. The album and tour coming our way also mark the centenary of Ramón "Bebo" Valdés (1918-2013) and Chucho's 77th birthday (they were both born on October 9th). The trumpet player Roy Hargrove was a regular at Jazz à Vienne and passed away in November 2018. His unforgettable performance with his quintet at the Roman Theatre on July 12th will remain an incredible memory of the bond between the trumpet player and Vienne audience. The Cuban maestro Chucho Valdès remembers getting a Grammy for his involvement in Roy Hargrove's American-Cuban project Crisol 20 years ago (1998). The Louisiana trumpet player Terence Blanchard is the quintet's special guest and will replicate Roy's flair and talent in this moving tribute.

James 'Blood' Ulmer, the 'Blues Preacher', holds the secret of producing the blues' essence that he learned from his father. However, Ulmer is perhaps more famous for his partnership with Ornette Coleman, who decided to teach the guitarist to play free improvisation in the seventies. Consequently, James 'Blood' Ulmer became an initiator of 'free funk', which rebelled against the new order of neo-bop in the eighties. Now most of his original peers have gone, Ulmer rekindles their fiery memory with a new band.