Schedule

Unlike many of his fellow jazz cats, vocalist Gregory Porter transcends the jazz bubble. After sustaining a shoulder injury, this former American football player turned to jazz singing. He was discovered in a Californian jazz club by pianist, saxophonist and composer Kamau Kenyatta. Porter lent his vocal skills to gospel choirs across the country and a string of successful musicals before turning his talent to his own compositions. His rise since then has been meteoric. Porter’s magnificent, burnished baritone can sink into a lyric with luxurious ease, the melody gently sculpted into new shapes at every turn, with the rhythm tugging subtly back and forth across the bar line. This live performance at the Olympia showcases this man's worth, and is a truly amazing experience!

The November Music festival in ‘s-Hertogenbosch, the Netherlands is the ultimate event for experiencing a broad range of music. It features a wonderful variety of contemporary and experimental pop, sound art, non-Western music, jazz and free improvisation. The closing concert for the 2016 edition offers a great example of this musical wealth - Dutch composer and pianist Rembrandt Frerichs’ fantastic trio play a wonderful set with Cello8ctet Amsterdam and renowned Iranian tar player Hossein Alizâdeh. Rembrandt Frerichs studied in New York and lived in Cairo for several years. His music has the drive of American jazz, the lyricism of Middle-Eastern music, and the sensitivity of the chamber music of Claude Debussy and Maurice Ravel. The combination of Frerichs’ trio with Cello8ctet and Alizâdeh is unique. Their music is a miracle of organic creativity, and a shining fusion of old and new world music.

Lex Jasper Trio: Happy Days Are Here Again - the title says is all… After an automobile accident and 15 years of revalidation, he is back! Together with his musical pals Edwin Corzilius (double bass) and Frits Landesbergen (drums), pianist and composer Lex Jasper celebrates his return to jazz club The Duke in the Dutch village of Nistelrode. Following his car accident, Lex nearly joined the leagues of Netherland's “forgotten” jazz heroes, though he is still considered one of the most important artists and composers of his generation and Dutch jazz history. Jasper played and recorded with all the greats, including Toots Thielemans, Clark Terry, Joe Pass, and Rita Reys.

This portrait of Marcus Miller was recorded during his 2009 ‘Tutu Revisited’ tour. Miller looks back on his relationship with Miles Davis. Miller tells us about writing his composition 'Tutu', and shares countless stories of the recording process of the album 'Tutu'. This documentary was filmed in 2009 at the 'We Want Miles' exhibition in Cité de la Musique in Paris.

Since 1977, Estival is a summer jazz festival in Switzerland, Lugano. Estival offers a thrilling and particularly surprising line-up that explores the rich world of contemporary music whilst promoting the understanding of different cultures, tolerance, and co-existence. John Carl Hendricks is one of the instigators of "vocalese", an art form that aims to add lyrics to existing instrumental pieces and replace several instruments with singing. He flaunts this technique at Estival, where he "scat" while playing double bass. Hendricks is known for his mastery of scat, a form of vocal jazz that uses onomatopoeia rather than lyrics

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. “Viva” is a perfect mixture of various instruments and musicians from all over the world. Vocalists Aynur and Dima Oshno perform with the All Star Band. Aynur sings about the life and sufferings of Kurdish people, in particular Kurdish women. Musically, she tries to blend Kurdish and Western music, creating her own style and interpreting the traditional repertoire in a modern and fresh way.

Jazzed Out proves that a jazz session can take place anywhere. Unusual locations, such as garage buildings, multi-storey car parks, street corners, subway trains, and parks, in several of the world’s metropoles, provide the setting for brief jazz performances. The sheer rawness of the metropoles merge with the musical creations of various artists in search of the perfect ‘urban stage’. In this episode, Oslo serves as a backdrop for sets by pianists Tord Gustavsen and Bugge Wesseltoft, as well as Jaga Jazzist collective.

The Da Pá Virada Sessions series presents the best musicians of contemporary Brazilian jazz, and beyond. Filmed in São Paulo, each session offers a unique experience by giving a fresh look into Brazil's music scene. The artists for each session are selected in consultation with Stingray DJAZZ's music editor. One of the bands taking part in this episode is a foursome that pays tribute to pioneering música popular brasileira vocalist Elis Regina: vocalist Vanessa Moreno, bassist Fi Marostica, Rhodes and keyboard player Tiago Costa, and drummer Jonatas Sansao honor the legendary Brazilian singer by performing famous pieces and hidden gems from her repertoire.

Since 1977, Estival is a summer jazz festival in Switzerland, Lugano. Estival offers a thrilling and particularly surprising line-up that explores the rich world of contemporary music whilst promoting the understanding of different cultures, tolerance, and co-existence. The 29th Street Saxophone Quartet is an American quartet founded in 1982 by alto saxophonists Bobby Watson and Ed Jackson, tenor saxophonist Rich Rothenberg and baritone saxophonist Jim Hartog. The band has an eclectic repertoire ranging from jazz to show, funk, rap, and experimental music.

In the late 1940s, jazz saxophonist Charlie 'Bird' Parker expressed his wish to record with a classical string section rather than his usual jazz quintet. This desire was fulfilled in 1949 and 1950 when he recorded two albums with oboe, harp, string section and a jazz rhythm section, released as 'Charlie Parker with Strings'. Fast forward 70 years, when saxophonists Olivier Bogé, Géraldine Laurent, Pierrick Pédron, Thomas de Pourquery, and Jaleel Shaw follow in the jazz legend's footsteps, revisiting the repertoire of those original albums in this 2019 concert at The Philharmonie de Paris. Bastien Stil conducts Christophe Dal Sasso's new orchestral arrangements in this genre-blending concert, which opens with Dal Sasso’s very own Overture pour cinq saxophones et orchestra.

The MotorMusic Studios in Mechelen, Belgium, attract many great musicians to the city. A wide variety of visiting international jazz musicians share their art of making jazz music with us in the DJAZZ series ‘Belgium Sessions’. In these sessions, some of Europe’s finest musicians perform their own, original music. This episode MotorMusic invites the jazz trio ‘WRaP!’, consisting of singer Barbara Wiernik, guitarist Alain Pierre, and Chet Baker’s former bassist: Jean-Louis Rassinfosse. The trio plays one of their most beautiful compositions of ‘Endless’. In this fine composition, Wiernik’s beautiful voice, Pierre’s crystal chords of the 12-string guitar, and the warm sounds of the contrabass come to full bloom.

As a twenty-five year old saxophone player, Maceo Parker played in the band James Brown, but is also known for his collaborations with P. Funk, "Parliament" George Clinton and the "Rubber Band" by Bootsy Collins. Maceo has proven to be star by creating a special chemistry between all the different styles of American black music. As a pioneer in the ‘groove’, he blends funky jazz with roots and blues with gospel. The result is an overheated concert hall with a very enthusiastic audience that completely surrender to the energy of the music. Full conviction he drags his audience along his world and plays his memorable songs, among which the funky song ‘Southwick’.

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. Bursting with sounds that could only be described as magical, “MCO” features the Syrian Expat Philharmonic Orchestra under conductor Naci Özgüç. Of Turkish origin, Özgüç was raised by two opera singers, who opened the doors of a musical career.

Jazz in Duketown is the largest free outdoor jazz festival in the Netherlands. It's a real gathering for jazz addicts, inviting internationally renowned bands. In 2019, one of them is the Amsterdam-based Dutch instrumental collective Jungle by Night. The band plays a mix of various styles, inspired by funk, jazz, dub, rock, and others. The ensemble made its debut in 2010 and has played at numerous festivals. Their December 2010 performance with former backing musicians of Afrobeat founder Fela Kuti in Paris saw them hailed as "the future of Afrobeat".

The 1964 edition of the Antibes Jazz Festival in Juan-les-Pins saw the return of the First Lady of Song, Ella Fitzgerald. Together with Roy Eldridge on trumpet, Tommy Flanagan on piano, Bill Yancey on double bass, and Gus Johnson on drums, the tireless singer performed such classics from the Great American songbook such as 'Them There Eyes', 'The Lady Is a Tramp', 'Summertime', 'I'm Putting all My Eggs in One Basket', 'St. Louis Blues', and 'Perdido', and a few novelties, such as Steve Allen and Ray Brown's 'Cutie Pants'. It is no surprise this legendary concert from Juan-les-Pins was released on LP!

The Newport Jazz Festival, first established in the North-American town of Newport, Rhode Island in the summer of 1954, has now grown to become one of the largest multi-day celebrations of jazz worldwide. It has resulted in numerous famous live albums from top-rate jazz stars, and has spawned several worldwide tours, including editions of the Newport Jazz Festival in Rotterdam, The Netherlands. In October 1968, two former colleagues met again on stage, this time leading their own bands at the Newport Jazz Festival in Rotterdam: drummer Art Blakey and pianist Horace Silver were both co-founders of The Jazz Messengers.

Following a highly successful small-group jazz concert at New York Town Hall on May 17, 1947, Armstrong's manager Joe Glaser dissolved the Armstrong big band on August 13, 1947 and established a six-piece small group. This group was called the All Stars, and in 1964 Louis Armstrong recorded his biggest-selling record, Hello, Dolly! He made assorted television appearances, especially in the 1950s and 1960s – the recorded film was a TV Show in Australia when Armstrong was at the peak of his career. Armstrong kept up his busy tour schedule until a few years before his death in 1971. He also toured Africa, Europe, and Asia under sponsorship of the US State Department with great success, earning the nickname ‘Ambassador Satch’.