Schedule

In May 2014, the Conservatory of Amsterdam hosted a unique conference about one of the greatest jazz composers of the 20th century: Duke Ellington. Musicologists and musicians with a special bond with Ellington and his music spoke about his life and music. Among them were David Schiff, author of ‘The Ellington Century’, and Harvey Cohen, author of ‘Duke Ellington’s America’. Moreover, concerts were played by jazz pianist Matt Cooper, the Calefax Reed Quintet, and the Concert Big Band of the Conservatory of Amsterdam conducted by David Berger. The winner of the Boy Edgar Prize 2013, viola player Oene van Geel, performed his ‘All Ellington Project’.

Annual trade fair, exhibition, and festival jazzahead! is one of the international jazz community's most important events. Hosted in Bremen, Germany, jazzahead! brings together musicians, bookers, agents, organizers, jazz experts, and music enthusiasts at the world’s largest jazz event. In 2022, jazzahead! paid special attention to Canada’s jazz scene and invited forty jazz acts from all over the world to perform over the course of three days. Among the artists presenting themselves at jazzahead! 2022 are the seven brightest young talents of Polish jazz, appearing under the name Jazz Forum Talents. These rising stars were selected from among the musicians who took part in 2019’s Jazz Forum Showcase powered by Szczecin Jazz. Kasia Pietrzko (piano), Kacper Smoliński (harmonica), Maciej Kądziela (alto saxophone), Tomasz Chyła (violinist), Jakub Mizeracki (guitar), Roman Chraniuk (double bass, bass guitar), and Adam Zagórski (drums) worked out the compositions and arrangements for this joint project together.

Annual trade fair, exhibition, and festival jazzahead! is one of the international jazz community’s most important events. Hosted in Bremen, Germany, jazzahead! brings together musicians, bookers, agents, organizers, jazz experts, and music enthusiasts at the world’s largest jazz event. In 2024, jazzahead! paid special attention to the jazz scene of the Netherlands and invited over forty jazz acts to perform over the course of three days. Among the ensembles presenting themselves at jazzahead! 2024 is contemporary Mexican jazz trio Antiánima. Antiánima was founded in 2019 and has since become known for its adventurous blend of musical styles, incorporating elements from contemporary jazz, punk, free jazz, progressive rock, electronic, and hip hop. Antiánima explores an audio-visual concept that integrates MIDI-controlled visuals with their performances. The lineup includes Ángel Herrera Rivera (bass), Samuel de Jesús Sánchez Alvarado (drums), and Luis Ángel Orduña Gutiérrez (guitar).

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 is all about the Habanera Duo, which sprung from a meeting of minds between flutist Marc Grauwels and accordion player Christophe Delporte, around their shared passion for the Argentine tango and the music of Ástor Piazzolla. After hearing how well their instruments blended, these two musicians founded the Habanera Duo. The duo offers the audience an eclectic repertoire that is simultaneously refined and audacious. Expect a beautiful hodgepodge of classical music and jazz, inspired by composers ranging from Piazzolla to Gioacchino Rossini.

They called her “the most exciting woman in the world”, and this Afro-American voice lived up to this expectation with international flair. Eartha Kitt was one of the reigning queens of blues and jazz. She epitomized the idea of the sex-kitten chanteuse, rising to fame with a nightclub act centered on her slinky stage presence and throaty purr. As much as she enjoyed vamping it up, Kitt also projected the image of an exotic international sophisticate, singing in several languages.

Pianist Grégory Privat's 2020 work "Soley" inhabits a hybrid universe in which voice, piano and synthesizer, Caribbean and electronic music, and the classical and jazz trio traditions coexist and mingle. Aided by Chris Jennings on double bass and Tilo Bertholo on drums, Privat makes his debut as a singer, adding a vocal dimension to the instrumental and narrative levels of "Soley", which lends his music an emotional force that is more powerful than ever before.

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. Jack DeJohnette, an important figure in jazz fusion, was inducted into the Modern Drummer Hall of Fame in 2007. His style combines elements of jazz, free jazz, world music and R & B, and his versatility makes him a regarded and in-demand drummer. Discover his unique style as part of this breathtaking performance delivered at Estival.

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 Crusaders, an American jazz fusion group that was popular in the '70s employed a two-manned front-line horn section. The group’s sound was rooted in hard bop, with an emphasis on R&B and soul. Their performance at Estival is beyond soulful and an amazing show to watch.

This live recording is celebrating 50 years of West Coast Jazz. The West Coast Jazz movement had its origins about 50 years ago in Los Angeles. It was essentially a "cool" form of jazz played mostly by studio musicians as a break from their studio work. The West Coast All Stars are specially brought together for this West Coast Night. The performance shows some of the most important early pioneers of this style of jazz - including legends such as Conte Candoli, Carl Fontana and Teddy Edwards. Jazz writer and critic Alun Morgan about this concert: “Altogether a very impressive experience. These guys are all real jazz pros who can turn in a masterly performance at the drop of a hat. Who said West Coast Jazz was cold and sterile? These guys can churn up enough excitement to bring any audience to its feet."

This program presents two concerts from Schloss Ansbach in 1978. The first concert features Gil Evans and his orchestra, consisting of Gil Evans on piano, Steve Lacy on soprano saxophone, Arthur Blythe on alto saxophone, Pit Levin on synthesizers, Earl McIntyre on trombone, Lewis Soloff on trumpet, Geoffrey Berlin on bass and Sue Evans on percussion instruments. The second concert features saxophonist Ornette Coleman at the peak of his musically expressive powers. Coleman is joined by Bern Nix on guitar, Charles Ellerbee on guitar, Albert Arnold on bass, and Shannon Jackson on drums and percussion.

Bill Evans is considered one of the greatest jazz pianists all time and is known for interpreting the jazz repertoire using impressionistic harmonies. In 1958, Evans first played in Miles Davis’s sextet recording the modal jazz album “Kind of Blue”, which is now considered one of the best jazz albums of all time. After leaving the ensemble, Evans formed several trios. In this concert, recorded at Maison de la Radio in Paris in 1972, Evans performs with his longest standing trio, featuring Eddie Gomez on double bass and Marty Morell on drums. The program features some of Evans's own compositions, including the jazz waltz “Very Early” and the modal jazz piece “Time Remembered”, as well as jazz standard “Autumn Leaves”.

You can’t help but be carried away by the powerful voice Marion Williams, who, with backing from Tommy Brown (piano), Joe Washington (organ), Billy Tuliver (drums), and singers Barbara White and Ann Bolden, sings gospel songs and spirituals as if she has lived them a thousand times over. The repertoire includes such familiar tunes as “Peace in the Valley,” “We Shall Overcome,” and “Michael, Row the Boat Ashore.”

The Danish Radio Big Band joins forces with American vocalist Curtis Stigers to celebrate Frank Sinatra's iconic concerts at The Sands Hotel in Las Vegas. Curtis Stigers and the big band present the most popular evergreens from the American songbook of the 1950s and 1960s, one of which is the classic that lend the concert its name: “Fly Me To The Moon”.