00:00
Crossroads: From Highlife to Musette
A two-part documentary, narrated by Dee Dee Bridgewater. Part 2: From Highlife to Musette On the road where European and African music converge, we discover the diverse influences of Jazz and her offshoots that exist today. New styles and revivals of past traditions enrich Jazz and render it the essential element of our entire music culture.
01:23
jazzahead! 2024
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 Kaisa’s Maschine. This quintet around New York City-based, Finnish-born bassist, composer, and bandleader Kaisa Mäensivu tells stories, characterized by sonic depth and unexpected twists. Downbeat’s Brian Morton noted, “The bass, instead of being a routine component of the rhythm section, has become the main compositional voice of the group.” Kaisa’s Maschine consists of Kaisa Mäensivu (bass), Max Zenger (saxophone), Mikko Antila (vibraphone), Eden Ladin (piano), and Joe Peri (drums).
01:59
jazzahead! 2024
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 bands presenting themselves at jazzahead! 2024 is Sultan Stevenson’s trio. Pianist Stevenson, a Londoner with Caribbean roots, graduated from Conservatory in 2023. He is a rapidly rising talent in the London jazz circuit, whose debut album 'Faithful One' won him the Parliamentary Jazz Award for the best newcomer. Described by The Telegraph as “an incipient master”, Sultan Stevenson (piano) appears at jazzahead! 2024 with Jacob Gryn (bass) and Joel Waters (drums).
02:37
Belgium Sessions: Swing Dealers
In this DJAZZ Belgium Sessions performance, which was recorded at AED Studios in Lint, Belgium, we witness Europe’s finest jazz musicians at work. A wide variety of international jazz musicians give a creative, up-close and inside insight into their art of playing jazz music. Young talent and established jazz musicians play to their heart’s content: take for instance this unusual performance by the Swing Dealers, an ensemble that finds its roots in the swing jazz of the mid-20th century, but at the same time, it is strongly influenced by a more soulful and contemporary sound. The band evolves around saxophonist Vincent Mardens and vocalist/bassist Jean van Lint. The interaction between saxophone and vocals creates a unique and characteristic sound.
03:23
Respect to Aretha
To close its 2019 edition, Jazz à la Villette pays tribute to the queen of soul Aretha Franklin, who died in the summer of 2018. The musical direction of the evening has been entrusted to Antibalas, an Afrobeat group from Brooklyn attached to the Daptones label, accompanied for the occasion by several guest singers: Bettye LaVette, José James, Alice Russell, Nona Hendryx & Zara McFarlane.
04:57
Grégory Privat - SOLEY
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.
05:35
Carla Bley Sextet live at Estival Lugano 1986
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. Discover the special bond between pianist Carla Bley and bassist Steve Swallow. The two have performed in the same bands since the '60s and have been romantic partners for more than two decades. Watching them perform is the definition of musical telepathy. Together with musicians Wayne Krantz, Victor Lewis, Larry Willis, and Don Alias, they form an amazing sextet at Estival in 1986.
07:00
November Music: R. Frerichs/H. Alizadeh/Cello8ctet
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.
08:17
Chamber music: Sissoko & Segal
Hailing from a long tradition of Malian kora players, Ballake Sissoko has worked with renowned musicians such as Toumani Diabaté and Taj Mahal. He met the French born Vincent Ségal by chance, and the two began jamming together, uncertain of what kind of music might result. As a former member of the French National Orchestra, Ségal's Western classical training does not prevent him from exploring a wide variety of extended techniques, rendering his cello a flexible partner to Sissoko's kora. A childhood spent in the Pigalle district of Paris surrounded by immigrant communities exposed Ségal to African music from an early age. As such, he possesses a natural sensitivity to Sissoko's West-African style. The concert shows a brilliant interplay between the two musicians and combines the several worlds of jazz, Malian and classical music.
09:20
Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers - Olympia, Paris
The legendary hard-bop group Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers performed in Olympia Hall in Paris, France on March 16, 1963. Led by drummer Art Blakey, the Jazz Messengers consisted of Wayne Shorter on tenor saxophone, Freddie Hubbard on trumpet, Curtis Fuller on trombone, Reggie Workman on double bass, and Cedar Walton on piano. Each of these players became jazz legends in their own right. The group performed Cedar Walton's arrangement of That Old Feeling (written by Sammy Fain), Wayne Shorter's arrangement of I Didn't Know What Time It Was (written by Richard Rodgers), and Caravan (written by Juan Tizol and Duke Ellington).
10:04
Gregory Porter at the Blue Note Festival
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!