Schedule

Huu Bac left Vietnam for Quebec at the age of two. This musician was first interested in jazz guitar, then in dan bau, an old monochord musical instrument, central to the folk music of Vietnam. Huu Bac's curiosity about ancient instruments led him to the Shanghai Conservatory of Music, where he studied erhu, a traditional Chinese string instrument. Bac's work combines classical repertoire and Western influences.

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’.

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.

The North Sea Jazz Festival is the largest indoor music festival in the world, known globally as the event where the past, present and future of jazz are featured within three days. Next to a firm base of jazz as the festival’s staple music genre, many others, such as blues, soul, funk, or hip hop, pass by. Back in 1982, legendary jazz clarinettist Benny Goodman performed at the North Sea Jazz Festival in The Hague with his septet. The “King of Swing” revisited the atmosphere of the 1930s, when jazz enjoyed tremendous popularity.

The Dutch world-class jazz pianist Peter Beets has shared the stage with jazz greats like Chick Corea, Wynton Marsalis, “Toots” Thielemans, Elvin Jones, George Coleman, Johnny Griffin, Benny Golson and John Clayton. From birth, Beets was surrounded by music: he heard classical music from his mother, who is a music pedagogue, and he heard jazz from his father, who has a great fan of Oscar Peterson and Art Blakey. Although Beets’ parents originally did not associate the word “musician” with the word “career”, music is definitely in the family’s blood. At this concert at the Kurhaus in Scheveningen, the Netherlands, Peter Beets teams up with the world-famous guitarist Kurt Rosenwinkel. With a career spanning almost twenty-five years and including collaborating with dynamic peers like Brad Mehldau, Brian Blade, Mark Turner, Joshua Redman, Chris Potter, as well as esteemed jazz legends like Joe Henderson, Paul Motian and Gary Burton, Rosenwinkel’s indelible mark in music is the consummation of being steeped in the rich and deep traditions of jazz, springing off of the shoulders of such vital underpinnings to elevate his own art to new heights, evolving the language in a way no other guitarist has since his arrival. This collaboration between Beets and Rosenwinkel guarantees brilliant music.

Jimmy Smith: Live in '69 boasts an incredible 90-minute concert from 1969 filmed in Paris. Working in his classic trio format with longtime guitarist Eddie McFadden and drummer Charlie Crosby, Jimmy shows why he is still the uncontested king of the jazz organ. Highlights include blues jams “Got My Mojo Working” and “Sonnymoon For Two”, the classic ballads “Alfie” and “Satin Doll”, as well as a 23-minute version of his showcase number “The Sermon”.

Legendary Cuban pianist Chucho Valdés brought his band ‘Jazz Batá 2’ to the Malta Jazz Festival on July 19, 2019. The air was thick with anticipation as Valdés took to the stage, revisiting the small-group concept of his mythical 1972 Cuban album ‘Jazz Batá’. The batá repertoire – the deep classical music of West Africa – permeates Valdés’ piano solos throughout the concert. Valdés’s band consists of Dreiser Durruthy (Batas and vocals), Yaroldy Abreu (percussions and vocals), Abraham Mansfarroll (percussion), Ramón Vazquez Martirena-Bajo (bass guitar). They delivered a performance that reverberated through the historic island.

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.

Dino Saluzzi, one of Argentina's tango music masters, has been building his legacy since the mid-1980s. His accordion-like bandoneon defines Argentina's tango music. Saluzzi has explored many paths—paths along which he has rarely travelled more than once, despite some common threads. This rare, vibrant and intense performance is an intimate collaboration with Charlie Mariano (saxophone) and Wolfgang Dauner (piano) and features music ranging from tango and classical music to international favorites.

Thomas Carbou and Patrick Graham share an almost telepathic rapport, blending spontaneous improvisation, electronic looping, and Brazilian and Indian musical influences to create ecstatic groove pieces and dream-like soundscapes. They use a wide array of instruments, including a custom-built 8-string guitar, cuatro, bouzouki, cajón, frame drums, berimbau, udu, and metal percussion instruments, as well as samplers and laptops, adding their own hypnotic vocals to the mix. This concert was recorded at Montréal’s Le Bleury Vinyl Bar, near the Place des Festivals, known worldwide as the venue for the Montreal International Jazz Festival.

Recorded in 1971 in Paris, France, Brazilian, classically trained bossa nova guitarist Baden Powell and his quartet play Pai, Lotus (written by Baden Powell), Tristeza (by Haroldo Lobo/Niltinho), Round Midnight (by Thelonious Monk), Nega do cabelo duro (by David Nasser/Rubens Soares), and Aos pes da cruz (by Zé da Zilda/Marino Pinto). Powell is joined by Ernesto Ribeiro-Gonçalves on double bass, Helio Schiavo on drums, and Alfredo Bessa on percussion.

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 Girl From Ipanema”, Astrud Gilberto’s second name. The Brazilian bossa-nova and samba singer gives an outstanding, swinging performance at Estival Lugano. The band features Marcello Gilberto, David Sacks, Gil Goldstein, and Eduardo da Fonseca. Astrud started to record her own compositions in the '70s. She has recorded songs in Portuguese, English, Spanish, Italian, French, German, and Japanese.

World-class Dutch jazz pianist Peter Beets has shared the stage with jazz greats Chick Corea, Wynton Marsalis, “Toots” Thielemans, Elvin Jones, George Coleman, Johnny Griffin, Benny Golson, and John Clayton. His mother a music teacher and his father an Oscar Peterson and Art Blakey enthusiast, Beets was surrounded by music from an early age. And though music was in their blood, neither parent associated the word “musician” with a career. In this broadcast, Peter Beets teams up with gipsy jazz heros Stochelo Rosenberg, Martin Limberger and Frans van Geest. The strength and precision of Van Geests' rhythms and tempo, and the ease with which Stochelo's lead guitar soars above them, make this band a cohesive collective - unique in their renditions of standards, Django's classic compositions, and original tunes composed by Stochelo himself.

Since his first appearance at Jazz in Ramatuelle in 2010, saxophonist Émile Parisien has made his mark among the most talented musicians of his generation. On the soprano saxophone, his favorite instrument, he invented a unique lyrical style. As part of his participation in the 2016 edition of Jazz à Ramatuelle, Parisien invited two European jazz legends to join his ensemble: the German pianist Joachim Kühn (*1944) and the legendary multi-instrumentalist Michel Portal (*1935). Over 80 years old, the latter is an incomparable saxophonist, clarinetist and bandoneonist, a musical adventurer who skilfully combines jazz, classical music and film music. Guitarist Manu Codjia, bassist Simon Tailleu and drummer Mario Costa complete the sextet conducted by Parisien, who delivers a memorable performance at Jazz in Ramatuelle.

The North Sea Jazz Festival is the largest indoor music festival in the world, known globally as the event where the past, present and future of jazz are featured within three days. Next to a firm base of jazz as the festival’s staple music genre, many others, such as blues, soul, funk, or hip hop, pass by. In 1986, the acclaimed jazz fusion group Mahavishnu Orchestra led by guitarist John McLaughlin took the stage at the North Sea Jazz Festival in The Hague. This third incarnation of the group featured an outstanding lineup, with Jim Beard on keyboards, Jonas Hellborg on bass, Danny Gottlieb on drums, and Bill Evans on saxophone.

Regarded as the greatest instrumental soloist of all-time, Stanley Gayetzky, famously known as Stan Getz emerged as one of the most significant musical forces in the world of jazz post World War II. With his distinctively warm and lyrical tone, Getz is fondly dubbed as ‘The Sound’ because of his singularity and musical innovations. His commitment to music is evident from his long body of work that includes over 300 pieces of musical compositions. Ranked among America’s top tenor saxophone players, Getz was a gifted saxophonist who could play just about anything on it, a quality that put him on top of the polls. He is accredited for playing some of the best jazz with some of the best jazzmen in the country. However, his personal life was a rollercoaster ride — tumultuous and loused up by abjection, alcohol, addiction and furious flare-ups. This program shows his last public performance, recorded at Munich Philharmonic Hall, Germany on July 18, 1990. Stan Getz (tenor sax) is accompanied by Kenny Barron (piano), Eddie Del Barrio and Frank Zottoli (synthesizers), Alex Blake (bass) and Terri Lyne Carrington (drums).

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!

Two top-tier Belgian musicians – guitarist Philip Catherine and bassist Jean-Louis Rassinfosse – accompany American jazz trumpeter and vocalist Chet Baker during this 1985 performance at the beautiful Brussels Jazz Club, located on the Grand-Place, the Belgian capital’s central square. The trio plays Charlie Mariano’s “Crystal Bells”, the title track of their acclaimed 1983 album. Other songs played during this legendary concert include “Down” and “How Deep is the Ocean”.

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 clarinetist Oran Etkin’s Open Arms Project. Described by jazz legend Yusef Lateef as a “composer of eminent individuality”, Oran Etkin aims to counter global divisiveness with musical projects championing themes of connectivity and collaborative creation, of which ‘Open Arms’ is an example. At jazzahead!, Oran Etkin (clarinet, bass clarinet) appears with Vanessa Ferreira (bass), Vinicius Gomes (guitar), and Sergio Machado (drums).

Five musicians, in excess of 3000 miles, nine concerts, in thirteen days: in November 2015, the five-piece ensemble ‘Tango Extremo’ left the confines of its hometown, the Dutch city of The Hague, to travel through Russia. On the musicians’ jam-packed itinerary were performances in Moscow, Novosibirsk, Saratov, Tomsk, and Barnaul. There, the ensemble collaborated with a local classical orchestra, the members taught workshops, and travelled countless miles by busses, planes, and trains. The warm welcome of the Russian audiences made up for the icy Siberian colds of the journey. The Dutch reporter Herman Nanninga was on hand to document this gargantuan tour of Russia in his film ‘Tango on the Tundra’.

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 artists taking part in this episode is Grammy-award nominated accordionist Toninho Ferragutti. Today he is one of Brazil's leading jazz-inspired accordionists, whose music is often categorized as música popular brasileira (MPB). Together with Fabio Leal (acoustic guitar), Cleber Almeida (drums), Cassio Ferreira (saxophone), and Thiago Alves (bass), Toninho performs Brazil's beautiful melodies with his trademark virtuosity.

Enjoy Runtown’s first concert in Paris, where the Nigerian superstar brings many guests to his show. One of the most talented Nigerian afrobeat scenes will make you rediscover his greatest hits. Nigeria is a very creative country when it comes to the music scene. Runtown is no exception. His first single, “Party Like It’s 1980,” paved the way for “Gallardo,” which caught the entire international scene's attention. Runtown’s inspiration comes from the greats, from Salif Keita and Fela Kuti to Otis Redding and Bob Marley. An exceptional event not to be missed.

After Dutch singer Kim Hoorweg landed her first record contract from Universal Music at the age of 14, her musical career took off and she became a well-known name in the Netherlands jazz community. Famous artists such as Candy Dulfer, Raul Midón, Metropole Orkest, and Gino Vannelli, to name a few, have already performed with the singer on numerous occasions. This time, Kim Hoorweg performs at BIRD in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, together with fellow Dutch musicians Anton Goudsmit on guitar, Niels Broos on keyboards, and Yoran Vroom on drums.

The mere mention of the name John Coltrane evokes a deeply emotional, often spiritual response from even the most casual jazz fan. Dexter Gordon was a fantastic saxophonist. Miles Davis was a genius. Coltrane stood above - he was a visionary, a saint-like figure. By the standards of most jazz musicians, his life was uneventful. Sure, he had a heroin habit for a while, and Miles Davis punched him, but once he'd experienced the “spiritual awakening” described in the liner notes of his 1965 album A Love Supreme, he dedicated himself to his music with extreme single-mindedness. This broadcast of Coltrane's 1965 performance at the short-lived Belgian jazz festival in Comblain-la-Tour features Trane's classic quartet with Elvin Jones (drums), Jimmy Garrison (bass) and McCoy Tyner (piano).

The North Sea Jazz Festival is the largest indoor music festival in the world, known globally as the event where the past, present and future of jazz are featured within three days. Next to a firm base of jazz as the festival’s staple music genre, many others, such as blues, soul, funk, or hip hop, pass by. In 1980, American soul legend Ray Charles brought the Raelettes and the Ray Charles Orchestra to the North Sea Jazz Festival in The Hague. With the full force of these two groups behind him, Charles showed why throughout his storied career he has been viewed as one of the most recognizable voices in music.

The term "jam-session" was coined 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. Titled "Legendary Jazz", this episode hosted by Eddy King features unique performances by artists playing together for the first time, and interviews with Steve McCraven, Oona Guino, Rodolphe Lauretta, and many others.