Schedule

This film portrays Michel Petrucciani 's very unique outlook on life, his vitality, boisterous humor and marked comedian talent which triumphes over all physical restrictions. It also shows Michel Petrucciani performing, composing, selecting his very own piano, at a recording session with Stephane Grapelli, Roy Haynes and Georges Mraz, .... and much more.

This broadcast is the first part of a concert performed by Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers, recorded at the Théâtre des Champs Elysées in Paris in December 1959. Co-founded in the early 1950s by American jazz drummer Art Blakey and pianist Horace Silver, this hard bop ensemble performed and recorded until Blakey died in 1990. Many jazz greats got their start in this band, including trumpeters Lee Morgan and Wynton Marsalis, saxophonists Benny Golson and Wayne Shorter, pianists Joanne Brackeen and Keith Jarrett.

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. One of the artists making their mark at jazzahead! 2022 is French alto saxophonist Léon Phal, accompanied by trumpeter Zacharie Kysk, keyboardist Gauthier Toux, drummer Arthur Alard, and double bassist Rémi Bouyssière. Léon Phal belongs to a new generation of jazz musicians who has been as much inspired by the soul, hip hop and electronic music of the 2000s, as by the jazz standards. His free, dynamic interpretations are always firmly grounded in the jazz tradition.

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 2023, jazzahead! paid special attention to Germany’s jazz scene and invited thirty jazz acts from all over the world to perform over the course of three days. Among the artists presenting themselves at jazzahead! 2023 are LIUN & The Science Fiction Orchestra. This ten-piece ensemble from Germany plays vibrant acoustic reinterpretations of electronic pieces from their 2019 album ‘Time Rewind’, reinventing the vocal jazz ensemble for the modern age. Their 2022 album ‘Lily of The Nile’ has been released on renowned guitarist Kurt Rosenwinkel’s record label Heartcore Records. LIUN & The Science Fiction Orchestra consists of Lucia Cadotsch (vocals), Wanja Slavin (reeds, flute, keys), Heidi Bayer (trumpet), Florian Trübsbach and Phillip Dornbusch (reeds, flute), Shannon Barnett and Johannes Lauer (trombone), Mark Pringle (piano), Felix Henkelhausen (double bass), and Fabian Rösch (drums).

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 Astor Klezmer Trio, which sprung from a meeting of minds between violin player and singer Joëlle Strauss, flutist Marc Grauwels, 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 three musicians founded the Astor Klezmer Trio. The trio offers the audience an eclectic repertoire that is simultaneously refined and audacious. Expect a beautiful hodgepodge of classical music and jazz, inspired by composers such as Astor Piazzolla.

The Flying Pickets are a British vocal group that was formed in 1982, transferring the art of a cappella to the pop music scene. These five gentlemen scored a number one hit in 1983 in the UK Singles Chart with their version of 'Only You'. Performing live in Stuttgart, vocalists Hereward Kaye, Gary Howard, Michael Henry, Nick Godfrey and Ricky Payne have many surprises in store for their appreciative audience.

Guitarist Mike Stern and violin player Didier Lockwood sharing a stage: that promises a good show! After playing for years with Blood, Sweat & Tears, Mike Stern landed a gig with drummer Billy Cobham and then broke through with Miles Davis’ comeback band in the 1980s. Didier Lockwood played in jazz fusion band Magma during the 1970s and is known for his use of electric amplification and experimentation. Together they perform a unique duo concert at the beautiful antique theatre in Vienne, France.

Woody Herman: Live in '64 features a blistering one-hour concert from 1964 showcasing one of the very hottest line-ups of the "Swinging Herd," including trumpeter Bill Chase, trombonist Phil Wilson, and the amazing saxophonist Sal Nistico on the front line, as well as drummer Jake Hanna, bassist Chuck Andrus, and pianist-arranger Nat Pierce in the rhythm section. The band roars throughout the entire show which includes standards such as "Lonesome Old Town", "After You’ve Gone", and new originals including Charles Mingus’s "Better Git It In Your Soul."

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.

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."

Dionne Warwick’s vocal artistry ranges from voluminous deep register to soft, fragile high notes. She masters the entire range with almost unnerving ease. But more than her strong, warm voice, Dionne’s magic is in the silky elegance and the secure delivery with which she tells a story. That’s how her, along with composer Burt Bacharach and lyricist Hal David become pioneers of the brand of pop music called “Middle of the Road”, meaning pop that is grippingly simple, but never trite. Sixty of her hits made it into the American charts and sold over 100 million albums worldwide. This amazing 1964 recording from the 27 Club in Knokke, Belgium showcases the 23-year-old star vocalist at the start of her career.

Raul Midón appeared at 2017’s Sing Jazz Festival in Singapore with double bassist Romeir Mendez and drummer Billy Williams. Blind since birth, Raul Midón is a singer, guitarist, and songwriter from New Mexico. With a vocal range as dynamic as his guitar playing and a remarkable talent for trumpet mimicry, Midón’s performances transcend musical boundaries, effortlessly blending rock, jazz, folk, and Latin pop into his unique sound. He has worked with numerous legends, including Bill Withers, Herbie Hancock, Sting, and Dianne Reeves, and his album ‘Bad Ass and Blind’ was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Jazz Vocal Album in 2018. No wonder the Sing Jazz audience were ecstatic!

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 2023, jazzahead! paid special attention to Germany’s jazz scene and invited thirty jazz acts from all over the world to perform over the course of three days. Among the groups presenting themselves at jazzahead! 2023 are Gina Schwarz and Multiphonics 8. Gina Schwarz has been nominated for major awards in both her native Austria (Amadeus) and in Germany (Record Critics). Her “Way to Blue” album with Multiphonics 8 presents a complete, autonomous cycle of works, that digs into the enigmatic world of UK music legend Nick Drake (1948-74), while also paying tribute to her own father. Without a hint of nostalgia she transforms Drake’s British folk aesthetics into subtle and exotic, timeless and border-crossing folk traditions with deeply emotional and playful textures, critics say.

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 biggest ensembles appearing at jazzahead! 2022 is Hungary’s Modern Art Orchestra (MAO), based at the Budapest Music Center. Founded by trumpeter and composer Kornél Fekete-Kovács in 2005, each MAO member masters classical, jazz, and ethnic music, allowing the orchestra to weave in and out of genres with apparent effortless fluidity. The musicians are Kristóf Bacsó (soprano saxophone, alto saxophone, flute), Dávid Ülkei (alto saxophone, clarinet), János Ávéd (tenor saxophone, flute), Árpád Dennert (tenor saxophone, clarinet), Bence Bajusznács (baritone saxophone, bass clarinet), Balázs Szalóky (trumpet), Gábor Subicz (trumpet), Zoltán Bacsa (trumpet), Zoltán Varga (French horn), Attila Korb (trombone), Gábor Barbinek (trombone), Miklós Csáthy (bass trombone), Péter Kovács (trombone), Áron Komjáti (guitar), Gábor Cseke (piano), József Barcza-Horváth (bass), László Csízi (drums), conducted by Kornél Fekete-Kovács (trumpet).

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 1982, American trumpeter and composer Wynton Marsalis and his quintet performed at the North Sea Jazz Festival in The Hague. Accompanied by brother/saxophonist Branford Marsalis, drummer Jeff Watts, bassist Phil Bauer and pianist Kenny Kirkland, 20-year-old Wynton Marsalis shows his pedigree as a former member of Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers.

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 2023, jazzahead! paid special attention to Germany’s jazz scene and invited thirty jazz acts from all over the world to perform over the course of three days. Among the artists presenting themselves at jazzahead! 2023 is Josh Meader. This guitarist from Sydney brings along keyboardist Matt Thomson and drummer Slex Hirlian to explore modern fusion that respects the genre’s rich history but never loses sight of the future. Fans of John McLaughlin, The Deluge, and Red Bazar will be particularly impressed by this threesome.

Since 1985, the Dutch city of Nijmegen has been welcoming the International Music Meeting Festival every Pentecost. Ranging from jazz and improvisational music to traditional music and unique crossovers, this adventurous festival is all about musical encounters and international collaborations. In 2019, Tel Aviv-born bass player, producer and composer Liran Donin appeared here. Donin has collaborated with high-profile, cutting-edge artists, bands and projects. With his distinctive powerhouse groove and virtuoso approach to both the electric and double bass, Liran pushes the bass well beyond its boundaries.

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 "Free & Afro Jazz," this episode hosted by Eddy King features unique performances by artists playing together for the first time, and interviews with Fantazio, Eddy Lopez, Banoit Savard, and many others.

The world-renowned North Sea Jazz Festival features a wide variety of genres, including traditional New Orleans jazz, swing, bop, free jazz, fusion, avant-garde and electronic jazz, blues, gospel, funk, soul, R&B, hip hop, world beat and Latin. The festival was founded by entrepreneur and jazz fan Paul Acket, who sold his highly successful pop magazine publishing house to organize and fund the first edition of the festival in 1976. This broadcast from the North Sea Jazz Archives presents the legendary drummer Buddy Rich.

Dutch band Seven Eleven is a mix of funk, jazz and hip hop. Founded in 1987, Seven Eleven is one of the first Dutch bands to perform with rappers, having collaborated with hip hop crew Dope Posse in 1990. Adding a superb horn section to the original line-up, they were awarded the 1993 Camelpop Award. Over the years, Seven Eleven released eight albums and played countless festivals, including three appearances at the prestigious North Sea Jazz Festival. Collaborations with legendary American funk artists such as Fred Wesley, Dawn Silva, Jeanette Washington and Louis Johnson followed. Guitarist Rob Manzoli of pop group Right Said Fred produced Seven Eleven’s 2015 album Back to the Source in London. Today’s broadcast presents the funkiest moments from Seven Eleven’s Back to the Source tour.

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.

Pioneering folk/pop quartet The Brothers Four was formed in 1957 by University of Washington fraternity brothers Bob Flick (upright bass, vocals), Mike Kirkland (guitar, banjo, vocals), John Paine (guitar, vocals) and Richard Foley (guitar, vocals). Their consistently smooth, warm, and lush harmonies set The Brothers Four apart from others. They turned professional as a result of a practical joke. A member of a competing fraternity arranged for a woman to telephone the band members, identifying herself as the secretary to the manager of Seattle's Colony Club and inviting the quartet down for an audition. As soon as The Brothers Four got there, they found that there was no invitation or any audition scheduled – but since they were there anyway, the club manager asked them to play a few songs and ended up hiring them. A few years later, The Brothers Four appeared at a short-lived Belgian jazz festival in Comblain-la-Tour, where they sang the entire book of American Folk Songs.

By the time this set was recorded at Brussels Jazz Club in the summer of 1980, trumpeter Freddie Hubbard had already built an impressive resume. During the 1960s he became a leading voice in the hard bop movement while not shying away from avant-garde sessions with the likes of John Coltrane and Eric Dolphy. In the 1970s, Hubbard expanded his palette by recording in more diverse settings that included electric instruments and orchestral arrangements. On this club date, Hubbard showcases all of the experience he had accumulated up to this point. The working group consists includes David Schnitter on tenor saxophone, Billy Childs on keyboards, Larry Klein on bass, and Sinclair Lott on drums. Watch as the quintet deftly switches between acoustic and electric instruments and Hubbard entertains the crowd with his onstage antics.