Schedule

Every year since 1970, the German city of Burghausen has been hosting one of the largest jazz festivals in the world. During Burghausen International Jazz Week, Burghausen becomes a 'Bavarian jazz mecca': guests from all over the world join the Burghausers to enjoy the most wonderful jazz performances as the colorful hustle and bustle of spectators and musicians shake up the city. One of the bands performing here in 2019 is the Walter Trout Band. Trout, who was born in New Jersey and is based in Los Angeles, is a world-famous contemporary blues rock guitarist and vocalist.

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.

A jazz festival named after the inventor of the instrument most associated with the genre, Adolphe Sax, would be incomplete without the man who laid the groundwork for how the instrument is played today. This must have been the reasoning of the organizers of the Festival International de Jazz Adolphe Sax in Dinant, Belgium, when they invited tenor saxophone giant Coleman Hawkins to perform there in June 1962. Appearing with a group that includes the French pianist George Arvanitas, one-time Duke Ellington bassist Jimmy Woode, and expat drummer Kansas Fields, the musician also known as ‘Bean’ and ‘Hawk’ serves up an hour-long set of familiar standards bookended by Hank Jones’ “Chant” and J. J. Johnson’s “Wee Dot”.

When renowned jazz pianists of the old and new school meet at a "Solo Piano Summit," audiences are treated to many an interesting musical surprise. The "Solo Piano Summit" brings together a handful of top pianists with different musical backgrounds: Jacky Terrasson, Junior Mance, Geoff Keezer, Bill Charlap and Alex Wilson. Besides solo performances the all-stars used the occasion for spontaneous interplay, improvisation and a fantastic finale - in short for the pleasure of virtuoso jazz piano playing.

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.

In 2019, the vibrant city of Sofia, Bulgaria, hosted the International A to JazZ Festival. Among the featured acts was the trailblazing jazz trumpeter Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah. This genre-defying artist captivated the audience with his eclectic “stretch music”; an approach that incorporates hip-hop and reaches back through the American canon into African percussion and its rich melodic content. Trumpeter Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah’s quintet, which includes drummer Corey Fonville, percussionist Weedie Braimah, pianist Lawrence Fields, and bass guitarist Max Mucha, delivered a performance that defied boundaries and expectations.

Legendary African-American folk singer Odetta (1930-2008) sang her spirituals with immeasurable sorrow and anguish. Her spiritual music expresses the horrific impact of slavery on millions of African people stolen from their homeland. For Odetta, folk music—be it spirituals, blues or field songs—was a vehicle for expressing the racism and injustice experienced by black people dating back to the days of slavery. This 1964 episode of Face au Public shows the melancholy of the era.

The Royal Concertgebouw in Amsterdam is a world-renowned concert hall, known for its first-rate acoustics. It has attracted many famous performers over the years and is one of the Netherlands' most treasured musical institutions. On May 5, 1957, jazz impresario Norman Granz presented his Jazz at the Philharmonic tour at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam. The Canadian pianist Oscar Peterson and his trio of guitarist Herb Ellis and bassist Ray Brown are later joined by trumpeter Roy Eldridge and drummer Jo Jones. As an added attraction, American violinist Stuff Smith joins the proceedings. American singer Ella Fitzgerald, accompanied by pianist Don Abney, Ellis, Brown and Jones, hits her vocal peak in a stunning set that culminates in a jam session of It Don't Mean A Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing) with the entire ensemble.

In the 1960s, composer Michel Magne transformed the Château d'Hérouville, an 18th-century country house north of Paris and former home of lovers George Sand and Frédéric Chopin, into the first residential recording studio. In addition to its excellent facilities, the complex featured a swimming pool and a beautiful garden, allowing artists to stay for weeks or months at a time. From David Bowie and Iggy Pop to Pink Floyd and Chet Baker, countless stars recorded unforgettable music here until the studio closed in the 1980s. Three decades later, Château d'Hérouville has reopened its doors. This program follows American singer-songwriter Melody Gardot as she visits the legendary studio. After an accident in 2003 left her hypersensitive to light and sound, Gardot discovered the healing power of music. At Hérouville, she gives an interview and plays a breathtaking live set. Her performance opens with a beautiful version of ‘Baby I’m a Fool’ and includes ‘If The Stars Were Mine’ and ‘Les Étoiles,’ before concluding with the Chet Baker hit ‘You Don’t Know What Love Is.’ Melody Gardot (piano, guitar, vocals) is accompanied by Charles Staab (drums), Sam Minaie (double bass), Mitchell Long (guitar), Sylvain Gontard (trumpet), Ludovic Beier (accordion), Artyom Manoukyan (cello), and Guillaume Latour, Alexandra Kondo, and Benjamin Ducasse (violin).