Schedule

English drummer Trevor Richards (1945) is a passionate advocate for traditional jazz. After moving to New Orleans at 21 to master the city's unique drumming styles, he has consistently created opportunities to perform with the genre's elder statesmen. In this concert recording from the Ascona New Orleans Jazz Festival, held in late June and early July 1998 at picturesque Lake Maggiore in Ascona, Switzerland, Richards presents 1930s-style jazz alongside two true legends from that era. The lineup features bassist Charles 'Truck' Parham (1911–2002), a veteran of bands led by Art Tatum and Earl Hines, and tenorist/clarinetist Franz Jackson (1912–2008), who played with Fletcher Henderson and Fats Waller. They are joined by horn players Tom Baker and Dan Barrett. The setlist includes classics like "You’re My Everything", "Nagasaki", "Christopher Columbus", and "If Dreams Come True". A feast for the ears!

Misha Mengelberg, the forgetting has begun. He is waiting for a taxi he didn’t call to go to a performance that won’t take place. Dutch composer/pianist and grand duke of jazz Misha Mengelberg (1935) has been submerged in the shadow of dementia, ending his life as a musician. At the London jazz club Vortex in 2013 he impressively says his goodbyes to the international stage. It’s also his last major performance with his band, the Instant Composers Pool Orchestra. The musicians find it hard to let him go, but Misha’s decline is constant, and he slowly fades away from their midst. A film about exceptional loyalty, dilemmas, respect and dedication. And about music, the music of Misha Mengelberg.

Spirograph Studies have leapt onto the Australian music scene with their detailed, textural approach to playing improvised music. Post-rock, post-jazz and post-minimalism, they shamelessly steal sonic palettes from all areas to build their cinematic sound. This collaborative group features Luke Howard (piano), Fran Swinn (guitar) and James McLean (drums). This strong collection of music-makers each bring their unique voice to the stage as part a united front led by bassist Tamara Murphy.

Innovative contemporary jazz and improvised music, the search for modernity, mind blowing sounds, rock and pop… Indeed PARADOX Tilburg goes beyond jazz, crossing musical boundaries into the unknown soundscapes of electronic music. Indie artists, blues veterans and jazz superstars all pour their hearts and souls at the Paradox. From young, local talents to top national and international artists, PARADOX Tilburg is the most intimate jazz club in the Netherlands, with a devoted audience from all across Europe. In their TV show PARADOX LIVE you get a taste of the greatest concerts and interviews with artists from all around the world. This episode of PARADOX LIVE presents the American saxophone player James Brandon Lewis.

Since 1993, the Dutch band New Cool Collective has been happily grooving thanks to its unique mix of jazz, dance, latin, salsa, afrobeat and boogaloo. They are always funky, energetic and dance-worthy. As pioneers in the Dutch jazz scene, NCC has received many awards and the band has toured the great expanses of Europe, Asia and North America. Besides hipster jazz clubs, the band plays huge pop and rock festivals, such as Sziget, Lowlands (Netherlands) and the Aberdeen Alternative Festival. Its members have also collaborated with many Dutch and international artists on tour and in the studio. This concert shows New Cool Collective with special guests Jules Deelder and Anton Goudsmit, live at the Rotterdam Luxor Theatre. Expect energetic, danceable and great music!

Tzimon Barto, the young American classical pianist and Wolfgang Dauner, the internationally renowned German jazz pianist join their talents to show how multi-dimensional music can be.

Pierre Courbois has been one of Europe’s leading jazz musicians since the mid-sixties. This concert, recorded at the renowned Amsterdam jazz club Bimhuis, sees the drummer playing with his QWINTETT. On the occasion of his 75th birthday in 2015, Courbois hit the road for the Pierre Courbois 75 Years Anniversary Tour. The PC QWINTETT consists of several highly acclaimed Dutch jazz musicians with whom Courbois has worked before in his long and versatile career. Among them are pianist Nike Langenhuijsen, double bassist Egon Kracht, trumpeter Toon de Gouw, and trombonist Ilja Reijngoud. QWINTETT honours the Charles Mingus tradition of thematic and melodic ensemble jazz - but also with an unmistakable Courbois groove! Courbois, known for his own way of combining compositions with improvisations, melodically melts constructions with uneven breaks.

Live Recording at the Palais Des Sports from 1977. Aretha Franklin performs songs like ‘Respect’, ‘You make me feel like a natural woman’, ‘La vie en Rose’ and ‘Singing in the Rain’.

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 composer, trumpeter and bugle player Franco Ambrosetti performs with his quintet in his native Lugano as part of the Estival.

Rotterdam’s ‘ BIRD’ is a club, café and restaurant with a live music programme that's deeply rooted in jazz, and also branches out towards soul, funk, hip-hop and electronic music as well. Its name ‘BIRD’ refers to the nickname of the legendary New York jazz saxophonist, bebop co-founder Charlie Parker (1920-1955). BIRD serves Neapolitan pizzas, good wines, no-nonsense beers and an all-round metropolitan rawness. Since 2014, this urban jazz club and DJAZZ.tv have been collaborating for a series of music programmes: ‘BIRD.tv’, allowing you to experience the best BIRD concerts and interviews as from a first row seat! In today’s episode, our guest is Snarky Puppys pianist: Bill Laurence!

Dutch jazz singer Ellen Pels presents her latest release, “Love.” Recorded live at Theater Odeon in Zwolle, the Netherlands, Ellen is joined by The Red Limo String Quartet and her own nine-piece rhythm section. The singer combines her passionate love for music with her own, stirring lyrics, inspired by spiritual philosophers like Paulo Coelho, Eckhard Tolle, and Deepak Chopra. Her spiritually saturated music is challenging and theatrical, yet warm and melodic.

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 November 2, 1958, American jazz titan Duke Ellington and his Orchestra performed two concerts at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam. Among the many talents in the Orchestra were trumpeter Clark Terry, trombonist Quentin Jackson, saxophonist Johnny Hodges and violinist Ray Nance.

The Newport Jazz Festival, first established in the North-American town of Newport, Rhode Island in the summer of 1954, has now grown to become one of the largest multi-day celebrations of jazz worldwide. It has resulted in numerous famous live albums from top-rate jazz stars, and has spawned several worldwide tours, including editions of the Newport Jazz Festival in Rotterdam, The Netherlands. In October 1972, the Newport Jazz Festival in Rotterdam welcomed the Giants of Jazz, an all-star band featuring drummer Art Blakey, trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie, bassist Al McKibbon, pianist Thelonious Monk, saxophonist Sonny Stitt and trombonist Kai Winding. Part 2.

The Newport Jazz Festival, first established in the North-American town of Newport, Rhode Island in the summer of 1954, has now grown to become one of the largest multi-day celebrations of jazz worldwide. It has resulted in numerous famous live albums from top-rate jazz stars, and has spawned several worldwide tours, including editions of the Newport Jazz Festival in Rotterdam, The Netherlands. In 1968, the Newport Jazz Festival in Rotterdam welcomed three talented Americans: pianist Horace Silver, guitarist Muddy Waters, and trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie, alongside their bands.

The Newport Jazz Festival, first established in the North-American town of Newport, Rhode Island in the summer of 1954, has now grown to become one of the largest multi-day celebrations of jazz worldwide. It has resulted in numerous famous live albums from top-rate jazz stars, and has spawned several worldwide tours, including editions of the Newport Jazz Festival in Rotterdam, The Netherlands. In October 1968, two former colleagues met again on stage, this time leading their own bands at the Newport Jazz Festival in Rotterdam: drummer Art Blakey and pianist Horace Silver were both co-founders of The 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 2025, about forty international jazz acts performed over three days, with a special focus on the RE:CONNECT theme, celebrating the vibrant jazz scenes of returning partner countries Spain, France, and Switzerland. Among the bands presenting themselves at jazzahead! 2025 is the band of English trumpeter and composer Henry Spencer. Their performance features music driven by sincere emotional intent, drawing the listener in with an emotive clarity, as if the music had lyrics. The London-based band features Ant Law (guitar), Robert Brockway (keys), Jamie Murray (drums), and Henry Spencer (trumpet, flugelhorn, and compositions).

One vocalist from Paris and the other from Bern, and two contrasting personalities. Brought together by a chance encounter in 2014, the two singers were surprised to discover how much they had in common: they both do more than just sing well. Leïla Martial and Andreas Schaerer intend to explore and experiment, stretching their vocal boundaries. From the deepest abyss to the most exquisite tones the human voice can produce, they leave no stone unturned in their quest to express themselves, each in their own individual way and always with a generous dose of humour and zest.

Maria João and Aki Takase are a musical explosion all by themselves. Combine them with bassist Niels-Henning Ørsted- Pedersen and you've got an amazing jazz concert!

Erroll Garner: Live in '63 & '64 presents two beautifully filmed concerts featuring his classic trio of bassist Eddie Calhoun and drummer Kelly Martin. Erroll Garner was one of jazz’s true original players and this showcases his improvisational brilliance on a parade of his most classic numbers, such as “Fly Me To The Moon” and “I Get A Kick Out Of You”, as well as originals “Erroll’s Theme,” “Mambo Erroll”, and his best-known composition, “Misty”.

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.

Antonio Faraò features prominently in the rich group of talented Italian pianists. He is the winner of the 1998 prestigious Concours Martial Solal, awarded by Herbie Hancock, and he has made his mark as a player of elegance and lyricism. This has allowed him to collaborate with the best European and American musicians. In his album ‘Evan’, recorded in the USA, he leads an all-star band, notably starring Joe Lovano on tenor. In this particular recording at Jazz à Ramatuelle, he appears at the Theatre de Verdure in the company of another sax legend - Dave Liebman, a musician of unfailing generosity and himself the repository of more than 40 years of modern jazz history. With refined ballads and feline groove, this meeting sparkles, perhaps even lighting up some new stars in the night above Ramatuelle.

Innovative contemporary jazz and improvised music, the search for modernity, mind blowing sounds, rock and pop… Indeed PARADOX Tilburg goes beyond jazz, crossing musical boundaries into the unknown soundscapes of electronic music. Indie artists, blues veterans and jazz superstars all pour their hearts and souls at the Paradox. From young, local talents to top national and international artists, PARADOX Tilburg is the most intimate jazz club in the Netherlands, with a devoted audience from all across Europe. In their TV show PARADOX LIVE you get a taste of the greatest concerts and interviews with artists from all around the world. This episode of PARADOX LIVE presents the amazing Dutch pianist and composer Harmen Fraanje.

'Münchner Klaviersommer' was an annual concerts series that took place from 1981 to 1998 in Munich, Germany. Although the festival's name suggests a strong focus on piano music, it featured countless famous musicians from jazz and classical music – not just pianists. The concerts were usually held in July at The Gasteig, home of the Munich Philharmonic. In 1994, legendary swing band leader and vibraphonist Lionel Hampton performed his own arrangements of jazz standards with Junior Mance on piano, Jimmy Woode on bass and Bobby Durham on drums. They were joined by the St. Petersburg State Orchestra conducted by Alexander Tschernuschenko, to create an exciting big band sound on rousing performances of ‘In the Mood’ and ‘Air Mail Special’. The program ends with Hampton singing Louis Armstrong's latter-day hit ‘What a Wonderful World’.

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. In 2019, one of these artists is the legendary bluesman Lucky Peterson, master of the blues guitar and Hammond organ, who celebrates 50 years on stage. Peterson is accompanied by his band The Organization, augmented by the talented vocalist Tamara Tramell. In a singular performance, she offers a fascinating mix of southern soul and modern R&B, exploring the limits of blues and funk.

‘The legend of the groove’ is a series of documentaries devoted to the musicians who were most influential on contemporary hip hop, soul, rhythm 'n' blues, and on the course of history. Between the late 1950s and now, these musicians radically changed music. Although sometimes hardly in the public eye, they have all been major sources of inspiration for today's major artists: Prince, Erykah Badu, Janis Joplin and Jimi Hendrix.

This selection of unforgettable performances by some of the most iconic and influential jazz guitarists in history showcases these legends’ unique essence. Revel in Wes Montgomery’s virtuosity as he performs the captivating “Nica's Dream” in Holland in 1965, and delight in the expressive beauty of his rendition of “Here's That Rainy Day”, recorded in London in that same year. Experience the timeless appeal of Joe Pass's “You Stepped Out of a Dream” and “You Turned The Tables on Me”, recorded live in Hanover in 1975. The interplay between Jim Hall and Atilla Zoller borders on the impossible as they perform “Extensions” in Hanover in 1973. Enjoy Jim Hall's lyrical solo performance of “I'm Getting Sentimental Over You” from 1964. Witness Sonny Sharrock’s avant-garde fusion of jazz and rock in an exhilarating performance of “Peanut", recorded live in France in 1970. Sharrock is joined by flutist Herbie Mann in a soulful performance of “Memphis Underground” from 1969. Immerse yourself in the magic of jazz guitar!