From 31 October to 3 November, Jazzfest Berlin is celebrating its 60th anniversary with 24 concerts at the Haus der Berliner Festspiele, Quasimodo, A-Trane and the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church. This year, the concert programme is bolstered by two anniversary specials: the Jazzfest Research Lab and the Jazzfest Community Lab Moabit. The full programme has been published. The line-up and the latest music releases are available for download. Accreditation starts today and advance ticket sales begin on 18 September at 14:00.
Jazzfest Berlin, founded in 1964 in West Berlin as one of the first jazz festivals in Europe, is turning 60 years old. Reason enough to take a closer look at this legendary festival's rich history in the international Jazzfest Research Lab while also plotting ideas for a promising future with the Jazzfest Community Lab Moabit. Past, present and future come together in the anniversary edition's diverse concert programme, and style-defining icons of jazz history will share the stage with newer voices and projects from the global jazz community over the four days of the festival.
»Having teamed up with a number of new partners for the Research and Community Lab, we aim to gain new insights into contemporary and trend-setting festival production. Both birthday specials are unique mobilisation and outreach projects that stand out from the festival's history, questioning what we take for granted, leaving our comfort zones and creating new sources of inspiration in tandem with this year's Jazzfest Berlin concert programme.«
– Nadin Deventer, Artistic Director Jazzfest Berlin
On the opening night Vilhelm Bromander’s Unfolding Orchestra, free jazz icon Joe McPhee and the one and only Marilyn Crispell will take the stage. On Saturday the legendary Sun Ra Arkestra meets Anna Högberg’s high-energy formation Extended Attack, and on Sunday the 17-piece Special Big Band of guitar pioneer Otomo Yoshihide from Japan will join the highly acclaimed sax player Darius Jones and the dynamic pianist Sylvie Courvoisier from New York City.
Other highlights include a performance by the trio Tapestry with saxophonist Joe Lovano, the world premiere of the new Joachim Kühn French Trio with drummer Sylvain Darrifourcq and bassist Thibault Cellier, the Tropiques project led by Swedish trumpeter Goran Kajfeš and the Berlin debut of Kris Davis' “Diatom Ribbons”. New projects are coming from the USA: Saxophonist Lakecia Benjamin, drummer and Berliner-by-choice Devin Gray and the newly founded Brooklyn-based quartet Wrens with Elias Stemeseder.
The European scene is also represented by the BIDA Orchestra of percussionist Sun-Mi Hong from Amsterdam, the trio De Beren Gieren from Ghent, the quartet The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters led by electronic musician Mariam Rezaei from London and Camila Nebbia in a trio with Kit Downes and Andrew Lisle.
In a world premiere, the Malacoda String Quartet plays the last string quartet compositions by cellist Tristan Honsinger, who died in 2023. John Hollenbeck presents GEORGE with Anna Webber, Sarah Rossy and Chiquita Magic and on Friday evening in a Bühnenhaus special his current project “The Drum Major Instinct”, in which he explores one of the last sermons by Martin Luther King Jr. that he held in 1968 in Atlanta shortly before he was assassinated.
In addition, a diverse supporting programme will be offered: Panel discussions and artist talks, presentations of scientific research and oral history formats, poster and photo exhibitions as well as film screenings of ARD concert recordings.
Jazzfest Berlin, founded in 1964 in West Berlin as one of the first jazz festivals in Europe, is turning 60 years old. Reason enough to take a closer look at this legendary festival's rich history in the international Jazzfest Research Lab while also plotting ideas for a promising future with the Jazzfest Community Lab Moabit. Past, present and future come together in the anniversary edition's diverse concert programme, and style-defining icons of jazz history will share the stage with newer voices and projects from the global jazz community over the four days of the festival.
»Having teamed up with a number of new partners for the Research and Community Lab, we aim to gain new insights into contemporary and trend-setting festival production. Both birthday specials are unique mobilisation and outreach projects that stand out from the festival's history, questioning what we take for granted, leaving our comfort zones and creating new sources of inspiration in tandem with this year's Jazzfest Berlin concert programme.«
– Nadin Deventer, Artistic Director Jazzfest Berlin
On the opening night Vilhelm Bromander’s Unfolding Orchestra, free jazz icon Joe McPhee and the one and only Marilyn Crispell will take the stage. On Saturday the legendary Sun Ra Arkestra meets Anna Högberg’s high-energy formation Extended Attack, and on Sunday the 17-piece Special Big Band of guitar pioneer Otomo Yoshihide from Japan will join the highly acclaimed sax player Darius Jones and the dynamic pianist Sylvie Courvoisier from New York City.
Other highlights include a performance by the trio Tapestry with saxophonist Joe Lovano, the world premiere of the new Joachim Kühn French Trio with drummer Sylvain Darrifourcq and bassist Thibault Cellier, the Tropiques project led by Swedish trumpeter Goran Kajfeš and the Berlin debut of Kris Davis' “Diatom Ribbons”. New projects are coming from the USA: Saxophonist Lakecia Benjamin, drummer and Berliner-by-choice Devin Gray and the newly founded Brooklyn-based quartet Wrens with Elias Stemeseder.
The European scene is also represented by the BIDA Orchestra of percussionist Sun-Mi Hong from Amsterdam, the trio De Beren Gieren from Ghent, the quartet The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters led by electronic musician Mariam Rezaei from London and Camila Nebbia in a trio with Kit Downes and Andrew Lisle.
In a world premiere, the Malacoda String Quartet plays the last string quartet compositions by cellist Tristan Honsinger, who died in 2023. John Hollenbeck presents GEORGE with Anna Webber, Sarah Rossy and Chiquita Magic and on Friday evening in a Bühnenhaus special his current project “The Drum Major Instinct”, in which he explores one of the last sermons by Martin Luther King Jr. that he held in 1968 in Atlanta shortly before he was assassinated.
In addition, a diverse supporting programme will be offered: Panel discussions and artist talks, presentations of scientific research and oral history formats, poster and photo exhibitions as well as film screenings of ARD concert recordings.
