Festival Jazz International Rotterdam (29 Oct – 1 Nov) and twin Festival Jazz International Nijmegen (29 Oct ‒1 Nov) are delighted to welcome the International Music Meeting Festival as a programme partner in 2020. A number of bands originally listed on the programme for the cancelled International Music Meeting Festival will still have an opportunity to perform at both jazz festivals in late October. With the announcement of the first names, the three collaborating festivals are promising line-ups packed with musical encounters, new projects and budding talents, in a live setting and in front of a live audience.
Premiers
Two new productions being developed in Rotterdam will premiere at both festivals. Drummer and composer Jimmi Hueting will transform his indie rock band Jo Goes Hunting into a big jazz ensemble, christened Jo Goes Hunting XL for the occasion. Another festival special is ‘Enkuentro’, a collaborative project bringing together the Curaçao pianist Randal Corsen and the New Rotterdam Jazz Orchestra, the flagship of jazz in Rotterdam.
The Pack Project
A young talent takes centre stage! This year the annual Pack Project will be in the hands of the energetic saxophonist Alba Gil Aceytuno. She has already shown her spirit and open-minded attitude playing with the trio Amaguk. The Pack Project challenges her to put together a whole new band, or ‘pack’, write new music, make an artistic dream come true, and present it in Rotterdam and Nijmegen. Jazz International Rotterdam guides and accompanies her during this process.
Unique musical encounters
In collaboration with International Music Meeting Festival, the Athens-based Nigerian guitarist Adedeji Adetayo has been invited to assemble a band. Adedeji lived in the Netherlands for some time and graduated in 2012 from the Prince Claus Conservatoire in Groningen. No doubt he will be approaching some musicians from the Netherlands to join him in creating African music with a progressive jazz attitude!
The experimental and genre-free improvisational Berlin duo Witch ‘n Monk is another Music Meeting invited band who will feature on the programme at both jazz festivals. Joining them for the concert in Nijmegen will be the much-praised viola player and Boy Edgar prize-winner Oene van Geel. Witch ‘n Monk will team up in Rotterdam with Jorrit Westerhof, a leading figure on the Rotterdam ‘impro’ scene.
More names will be announced in the lead-up to the festivals.
COVID-19
Although we’re hoping that Corona restrictions will have been further relaxed later this year, we are taking into account the possibility of staging festivals where the 1.5-metre-social distancing rule will need to be respected. Following the safety protocol drawn up for music venues and the latest instructions from the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM), we will provide both musicians and staff with a safe working environment and ensure that the public can enjoy live music safely.
More information
More names will be announced at a later stage. Start ticketing: September 1st.
Additional programme information is provided below and on the websites www.fjir.nl and www.fjin.nl and www.musicmeeting.nl
About the festivals
Festival Jazz International Rotterdam (FJIR) & Nijmegen (FJIN)
Rotterdam has been home to a successful festival of contemporary and adventurous jazz since 2001. Festival Jazz International Rotterdam hosts a multi-day programme with plenty of attention for young musicians and new projects, national and international, and a central role for the Rotterdam scene and sound. The programme features jazz, electronic music, impro and many crossovers, all with a Rotterdam flavour. The home base and partner of Festival Jazz International Rotterdam is LantarenVenster music venue and cinema.
Since 2016, the festival has partnered with twin event, Festival Jazz International Nijmegen. This collaboration focuses on the development and sharing of local talents and new projects.
www.fjir.nl
www.fjin.nl
International Music Meeting Festival
International Music Meeting Festival has been mining the fertile ground of global music for the past 35 years. The result is a refined blend of jazz, roots and dance music from all corners of the world.
The festival brings a whole new musical dimension into the limelight: music that inspires and broadens the mind, bringing people together and, by that, deepening understanding and strengthening connections. The three-day festival takes place over the Pentecost weekend each year. Because the 2020 festival had to be cancelled on account of the corona virus, the festival is organizing various activities during Festival Jazz International Rotterdam & Nijmegen 2020.
www.musicmeeting.nl
