Since the first half of the 20th century, the Old Continent has played a pivotal role both in welcoming and supporting jazz artists from the United States. Over the following decades it has expressed generations of passionate musicians with increasingly original languages and ever greater improvisatory skills.
In the 21st century there are countless excellent, professionally trained, jazz musicians all over Europe (as everywhere else in the world), ranging from the more mainstream boppers to the most radical sonic explorers. They infuse their music with interesting aspects from their cultural and geographical upbringing, while, at the same time, yearning for a global, cross-cutting, generational recognition.
Here I present 15 artists or bands that probably are not among the best known outside of Europe but are worthy of your attention (more information, including bios, discographies, and videos, can be found by clicking on the musician's name and browsing their profile).
They come from different countries and traditions, mostly from recent generations of artists who are bringing refreshing new talent to the genre. The choices could have been broader (regretfully, not all the Countries can be covered in the limited space here, but we'll talk in more detail about other scenes soon; in the meanwhile you can also read the article about the 15 Italian Jazz musicians you need to know about) and someone else would have probably selected different names here and there -I tend to prefer artists with an original language than virtuoso stylists -but this article has the humble ambition to sketch an alluring path to encourage you to enter the world of new European jazz and start an exploration of its riches.
Read the full article on All About Jazz: https://www.allaboutjazz.com/forget-old-europe-15-european-jazz-musicians-you-need-to-know-about-reinier-baas-by-enrico-bettinello.php
Enrico Bettinello
In the 21st century there are countless excellent, professionally trained, jazz musicians all over Europe (as everywhere else in the world), ranging from the more mainstream boppers to the most radical sonic explorers. They infuse their music with interesting aspects from their cultural and geographical upbringing, while, at the same time, yearning for a global, cross-cutting, generational recognition.
Here I present 15 artists or bands that probably are not among the best known outside of Europe but are worthy of your attention (more information, including bios, discographies, and videos, can be found by clicking on the musician's name and browsing their profile).
They come from different countries and traditions, mostly from recent generations of artists who are bringing refreshing new talent to the genre. The choices could have been broader (regretfully, not all the Countries can be covered in the limited space here, but we'll talk in more detail about other scenes soon; in the meanwhile you can also read the article about the 15 Italian Jazz musicians you need to know about) and someone else would have probably selected different names here and there -I tend to prefer artists with an original language than virtuoso stylists -but this article has the humble ambition to sketch an alluring path to encourage you to enter the world of new European jazz and start an exploration of its riches.
Read the full article on All About Jazz: https://www.allaboutjazz.com/forget-old-europe-15-european-jazz-musicians-you-need-to-know-about-reinier-baas-by-enrico-bettinello.php
Enrico Bettinello
