Event information

Humboldt-Gymnasium Big Band & Theodor Fliedner Gymnasium Big Band

What would a lively Düsseldorf jazz scene be without the appropriate support for young talent? Today, two big bands from traditional Düsseldorf grammar schools show that this can't start early enough.

In 2021, Humboldt Gymnasium was recognised by the Ministry of Schools and Education as a music profile school that specifically promotes musically talented pupils in collaboration with the Clara-Schumann Music School and tries to interest them in studying music. The big band was founded in 2008 and, under the direction of Sebastian Eigenrauch, performs at numerous school events as well as outside the school.

The commitment of the Theodor Fliedner Gymnasium from Düsseldorf Oberkassel is even more wide-ranging in the big band area and goes far beyond the school environment. In addition to the actual TFG big band with its concert shows, there is also a junior big band, a vocal band and an alumni big band. A speciality of the TFG big band, which is now led by Johannes Ziemer and is now performing in the Jazz-Schmiede, is that it rearranges song classics and combines them with dance performances by the 'Dance Company' in addition to its concert shows.

The concert is free of charge for schoolchildren after prior registration at: u18frei@jazz-schmiede.de

The term jazz legend is often used - but it applies effortlessly to vibraphonist David Friedman! The native New Yorker can look back on an unrivalled career, having recorded with an almost endless list of the most high-calibre musical personalities of all genres and performed on the world's most famous stages. Friedman is immortalised on famous albums by his colleagues Wayne Shorter, Chet Baker and Joe Henderson, among others, and has shared the orchestra pit, studio and concert hall with Leonard Bernstein, Yoko Ono, Luciano Berio and Bobby McFerrin. He was a long-standing member of Jeff Buckley's bands and also led his own bands, such as a quartet with Pat Metheny and Michael Brecker.

The David Friedman Generations Trio is characterised not simply by a cross-generational approach, but by a spectacularly different approach compared to many other bands that have formed around experienced jazz legends in recent years. In the Generations Trio, three musicians from three generations actually meet at eye level. From the young, up-and-coming generation of the German jazz scene, these are the drummer, sound researcher and label operator Tilo Weber, winner of the German Jazz Award 2022, the renowned bassist Oliver Potratz, two-time winner of the German Jazz Award 2021, who has been a central part of the German jazz scene for over 20 years, and the legendary vibraphonist, marimbist, composer and emeritus jazz professor David Friedman.

Every Tuesday: Jam Session in the Jazz-Schmiede. The evening always starts at 8pm with an opener concert set with different bands every week. Afterwards, from around 9pm, there is an open jam session - anyone can come and join in to jam with other musicians and the opening band. Admission is free, so the sessions are also a great opportunity to get to know the Schmiede in an uncomplicated way.

"The rhythm and the groove, that always felt natural to me."

Originally from Finland, Kaisa Mäensivu is a jazz bassist living in New York City. She is the founder of the group Kaisa's Machine and has played internationally, leading her band at Ronnie Scott's in London, New York's Rochester Jazz Festival and the North Sea Jazz Festival. Kaisa is also a regular guest performer with other groups and loves to explore other styles of music.

Kaisa's Machine represents Mäensivu's vision of music in the form of her compositions. The music aims to be relatable in its purity - sometimes it's bouncy and groovy and celebrates with you, other times it makes you think about all the mysteries and tragedies of life on our planet. Playing bass is Mäensivu's way of dealing with it all.

www.kaisamaensivu.com/machine

Dennis Grasmik comes from Essen and is currently studying jazz saxophone at the Folkwang University of the Arts, where the 2023 quintet was formed. Together with Vincent Pinn on trumpet, Lion Lauer on piano, Alex Rosendahl on double bass and Simon Kuhn on drums, five up-and-coming musicians have come together to take to the stage and give jazz their very own, unmistakable flavour.

In the background, a reminiscence of Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers can be heard, who have not only influenced the sound of the quintet as a role model and inspiration. In addition to selected original compositions by Grasmik, the programme also includes pieces by contemporary greats such as Benny Green, Roy Hargrove, Kenny Garrett, Kenny Wheeler and Peter O'Mara.

The combination of swing and Afro-Cuban rhythms creates an energetic atmosphere in which the new and the familiar overlap. In which lively and calm phases contrast with each other. Music that tells stories. Comprehensible jazz that makes you rediscover the familiar. That recombines and reinterprets. Jazz that (which has become rare) also invites you to dance. It is an attempt to define a new cool jazz from Germany.

Every Tuesday: Jam Session at the Jazz-Schmiede. While our sessions are usually real book sessions and focus on jazz standards, our new session format is all about salsa, rumba and everything Latin.

The evening will also start at 20:00 with an opener concert set, followed by an open jam session from around 21:00 - anyone can simply come and join in to jam with other musicians and the opener band.

Modern jazz tap fusion from Paris

When rhythmic precision meets lyrical depth, magic unfolds: acclaimed jazz pianist Julia Perminova and tap dance visionary Daniel Luka combine their talents to create a captivating concert experience.
The sophisticated original compositions of the two Paris-based musicians interweave sound and movement, improvisation and composition - sometimes powerfully pulsating, sometimes fragile and poetic. Perminova's expressive piano playing and Lukas' dance-like sound art unfold a dialogue that captivates with virtuosity, depth and surprise.

WE'LL RISE

The multi-award-winning pianist Anke Helfrich is one of Germany's most outstanding jazz musicians. Her style combines the American jazz tradition with European influences, blues with a sensual sound and virtuosity with the ability to tell stories. She fuses music and attitude into highly interesting projects - as in her current programme "WE'LL RISE", which is dedicated to making inspiring women and forgotten pioneers visible. One of her compositions was included in the book "New Standards: by Women Composers", which was published in 2022 by US percussionist Terri Lyne Carrington. Helfrich has also long been recognised internationally.
Helfrich presents the music with her long-standing, excellent musical partners. Bassist Dietmar Fuhr has played with countless jazz stars at home and abroad and teaches at several German universities. Drummer Jens Düppe is a sought-after figure on the scene and an active bandleader himself. over the years, the trio has developed its own sound: musical equality, freedom and trust form the basis on which the many facets of Helfrich's compositions are moulded into an organic unity.

HOMEGROWN Vol.4

With "Homegrown", the CCJO makes the creative potential of its members audible and visible. The new programme was recently recorded and will soon be released as a live album. In addition to the improvisational skills of the CCJO musicians, Homegrown Vol. 4 focuses on their compositions and arrangements: compositions by Francois de Ribaupierre, Kristina Brodersen, Marko Lackner, Andreas Schickentanz, Ben Degen, Wolf Schenk, Christian Winninghoff and Jens Düppe take centre stage and, thanks to the different artistic backgrounds of the band members, a varied and, above all, musically surprising evening is guaranteed.

Together with the Brazilian double bass player Rafael de Sousa and the Californian drummer Nathan Carruthers, the German/English saxophonist Edi May presents his Chordless Jazz Trio. Edi is winner of the Jazz Prize of the Gasteig Competition and winner of the Kurt Maas Jazz Award. Together they present standards, their own compositions and music whose biggest influences are from new and old jazz and popular music history, including Paul Motion, Sonny Rollins, Radiohead, and John Coltrane.

Every Tuesday: Jam Session at the Jazz-Schmiede. The evening always starts at 8pm with an opener concert set featuring different bands each week. Afterwards, from around 9pm, there is an open jam session - anyone can simply come and join in to jam with other musicians and the opening band. Admission is free, so the sessions are also a great opportunity to get to know the Schmiede in an uncomplicated way.

Ainu songs from Japan

Kapiw & Apappo - "seagull" and "flower" in the Ainu language - are among the most important voices of a culture that few people outside Japan really know. The Ainu are considered the indigenous people of northern Japan, whose traditions, rituals and songs are deeply connected to nature. Music played a central role in their everyday life: it accompanied work and festivals, was used for healing, storytelling and contact with the numerous nature spirits that, according to Ainu belief, live in humans, animals, plants and even in rivers or the wind.

Growing up in the Ainu seaside village of Kotan, the two sisters learnt the songs of their people from their grandmother - a rare form of oral transmission that forms the basis of their artistic work today. Their concerts are characterised by traditional Upopo songs, short, often circular melodies that oscillate between everyday life and spirituality. Some songs accompany playful throat-singing competitions, others are rhythmic work songs, while others are prayer songs that ask for luck while hunting or protection from evil spirits.

The sound world of Kapiw & Apappo is as simple as it is impressive:
The bright, soft singing is carried by the tonkori, an archaic harp lute from the north, and the mukkuri, a Jew's harp whose vibrating sound leads into the spiritual dimension of Ainu music. This combination creates meditative, intimate moments, but also lively rhythms - always carried by a deep honesty and cultural rootedness.

Kapiw & Apappo have been performing regularly in Japan since 2012, have been guests at numerous festivals and are now recognised as important representatives of contemporary Ainu music in the traditional style. Their CD Paykar and the documentary film Kapiw and Apappo - A Tale of Ainu Sisters (2016) also made their art accessible to a wider international audience.

Finest Latin, Flamenco and Gipsy Rumba!

A fusion of artists from Spain and Cuba who have turned their passion for Spanish music into their profession. The range of cultural influences of the individual artists creates a fusion of modern flamenco - gipsy guitars, Latin rhythms and elements of jazz, which provides a convincing live performance for the audience both in concert and at any event. The inspiration for the project comes from the collaboration between the two Spanish artists Daniel de Alcalá (guitarist, musical director & composer) and José Antonio Primo Reina (singer & songwriter). With their individual musical style, whether in their own compositions or in the form of self-arranged pieces from current and traditional music repertoire, the Rumba Gitana combo always gives their performance a very personal touch.

The KNUD Trio formed while studying jazz together at the Folkwang University of the Arts in Essen. The three musicians are united by musical curiosity, a love of playing and a keen sense of collective dynamics.

Since 2021, KNUD has been developing a repertoire of original compositions that deliberately focuses on lightness and energy - as a musical expression of the joy of playing together and reliving live music. Inspired by formations such as the Esbjörn Svensson Trio, Mark Guiliana Jazz Quartet and Phronesis, their music combines rhythmic diversity with catchy melodies. The pieces emerge from both individual ideas and joint improvisation and combine to form an exciting musical journey with clear highs and lows.

Jimmy Giuffre was a great saxophonist, clarinettist and composer. The pieces on the album Tangents of Jazz have special arrangements and elegant melodic themes in addition to the harmonyless instrumentation with two horns and rhythm section. On this evening, Mr Giuffre's music will be interpreted in his honour.

Every Tuesday: Jam Session at the Jazz-Schmiede. The evening always starts at 8pm with an opener concert set with different formations every week. Afterwards, from around 9pm, there is an open jam session - anyone can come and join in to jam with other musicians and the opening band. Admission is free, so the sessions are also a great opportunity to get to know the Schmiede in an uncomplicated way.

With the Tony Lakatos Organisation, the internationally acclaimed tenor saxophonist Tony Lakatos presents a rousing trio that reinterprets jazz standards and his own compositions with virtuosic joy of playing and an audible desire to take risks. The trio impresses with an incredibly organic sound, in which Jung's Hammond organ forms the ideal sound basis for Lakatos' powerful, nuanced lines and Robin's precise, energetic playing, making the classic jazz tradition sound fresh, lively and fascinatingly modern.

On this evening, the Jazz-Schmiede will be transformed into a ballroom: all chairs out and dancing! Just like in the legendary Savoy in Harlem, where Lindy Hop was created in the 1920s - invented, danced and celebrated by the African-American community. Night after night, people improvised, tried things out and brought swing music to life on the dance floor. Today we are bringing this feeling back: a dance full of energy, spontaneity and joy that has long since conquered the world again.

The Kultur(r)etten have been organising the Culture Club, the only LGBTQ show in the state capital Düsseldorf, under the motto "Stars, starlets and sluts" or "Without rehearsals all the way to the top" for 30 years, since 1993. Everyone is welcome to enjoy a cheerful, wild but also trashy show, which often surprises the performers and is constantly being reinvented.

Every Tuesday: Jam Session in the Jazz-Schmiede. The evening always starts at 8pm with an opener concert set with different bands every week. Afterwards, from around 9pm, there is an open jam session - anyone can come and join in to jam with other musicians and the opening band. Admission is free, so the sessions are also a great opportunity to get to know the Schmiede in an uncomplicated way.

February again. And once again, crooner Hans Hoff got his boys from Blue Again together and asked them if it wasn't time to give the Jazz-Schmiede's programme another good thrashing. The answer was a resounding yes, accompanied by the question of when tickets could be ordered. This time, the boys want to let their fans and relatives know well in advance so that, unlike at the last two guest appearances, not so many people stand in front of the "sold out" sign and miss out on how the old combo inside mixes up the legacy of James Brown, Sam & Dave, Wilson Pickett or B.B. King, how they make soul jazzy and the blues funky.
Once again, Hans Hoff, once known and feared as a music and media critic, wants to organise a big party with his power unit and declare Bilk the hub of his musical world. After all, he grew up within sight of the Jazz-Schmiede, and although he now lives mainly in the Eifel region, he has never lost touch with Düsseldorf. This is where the heart of his passion beats, where the beat calls the shots.
This time, the focus is on Memphis soul classics, from "Hold On I'm Coming" and "Land Of 1000 Dances" to Eddie Floyd's "Knock On Wood". But the six soul men from the gold class also dare to experiment and like to break out of the mould from time to time. Soul is what you make of it, they say, and anyone who has experienced it can only comment with an approving "Jo". It's soul time.

When it doesn't matter whether it's jazz or pop, when terms such as coolness and serenity are secondary, when the Cécile Verny Quartet sets out to blur the boundaries and give the front woman exactly the space she needs for her emotions: Then, exactly then, it's worth going.
The Cécile Verny Quartet has been a reliable force on the German jazz scene for more than 30 years. After the last "of moons and dreams" tour, the band will be playing some classics as well as new, as yet unreleased songs that will expand the already rich spectrum of sound colours, increase the emotional depth and make the live concert experience even more unforgettable.

The Lýriska Trio from North Rhine-Westphalia combines jazz with elements of popular music and unites lyrical improvisation with sophisticated compositions. Marian Fricke (piano), Luca Loeb (electric bass) and the new drummer Matthias Knorr develop a dense, energetic trio sound that is both emotionally moving and memorable.

Inspired by formations such as the Tingvall Trio, E.S.T. and GoGo Penguin, their original compositions go straight to the heart: dynamic piano playing, powerful bass riffs and bouncy rhythms combine with rock and funk elements to create an exciting musical narrative. The press and audience particularly appreciate the atmospheric density and high improvisational energy of the trio.