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  • Sound Cosmos NRW 2024
    Classical Persian music and Sufi chants from Pakistan

    WDR 3 concert | 23 June 2024, 20:04 - 23:00

    (Available until 23 July 2024)

    https://www1.wdr.de/radio/wdr3/programm/sendungen/wdr3-konzert/klassische-persische-musik-und-sufi-gesaenge-aus-pakistan-100.html

    The Rokhs Quartet from Iran enchants the audience with classical Persian music in the Klangkosmos NRW series at the Düsseldorf Jazz-Schmiede. Mystical Sufi chants from Gilgit-Baltistan in Pakistan will be performed by the Meher Angez Trio.

    For over 20 years, the Klangkosmos NRW concert series has been bringing unusual artists from all over the world to Germany to perform the exciting musical traditions of their home countries in many cities in North Rhine-Westphalia over a period of several weeks. In the current season, the four Iranian musicians of the Rokhs Quartet delighted concertgoers in February with two suites in which they set poems by world-famous medieval poets such as Hafez, Rumi and Jami to music in the traditional style on classical Persian instruments, as well as playing music from the 19th century. In May, Meher Angez, the first and only Sufi singer from Pakistan's Gilgit-Baltistan region, will be performing in various cities in NRW. Accompanied by her daughter, who is one of the few professional tabla players in the world, and a master of the traditional lute Charda-Hunzai-Rubab, the highly esteemed Pakistani singer sang Ginan's epic poems about divine love, cosmology, rituals, ethical behaviour and meditation, which have been strongly influenced by Ismaili culture since the 12th century.

    Recordings from 6 March and 15 May 2024 from the Jazz-Schmiede, Düsseldorf
    Moderation: Antje Hollunder
    Editor: Simon Al-Odeh

  • A short aftermovie of the last edition of the »Jazz und Weltmusik im Hofgarten« (Jazz and World Music in the Hofgarten) concert series from 29.07. to 19.08.2023.
    Our "Jazz on a Summer's Day" concerts have been taking place in Düsseldorf's Hofgarten since 1978 and are among the oldest "music for all" formats in Germany. We are already looking forward to this year's dates from 27.07. to 17.08.2024. Click here for the program:
    https://www.jazz-schmiede.de/en/jwh

    Music:
    Simple Song (comp. Tobias Hoffmann)
    Jazzpool NRW
    Jakob Bänsch (tp), Matthew Halpin (sax), Wolfgang Schmidtke (sopr-s, b-cl, ts), Scott Kohlmann (git), Tobias Hoffmann (git), Conor Murray (b), Peter Weiss (dr)
    recorded live 19.08.2023

    Video: Tino Kukulies, Anna Riaba, Ihor Kozubenko
    Audio: Lars Wallat

  • Young Jazz Talent Award 2024 in 60 seconds.
    We even had to reprint ballot papers – you came so numerous! Thank you for cheering and enthusiastically supporting the four nominated vocalists Sophia Hufschmidt, Anna Galtschenko, Merle Böwering and Eva Swiderski. Remember these names because all four are simply wonderful!
    Our thanks go to @jurgenringbeck and the Ringbeck Foundation for his passion, his commitment to promoting young talent and for donating this award. And for his work on the jury together with Fay Claassen, Kristina Brodersen and Uli Beckerhoff, who had an incredibly difficult time making a decision with so many facets of content.
    And we wholeheartedly congratulate Eva Swiderski as the winner of the YJTA 2024, we are delighted and are looking forward to her award-tour in September:
    14.09.24 Jazz Schmiede Düsseldorf
    17.09.24 Bunker Ulmenwall Bielefeld
    19.09.24 Loft Köln
    21.09.24 Jazzclub Alluvium Oldenburg

  • Thank you Lisa Wulff, Frank Chastenier, Adrian Hanack and Konrad Ullrich for this special evening last Friday, what a great concert!
    Thanks also to all the guests who were there and made the evening possible with their energy!

    Thank you Lisa Wulff, Frank Chastenier, Adrian Hanack and Konrad Ullrich for this special evening last Friday, what a great concert!
    Thanks also to all the visitors who were there and made the evening possible by giving us so much energy!

    @lisawulff_bass
    @adrian_hanack
    @konrad_ullrich
    #frankchastenier

    Pictures: Zbyszek Lewandowski /jazzzby.com


    #jazzschmiede #livejazz #jazzconcert #jazzbass #jazzclub

  • We are already looking forward to the final evening of this year's Young Jazz Talent Award on 26 April at the Schmiede.
    These are the jazz singers nominated for the YOUNG JAZZ TALENT AWARD 2024:

    Merle Böwering

    What fascinates you most about music?
    What fascinates me most about music is the interpersonal and musical exchange. It's always special for me to be on stage with fellow musicians, to react spontaneously to each other and to experience this sense of community. Songwriting is also very important to me. When composing and writing lyrics, I can express my thoughts and feelings and share them with others.
    Which musician has influenced you personally the most so far?
    Bon Iver (US folk band) is the band I've been listening to the longest and most consistently. The way Justin Vernon writes lyrics really excites and inspires me. I also find it exciting to observe how the band's sound has changed over the years. Ella Fitzgerald's singing was one of my first points of contact with jazz. Her phrasing and scat singing immediately touched and impressed me. In addition to Ella, the sound of Chet Baker and Esperanza Spalding also influenced me personally.
    Which band/soloists have you always wanted to perform with?
    I would love to be on stage with the Portuguese musician MARO. I particularly appreciate the way she writes melodies and her soulful and soft voice, which has a high recognition value.
    What does your life outside of music look like?
    Besides making music, teaching and going to concerts, I like to dance in my spare time. I used to dance a lot of ballet and hip hop and have now started again. It's a nice balance to my otherwise very music-focussed everyday life. It's a good way to work out and clear my head. I also enjoy going to the theatre or watching dance productions.

    Anna Galchenko

    My name is Anna, I'm 21 years old and I'm in my fifth semester of jazz singing at the Folkwang UdK in Essen. I am very grateful for the opportunity to take part in this year's Young Talent Jazz Award. I started classical piano lessons at the age of five and realised relatively quickly that I was more drawn to singing. I then started singing in a Ukrainian children's choir relatively quickly and then had private lessons at the age of 10. When I was about 13, I came across jazz and became enthusiastic about it. I started singing standards and of course transcribing Chet Baker. At the moment, I would say I orientate myself a lot on Norma Winstone and the modern jazz published by ECM. I try to compose in that direction, as well as incorporating classical, Latin American elements and vocalises, like in one of my favourite albums 'Aqui' by Tatjana Parra and Andres Beeuwsaert.
    At the YTJA, I want to showcase the versatility of my music. It's important to me to sing compositions without lyrics and reach people with them. I find the effect of this very interesting, as the voice then acts as a non-verbal instrument and there is no need for language as a means of communication.
    I'm really looking forward to the evening and am excited to meet the other participants.

    What fascinates you most about music?
    In general, I'm fascinated by the diversity and change in music. In jazz alone, there are so many different subcategories and genres, and it's all categorised as 'jazz'. I find it incredibly exciting how much music exists in the world, with its own facets and cultural differences, so that everyone can find themselves somewhere. For me, it's a phenomenon that can bring people together on an infinite number of levels.
    Which musician has influenced you personally the most so far?
    It's quite difficult for me to single out just one musician, as I'm influenced by so many musicians in so many different areas and genres. In classical music, I am particularly inspired by Chopin and I loved playing his works.
    When I started singing jazz, I listened to and sang a lot of Chet Baker, Joni Mitchell, Carmen Mcrae and Thelonious Monk. Chet Baker's solos really shaped my language and improved my improvisation. Keith Jarrett is one of my favourite pianists and I try to incorporate elements of his playing into my compositions as much as I can.
    Which band/soloists have you always wanted to perform with?
    Again, there are many musicians that I admire and would love to play with. Kenny Wheeler's Large Ensemble is at the top of the list, as I currently listen to and sing a lot of contemporary jazz. I find every single composition from the album ''Music For Large And Small Ensembles'' unique and of course Norma Winstone's singing inspires and touches me a lot. I would also love to play with Richie Beirach as a duo as I am fascinated by his musical choices and I think I could learn so much from him.
    What does your life outside of music look like?
    My life largely consists of music, but I make an effort to find a balance in my everyday life. For example, I go to the gym regularly and I have a small dog. I'm also interested in psychology and political issues relating to feminism and racism.
    I maintain friendships with various people inside and outside the jazz scene.


    Sophia Hufschmidt

    What fascinates you most about music?
    That it can be so touching and that you can communicate through music in a way that goes beyond verbal communication.
    Which musician has influenced you personally the most so far?
    Stevie Wonder, Dianne Reeves and Milton Nascimento.
    Which band/soloists have you always wanted to be on stage with?
    I find it difficult to say specifically, but perhaps with Stevie Wonder or Al Jarreau.
    What does your life outside of music look like?
    My life has a lot to do with music, of course, but apart from that I enjoy spending time with friends, travelling and other cultural activities, such as going to museums or the theatre.


    Eva Swiderski


    What do you find particularly fascinating about music?
    For me, music is an escape from everyday life, the dreariness, the world-weariness. At the same time, it is also a way of processing these feelings and giving listeners a chance to feel heard or less lonely.
    Which musician has influenced you personally the most so far?
    To this day, Bobby McFerrin remains an inexplicable phenomenon for me, his musicality, (self-)irony and lightness despite his insanely acrobatic singing fascinates me. Having played classical piano for a long time, I'm finding more and more pleasure in the fusion of classical harmony mixed with improvisation; it was probably similar to Bobby, who as a baby was already comfortably listening to his parents warbling operas under the grand piano and later came to jazz. I also feel connected to Brazilian music in a way. I find the way João Gilberto, João Bosco and Chico Buarque compose so beautifully delicate ... at the same time, the recordings radiate a warm, lively energy. And that despite the fact that most of the latter's music was about criticising the dictatorial regime of the time. Recently I've also been able to get a lot out of new music, be it Helmut Lachenmann, Rebecca Saunders or Lauren Newton or my friends Laura Totenhagen, etc. I'm constantly adding new things to my repertoire. New things are constantly being added and I think it's important to always keep an open mind for different genres.
    Which band/soloists have you always wanted to perform with?
    On tour as a backing singer for Shirin David.
    What does your life outside of music look like?
    I like going to the market and bargaining over every bunch of coriander, watching cookery videos, going for walks. Sometimes I watch films excessively, e.g. at the Berlinale, put acrylic blobs on a canvas or finally finish knitting my scarf. I almost forgot to mention that I'm a passionate Scrabble player! Add me on Wordfeud: @eversnidersbyhurchill).

    Eva Swiderski (*2000) is a Berlin jazz singer, currently a student at the Hochschule für Musik und Tanz (Prof. Anette von Eichel, Prof. Shannon Barnett) in Cologne. Coming from the classical piano, her path as a singer led her through several big bands, including the Landes Jugend Jazz Orchester Berlin, Bundes Jazz Orchester, Orchestre National de Jazz (FR). With her FLINTA* band called Ever Evolving, she played at the renowned Cologne Klaeng Festival, performed at the North Sea Jazz Festival and won the German Music Council's Future Music Competition in 2023 with her composition "Insomnia". As a scholarship holder of the Gutenberg Jazz Collective in Mainz, she got to know world-famous musicians (including Norma Winstone, Ben Wendel and Lionel Loueke) with whom she was able to share the stage. After being accepted into the German National Academic Foundation (2022), she was able to release her first singles and focus on political activism in addition to music, including organising a benefit festival for Ukraine at Cologne's "Odonien" in June 2022, co-organising the feminist concert series "La Citè des Dames" for gender equality at the HfMT Cologne and setting up a regular "FLINTA* Köln Musik" meeting with Catalina Valencia (diversity officer at the Jazzhausschule Köln). During her Erasmus semester (2024) at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, she met British singing legend Elaine Delmar and received lessons from Brigitte Beraha and Scott Stroman. She was also able to join the London Vocal Project (directed by Pete Churchill).

    https://jazztalentaward.de/de/nominierte-2024

  • You'd be so nice to come home to – a one-minute glimpse into this great Cole Porter composition as played last Friday by the Thomas Siffling Quintet with their 'Remembering Chet' program. What a great evening with a sold-out Jazz-Schmiede and so many classic tunes!
    We often play Chet Baker's legendary Riverside recording, 'Chet,' after our concerts, so it was a joy to listen to this interpretation. Musicians are Thomas Siffling (flügelhorn), Olaf Schönborn (As), Martin Sasse (p), Nico Brandenburg (b) and Patrick Manzecchi (dr).

    #jazzschmiede #düsseldorf #aboutlastnight #livejazz #jazzclub #jazzconcert #trumpet #flugelhorn #chetbaker #coleporter