Jazzfest Berlin

Jazzfest Research Lab

Launched in January 2023, the Jazzfest Research Lab gathers researchers from Germany, the USA and Australia as well as students from the Berlin University of the Arts and the University of Hildesheim to take a critical look at Jazzfest Berlin’s archive spanning 60 years, its programmes, creators, musicians and, last but not least, its myths. The history of Jazzfest Berlin will be analysed from various perspectives, including gender and race, the evolution of its curation in the course of socio-political developments as well as the visual language of the festival. As part of this year’s festival programme, the researchers will present their findings in two open discourse spaces, discussing them with other interested parties and Jazzfest Berlin participants. Furthermore, their research has provided the centrepiece of the anniversary magazine celebrating 60 years of Jazzfest Berlin. The Haus der Berliner Festspiele will gather poster and photo exhibitions, a film programme with concert recordings from the first three decades of the festival and discussions with contemporary witnesses, providing deeper insight into the 60-year history of the festival.

Jazzfest Concert Programme

Past, present and future come together in the anniversary edition’s diverse concert programme. In 24 acts spread over four festival days, style-defining icons of jazz history will share the stage with newer voices and projects from the global jazz community. US pianist Marilyn Crispell will be appearing twice: once with a rare solo performance on the opening night and again as part of Trio Tapestry with saxophonist Joe Lovano. US multi-instrumentalist Joe McPhee with the trio Decoy, Japanese underground icon Otomo Yoshihide with his 16-member Special Big Band and pianist Joachim Kühn – celebrating the world premiere of his new Joachim Kühn French Trio – will also be gracing this year’s edition of Jazzfest Berlin.

The Sun Ra Arkestra – the Afrofuturist pioneers from Chicago who first appeared at the festival in 1970 – will be coming to Berlin just in time for the 60th anniversary. The newly founded Malacoda String Quartet, led by Berlin-based Italian bassist Antonio Borghini, will present the final three compositions by cellist Tristan Honsinger, who died in 2023, in a world premiere in the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church.

Building a bridge to the dynamic Swedish jazz scene, three different projects will create their very own worlds of sound at the Haus der Berliner Festspiele: double bassist Vilhelm Bromander’s Unfolding Orchestra, saxophonist Anna Högberg’s free jazz band Extended Attack and trumpeter Goran Kajfeš’s project Tropiques. Other powerful voices from Europe include drummer Sun-Mi Hong’s BIDA Orchestra from Amsterdam, the quartet The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters led by turntablist Mariam Rezaei from London and the trios led by Berlin-based musicians Joel Grip, Camila Nebbia and Devin Gray, respectively.

Saxophonist Darius Jones from the USA is making his Jazzfest Berlin debut, presenting his highly acclaimed composition “fLuXkit Vancouver (it’s suite but sacred)”. Also travelling across the Atlantic is saxophonist Lakecia Benjamin, starting her European tour with a rare club concert at Quasimodo, where Wrens will also be performing: the Brooklyn-based quartet is led by the exceptional Elias Stemeseder, originally from Austria and now based in Berlin and New York. Along with Stemeseder, outstanding pianists from Switzerland and Canada Sylvie Courvoisier and Kris Davis will be celebrating their respective European and Berlin premieres with current top line-ups mainly from the New York scene.

In addition to his current project GEORGE, former university lecturer at the Jazz Institut Berlin John Hollenbeck from Montreal will perform a multimedia version of his project “The Drum Major Instinct” especially for Berlin audiences. In this immersive event at the Bühnenhaus, he will engage in a dialogue with some legendary concert films from the long history of Jazzfest Berlin with Martin Luther King Jr. and one of his last sermons in Atlanta in 1968.

Jazzfest Community Lab Moabit: 28 October to 3 November 2024

As part of the Jazzfest Community Lab Moabit, the festival is outlining prospects for a promising future while exploring the neighbouring locality’s cultural diversity over the course of a week. Forming the backbone of the project are the residents of Moabit and their musical and cultural backgrounds, their stories, initiatives, origins and wishes. With 38 partner initiatives based in the locality along with musicians and artists, the Lab has developed ideas, projects and potential modes of collaboration based on the rituals of celebrating birthdays and making music together, as well as the themes of time, origin and shaping the future. Starting on 28 October – spanning the entire second week of the autumn holidays – over 350 participants of all ages, including 40 musicians from this year’s Jazzfest Berlin and 20 interdisciplinary workshop leaders, are taking over 25 locations throughout the locality, building a musical bridge between the Haus der Berliner Festspiele in Wilmersdorf and Moabit. For the grand finale, Community Sunday welcomes the audience to take part in a number of collective improvisations at three stations across Moabit. 

From SOS-Kinderdorf Berlin to schools, choirs, churches, cultural venues such as Afrika-Haus Berlin, PAS Berlin and Theatre X to neighbourhood kitchens, a saz school, local shops, music schools and the Jazz Institut Berlin – numerous initiatives and individuals in Moabit are taking part in workshops, storytelling sessions, artistic interventions and neighbourhood concerts.

Bolstering the anniversary edition’s concert programme, the Jazzfest Community Lab Moabit and the Jazzfest Research Lab will bring together artists from several generations of the international jazz scene. Connecting different eras and drawing from new partnerships, the two anniversary specials are questioning what we take for granted, leaving its comfort zones, joining forces with new partners and creating new sources of inspiration. Please join us in celebrating 60 years of Jazzfest Berlin!