The 48th edition of the Leipzig Jazz Days will take place from October 19th to 26th, 2024. There are some electronic sounds to discover again this year. And we're giving away tickets for three concerts.
The Leipzig Jazz Days are one of the big musical highlights in the annual calendar of Leipzig festivals. Above all because, in addition to major international bookings, they also continually present newcomers – and because the festival's definition of jazz has become increasingly broader in recent years. Very good, we think. This year there will once again be some projects and concerts to discover with electronic sounds or influences from pop and hip hop. Which ones exactly? We have put together a selection from this year's program for you.
The festival passes are already sold out. But there are still tickets for the individual concerts – online here.
We are giving away 2×2 tickets for three of the concerts presented here on October 21st and 25th. How do you win it? Simply send an email to dance @ gladfroh.de by October 18th at 12 p.m. and write which concert you would like to go to. Subject: Leipzig Jazz Days. The winners will then be informed by email.
Amirtha Kidambi's Elder Ones / 10/20/24 / Neues Schauspiel Leipzig
Driving and compelling. Evocative and intoxicating. These are terms that come to mind when listening to the music of this group around the musician and singer Amirtha Kidambi. Musically it's free jazz, but other musical elements also shine through. Rock, RnB, classic and traditional elements. The US singer has a punk and hip-hop background, but also classical vocal training. The text deals with topics such as violence and racism. We can look forward to a wild live implementation.
Marek Johnson + Wrens / 10/21/24 / Schaubühne Lindenfels
The Cologne songwriter and musician Marek Johnson writes melancholic and accessible pieces to listen to and linger. The guitar is the focus, harmonically interesting and the vocals are often polyphonic. Musically open to electronica, trip hop and pop. The songs are often complex and the sound palette is constantly refined without it drifting away or a piece getting lost.
The second act of the evening called Wrens comes from the USA. The band covers a completely different musical field. Very keen to experiment with synths and other instruments plus drums. Above that are rap vocals that hold the free flow of the music together. Kind of arty with pop culture references and a nod to hip hop, grime, jazz and electronica. Certainly not easy fare, but somehow cool too.
Beatdenkers Sinularia + Marb & DDT (DJ set) / 10/23/24 / Neues Schauspiel Leipzig
Things get really fat here! Sinularia from Berlin definitely have a thing for IDM and tricky music from the UK. Aphex Twin, Flying Lotus and Co. send their regards. All the drums, guitar and bass plus probably a bunch of effects. A bit noisy, a bit harmony, a bit LoFi, a bit on the 12th. Check out “3.4.: Breath”!
Marb and DDT then invite you to a DJ set. A guaranteed exciting evening!
Sofia Jernberg & Mette Rasmussen + Camila Nebbias's The Hanged One / 24.10.24 / UT Connewitz
An experimental dialogue between voice and saxophone? You can hear that from Sofia Jernberg and Mette Rasmussen. It's pretty crazy that these sounds are actually only created by two musicians. Anyone who is not afraid to get involved in something completely “different” should be here.
Tenor saxophonist Camila Nebbia is also more on the experimental spectrum. However, the context is different here: a full band line-up plays with post-punk and free jazz elements. It will be brutal and driving in one of the most beautiful concert venues in Leipzig.
Andi Haberl's Sun / Lina Allemano's ear feast / 25.10.24 / UT Connewitz
You may already know Andi Haberl from one or two projects. The Notwist should say something to some people – the band has been quite successful for several decades and has already given us one or two musical milestones. Anyone who has ever seen Andi Haberl behind the drums at a The Notwist concert knows what rhythmic class you are dealing with here.
Under the project name Sun, the musician has now released a solo record on Notwist's house label Alien Transistor, which is just as musically diverse as the albums by the above-mentioned group. Instrumental music between catchy chamber music and post-rock, sometimes with a herbaceous touch and instrumentally very complex. Certainly a very exciting and fine thing live.
Afterwards there will be even more “feast for the ears”. At least that's what the project name of the trio around Lina Allemano suggests. Maybe not quite as catchy as Sun, but perhaps just right because contrasts can make an evening all the more exciting. In a classic trio line-up with bass, drums and trumpet, it's jazzy and playful.
Micah + CEL (Felix Kubin & Hubert Zemler) / 25.10.24 / Work 2
Is Maika's music still classed as jazz? Rather, it is an appealing mix of synthpop, singer-songwriter, folky elements and a dreamlike voice. But despite all that, it still seems somehow jazzy. Super nice music and definitely something for fans of Rhye, Sade and Co.
CEL is based more on musical minimalism with influences from Kraut to NDW. In any case, there are various cross-references to German music culture of the last 50 years. Chic!
Credit Festival-Keyvisual: Stefan Ibrahim
Source: https://www.frohfroh.de/43102/elektronische-nischen-bei-den-leipziger-jazztagen-2024
