Jazzfest Bonn

Friday, April 22, 2016, 07:00 pm (double concert)

Telekom Forum

Bundesjazzorchester

(Telekom Forum | 22.4.2016) BuJazzO is the official jazz youth orchestra of the Federal Republic of Germany. Outstanding young musicians between the ages of 17 and 24 join with renowned conductors and instructors to create an ensemble with the highest musical standards. Founded in 1988, BuJazzO is widely recognized as a training ground for tomorrow’s successful jazz musicians. For this year’s Jazzfest Bonn, they have prepared a program with ex... read more »

Thomas Quasthoff Quartet

„My Favorite Things“ Crossover artist Thomas Quasthoff is internationally acclaimed for his outstanding bass-baritone voice. His new Jazz-program “My Favorite Things” is a carefully chosen selection of Quasthoff’s most favorite jazz, blues and soul songs. Three exceptional musicians will be performing with him on stage: Frank Chastenier, Quasthoff’s long-time pianist, Dieter Ilg playing bass and drummer Wolfgang Haffner. Previously Quast... read more »

Saturday, April 23, 2016, 07:00 pm (double concert)

Haus der Geschichte

Antonio Sánchez & Migration

(Haus der Geschichte | 23.4.2016) Four-time Grammy winner Antonio Sánchez is one of the most accomplished drummers, bandleaders, and composers of his generation. Born in Mexico City, he moved to New York in 1999, where he discovered his true musical home. 2014 proved to be a landmark year for Sánchez: his ever-expanding musical vision was discovered by new audiences through his Golden Globe & BAFTA-nominated score for Alejandro G... read more »

Lisa Bassenge

(Haus der Geschichte | 23.4.2016) A “voice that cradles you in beautiful dreams,” wrote the Taz about the Berlin singer Lisa Bassenge. With her urban mixture of jazz, blues, and chanson, Bassenge has made a name for herself as one of Germany’s finest singers. She explores completely new territory in her newest album, Canyon Songs, which she recorded in Los Angeles with Grammy winner Larry Klein. Daring to move beyond her familiar mus... read more »

Sunday, April 24, 2016, 07:00 pm (double concert)

Jean-Louis Matinier & Michael Riessler

(Volksbank-Haus | 24.4.2016) Two versatile and adventurous virtuosos share the stage. For the past two years, the Parisian accordion master Jean-Louis Matinier and Michael Riessler have worked together on numerous occasions. Their program moves between jazz, classical, avant-garde, and progressive folk music. Jean-Louis Matinier – accordion Michael Riessler – clarinet ... read more »

Julia Zipprick & Band

(Volksbank-Haus | 24.4.2016) Direct and honest, serious and even melancholic, yet always with a knowing wink and an unerring sense for just the right amount of humor: this is Julia Zipprick’s musical universe. With subtle melodies and driving, distinctive rhythms, this Cologne artist presents a captivating musical autobiography with music from her debut album, by my side. Julia Zipprick – vocals Annette Maye – clarine... read more »

Thursday, April 28, 2016, 07:00 pm (double concert)

Post Tower

Ramón Valle Trio

(Post Tower | 28.4.2016) The pianist Ramón Valle, born and raised in Cuba, enchants his listeners with enthusiasm, exhilarating rhythms, and emotional power. The 51-year-old artist, who lives in the Netherlands since 1998, plays pure contemporary jazz that nevertheless still swings to the rhythms of his Cuban roots. Valle says, “I am a Cuban musician whose music falls into the ‘jazz’ category, but it touches many other genres as wel... read more »

Lisa Simone

(Post Tower | 28.4.2016) Lisa Simone, daughter of the famous singer Nina Simone, was born in 1962 near New York. It was there that she took her first steps into the world of music. In December 2014, she released her first album: All is Well which displays her seemingly limitless vocal range. It is deeply rooted in the soil of African-American life using carefully selected texts to tell us secrets from a timeless hidden forest. Her s... read more »

Friday, April 29, 2016, 07:00 pm (double concert)

Brotfabrik

The Fuhr Brothers

(Brotfabrik | 29.4.2016) Since their youngest days, the brothers Dietmar and Wolfgang Fuhr have played together in many different groups and formations. Their current project, “The Fuhr Brothers”, is dedicated to the German jazz tradition. In collaboration with Wolfgang Dauner, Gerd Dudek, and Manfred Schoof, the two brothers chose and arranged the pieces that they then recorded in the Deutschlandfunk’s chamber music hall in Cologne.... read more »

Sidsel Endresen & Stian Westerhus

(Brotfabrik | 29.4.2016) Sidsel Endresen explores the world of sound with her voice. She hums, caws, and growls. She is unconventional, imaginative, and independent. In her congenial collaboration with guitarist Stian Westerhus, Endresen creates worlds of sound that are magical, mysterious, and both beautiful and terrifying. Every performance by this duo is an open-ended experiment, because both are constantly willing to open themsel... read more »

Saturday, April 30, 2016, 07:00 pm (double concert)

Universität Bonn

Michael Wollny Trio

(Universität Bonn | 30.4.2016) Hexentanz, Wunderkammer, and Weltentraum – though he is only 36 years old, these albums have established Michael Wollny’s reputation far beyond Germany’s borders. Wollny’s raucous but rhythmically compelling piano playing is like no one else’s. Much like the Norwegians, though with a very different sound, for him jazz is defined by its unlimited variety of possibilities. In his newest album, Nachtfahrte... read more »

fatsO

(Universität Bonn | 30.4.2016) fatsO was founded by the multi-talented Colombian artist Daniel Restrepo. He composes and arranges the music, plays double bass, and sings with a grating voice that can melt hearts. The sound of this band from Bogota is a fresh and convincing mix of jazz, blues, soul, rock, and South American folk music. In 2013, the band made their live debut at Bogota’s Jazz in the Park festival, and first played in E... read more »

Sunday, May 1, 2016, 07:00 pm (double concert)

Universität Bonn

Girls in Airports

(Universität Bonn | 1.5.2016) If international music critics were asked to name their favorite group, a very large number would choose Girls in Airports. Girls in Airports is very much a collective endeavor. The stories told in the group’s music, which is informed by as many musical influences as there are band members, are varied and colorful and unique. Ranging from euphoria to melancholy, Girls in Airports’ music has an intensely ... read more »

Bettye LaVette

(Universität Bonn | 1.5.2016) She possesses one of the most expressive and emotional voices in Soul, and her current CD Worthy marks a new beginning for her. Two-time Grammy nominee Bettye LaVette is an interpreter of the highest order. Whether the song originated as country, rock, pop, jazz or blues, when she gets through with it, it is pure R&B. She gets inside a song and shapes and twists it to convey all of the emotion that c... read more »

Wednesday, May 4, 2016, 07:00 pm (double concert)

LVR-LandesMuseum Bonn

Marcus Schinkel Trio feat. Ernie Watts

(LVR-LandesMuseum Bonn | 4.5.2016) Crossover music ignores borders and brings together different musical worlds. Who could know this better than Ernie Watts, two-time Grammy winner and one of jazz’s greatest saxophone players? Watts has worked with legends like Miles Davis and Frank Zappa, who constantly sought to expand their own horizons and carefully wove other influences into their music. In Bonn, Watts will play for the first ti... read more »

Matt Herskowitz Trio

(LVR-LandesMuseum Bonn | 4.5.2016) Equally accomplished as jazz and classical musicians, the Matt Herskowitz Trio, founded in 2002, has performed at major jazz and chamber music festivals throughout Europe and North America. Their first album, Forget Me Not (2004), received rave reviews and was nominated for Québec’s prestigious Félix award as “Best Jazz Album of the Year”. Their next album, Jerusalem Trilogy (2010), featured Matt's ... read more »

Thursday, May 5, 2016, 07:00 pm (double concert)

LVR-LandesMuseum Bonn

Caecilie Norby & Lars Danielsson

(LVR-LandesMuseum Bonn | 5.5.2016) This duo constellation of two of the most respected musicians on today’s European jazz scene is the perfect setting for both of their musical personalities. They invite the listener into their intimate musical universe. Cæcilie and Lars composed most of the music themselves, creating a wide palette of personal soundscapes and moods that are delivered with a sense of melancholy, groove and humor that... read more »

Dauner & Dauner

(LVR-LandesMuseum Bonn | 5.5.2016) Wolfgang Dauner, a constant presence on the international jazz scene since the 1960s, performs together with his son, the award-winning drummer Flo Dauner, who has played for many years with groups like “Die fantastischen Vier”. Father and son complement each other perfectly in spite of their different musical personalities and experiences. Even at the age of 80, Wolfgang Dauner is as versatile and ... read more »

Saturday, May 7, 2016, 07:00 pm (double concert)

Bundeskunsthalle

Nils Petter Molvaer

(Bundeskunsthalle | 7.5.2016) His music is as colorful and enchanting as a clear Arctic night – The Norwegian Nils Petter Molvær impressively demonstrated this at the Jazzfest Bonn in 2014. Now he returns to Bonn with a new solo program. With only his trumpet and a laptop, he will conjure new and magical musical landscapes. Like no one else, Molvær is able to create deep and powerful musical spaces that he fills with mesmerizing ligh... read more »

Vijay Iyer Trio

(Bundeskunsthalle | 7.5.2016) By overwhelming consensus, the Vijay Iyer Trio has become one of the pivotal jazz bands of the twenty-first century. Described as “the best piano trio in jazz today” (Der Spiegel) and “the great new jazz piano trio” (The New York Times), the group is “cutting-edge, but always accessible” (The Guardian). This music is emotionally resonant and deeply interactive, radiating groove and brimming with polyrhyt... read more »