Home » Jazz Articles » Live Review » Jazzahead! 2014
Jazzahead! 2014
Bremen, Germany
April 24-27, 2014
It's hard to imagine, with diminishing music sales, the emergence of streaming services as the musical version of the antichrist for musicians and the increasing challenge of putting rear ends into seats at North American jazz festivals, but as it heads into its ninth year, Jazzahead! continues to provide unassailable evidence that it may be struggling to be so, but jazz is, indeed, a business. A place where artists, labels, festival presenters, club owners, publicists, media and anyone else in any way connected to jazz can comingle in the contexts of daytime conference streams, performance showcases and booths, booths, booths—all manned (peopled?) by folks who want you to hear their latest release(s) and check out their band(s)—Jazzahead! has become the place to go if you're looking to find your way into an international network of jazz industry people that quite literally covers every continent but two: the Arctic and Antarctica...and if a jazz band ever emerged on one of those two isolated locations, they'd no doubt be added to the Jazzahead! roster, too.
One of the most admirable and appealing aspects to Jazzahead! is that it is staffed by people who listen. The event has grown (a very good thing) to the point where it was becoming increasingly difficult to cover evening showcases in the nearby Kulturzentrum Schlachthof—literally an old slaughterhouse that has been converted into a performance space, bar and restaurant, where so many people were going that unless you were there early enough to find a seat, more often than not you had to listen from near the door (not always in the hall), trying to look over masses of peoples' shoulders to catch a glimpse of the act. While there are even more solutions planned for invited journalists who were having trouble getting their work done, the 2014 edition of Jazzahead! already made one very significant improvement: to open up one of the halls in the Congress Centre that houses the majority of the event's activities for evening showcases, so that there were now two venues to choose from. The result was relief in both venues and, while it might well have been possible to move back and forth between them, one of the other problems with becoming a regular at Jazzahead!—and one that nobody expects the organizers to resolve— is that most attempts to keep to a strict schedule are scuttled simply because, walking from one venue to another, or even from one end of a hall to another, someone—or, more often than not, someones—will yell out, "Hey! John!!" and the next thing you know, you're seeing someone you've not seen in months or perhaps even years, trying to catch up with them while still attempting to stick to that schedule.
So, after two prior years covering Jazzahead—2011 and 2012—the big lessons learned have been: don't over-commit, don't try to take in everything, and....relax. The result? Jazzahead! 2014 was the most pleasant experience yet, with plenty accomplished, and that includes, despite being there for only two full days, catching more music than in the previous years, and with far less stress and considerably more comfort.
As ever, the booths represented a cornucopia of music covering the broadest possible purview of jazz. Curious what ECM is up to? There's a booth. Looking to find out more about ACT, Intakt, Enja, Effendi, Hubro, ILK, Whirlwind or the nearly countless collection of established labels and others looking to break into the market? No problem. Want to find out what's going on in Norway, Finland, Sweden, The Netherlands, Canada, Spain, Portugal, Brazil, Russia, Indonesia, and pretty much any country where jazz is being released has on offer? It's all there. In fact, one noticeable change in Jazzahead! over the past several years is that more and more countries are setting up booths so that artists, labels and other industry folks who might not be able to justify one will have a defined place where they can set up meetings.
Of course, there's always the coffee bar and cafeteria for more informal get- togethers and, if you're lucky enough to be booked in it, the adjoining Maritim Hotel (connected by an indoor hallway to the congress centre) where it's rarely possible to predict with whom you'll be sharing breakfast, but one thing is for sure: you'll never be eating alone.
As Jazzahead! looks to its 10th anniversary in 2015, it's already planning to move to a larger venue with larger halls, with more space for networking and concerts. This is great news, as the event has been growing steadily, both in the number of professional participants (over 2,800) and visitors who came to enjoy the over 100 showcase concerts (close to 16,000). As ever, Jazzahead! featured a number of themed afternoon and evening showcases, this year sponsoring a Danish night, a daytime German Jazz Expo and evening Overseas Night, the latter including groups from Canada, the USA and Australia. The semi-annual European Jazz Meeting was also the scene for daytime showcases by artists coming from countries including Slovenia, Italy and Switzerland; Italy, Belgium and Austria; and The Netherlands, France and Norway. A shuttled Jazzahead! ?KODA Cub Night on the event's final night ,made it possible for invited guests to check out the action at over 25 clubs across the city of Bremen.
As ever, it was simply impossible to catch it all, and so this year, rather than trying to move around from venue to venue to catch ten or fifteen minutes of a thirty- minute showcase at best, the choice was made to stick with a single venue (Halle 2), in order to catch full showcases—short enough as they were, it was all the more important to catch them in their entirety to get a more complete idea of what each artist/group was about.
April 24, Afternoon: Jazzahead! ?KODA Award: Jan Persson
Each year, Jazzahead!, in collaboration with automobile manufacturer ?KODA (one of the event's major sponsors) delivers an award to a member of the jazz community for what is usually a lifetime of contribution. The recipients have ranged from musicians like Dutch drummer
Han Bennink
drumsb.1942
Oscar Pettiford
bass1922 - 1960
Dexter Gordon
saxophone, tenor1923 - 1990
Kenny Drew
piano1928 - 1993
Ben Webster
saxophone, tenor1909 - 1973
Horace Parlan
piano1931 - 2017
Persson's largely black and white work has been published in magazines on both sides of the Atlantic, in addition to appearing in many books and a number of exhibitions—one taking place, in Bremen, at the Artdocks Gallery from April 27 to June 7, 2014.
This was the first time a photographer has received the award that was instituted in 2006, and after a laudation from Danish artist Per Arnoldi, Persson delivered a short but particularly meaningful speech, as he talked briefly about how he came to be a photographer, some of the many encounters he's had during his long life (Persson was born in 1943)...and a parting word that gave encouragement to all aspiring photographers: "And remember: A cell phone is not a camera!"
April 24, Evening: Danish Showcase
Prior to Persson's award, a single composition was performed by
Phronesis
band / ensemble / orchestra
Jasper Hoiby
bass, acoustic
Anton Eger
drumsb.1980
Ivo Neame
pianoIt was a particularly treat to run into Neame and Eger again, so soon after seeing them in Norwegian saxophonist
Marius Neset
saxophoneb.1985
Petter Eldh
bassb.1983
The trio's Jazzahead! 2014 was no less exciting as it launched into "Urban Control," the opening track to Life to Everything, another live recording that began with H?iby's virtuosic a cappella intro before Neame and Eger joined in for one of five pieces defined by knotty passages, staggering stops and starts and, well, just an overall complexity that somehow managed to seem completely effortless in the hands of these three outstanding musicians. While there's absolutely nothing that begs comparison to
Esbjorn Svensson
piano1964 - 2008
Phronesis may not have the pop sensibility that yielded some of e.s.t.'s appeal, but the trio's relentless drive has resulted in a slow-building reputation and success that could well be on the verge of becoming something bigger; certainly its full show at the 2012 Festival International de Jazz de Montréal was as good an example of a trio whose playful approach to its rigorous yet open-ended music—music that has, thus far, managed to completely avoid the element of sameness that was beginning to filter into e.s.t.'s until, paradoxically and more than the least bit tragically, the release of its final ACT recording made before Svensson's passing, 2008's Leucocyte—is making fans on both sides of the Atlantic, and whose every new recording since its 2007 Loop debut, Organic Warfare, seems to garner H?iby, Eger and Neame increasing critical and popular acclaim.
The trio also has a curious but successful combination of characters: Eger, the crazy man of the group, with extreme facial expressions mirroring an approach to the kit that's just as outrageous, at times, as it is subtle and nuanced at others; Neame the quiet one who maintains eye contact with his trio mates but rarely cracks more than a slight smile; and H?iby, the true heart of the group, positioned center-stage and looking back and forth between Neame and Eger with something ranging from bemusement to flat-out amusement. Its fiery set may have been brief, but it only served to prove, once again, that Phronesis is one of but a few European piano trios with real— and sustainable—international potential.
If Phronesis was a tough act to follow, Aske Drasb?k Group managed to do so by being something completely different: a two-guitar, bass, drums and saxophone quintet led by baritone saxophonist Drasb?k. It's rare to hear a group with two guitarists in jazz—the most notable group last heard might even be
Gary Burton
vibraphoneb.1943
Mick Goodrick
guitar1945 - 2022
Pat Metheny
guitarb.1954
Performing music from its recent debut, Old Ghost (Gateway Music, 2013), the group was slightly disadvantaged by a last minute substitution for regular guitarist
"
data-original-title="" title="">Soren Dahl Jeppesen, but his replacement (name unknown) seemed to fit in well with the rest of the group—guitarist Per M?lleh?j, double bassist Tapani Toivanen and drummer Andreas Fryland. With both guitarists favoring warm, hollow body tones, the combination with Drasb?k's rich baritone, the similarly deep sound of double bass and only Fryland's cymbals providing much of any high frequencies meant an intrinsically attractive sound that was all the more so thanks to its leader's easy-on-the-ears writing. While the tendency was towards a lovely, lyrical, dark and earthy sound, there were moments where the group swung elegantly, in a very modern way, while elsewhere in the set the two guitarists not only demonstrated some fine interplay, but in a way that wasn't afraid of getting too close, harmonically speaking; a risky move, to be sure, but one which succeeded admirably.
That Drasb?k only picked up the baritone a few years ago made the success of his showcase all the more unexpected, perhaps, but while his primary early influence, Swedish baritone saxophonist
Lars Gullin
saxophone, baritone1928 - 1976
Singer Live Foyn Friis was up next, with her regular quartet of guitarist/backing vocalist Alex J?nsson Christensen, double bassist/backing vocalist Jens Mikmkel Madsen and drummer Andreas Skamby joined by a four-piece string section (violinists Amalie Kj?ldgaard and Louise Gorm; violist Mikkel Schreiber and cellist Maria Edlund). Cited as an up-and-comer on the Danish scene with her first album, Joy Visible, both critically acclaimed and nominated for Best Vocal Jazz Album at the 2012 Danish Music Awards, there was no denying her appeal to the Jazzahead! audience.
If there was any single complaint, and it has to be said, it's that as lovely a singer as she was, there was a little too much Bj?rk in both her presentation and the quality of her voice—soft, slightly innocent and almost na?ve, but without the unexpected extremes and more experimental nature of the vastly influential Icelandic singer. Still, there are far worse influences to cite, and if Friis demonstrated at least some of Bj?rk's ambition by the very addition of a string quartet to her regular group, and the fact that this is Friis' first recording, versus Bj?rk having already achieved much with the Sugarcubes prior to launching her solo career in 1992, perhaps it's unfair to judge so soon or so quickly. Certainly, while the strings added an extra dimension to her music— impressionistically introduced, for example, as "a tribute to the spring sun after a long winter"—her core group clearly has some ideas of its own, with Christensen, in particular, contributing some nice effects-laden color.
Like Christensen, Friis also employed some electronics, in particular on the opening song, where she used a harmonizer to create a softly layered effect. Still, she didn't resort to overuse—though, if there were any other complaint to be made it would be that, at times, there was so much going on around her with guitar, bass, drums and string quartet as to overwhelm her delicate voice. Not so much in terms of the amount of sound, but the amount of music actually being played—though it may have been the room, as other artists mentioned, over the weekend, that it did feel a little weird to them. Still (and again), it was a bold move to bring a group double its normal size to a showcase event, and for any marks lost Friis made plenty more for being just plain bold enough to make the attempt. Perhaps, then, there's more to be considered about this apparently Bj?rk-informed singer, whose stage presence was gentle and generally quite lovely.
The last time the curiously monikered Girls in Airports was seen was in a very packed, very hot and very sweaty Hamburg club called Golum, part of the 2013 ELBJazz Festival. While there was something to be said for this group—like Aske Drasb?k's group, another curiously configured quintet that this time paired two saxophonists (Martin Stender and Lars Greve) with a keyboardist (Mathias Holm), drummer (Mads Forsby) and percussionist (Victor Dybbroe—it was tough to really assess the group, as it just barely fit on the Golum stage, the sound was more than a challenge, and it was so crowded that it was just about possible to remain upright with both feet lifted off the ground.
The environment, sound and overall context for the group's Jazzahead! showcase was much, much better; there was plenty of room for everyone to actually move about a bit, though as it turned out, everyone but Dybbroe was fairly static. Still, the grooves were much clearer—and with drums and percussion this was a group about groove, in some ways reminiscent of early
Portico Quartet
band / ensemble / orchestraThe music often revolved around repetitive keyboard figures, with truly pan- cultural influences coming from climes as distanced as Africa, Asia and, according to the press literature, Nordic countries (though that was the least obvious reference point). But this was, ultimately, music that sounded easy but had plenty more going on under the covers. Some of the writing was episodic in nature, with melodies written for a variety of reed combinations—from two tenors and tenor and clarinet (Greve) to alto (again, Greve) and soprano (Stender)—that provided plenty of tonal variety, even as the writing would begin with the two horns in unison, then open up into broader harmony, only to pull back into unison once again.
The Girls' closing piece was particularly impressive, with Dybbroe moving from congas and other hand percussion to some kind of balafon for an a cappella intro. More's the pity that when the rest of the group came in, this wonderful, woody sound was swallowed up amidst the density surrounding it. But regardless, Girls in Airports, chosen by the Danish Arts Council as its Young Elite pick for 2013, was another group in this evening of Danish artists that will hopefully find its way across the pond to North America and beyond as the result of its fine showcase performance.
April 25, Afternoon: German Jazz Expo
After a morning of meetings, meetings and more meetings it was time, mid- afternoon, to head back to Halle 2 for an afternoon of German jazz. Pianist Martin TIngvall's Tingvall Trio opened, a solid piano trio with considerable success in its native country—its 2011 album, V?gen, reaching number one on the German jazz charts and receiving two ECHO Jazz Awards the following year. Perhaps when thinking of a real successor to e.s.t., Tingvall has more of what's needed for widespread appeal than Phronesis: the trio's opening piece revolved around a very simple, very poppy three-chord pattern and singable melody. Still, while Tingvall Trio's eminently accessible approach has almost instantaneous appeal, it would sure be nice to see the mantle go to Phronesis, if only to demonstrate that it does, indeed, seem possible for a group delivering more substantive complex music to reach a broader audience, as Phronesis appears to be doing.
As easy on the ears as Tingvall Trio was, there's a fine line between being accessible and forgettable, and while there were plenty of attractive elements to the group's music—Tingvall demonstrating a touch of
Herbie Hancock
pianob.1940
Michael Wollny
pianob.1978
SLIXS, on the other hand, may be poised for greater things—an a cappella vocal sextet that has already reached the ears of
Bobby McFerrin
vocalsb.1950
The sextet clearly knew how to keep things interesting, using the stage to create an ever-shifting array of sub-groupings in support of the individual singers who all got at least some moments in the spotlight, even during this abbreviated showcase. Beyond vocal range, beatboxing and emulating jungle animals, SLIXS was, indeed, a group with real star potential—a European
Take 6
vocalsBut the most intriguing group of the afternoon was, most certainly, Double Trouble. No, not
Stevie Ray Vaughan
guitar1954 - 1990
Any suggestion that the bass is a timekeeping instrument these days is hardly worth mentioning, but while there was no true chordal instrument in Double Trouble, the group's three linear instruments had the capacity for both contrapuntal interaction and vertical harmony. That there was plenty of opportunity for free exploration by the quartet was belied by Ehwald's assertion that the music was, nevertheless, "thoroughly composed."
The K?ln-based quartet employed elements of Balkan rhythms and even some Kazakhstan overtone singing (albeit played on instruments rather than sung), with some of its music approaching chaos and elsewhere taking full advantage of the two basses to focus more heavily on groove and melody. Together for two years now, Double Trouble has been around long enough to forge an identity that goes beyond its unique instrumentation, while still being early enough days to suggest that there's plenty more potential for this unorthodox quartet to explore.
April 25, Evening: Overseas Night
Which, sadly, brings things to not the final evening of Jazzhead! but, with an early morning flight home for a quick respite before returning to Europe the following week for Mai Jazz in Stavanger, Norway, the last evening to be spent at Jazzahead! 2014. It's strange how things transpire. Despite being a mere 200 kilometers away from Montréal, it was necessary to travel nearly six thousand of them, and across an ocean as well, in order to find an opportunity to catch
Christine Jensen
saxophoneJensen, in a quintet front-lined with her New York-based sister, trumpeter
Ingrid Jensen
trumpetb.1966
Maria Schneider
composer / conductor
Darcy James Argue
composer / conductorb.1975
That Jensen was able to collect the majority of the 17-piece ensemble on Habitat for what may go down as the longest collective trek for a 30-minute gig ever—with the exception of Swedish pianist and co-collaborator with the two Jensen sisters in Nordic Connect, " data-original-title="" title="">Maggi Olin, who substituted for John Roney, as well as a couple of other deps including, sadly, sister Ingrid— was remarkable in and of itself. That the group managed to pull off a quartet of challenging tunes from Habitat after such a long trek was even more so. While there was neither time nor space to allow all the soloists in the band to get some time in the spotlight, there were, nevertheless, some magical moments, in particular from altoist Donny Kennedy on the opening "Blue Yonder," and Jensen's husband, tenor saxophonist
Joel Miller
saxophoneWhile Jensen left the majority of the solo space for the rest of her orchestra, she engaged in some marvelous interplay with Olin on "Treelines," while guitarist Ken Bibace got some unexpected feature time on the closing piece, dedicated to expat Canadian saxophonist Fran?ois Théberge. But while the solos were key to the success of every one of the four pieces Jensen performed in her 45-minute slot (this evening's showcases extended, with thanks to the Jazzahead! organizers), it was the writing and her capable hand at conducting the orchestra through her long-form compositions that made the showcase such a success. While the harsh reality of booking an 18-piece group (including Jensen) for a lengthy road trip is unlikely, that Jensen was able to bring a group of players largely familiar with her music for the showcase will hopefully encourage the chance of her going to various cities around the world, where she can work with local musicians to perform her increasingly compelling music.
Back-to-back with another Montréaler, pianist (and, this evening, accordionist)
Marianne Trudel
pianoWhile attention would normally focus on her skills at the piano, Trudel's story about finding the accordion she brought, in the family home, was so poignant that it ultimately ended up dominating her already fine set. Asking her grandmother about instrument, she was told that her grandfather had wanted to learn the instrument at one point, but moved onto other things instead. At the time that she was composing for Trifolia, her grandfather was suffering from terminal cancer and was unable to open his eyes or speak. With her grandfather largely deaf as well, Trudel recounted holding his hand in silence for an hour the last time she saw him, but when she had to leave—not wanting to, but forced to in order to play a concert—she had to yell that she was leaving; "He opened one eye," she said with a small smile, "and said, 'play loud.'" It was the last thing he said to her, and she went to the concert and played the tune, called "Steppe." Played here at Jazzahead!, its melancholy melody, echoed by her soft voice, reflected her love of, as she put it, "vast landscapes, where silence is." The song also featured a lovely bass solo, and if the rest of Trudel's set was just as good, it was this tune that remained in the mind long after, as much for the story of how it came to be as for how good it was.
While it was unfortunately necessary to skip the evening's final act, American-based pianist Shai Maestro, there was still time to catch one more group, and who could resist a group with a name like The Vampires. Any piano-less group with saxophone (Jeremy Rose), trumpet (Nick Gabrett), bass (Alex Boneham) and drums (Tobias Backhaus) was bound to be compared to
Ornette Coleman
saxophone, alto1930 - 2015
The Sydney-based group has been around awhile, with four albums out including its most recent, Tiro (Earshift, 2013), but for its Jazzahead! debut the group dug right back to its first record, South Coasting (Jazzgroove, 2008), for Rose's appropriately titled opener, "Action Reaction."
With the effortlessly relaxed vibe that seems endemic to so many Australians, Rose introduced "Mother's Dance," also from South Coasting and named after his mother's "hippie-style dancing," driven by Backhaus' near-second line rhythm, which set the tone in an opening duo with Gabrett before ultimately leading to a rhythm-heavy feature for Boneham. The group closed with two very difference tunes: "Euro Schmarp," written by Gabrett after coming back from Europe "in Euro style" and Rose's closing track to Garfish (Earshift, 2012), "Life in the Fast Lane," which moved from visceral free bop intro to a sudden injection of structure, closing the set on an exciting note.
And closing Jazzahead! 2014 on a thrilling note as well. While others would stay for another day of meetings, showcases and, no doubt, some liberal partying the closing night as they club-hopped around Bremen, that early morning flight beckoned. But after missing Jazzahead! in 2013 it was great to be back, and hopefully it will be possible to plan a return visit to the city in 2015, for Jazzahead!'s tenth anniversary.
Photo Credit
John Kelman
Tags
Live Reviews
John Kelman
Germany
Bremen
Han Bennink
Oscar Pettiford
Dexter Gordon
Kenny Drew
ben webster
Horace Parlan
Phronesis
Jasper Hoiby
Anton Eger
Ivo Neame
marius neset
Petter Eldh
Esbjorn Svensson
Gary Burton
Mick Goodrick
pat metheny
Soren Dahl
Lars Gullin
Portico Quartet
Herbie Hancock
Michael Wollny
Bobby McFerrin
TAKE 6
Stevie Ray Vaughan
Christine Jensen
Ingrid Jensen
Maria Schneider
Darcy James Argue
Maggi Olin
Joel Miller
Marianne Trudel
Ornette Coleman
Comments
PREVIOUS / NEXT
Support All About Jazz
All About Jazz has been a pillar of jazz since 1995, championing it as an art form and, more importantly, supporting the musicians who make it. Our enduring commitment has made "AAJ" one of the most culturally important websites of its kind, read by hundreds of thousands of fans, musicians and industry figures every month.
Go Ad Free!
To maintain our platform while developing new means to foster jazz discovery and connectivity, we need your help. You can become a sustaining member for as little as $20 and in return, we'll immediately hide those pesky ads plus provide access to future articles for a full year. This winning combination vastly improves your AAJ experience and allow us to vigorously build on the pioneering work we first started in 1995. So enjoy an ad-free AAJ experience and help us remain a positive beacon for jazz by making a donation today.
Bremen
Concert Guide | Venue Guide | Local Businesses
| More...
Bremen Concerts
Nov
15
Sat
Brazzo Brazzone
Domgymnasium
Verden, Germany
Apr
10
Fri
Jacob Karlzon
Kultur Hinterm Feld
D?tlingen, Germany
Jul
29
Wed
Beth Hart
Seebühne Bremen
Bremen, Germany
Bremen
Concert Guide | Venue Guide | Local Businesses | More...
Nov
15
Sat
Brazzo Brazzone
DomgymnasiumVerden, Germany
Apr
10
Fri
Jacob Karlzon
Kultur Hinterm FeldD?tlingen, Germany
Jul
29
Wed
Beth Hart
Seebühne BremenBremen, Germany
Buy Now
