20 years of jazzahead! – Bremen becomes a live music powerhouse

Just six weeks to go before the world’s largest jazz gathering and its festival begin. From 22 to 25 April, jazzahead! will be at MESSE BREMEN and various venues throughout the state of Bremen.

The festival will feature more than 160 concerts; 20,000 visitors are expected to attend. As ever, Bremen is a place where jazz is notable for its open spirit, the music coalesces not only with folk, soul and pop, but also with chamber music, metal and electronica – it all adds up to a demonstration of the diversity of the scene.

As a gift to celebrate the 20th anniversary, the audience can enjoy an extra CLUBNIGHT evening for the first time. CLUBNIGHT is happening as normal in Bremen on the 24th – and on 25 April it will also be reaching out to Bremerhaven.

Earlier today, the jazzahead! management duo of Sybille Kornitschky and Götz Bühler presented the programme for this year’s festival at a press conference in Café Neo in Bremen.

CLUBNIGHT: 2 nights…1 ticket…45 clubs
The whole of Bremen becomes a live music powerhouse during the last weekend of April. Under the motto ‘Connecting Jazz Ports’, Bremerhaven will be connecting with the special jazzahead! vibe for the very first time, with venues stretching all along the Weser river.

Bands from Bremen’s twin cities (Gdansk, Riga, Groningen) will be performing around the historic market square and, for the first time, in St. Petri Cathedral, where, pianist Andrii Pokaz from the partner city of Odesa, together with e.s.t. drummer Magnus Öström and the Bach Jazz Trio from Sweden, will open this year’s CLUBNIGHT.

Partner Country Sweden
Sweden will have a delegation of more than 150 industry representatives at jazzahead! As partner country, Sweden is bringing more than twenty carefully chosen live acts to the festival. At the start of jazzahead, the Norrbotten Big Band will play in the Grand Opening Concert on 22 April with several guests, including Swedish jazz stars and the acclaimed US fusion duo KNOWER.

The two members of KNOWER, Genevieve Artadi and Louis Cole, will also be panel guests as part of the professional trade fair programme. Their appearance is expected to be one of its highlights.

Showcase concerts
What is jazz in 2026? The answer to it will be coming in the form of the 38 showcase concerts. The groups participating, selected by international juries, are also bound to shine a light on the openness of the young scene and the way these musicians experience the interconnectedness of music. Among the showcase highlights in the German Jazz Expo programme will undoubtedly be the all-female quintet Expand, led by composer/singer Sara Decker and the high-energy Fusion band Re:Calamari.

Jazz from Africa
Götz Bühler is keen to emphasise that “jazzahead! doesn’t only forge connections between the local scene and the most exciting jazz markets, it also helps up-and-coming international artists gain a foothold in the German market. For the first time ever, bands from Chad and Togo will perform at the festival.”

As part of the 38 showcases, jazzahead! is focusing on ‘Jazz from Africa’ for the third time, including the band of drummer Kossi Mawun from Togo.

Also in the 20th anniversary programme: the German Jazz Prize returns to Bremen on 25 April! jazzahead! is now working in an ever-closer partnership with the producers of this award. The international profile of the awards has grown exponentially in recent years. Pianist Moses Yoofee, who will perform with his trio at the Prize ceremony, will join other young artists in a panel discussion about music and Jazz from Germany.

Bremen from 22 to 25 April: a unique opportunity to see and hear international talent, to celebrate at CLUBNIGHT, and to get to know Bremen and the whole state surrounding it.

Here is our Spotify-Playlist including songs from all of the showcasing acts, organised in the order they will be performing.

Press
We are happy to arrange interviews with the participating artists.
Please register for jazzahead! using the press accreditatiom form.

All photos can be found in our digital press kit. It also includes the latest press information, additional photos, logos and a social media kit:
ja!26_Press_kit
Password: ja!26_Press_kit 

You can download images from the following links:
Photo 1: Andrii Pokaz & Magnus Öström © Per Kristiansen
Photo 2: Sara Decker © Jeroen Truyen
Photo 3: Kossi Mawun © Enok Tsevi & Accra Jazz Festival

Copyright press photos: Press photos may only be used for editorial purposes in connection with M3B GmbH events. The copyrights are held by M3B GmbH/photographer. Utilisation and exploitation rights are held by M3B GmbH. Press photos that are used for editorial purposes must be labelled with the corresponding source. Printing and publication of the press photos is free of charge. We ask print media for a specimen copy and electronic media (Internet) for a brief notification. Commercial use of the press photos requires prior written authorisation.

More information:

MESSE BREMEN · M3B GmbH
Jan Paersch | T +49 173 3250836
paersch@jazzahead.de
Web: jazzahead.de
www.messe-bremen.de