16.04.2024
jazzahead! 2024: A forward-looking finish
This Sunday 14 April saw the 18th edition of jazzahead! trade fair and festival in Bremen come to a close. With 2,985 registered professional participants from 66 nations and a total of 14,490 visitors attending the jazzahead! festival, the expectations set by the organizer Messe Bremen were more than met.
“We were tempted to put not just our normal one exclamation mark after this year’s jazzahead! but rather two,“ says Sybille Kornitschky who runs jazzahead!, alluding to the fact that this year’s edition embraced two major themes. In addition to partner country the Netherlands, which showed its best side both at the trade fair and in the musical programme, Jazz from Africa was also in focus this year.
The crowning musical conclusion to this successful 18th jazzahead! was an emotional and captivating performance by Senegalese singer/bassist Alune Wade. With his sextet, he thrilled a young audience who were on their feet from the very start of the concert and danced and cheered right up until the final moments of this last showcase, late on Saturday evening. At the sold-out gala concert earlier on the same evening, trumpeter Maite Hontelé and the Dutch National Youth Jazz Orchestra (NJJO) had let off a display of mambo fireworks. They moved the audience… and set them in motion too.
“A whole host of enthusiastic reactions demonstrate to us that this jazzahead! was a complete success,” says Artistic Advisor Götz Bühler. “Especially in these difficult times, we as an international Jazz family demonstrated unity and celebrated all the things we have in common.” The musical spectrum of the forty showcases selected by top-class juries ranged from contemplative moments – for example the very different performances by the saxophonist Kika Sprangers with her Large Ensemble or by Matt Carmichael – by way of emotional outbursts and powerful interplay, for example with the Xavi Torres Trio, DZ’OB, Yonglee & The Doltang, or Raw Fish, to the infectious energy and elegance of Finnish bassist Kaisa Mäensivu and her New York “Machine”, the North African-Dutch “Marmoucha Orchestra” and the Lebanese-German formation MASAA. There are also very encouraging signs of a noticeably younger audience – a new generation! – who greeted these performances with loud and palpable enthusiasm.
The trade fair is well established as the most important marketplace and networking hub for the international jazz scene. This year’s edition had significantly more co-exhibitors. Not only was the partner country the Netherlands represented with a large stand and an extensive delegation, but also Spain, Italy, Sweden and the Baltics with a buzzy and welcoming joint stand from Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, for instance. For the first time after a long absence, the UK’s wide variety of scenes were truly back this year. From overseas and for the second time, Chile presented itself to the international scene with a stand and a large number of delegates.
Panels and discussions on extremely topical subjects such as “Women in Jazz” or “The Future of Jazz on (public) radio” encouraged professional participants to converse and debate. A meeting of representatives of the European radio organization EBU ensured increased broadcasting activity, notably making use of the Radio Bremen radio booth which is located in the large exhibition hall.
Mark van Schaick sent his thanks on behalf of Buma Cultuur, Performing Arts Fund NL, and all Dutch partners: “We welcomed many, many friends and colleagues, made new acquaintances, connected people across borders, genres and age groups and, yes, served a lot of coffee at our Dutch inJazz stand.” What is particularly remarkable, says van Schaick, is the fact that it was possible to take a largely professional audience on a musical journey within a showcase of half an hour. “This is not an easy task, but the Dutch artists did it, from their first performance on Thursday afternoon to their last on Saturday evening.”
The enthusiastic reactions of the spectators, who happily accepted these new horizons (the motto of jazzahead! 2024), speak for themselves. Many praised the contemporary and at the same time forward-looking nature of the event. Sebastian Scotney, editor of UK Jazz News, summed up his thoughts as follows: “I was particularly struck this year by jazzahead!’s unique spirit of informality, openness, and by the welcoming and positive spirit of everyone I met on all three days.”
Jazz stands for innovation and creativity in a way that no other musical art-form can truly match; the global jazz community is always eagerly awaiting the innovations of the future. Which means that expectations for jazzahead! 2025 – which will take place in Bremen from April 24th to 27th – – are already high.
More information at jazzahead.de.
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