Jazzfest Berlin opens: 24 concerts, four world premieres and 60 years of Globe Unity
More than 130 musicians from over 25 countries play until Sunday. Alexander von Schlippenbach's Globe Unity Orchestra closes the festival with an anniversary concert.
Archive image · Photo: Christoph Rieger / Wikimedia Commons, CC0 (cropped and resized)
Jazzfest Berlin begins today, Thursday. The 63rd edition runs until Sunday, 1 November, at the Haus der Berliner Festspiele as well as at A-Trane, Quasimodo and the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church; the artistic director is Nadin Deventer. The festival features 24 concerts with more than 130 musicians from over 25 countries, including four world premieres, two European and five German premieres. The Community Week with workshops and concerts, including in Moabit, has been running since Monday.
According to the Europe Jazz Network's programme preview, a septet put together specially by US saxophonist Anthony Braxton opens the festival with a world premiere. On Sunday, Alexander von Schlippenbach's Globe Unity Orchestra, founded in 1966, closes the festival by celebrating its 60th anniversary with George Lewis, Aki Takase and Evan Parker. The programme also includes the Immanuel Wilkins Quartet, Amir ElSaffar's New Quartet, British trumpeter Laura Jurd and the Tomeka Reid Quartet. Tickets are available from the Berliner Festspiele; companions of people with severe disabilities (B marker) get in free.