AARHUS JAZZ FESTIVAL
July 13 - 20 2024
Jazzfestival i Aarhus runder de 30 med fuld fart på musikken

Jazz Festival in Aarhus rounds the 30 with full speed on the music

6/7/2018 | Forfatter:


Aarhus Jazz Festival celebrates its 30th anniversary with largest number of concerts until now, many exciting jazz artists from home and abroad and several special anniversary events.


 

It will once again be a cornucopia of jazz music during the 8-day festival with over 360 concerts at 42 venues all over the city - and of course the anniversary puts its mark on the events. This year is the 30th anniversary of Aarhus Jazz Festivals, and this is of course celebrated with street parade and a special anniversary concert on the opening day of the Bispejazz tent. In addition, you can experience Stan Getz Tribute - a tribute to the legendary jazz saxophonist, who was the first international name of the very first Aarhus Jazz Festival in 1989. The festival organizers contribute to the festivities with many great concerts where the audience can experience both foreign and Danish jazz names. Among the experiences of this year's festival are Burt Bacharach og Melody Gardot med Aarhus Jazz Orchestra i Musikhuset Aarhus - and Jakob Bro med Palle Mikkelborg at Atlas. This year's anniversary poster with the motif of Stan Getz was made by renowned and award-winning graphic designer Finn Nygaard.

Street parade and anniversary concert on the opening day

On the official opening day, Saturday 14 July, Aarhus Jazz Festivals Jubilee's Brass Band delivers traditional jazz and funky rhythms with street parade in the city's streets from Rådhusparken, through the walking street to Bispetorvet. Here they lead the official opening at 12.30, which continues with opening speeches in the Bispejazz tent. Over the years, a new generation of New Orleans fan musicians has appeared in Aarhus. A group of these - young and old musicians, and those who have not decided what they are yet, but love New Orleans music and the syncopated rhythms - constitutes this street parade led by Scott Westh. The orchestra invites the audience to bring the umbrella and dance in front of the street parade.

30 years of jazz - Aarhus Jazz Festival Anniversary concert

In the evening July 14, the Bispejazz tent is the host of a special concert, ’30 years of jazz – Aarhus Jazz Festivals Jubilæumskoncert’. The festival has invited Jens Christian "Chappe" Jensen to gather a strong team of Aarhus musicians across generations who will entertain with a varied program of different jazz music with the main focus on the last 30 years. The concert is spiced with exciting guest soloists. The bandleader, "Chappe", played saxophone in Klüver's Big Band for many years and can now be found as a Professor at the Danish Conservatory of Music and head of the successful big band Blood Sweat Drum + Bass (BSD + B). Among the orchestra's experienced jazz treasures are Gunnar Lautrup (trumpet), Finn Odderskov (saxophone) and Hans Jacob Sahlertz (guitar), all of which have featured their jazz in Aarhus for decades. They have played with many ​​orchestras and several have won the prestigious Gaffelprisen, awarded annually by Jazzselskabet Aarhus. The younger forces counts the competent rhythm group with Simon Gorm Eskildsen (piano), Frederik Hagner (bass) and Morten Nottelman (drums), besides Jens Kristian Bang (trombone) and Karmen Rõivassepp (vocal). They have all been noticed in critically acclaimed orchestras such as I Just Came From The Moon, Ornithopter, Simon Eskildsen Trio and Karmen Rõivassepp Quartet. All in all, it is a very exciting and powerful team of musicians who open the evening concerts in the Bispejazz tent. Here you can also experience the Schantz Segment, WonderBrazz feat. Ida Nielsen & Kuku Agami, Grarup All Stars, Ibrahim Electric, Bjonko & Balkanbeat Band and Stan Getz Tribute.

Tribute to the first international main name

Stan Getz was the first international soloist at Aarhus Jazz Festival when it started 30 years ago. Thus, it would be appropriate to mark the occasion with a tribute concert to Stan Getz. For this concert, the festival will deliver a hand-picked team of some of the best musicians from the Danish jazz scene, assembled by the drummer Kristian Leth. At the front, you will find two saxophonists, this year's Ben Webster Award recipient Jan Harbeck and Christina von Bülow. Both are established acts on the Danish jazz scene with impressive resumes, releases, and concerts around the world. Christina von Bülow is one of Scandinavia's best interpreters of Stan Getz. She visited Stan Getz in his Malibu home in 1991 and studied with him just one year before his passing. This night's rhythm section consists of pianist Søren Kristiansen, bass player Thomas Ovesen, and drummer Kristian Leth, each an excellent jazz musician in his own regard, putting great pleasure in backing the soloists with an attentive play that is always swinging.

Aarhus Jazz Festival receives invaluable support from among others Aarhus Kommune, Statens Kunstfond, Aarhuus Stiftstidendes Fond, Aarhus Events, Augustinus Fonden, Oticon Fonden, Toyota-Fonden, Knud Højgaards Fond, DJBFA/Koda Kultur, BUPLs Solidaritets- og Kulturfond, RMF – Rytmisk Musikforening. All sponsors, collaborators and volunteers should be very thankful - without them it was not possible to complete the festival.



Aarhus Jazz Festival

Godsbanen, Skovgaardsgade 3

DK-8000 Aarhus C