starttalkingjazz - jazzahead













	Hélène Labarrière Quartet - "Les temps changent" > European Jazz Meeting > Frankreich 24 April 2009 > 2:30 pm - 3:00 pm > Borgward Salon Female leads that play the double bass seem to be en vogue at present – which is a good thing, when you think of Joelle Léandre, Ulla Oster or Eva Kruse – and Hélène Labarrière, too. She has been in the scene for a long time already and for 15 years as a band leader. “Les temps changent” is her own latest project. “Times change“: that is true in both a philosophical and a musical sense. ”Music does not only have to do with sound but also with space and time“, writes Hélène Labarrière. “There isn’t just three-four or four-four time. Sometimes you don’t have a time at all and sometimes there are different times at the same time. What’s necessary is to build and rebuild again and again. To advance. We take delight in that.“ Line-up: Hélène Labarrière (b, comp) > François Corneloup (sax) > Christophe Marguet (dr) > Hasse Poulsen (git) www.helene-labarriere.com presented by

	Yaron Herman Trio > European Jazz Meeting > France 24 April 2009 > 3:15 pm - 3:45 pm > Borgward Salon Yaron Herman is a phenomenon. The 27-year-old pianist from Israel did not start to play the piano until he was 16. He was taught in Tel Aviv by the legendary mentor, company consultant and talent developer Opher Brayer and is in the meantime considered to be one of the most creative and sought after pianists in France where he has now lived for seven years. Already last year he gave a solo performance in the jazzahead! late night programme. Now he’s back with his regular and much praised trio, and a new CD that will be launched in time for the European Jazz Meeting. Line-up: Yaron Herman (p) > Thomas Crane (dr) > Matt Brewer (b) www.yaron-herman.com presented by

	Fredrika Stahl > European Jazz Meeting > France 24 April 2009 > 4:00 pm - 4:30 pm > Borgward Salon Like Yaron Herman, the Swedish singer Fredrika Stahl is French by choice. However, she already moved to Paris at the age of four, spent a few years there and then after a short spell away returned immediately after finishing school at the age of 17 – to sing and dance. She met her producer GeeF in the pub where she worked. What follows is a story with a happy end: her first CD A Fraction of You immediately sold over 40,000 copies. For her second CD Tributaires she received the Gold Disc Award of Swing Journal in Japan in 2008. Her band is made up of international musicians from Italy, Brazil and Norway. Multicultural Paris – but still in the French jazz tradition. Line-up: Fredrika Stahl (voc) > Philippe Baden Powell (p) > Simone Prattico (dr) > Acelino de Paula (b) > Oyvind Nypan (git) www.myspace.com/fredrikastahl presented by

	Giulia Valle Group > European Jazz Meeting > Katalonien 24 April 2009 > 5:00 pm - 5:30 pm > Borgward Salon Giulia Valle is already the second female double bass player and band leader to take the stage at this year’s European Jazz Meeting. After studying in Barcelona, scholarships enabled her to continue her studies under Furio di Castri in Italy, Scott Colley in New York, and the French Guru of classical double bass, Francois Rabbath. Partly through her work for various theatres she has also made herself a name as a composer in Catalonia and with her fist album Colorista immediately won the composition prize of the Musicians’ Association of Catalonia. She does a lot of experimenting with asymmetrical metres and incorporates echoes of Catalonian music in an unconventional way. Giulia Valle’s second album Danza Imprevista appeared in 2006 and her third Enchanted House in 2008 under the reputed Indie-Label Fresh Sound New Talent. Line-up: Giulia Valle (double b) > Martí Serra (ss, ts) > Santi de la Rubia (ts) > Sergi Sirvent (p, fender rhodes, tp) > David Xirgu (dr, perc) www.giuliavalle.com presented by

	Horacio Fumero & Albert Bover > European Jazz Meeting > Catalonia 24 April 2009 > 5:45 pm - 6:15 pm > Borgward Salon The pianist Tete Montoliu who died in 1997 was undoubtedly Catalonia’s best-known jazz musician, and now the man who accompanied him for nearly 20 years, the bass player Horacio Fumero, is coming to Bremen. For quite some time now Fumero has played in a duo with the young pianist Albert Bover whom a lot of people in Catalonia see as Montoliu’s successor due to the stylistic similarities and his similar technical fluency on the piano. Like Montoliu, Bover has worked with a lot of American musicians, e.g. Art Farmer, Harold Land, Roy Hargrove or Eddie Henderson. With Caminhos Cruzados Fumero and Bover have now brought out their second joint album and will be bringing the Catalonian variant of American jazz tradition to jazzahead! Line-up: Horacio Fumero (double b), Albert Bover (p) presented by

	Marc Ayza > European Jazz Meeting > Catalonia 24 April 2009 > 6:30 pm - 7:00 pm > Borgward Salon The drummer Marc Ayza is one of the most sought after session musicians in the Spanish scene. His own project Offering originated in New York in March, 2008. In it he investigates the influences that have affected him since his childhood, from Marvin Gaye and Cannonball Adderley to J Dilla. The result is a successful combination of jazz and hip-hop. “Today I really no longer see any stylistic gap between John Coltrane and J Dilla “, says Ayza. Making this connection is important to him and he will present it on stage in Bremen. So we can look forward to some empathic, but surprising jazz! Line-up: Marc Ayza (dr) > Roger Mas (p, keyb) > Tom Warburton (b) > Jordi Ruiz Garcia (turntables) > Mtume Grant(voc) www.myspace.com/marcayza presented by

	Pascal Schumacher Quartet > European Jazz Meeting > Luxembourg 25 April 2009 > 2:30 pm - 3:00 pm > Borgward Salon Probably for the first time in an international setting there will be a spotlight on the Luxembourgian scene at this year’s jazzahead! One reason for this is the highly talented 30-year-old vibraphonist Pascal Schumacher, who has admittedly extended his activities beyond the borders of his home country for a long time already, for he has toured and given guest performances at festivals in both Europe and overseas. Apart from that he has received prizes in France, and his album Silbergrau was acclaimed jazz record of the year 2007in Belgium. His band is made up of international musicians, too, with German pianist Franz von Chossy who lives in Amsterdam, the Cologne drummer Jens Düppe, and the Belgian bass player Christophe Devisscher. The quartet’s performance at the European Jazz Meeting is at the same time a release concert for Schumacher’s first album with the Munich company Enja Records. His music: pure energy, consisting of clear melodious motifs that are sometimes melancholic, sometimes gentle, and sometimes stormy. Line-up: Pascal Schumacher (vb), Franz von Chossy (p), Christophe Devisscher (double b), Jens Düppe (dr) www.pascalschumacher.com presented by

	Maxime Bender Group > European Jazz Meeting > Luxembourg 25 April 2009 > 3:15 pm - 3:45 pm > Borgward Salon The junior among the Luxembourgian acts at the European Jazz Meeting is the saxophonist Maxime Bender (born 1982) who sometimes also plays with Pascal Schumacher in a quartet named Collectiv. After studying in Luxembourg, Strasbourg and Brussels Bender went to the Cologne College of Music which has since been the musical focus in his life. And accordingly, he will be coming to jazzahead! with what he calls his “Cologne Group”. Already as a young man Maxime Bender composed elegant, atmospheric pieces which won him the Composition Award at Tremplin Jazz Festival in Avignon/ France in 2008. Line-up: Maxime Bender (ss, ts, comp) > Christoph Möckel (as) > Kathrin Scheer (voc) > Riaz Khabirpour (g) > Sebastian Sternal (p) > Markus Braun (b) > Silvio Morger (dr) www.maximebender.com presented by

	David Laborier > European Jazz Meeting > Luxembourg 25 April 2009 > 4:00 pm - 4:30 pm > Borgward Salon The guitarist David Laborier, a graduate of Berklee College in Boston, has performed with his own trio for 15 years. The trio already attracted attention particularly in the Benelux countries and France. Beyond that, Laborier is also a member of the Largo Project of trumpet player Gast Waltzing, a central figure in the Luxembourgian scene who set up a special jazz course at the Conservatory of Luxembourg City where David Laborier has taught since 2006. With his jazz-rock oriented band he captivates listeners with a mixture of fusion, cool and modern jazz as well as a variety of his own compositions plus newly mixed jazz standards of the 50s and 60s – as can be heard on the CD Ye Ole Truckstop, which he produced on Waltzing’s Label WPR. Line-up: David Laborier (g) > Michel Mootz (dr) > Boris Schmit (b) www.labojazz.com presented by

	Brass Jaw > European Jazz Meeting > United Kingdom 25 April 2009 > 5:00 pm - 5:20 pm > Borgward Salon There can be rhythm without a rhythm section. And this is demonstrated by the powerful band Brass Jaw, a pure brass quartet from Scotland. The trumpet player Ryan Quigley and the saxophonists Paul Towndrow, Konrad Wiszniewski and Allon Beauvoisin all came from the pioneering school of Tommy Smith who with his Scottish National Jazz Orchestra is of such fundamental importance for the Scottish scene. They still work in other bands, too, but after a very successful tour through Great Britain in 2005 these meticulous free thinkers treat themselves to the fun of Brass Jaw more and more often now. This fun ranges from their own swinging compositions to their own bizarre versions of standards. Line-up: Ryan Quigley (tp) > Paul Towndrow (as) > Konrad Wiszniewski (ts) > Allon Beauvoisin (bars) www.brassjaw.co.uk presented by

	Huw Warren Trio > European Jazz Meeting > United Kingdom 25 April 2009 > 5:35 pm - 5:55 pm > Borgward Salon Huw Warren comes from Wales. He is one of the most distinguished pianists and composers of Great Britain’s younger generation. And he covers an amazingly wide musical spectrum, following a jazz interpretation that is anything but narrow: in addition to co-operations with baroque musicians like Andrew Manze and the Orlando Consort he has accompanied June Tabor, one of the most important English folk singers, for 20 years. He is also at home in experimental music. For this high-standard versatility Huw Warren received the reputed BBC Jazz Award for Innovation in 2005. His trio with the Austrian bass player Peter Herbert and drummer Martin France is one of his current, but also enduring, groups. Line-up: Huw Warren (p, electronics) > Dudley Philips (b) > Tim Giles (dr) www.myspace.com/huwwarrenmusic presented by

	Arun Ghosh Sextet > European Jazz Meeting > United Kingdom 25 April 2009 > 6:10 pm - 6:30 pm > Borgward Salon In Great Britain it is becoming increasingly difficult to overhear the influence of the music from the earlier colonies and it has long been a vital component of the scene. In the meantime it is second and third generation musicians who are seeking, discovering and interpreting their cultural roots. The family of the clarinettist Arun Ghosh comes from Calcutta but he himself was born in England, grew up in Manchester and today lives in London. His musical vocabulary, which breathes the spirit of jazz just as much as urban hip-hop sounds, Indian Ragas and psychedelic ambient music matches the wealth of his roots. Since the appearance of his debut CD Northern Namaste and a much acclaimed performance at the Indo-Jazz Festival which the magazine jazzwise organized in London in the spring of 2008 Arun Ghosh has been considered a rising star of the English scene. Line-up: Arun Ghosh (cl) > Shabaka Hutchings (ts) > Liran Donin (double b) > Nilesh Gulhane (tabla) > Kishon Khan (p) > Rastko Rasic (dr) www.myspace.com/arunghosh presented by

	Portico Quartet European Jazz Meeting > United Kingdom 25 April 2009 > 6:40 pm - 7:00 pm > Borgward Salon Characteristic of the Portico Quartet from London is the “hanghang”, a current Swiss further development of Caribbean steel drums that are played with the hand (Swiss German: hang) and were presented for the first time at the Frankfurt Music Fair in 2001. With Duncan Bellamy and Nick Mulvey the band has two hang players. They form the basis for the trance-like sounds of the Portico Quartet which is just as reminiscent of Indonesian gamelan music as the pattern music of Steve Reich. Like their music, the quartet’s own history is remarkable: after spending two years playing regularly as street musicians – for example in front of the London National Theatre – the small independent Babel Label gave them a contract. With their own special sound the Portico Quartet is in the meantime well-known far beyond the jazz scene and is valued by popular DJs like Gilles Peterson. The magazine Time Out chose their debut album Knee-deep in the North Sea as the Jazz, Folk and World music album of the year 2007. It was also nominated for the prestigious Mercury Prize 2008. Line-up: Jack Wyllie (sax) > Duncan Bellamy (dr, hang, marimba) > Milo Fitzpatrick (double b) > Nick Mulvey (hang, marimba, glockenspiel) www.myspace.com/porticoquartet presented by