Munich. The BMW Welt Jazz Award will celebrate its
10th anniversary with a total of six free Sunday matinees between
February and April 2018. This edition’s theme will be “Jazz moves” and
it will be interpreted by renowned international ensembles at the
double-coned structure of BMW Welt. The featured musicians hail from
various countries including Finland, Norway, Austria, Switzerland and
Germany. The final concert of BMW Welt Jazz Award and the competition
for its prize money totalling 15,000 Euro will take place on June 9,
2018, at the auditorium of BMW Welt.
From its early days of ragtime, boogie-woogie and New Orleans dixie
to the height of its popularity, the swing era, jazz was primarily
meant and made to inspire dancers. Today, at a time when the genre
encompasses a very broad range of styles, once again many jazz
musicians dedicate themselves to music that inspires people to move –
as will be illustrated during the upcoming live performances, during
which the musicians will continue the tradition or develop new dance
music as part of the genre while creating entirely novel rhythmic combinations.
Following the sixth and last matinee, the expert jury will nominate
two of the participating bands to perform the final concert at the
auditorium of BMW Welt, where the winner will be chosen. In addition
to a prize of 10,000 Euro, the winning ensemble will receive a trophy
designed specially by BMW Design; the runner-up will receive
5,000 Euro. The ensemble with the best combined average of all
concerts will receive the audience award, which includes a performance
at resort Schloss Elmau.
Maximilian Schöberl, Head of BMW Group Communication and Policy,
said, “Jazz is constantly in flux – as is BMW AG. We are delighted to
celebrate the 10th anniversary of this unbiased competition that is
well-known and popular far beyond the German borders with such a
powerful theme. ‘Jazz moves’ will transform into six exciting matinees
spent in the unique atmosphere of the double-coned structure of BMW
Welt. In addition, we are looking forward to the final concert – none
of which would be possible without our long-term partners, to whom we
would like to say thank you.”
“The 10th anniversary of BMW Welt Jazz Award presents a great
opportunity to express our gratitude toward BMW AG for their continued
cultural commitment and for having been a reliable partner and
supporter of the city of Munich for many decades. At the heart of all
of BMW’s cultural endeavours are events with an international appeal
that are equally accessible to all the curious souls of our city,”
added Dieter Reiter, mayor of the state capital Munich.
The upcoming year will also see the third edition of the BMW Welt
Young Artist Jazz Award, which is awarded together with the city of
Munich. In addition to a prize money, the winner will be offered to
hold a concert at Jazzclub Unterfahrt as well as an appearance at the
Leipziger Jazztage festival. Young musicians, individuals and
ensembles, working with jazz and hailing from the city of Munich or
its surrounding areas are eligible to be considered. As previously
seen with Josef Reßle and Roman Sladek, the jury members of BMW Welt
Jazz Award will decide.
A
Programme of BMW Welt Jazz
Award 2018
Matinees: 11 am to c.1:30 pm at the double-coned structure of
BMW Welt:
February 18, 2018 LBT
Febuary 28, 2018 Jukka Eskola Soul Trio
March 18, 2018 PUERTA SUR – Tangomoods. Arroyo/Schläppi/Engler
March 25, 2018 Andi Kissenbeck’s CLUB BOOGALOO
April 8, 2018 Beady Belle
April 22, 2018 BartolomeyBittmann progressive
strings Vienna
Admission is free of charge but seating is limited. Tickets are
subject to availability. Doors open at 10.30 am.
Grand finale at the auditorium of BMW Welt
at 7 pm:
June 9, 2017 Final concert featuring the two nominated finalists
Tickets for the grand finale on June 9, 2017, will be available as of
February 18, 2017, at BMW Welt and München Ticket.
As in previous years, the programme will be hosted by Beate Sampson,
jazz expert and editor at the German broadcasting station BR-KLASSIK.
Jury
The distinguished panel of expert jurors will be headed by
Oliver Hochkeppel (journalist for music and
cultural affairs at the German daily Süddeutsche Zeitung) and will
include the following members:
Roland Spiegel, editor at the music desk and jazz
expert at the German broadcasting station Bayerischer Rundfunk BR‑KLASSIK;
Andreas Kolb, editor-in-chief of the magazines
JazzZeitung and neue musikzeitung;
Heike Lies, musicologist, Music and Music Theatre
Division of the Department of Cultural Affairs of the state capital Munich;
Christiane Böhnke-Geisse, Artistic Director of the
international jazz festival Bingen swingt.
Artists and Ensembles
February 18, 2018: LBT
Together with bassist Maximilian Hirning and drummer Sebastian
Wolfgruber, pianist Leo Betzl regularly performs as the rhythmic group
known as LBT. The musicians also come together as part of Vincent
Eberle Quintett as well as Jazzrausch Bigband, which only recently
received an invitation to perform at the Lincoln Center, New York.
During the three years since its inception, at which point the
ensemble members were still studying at the University of Music and
Theatre, LBT has produced music that surprises its audiences with
drama and excitement alike. The trio likes to experiment and as such
has won various awards including Steinway’s young talent award, Kurt
Maas Award and Hansjörg Henzler Jazz Award. With their new programme
featuring a combination of techno and jazz, the three young musicians
are a perfect fit for the theme “Jazz moves” of BMW Welt Jazz Award 2018.
February 25, 2018: Jukka Eskola Soul Trio
While Norway and Sweden been known on the forefront of revived
European jazz for many years, Finland entered the stage only some
years ago. Trumpeter Jukka Eskola ought to be mentioned in the same
breath as giants such as pianist Iiro Rantala, saxophonist Timo Lassy
and trumpeter Verneri Pohjola. Over the past ten years, he
demonstrated his versatility by joining renowned ensembles playing
various kinds of music including dancefloor with Five Comers Quintet,
expressionist jazz with the big band of Mikko Innanen and entertaining
parodies of jazz with Jimi Tenor. Together with organist Mikko Helevä
and drummer Teppo Mäkynen, Eskola’s Soul Trio shines a new light at
the essence of jazz. Following its own rules and using a humorous
approach, the trio will perform moving soul jazz as heard in the 1960s
and 70s, which was first made popular by legendary labels such as Blue
Note and Prestige at the double-coned structure of BMW Welt.
March 18, 2018: PUERTA SUR – Tangomoods. Arroyo/Schläppi/Engler
Ever since the 1950s, Latin-American rhythms that almost always
correspond with dance moves have been one of the most important
influences of jazz music. Over the past years, the tango turned out to
be one of the most influential rediscoveries for a myriad of new
musical combinations. Zurich-based trio Puerta Sur with bassist Daniel
Schläppi, violinist Andreas Engler and Argentinian singer Marcela
Arroyo uses this famous dance as inspiration for their world music.
They combine European roots such as found in Arroyo’s voice schooled
in traditional Portuguese Fado and Engler’s classical sounds and add
the fascinating instrumental improvisations and New Tango arrangements
by Schläppi to create their truly unique sound. Understated, reduced
to its essence and filled with suspense, this musical concept will
once again delight the audience at BMW Welt with the third
collaborative programme “Tangomoods”.
March 25, 2018: Andi Kissenbeck’s CLUB BOOGALOO
Born in Bonn and teaching at Munich’s conservatory, pianist Andreas
Kissenbeck is one of Europe’s leading Hammond organ players. With his
PhD in music theory and a doctoral thesis on “Rare Grooves” of the
1960s, he is one of the most well-reflected representatives of today’s
retro wave. Kissenbeck’s band, Andi Kissenbeck’s CLUB BOOGALOO has
recorded three albums to date and takes a new look at the musical
tradition of Spanish Harlem, a version of hard bop featuring Latin
influences. He is accompanied by guitarist and singer Thorsten Goods,
drummer Tobias Backhaus and saxophonist Karel Ruzicka. Audiences at
BMW Welt’s double-coned structure will be experiencing the band’s
multi-faceted programme with its take on exploits in funk music by
Jimmy Smith, torrential after-beats of Joey DeFrancesco and, of
course, “Boogaloo” as it was interpreted by Lee Morgan.
April 8, 2018: Beady Belle
The Norwegian concept band Beady Belle of singer Beate S. Lech and
bassist Marius Reksjø first saw the light of day in 1999 at the
talent-filled powerhouse of keyboarder and head of label Bugge
Wesseltoft. Ever since, the band has been at the forefront of NuJazz,
which combines elements of folk, soul, funk and electronic music to
create modern sounds for clubs. The band’s seven very successful
albums featuring guests such as Jamie Cullum and India.Arie are a
testament to its creative potential and continued progress. Its
programme for a trio, “On My Own” is an intimate work centered around
Lech’s powerful voice and her stunning ability to modulate. At this
year’s BMW Welt Jazz Award, Beady Belle will delight its audience with
a grooving sextet set up to also perform vocal arrangements. Lech and
Reksjø will be accompanied by keyboarder David Wallumrød, drummer
Bjørn Sæther and background singers Anja Martine Mørk and Sofie Tollefsbøl.
April 22, 2018: BartolomeyBittmann progressive strings Vienna
With their powerful rock fusion, these two young musicians, cellist
Matthias Bartolomey and violinist Klemens Bittmann, will demonstrate
how to combine and further develop traditional Austrian string music
and jazz improvisation. Hailing from the Austrian city of Graz,
Bittmann studied classical violin as well as jazz violin with Didier
Lockwood and made his name as a creative mind willing to transcend
borders as founder of the ensembles Beefólk und Folksmilch.
Viennese-born Bartolomey – generally known for his classical work
including as solo cellist of Concentus Musicus – is also a fierce
admirer of John McLaughlin and the Mahavishnu Orchestra and for him,
this collaboration “is a release of energy nursed over a long period
of time”. At BMW Welt, the duo BartolomeyBittmann will showcase its
outstanding and progressive skills as string players, which led to
Austrian conductor Nikolaus Harnoncourt saying, “It is just incredibly
well-played and cannot be done any better!”
This edition of the BMW Welt Jazz Award will once again enjoy the
generous support of BR-KLASSIK, nmz, nmz-online and JazzZeitung.de,
resort Schloss Elmau and the Department of Cultural Affairs of the
city of Munich.
For further questions please contact:
Dr Thomas Girst
BMW Group Corporate and Governmental
Affairs
Cultural Engagement
Telephone: +49-89-382-247 53
Leonie Laskowski
BMW Group Corporate and Intergovernmental Affairs
Cultural Engagement
Telephone: +49-89-382-45382
Micaela Sandstede
BMW Group Corporate and Intergovernmental Affairs
Spokesperson BMW Welt
Telephone: +49-89-382-61611
Email: presse@bmw.de
About BMW Group’s Cultural Commitment
For almost 50 years now, the BMW Group has initiated
and engaged in over 100 cultural cooperations worldwide. The company
places the main focus of its long-term commitment on contemporary and
modern art, classical music and jazz as well as architecture and
design. In 1972, three large-scale paintings were created by the
artist Gerhard Richter specifically for the foyer of the BMW Group’s
Munich headquarters. Since then, artists such as Andy Warhol, Jeff
Koons, Daniel Barenboim, Jonas Kaufmann and architect Zaha Hadid have
co-operated with BMW. In 2016 and 2017, female artist Cao Fei from
China and American John Baldessari created the next two vehicles for
the BMW Art Car Collection. Besides co-initiatives, such as BMW Tate
Live, the BMW Art Journey and the “Opera for All” concerts in Berlin,
Munich and London, the company also partners with leading museums and
art fairs as well as orchestras and opera houses around the world. The
BMW Group takes absolute creative freedom in all its cultural
activities – as this initiative is as essential for producing
groundbreaking artistic work as it is for major innovations in a
successful business.
Further information: www.bmwgroup.com/cultureand
www.bmwgroup.com/culture/overview
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@BMWGroupCulture
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