Program

Spain is as popular as ever with German tourists: Mediterranean sunshine, delicious wine crowned with a fiery temperament. This is best expressed by the many different dances with their precisely defined meanings and in some cases even ritual character. The programme will, of course, include some melodies from Georges Bizet’s opera “Carmen” – that most Spanish of operas, although their composer was a Frenchman. Be inspired by the “Spanische Musiknacht”, and let the sound of castanets, saraband or seguidilla mark the start of a wonderful summer or even the prelude to your forthcoming trip to Spain.

Conductor and host: Marc Tardue // Soprano: Melanie Hirsch

Summer spectacle based on the novel by Michael Bulgakow.

Michael Bulgakow’s “The Master and Margarita” is an archaic story per se. The novel cleverly weaves three separate narrative threads: one tells of the “Master” whose intellectuality threatens to plunge him into madness; another follows “Margarita” whose pure love can save him; finally, that of Wolland, the black magic devil himself, without whom the story would not be complete. What better subject matter for a summer spectacle? This novel represents an entire cosmos, filled with fantastic motifs and surreal landscapes. The text exerts a divine attraction – allusive and many-layered – but never ceases to parody the boredom of real life. Its strong characters, gripping plot and unbelievably off-beat humour give it its staginess – ideal for the Theaterhaus Jena.

For many years, Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue was one of the best-kept musical secrets in New Orleans. The ensemble stepped into the international limelight only in 2010 with its electrifying debut album “Backatown”, which was promptly nominated for a Grammy. Trombone Shorty is a virtuoso trumpet and trombone player, charismatic singer and versatile songwriter all rolled into one who refuses to be fenced in behind any stylistic boundaries.

As songwriter and co-founder of the band Supertramp, Roger Hogdson is one of the few musicians who have managed to secure a lasting place in our collective cultural memory without the usual star cult or egomania. Today, in the post-Supertramp era, he tours with his own band and a mixture of old and new songs, celebrating intelligent rock music at its finest.

Under the title “Hallo Welt”, Max Herre’s musical journey takes him back to the future. With what is now his third solo album, the former member of Freundeskreis is entering uncharted territory. At the same time, though, he is building on his former strengths to bring his past musical experiences right up to date. This exceptional artist is returning to the high art of rap music once again and giving the world his take on how it can sound.

Electronic duo Käptn Peng – more recently also part of an acoustic quintet – has put philosophically profound wit and melody back into German rap music. Its brand of musical mayhem, which meanders across all genres, has not only taken the club scene by storm, but has also conquered the major festival stages. There’s just no escaping Käptn Peng’s universally subversive rap irony.

These days, the Tindersticks can only be described as musical legends. For over twenty years now, they have been engaged in a very personal musical quest, delivering complex, dark indie songs which hover somewhere between mellifluous orchestral arrangements, lounge jazz and guitar-based song lyrics. Since getting back together again in 2008, they have added a host of classical instruments to their repertoire, and every concert takes you, as ever, on a very touching musical journey.

There’s no doubt about it, Chilly Gonzales is THE musical genius par excellence. Self-appointed perhaps, but not without reason! For no one combines so convincingly sublime musicianship at the piano with a self-deprecating rapper attitude and top-class entertainment. For “Solo Piano II” he assumes the mantle of the cool pianist once more and puts on a celebration of the finest keyboard gems since Erik Satie.

Avishai Cohen currently rates as one of the greatest jazz bassists of his generation. Having spent several years in New York, also as a member of Chick Corea’s band, he has rubbed shoulders with numerous colleagues from the world of jazz, funk, Latin and pop. He returned to live in Israel some years ago and now, together with his quartet, combines American jazz with the Arab-Jewish musical tradition of his homeland.

Les yeux d'la tête are like a musical furnace, melting down all manner of musical elements, from 50s jazz through Sinti-Swing to East European festive music, and re-forming them in some kind of anarcho-polka mould. The end result is hugely energy-laden, infectious dance music which could have come straight out of a garish steampunk film.

Manou Gallo, Dobet Gnahorè and Kareyce Fotso have for decades been the three dominant voices of West Africa. From their homelands of Ivory Coast and Cameroon or exile in Marseille, their powerful voices resound as a tribute to the golden era of West African pop music of the 70s and 80s. From traditional roots, they turn to face a funky, bluesy, electronic future.

Dead Combo have created their very own musical style; let’s call it “dark fado”. The two guitarists bring to the stage a blend of somewhat morbid, melancholy yet, at the same time, limitless sound – somewhere between alternative, Americana, Neil Young guitars and traditional fado. Occasionally, it reminds you of a highly atmospheric film score, sometimes of desert rock. One thing is certain, though: it’s guitar-playing of the first order.

For more than 15 years now the name Buena Vista Social Club has stood for much more than just a band: it is a large-scale project designed to preserve and revive an entire (dance-) music culture. And, what’s more, it’s the most potent source imaginable of the Caribbean zest for life! A dozen of Cuba’s finest musicians, together with the great soloists Omara Portuondo & Eliades Ochoa, invite you to dance to a combination of traditional son and classics from the Mowtown and Stax funk era.

Everything about the Kyteman Orchestra is just that little bit bigger: more people, more styles, more opera singers, more raps, more good vibes. Jazz trumpet player and hip-hopper Kyteman, alias Colin Benders, has been a household name in The Netherlands for some time. Now, he’s about to pull off a major coup with his own orchestra. In terms of stage presence, the other “big bands” can just as well pack up and go home.

Danish artist Tina Dico has a new adoptive country: Iceland. Soon afterwards, she released her fifth album “Where Do You Go to Disappear” in collaboration with her musical colleague Helgi Jonsson. Despite the overwhelming proximity to nature, the album itself does not feel particularly ethereal, or close to nature. The musical adventure gets under way with synthetic beats superimposed on epic sound landscapes leading to a kind of nuanced, multidimensional parlance.

Cheri MacNeil of Dear Reader does not shy away from big issues and has developed a unique form of political indie pop. The profound culture and the problems of her home country South Africa are her chosen subjects, and music the answer to everything: a constantly shifting, infectious sound which resonates from the stage with such vibrancy that you would rather forget the serious intent behind the lyrics.

Lee Fields is a living legend and a true character. The prototype soul brother and funky guy is blessed with a passionate, warm, raw voice which goes right through the listener and a history peppered with as many wonderful as dreadful tales waiting to be told. Lee Fields had almost been forgotten, but for the last few years he’s been back where he belongs – with a little help from The Expressions – on stage.

SongSlam is a musical offshoot of the poetry slam and as such has been building up a huge fan base on the republic’s literature and music scenes in recent years. The evening’s five musician-poets come from Berlin and Leipzig and will be presenting a programme of their latest songs, cheerfully courting the approval of their audience. The event will be emceed by one of their own: Christian Meyer from Leipzig.

Over the last few years, Iyeoka Okoawo from Boston has slowly but surely risen to the top of the league of Afro-American singer-songwriters. Her uncluttered, velvety blend of soul and funk now forms the basis for her true profession: a lyricist and poet, with roots both in the USA and in the Edo culture of Nigeria, who sets haunting, political texts to soft, gentle melodies.

Based in Berlin, Brandt Brauer Frick have taken the international club scene by storm with a compelling recipe for success: extremely danceable, cool-minimalist techno music, compiled from purely analogue material. The 10-member ensemble performs this eclectic balancing act so convincingly that even hardened electronic junkies go into ecstasies at the sound.

Johannes Oerding’s raw but gentle and slightly fragile voice has enriched the German singer-songwriter scene for some years now. He’s the type of artist who needs concerts and audiences in the same way that others need air to breathe or the solitude of the studio, labouring over new melodies. Whether it’s the intimacy of the campfire or the buzz of the mega venue, Johannes Oerding seemingly can’t survive without ears to hear him and hands to applaud him.

The 2013 tour by Jan Josef Liefers & Oblivion is set to be a renewed encounter with the best from recent years and, at the same time, a taste of the band’s own newly-written pieces. As a band, they have evolved a distinctive sound – something which can only be achieved after years of collaboration. Their intimate and emotionally charged music is powerful, expressive and forceful, with a sense of detail and precise dynamics.

Markku Lepistö and Pekka Lehti have been around on Finland’s avant-garde instrumental music scene for decades – in genres as diverse as folk, jazz, punk and classical. If you’re thinking this sounds like a pretty unusual collaboration, you’d be right: accordion teamed up with double bass is anything but run-of-the-mill. The same goes for their beautiful songs, ranging from delicately woven tapestries of sound to proper avant-garde jazz.

Glen Hansard is many things: an actor, a street musician, a singer possessed of an incomparably gentle voice and folky guitar sound and not least an Oscar-winner in 2008 for the Best Original Song from the Irish musical drama, Once. For over twenty years he has played a pivotal role in Irish folk-rock with the band The Frames. Now, accompanied by his own band, this extremely versatile singer-songwriter is pursuing a successful solo career – with a sound plucked straight from the streets of Dublin.

Among European singer-songwriters, Sophie Hunger is the post-modern incarnation of the sirens of the ancient world. Just when you think you’ve pinned her down, with her pure, authentic, wonderful brand of folk music, she’s back sitting at the piano teasing delicate melodies out of the keys. Sophie Hunger has something of Björk, Joan Baez and Joni Mitchell, but is far more ironic. She is a fictional being, a charming vision in the spotlights. Thank you, Switzerland, for sharing this delightful secret.

It would be hard to imagine the German musical landscape without Roger Cicero. In recent years he has earned a unique position thanks to his original sound, a combination of big band, swing and pop underpinning ironic German lyrics. He’s going back to his roots with this current programme: classic jazz, backed only by his own trio and, of course, this time with English lyrics.

Afenginn and the Estonian TV Girls’ Choir are an evenly matched combination: on the one hand, you have one of the most successful Danish instrumental folk bands and, on the other, one of Europe’s most prominent youth choirs. Together they form a 22-member ensemble, performing a selection of their own folk choir compositions and generating a whole lot of sheer energy in the process – real foot-tapping, danceable stuff! But that’s typical of Afenginn, isn’t it?

In the few years since she moved to Berlin, Australian Kat Frankie has progressed to become one of the capital’s top singer-songwriters. With her stunning, warm voice, pitched somewhere between Annie Lennox and PJ Harvey, she intones a minimalist and extremely stirring brand of folk. In a similar vein, Berliner Tobias Siebert, alias and the golden choir, is accompanied on stage by recordings of himself, hand-pressed on vinyl.

Lukas Graham is currently the hottest Danish soul-pop band around. The biggest newcomers of the last two or three years, the band’s members are true children of the YouTube era. They owe their discovery to postings of recordings of their own songs which positively ooze blood, sweat and tears. This spirit, multiplied many times over on the wider stage, is passed on to the audience, unleashing veritable dance-floor invasions!

No one is quite sure what Poliça actually means, but that might just be the whole point: here comes something totally new and unheard-of. Powerful, refractive, darkly lustrous indie-club-rock from Minneapolis, stirred up in a steaming rhythm kitchen. New Found Land’s music comes from somewhere completely different, namely Sweden. It, too, fills the air with a glittering pop sound made up of summery siren calls and oh so deep bass tones.

Some years ago, Caravan Palace established a new genre of their very own: electro swing. They have conquered the European club scene with an ecstatic mixture of Django Reinhard jazz, 30s swing and grating electro. Remaining true to this highly danceable sound, they’ve added a few stylistic embellishments from the trip-hop department, at the same time rediscovering forgotten old composers.

A concert double-bill with two local stalwarts of the Jena label “Freude am Tanzen”: Karocel derives from the collaboration between the Marbert Rocel band and house musician Mathias Kaden, while techno multi-talent Douglas Greed performs with singer Kuss and drummer Nagler. Together, they dish up an evening programme bursting with electronic dance beats – enough to get hearts and loudspeakers pulsating.

Sascha Winkler, alias Kalabrese, has long been one of the big guns of the international house and techno DJ scene. The fact that he’s also a big fan of his native Zurich and its “handmade” (i.e. acoustic) dance music is demonstrated by his album “Independent Dancer”. He’s now touring with the 7-piece Rumpelorchester, on a mission to spread sexy, funky beats and wonderful Swiss-German dialect pop.

The 18-man Samúel Jón Samúelsson Big Band is currently Iceland’s hottest thing on the funk front. This motley crew of musicians – a classic funk outfit with horns and a wicked rhythm section – is drawn from the crème de la crème of Icelandic jazz. As a kind of ironic version of Mothers of Invention, their seething 70s sound gets even the biggest grouch laughing his way to the dance floor.