18th Jazzdor Strasbourg-Berlin festival (June 2026)

 

By Paul Acquaro

 

Based in Strasbourg, France, Jazzdor has been producing its flagship festival for more than 35 years, with a sister edition in Germany for over 18 and a new collaboration now taking root in Budapest. The music presented by Jazzdor has been consistently illuminating, introducing both emerging and established musicians to new audiences and fostering collaborations between European and even some American musicians. This year also marks a transition, with Vincent Bessières stepping in as artistic director following the long tenure of founder Philippe Ochem.

 

Spread over four days in early June, Bessières brought his vision for the festival to the Gretchen Club in Berlin's Kreuzberg neighborhood. Featuring two sets per evening each night featured groups linked by their style and, of course, their French connections. As opposed to other years where groups had been curated for their premier performance, Bessières was relying on working groups, something he attributed more to the time he has had so far to develop his vision than to future ambitions.

 

The new location lent a different feel to the event. Previous years were held in the cavernous Maschinenhaus in Berlin's Kulturbrauerei, located in a 19th century brewery in the city's gentrified Prenzlauer Berg neighborhood. Offering a large stage area and ample room, the space could host large ensembles, which they did with a big band playing Carla Bley's music or Steve Lehman's ambitious Ex Machina orchestra, but could also feel a bit impersonal. Gretchen Club, in the grittier Kreuzberg, has a cozier jazz club like atmosphere with it's low arched ceiling and columns. 

 

Wakken

Tuesday's show kicked off with the group WAKKEN, a piano trio led by France-based pianist Francesca Han with bassist Pierre Fenicheland drummer Fred Pasqua. The trio presented a vibrant, melodic set of songs, with pieces containing atmospheric and dreamy moments, along with syncopated and uptempo passages that often slowly developed into driving tunes. Elements of classical as well as pop music were interwoven with expressive soloing from all three musicians.

 

Amuray Faye NOLA Quartet

They were followed by the Amuray Faye NOLA Quartet featuring the drummer Herlin Riley. Group leader, French pianist Faye, had an extended stay in New Orleans where he spent time immersing himself in the local culture and taking long walks through the city (one time apparently wearing a panda costume), soaking in the atmosphere. One impression that he came away with was "rust," as he explained, it was on the bridges, around the buildings, and in the rail yards. Another was, obviously, the music and the set was an often uptempo take on traditional New Orleans jazz with a modern jazz sheen. With him was saxophonist Julian Lee, bassist Edouard Pennes and Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra drummer Herlin Riley, who played with an animated showmanship. 

 

Polybahn

What could be considered the 'traditional jazz' night was followed on Wednesday by two experimental leaning groups. The first group, Polybahn , is the occasional working group of saxophonist Michael Attias , drummer Samuel Ber and pianist Benoit Delbecq , announced by Bessieres as "abstract, but poetic." Adhering to this description, the group performed a set-long improvisation that flowed effortlessly from quiet introspection to agitated formulations. Beginning with Attias gently blowing into the horn and sprinkles of notes from Delbecq, the music unraveled patiently with Ber's gentle but firm persuasion. Switching between saxophones, Attias played long melodic strands on the soprano while Delbecq punctuated his phrasings with palm plants on the keyboard. Ber, an intense drummer, concentrated on the core of his kit, a snare, bass drum, one cymbal to underscore the group's palpable pulse. 

 

Hélène Duret's Synestet

Wednesday's second set, clarinetist Hélène Duret's Synestet featuring Nils Wogram, had the French - German collaboration performing the music from their latest recording, Perception.From a trembly, squeaky start through some deep rumbling notes, the music emerged slowly but assuredly. A simple repeating pattern from guitarist Benjamin Sauzereau then set the group in full motion. Saxophonist Sylvain Debasieux began playing an oozing, layered solo that built up to a final defiant squawk from Duret on the bass clarinet. Trombonist Nils Wogram came to the stage about a quarter of the way into the set. Having recorded the last album with the group, he was already well poised to lend his expertly melodic voice to the group. Across their diverse set, the music veered from slow, hypnotic vibes to fiery uptempo pieces with cinematic scope with the superb support of bassist Fil Caporali and drummer Maxime Rouayroux. The final piece, the appropriately titled 'Adieu,' was carried by Sauzereau guitar work centering around an extended solo that synthesized Bill Frisell's Americana twang with angular jabs of surf guitar. 

Trouble

Successfully lowering the audience's median age, the third night of the festival shifted in a more electronic music direction. Even though both groups played primarily using traditional acoustic and electric instruments, they both also had woven electronics deep into their approach, in quite different ways. The first group, Trouble, offered a compelling vision of how electronics, looping and minimalism could work in a jazz context. With drummer Antonin Leymarie's drums at the center, perfectly supported by Fabrizio Rat's reductionist piano work, Clément Petit's and Maëlle Desbrosses ' captivating cello and viola playing, and Élise Caron's hypnotic voice, the group spun repetitive acoustic grooves, adorned with electronics and effects, into euphoric climatic moments. One piece, apparently a story of love between robots and a later piece, both of whose name escaped my note taking, were rather spellbinding moments of classical music that used the minimalist looping to a maximum effect. The following group, Photons with Gauthier Toux on electronics, Giani Caserottoon guitar, Samuel F’Hima on bass, and Julien Loutelieron drums, took a different approach, opting for a ‘live techno’ direction in which the electronics and formulaic beat structures became the primary focus. 

 

Garden of Silences

Friday, the final night, offered yet another perspective on the state of jazz — an ethno‑folk jazz strain, if we look for a term that steers clear of the loaded ‘world‑music’ label. Both Garden of Silences and Mosaic were truly multi-cultural blends that sought - and found - new ways to blend strong traditions into something captivating and new. Garden of Silences is formed around violinist Clément Janinet and trumpeter Arve Henriksen along with accordionist Ambre Villermoz and bassist Robert Lucaciu. Mixing classical repertoire with free improvisation and Swedish folk, the group plays a music that is not jazz nor classical nor folk, but with all of these elements, utterly captivating. Beginning with a swirl of accordion and the trumpet playing a slow melody, a gentle, provocative classical countermelody emerged from the violin and bass. The next piece featured a dramatic introduction from Henriksen over a churning undercurrent from Janiet. Throughout, the trumpeter employed electronic elements and vocals and the groups final tune was a turn toward a more modern melodic approach. They have an self-titled album out on BMC records. 

Mosaic © Ulla C Binder

Mosaic, comprised of musicians from Bulgaria, France, Portugal and Tunisia, met at a music event in Malta and have developed a unique Mediterranean-jazz. Big rhythms, dynamic interactions and even some renaissance music flair brought out by Georgi Dobrev's kaval, a Balkan flute. Slowly building pieces gave way to epic storms with swirling counter melodies and mounting polyrhythms. Interactions between Dobrev, cellist Adèle Viret, accordionist Noé Clerc , bassist Zé Almeida, drummer Diogo Alexandre and percussionist Hamdi Jammoussi kept the audience enthralled up until and after Jammoussi's climatic solo credenza encore on his blue back-lit hand drum. 

 

Even in a somewhat more compact format, the festival successfully again spotlighted a fertile and varied European scene, with an eye towards the future of jazz. With its growing network of events in Strasbourg, Berlin, and Budapest, Jazzdor is clearly still evolving. Bessières speaks of new partnerships and new directions; if this year is any indication, there’s real potential in that aspiration.

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Achim Kaufmann, Yorgos Dimitriadis, Michael Thieke – Hiss and Whirr (Wide Ear Records, 2025)

By Dan Sorrells 

In this moment of hollow AI mimicry, the hiss and whirr of three musicians locked in improvisation starkly highlights the very creative capacity that our inhuman technology tries and fails to co-opt. Like cogs that can be retooled and reconfigured on the fly, Achim Kaufmann, Yorgos Dimitriadis, and Michael Thieke create something genuinely novel and in constant renewal, even as it may remind us—perhaps uncannily—of the regularity and precision of machines.

Dimitriadis has previously worked in the duo format with both Kaufmann and Thieke. To the extent putting the three together calls machinery to mind, it's of the churning, industrial sort. Throughout Hiss and Whirr, the interlocking of Kaufmann's prepared piano, Dimitriadis's percussion, and Thieke's frequently beguiling clarinet takes on a cryptic quality, like hearing unseen work from behind closed doors. What reach us on the other side are the sonorous workings of machines or systems whose purpose is hopelessly obscured. Much of this derives from the fascinating way the trio arrests and warps time. There's a constancy that feels more like cyclical layering than linear exposition, even as the music ceaselessly changes. This lends a hypnotic feel to pieces like the opening title track with its thumping toms and gently clanging piano. It can also yield drama: "an epoch of rain" is a ratchet with almost no forward movement—just increasing tension, winding tighter and tighter. But these rhythms and tempos aren't rigid. Their contours flex and are redrawn as patterns accumulate and dissipate. Eventually, the sounds darken, becoming damp and subterranean. "or hunger that gets lost" works itself into an eerie space, notes dripping like the intricate, unsteady polyrhythms in a cavernous cistern.

The trio further obscure their human hands through the nuanced deployment of electronics, which both Kaufmann and Dimitriadis use as atmospheric augments and occasionally to cast doubt on true causes. Thieke, for his part, uses his formidable technique to conjure the same effects. There's an electric charge gathering in his feedback tones from "the minute it isn't held," and the subtle tongue slaps that end "of fragments flowering" sound like a clipping audio track.

The sounds on Hiss and Whirr often seem influenced by the technological thrum of our modern lives and the ways in which individuals are subsumed in the complexity that emerges as intersecting processes are set into motion. But just try to imagine this music being spat from a soulless algorithm. It could never be derived from a series of probabilistic calculations, because its improbability is its greatest asset. Free improvisation is the antithesis of derivative slop.

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Ivo Perelman and Damon Smith - Duologue 6: Core of Existence (Squid Note, 2026)

By Sammy Stein

Ivo Perelman continues his duologue series with a conversation with bassist Damon Smith, and this is a duologue well worth listening in on. Bass and saxophone seem naturally attuned to interact: two instruments built on vibration, the sax of a reed and the bass of a string. In both instruments, the air moved by vibration is passed through a resonant body to create texture, warmth, and depth. Their kinship is physical, but their voices are utterly distinct, and that tension is where the chemistry happens.

Across the album, the musicians explore the full expressive range of their instruments. They trade thunks, whispers, vibrato, sudden bursts of intensity, and passages of exquisite stillness. What emerges is a sense of deeply engaged conversation.

The tracks on Duologue: Core of Existence are numbered 1-12, and across the album, the range and versatility of both musicians is demonstrated. From the sax-led inspiration on track 1, the extemporised playing of Perelman on track 2, supported by the depths of resounding notes from the bass, to the dance-like trilling of the sax on track 3, supported by the bass, this time using higher notes and vibrato to add a different texture to the music.

On track 4, there is a shift in emphasis, and the bass supports Perelman playing in a range of styles, at one time creating a fuzzy background texture and another a plucked, plinky, rhythmic style. On track 5, the bass is fast, furious, and then suddenly delicate under Perelman's intensity, the beauty of the track developing as each musician listens not only to each other but also uses silences to add punctuation.

Across the album, tenor sax and bass are used as instruments of engagement, negotiation, and to exchange ideas, sometimes one suggesting, sometimes the other. While this is free playing, without supposed form, there are different patterns, rhythms, and styles, from the intense to the gentle and sublime. Even when Perelman is following a delirious line or sliding in a snippet from a traditional jazz tune, the bass is ever changing, reacting, and engaging with the ideas. On track 8, the final phrases see the bass loose stringed and plucked, creating a shimmering effect under the tenor line.

Track 9 sees a shift in emphasis, as this is bass-led and glorious, with Perelman affording the Smith ample room and scope while supplying notions, ideas, and quicksilver rivulets of sound for the bass to react to. Even when Perelman is at his most unrestrained, Smith’s bass is in motion, reacting with invention and agility, introducing ideas of his own making. The fabulous contrast in the middle section between the high-pitched screams of the tenor and the deepest, darkest throat of the bass is extraordinary.

As in all the Duologue series, Perelman seems to relish conversing with other musicians and instruments in a musical encounter where he can pitch the tenor sax against different bodies, materials, and modes of vibration, yet the underlying principle remains. Sound is a shared exploration. Perelman and each of the musicians he has played with in the series tap into creating vibrations: notes, music, in different ways, but as ever, there is a commonality in conversations. Perelman, in this series, is the alchemist who makes it happen, drawing out the unique resonances of each collaborator. With Smith, the chemistry is profound, two musicians creating vibrations in different ways but providing meaning and conversation in equal measure. It is here where magic happens. 

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Ivo Perelman, Matthew Shipp, Bobby Kapp, and William Parker - Synesthesia (Defkaz, 2026)

By Sammy Stein

Ivo Perelman is a musician, artist, and jeweller who works with many musicians of different styles. He sees the world slightly differently from some of us, in that he sees sound in colour. So the title of the recording, Synesthesia, is apt. In his contribution to my book Music Is Your Superpower, Perelman describes music not as a choice, but as an essential for existence. He says of music, and jazz in particular, “What truly connected me to jazz was the emotional intensity within its structure, especially in the music of Shorter. It felt almost impossible to perform music that was so intricately constructed while simultaneously conveying such depth of feeling.”

He also talks about his synesthesia – the phenomenon of seeing sound as colours. When Perelman plays music, it feels as if he is creating a work of art, and when he is painting, he can relate it to creating a saxophone solo. Art, colour, and music are interlinked. His intense need to create may explain his productivity in music. His way of playing and interpreting musical dialogue draws to him musicians who understand his musical visions.

On Synesthesia, Perelman has teamed again with close associates Matthew Shipp (piano), William Parker (bass), and Bobby Kapp (drums) in a new recording that captures their deep connection and still evolving voices in contemporary free jazz. With the pathways forged with ‘Ineffable Joy’ and ‘Heptagon’, the group continues to establish new routes in spontaneous composition, open form, and strong collective interplay.

The difference on ‘Synesthesia’ is that the music is more crystallised, and has a deeper sense of flow and connection. That connection is revealed in the rapid reactions of the musicians as they listen and respond to each other, offering individual takes that go to create a whole. Perelman explores his tenor sax, moving across its range with soft, melodic interludes, intense, electric solos, and contrasting altissimo. Shipp demonstrates his innate art of support as his circling, looping chordal progressions offer up subtle melodic ideas that pilot the ensemble in places. The bass of Parker is constant, with deep, sonorous melodies, with space left for musical dialogue. Kapp adds colour and motion, while filling in the detail of the sonic landscape with percussive touches and occasional solos.

Across the album, there is that contrast of intense energy, such as on ‘First Color Heard,’ and quiet, reflective passages, such as those on ‘Afterglow.’ The contrasts coexist, interlinked and cohesive to create the harmonic dialogue that only comes with experience and understanding other musicians.

On ‘Phosphene,’ Perelman travels familiar pathways, yet introduces new elements into each, creating a sense of the unexpected. Shipp’s piano excels on this track with its quiet support and triumphantly emergent solo work. The beautiful moment when Perelman enters across the piano solo with astonishingly accurate pitch contrast is just beautiful. There is even a snippet from a song from Perelman before he reverts to free playing. Into the quiet moments, Parker’s bass sighs and works its magic – an excellent track.

On ‘Blue Taste,’ the influence of jazz masters past and present can be felt as the ensemble delivers free-style jazz commentary across a blues-infused rhythm pattern. Perelman's pipping, and squealing contrast with the steadfast whirr of the accompaniment, while ‘Afterglow’ is a much gentler affair altogether. ‘One Sense’ has an atmosphere of a ‘50s jazz venue for some inexplicable reason, possibly because of the interaction between traditional rhythms and free playing – glorious.

Like in a lot of Perelman’s work, the blues and bop elements make themselves known, interwoven amidst abstract sonic textures that create a flowing, organic development. Synesthesia is a recording that has the quality you might expect from an experienced ensemble, who know each other’s ways so well, yet it still has elements of surprise and supreme intuitive styling that give it its energy and expression.

On Synesthesia, there is no discernible fixed structure, yet the harmonics and classically linked progressions tell of a musical ensemble deeply knowledgeable in musical scaffolding and pinning on that scaffold experimental lines that always work back to the root. The title says it all, a kaleidoscope of jewelled, colourful music, with deep, dark textures and light, contrasting hues. There are shapes woven here, along with colorful landscapes, through which the ensemble meanders, careens, and gently rests on occasion. This is an album that will have broad appeal.

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Gabriel Vicéns – Niebla (Clepsydra Records, 2026)

By Nick Ostrum

Gabriel Vicéns first came to my attention with 2024’s Mural, which itself was a big step in the young guitarist and composer’s musical evolution. That album marked a turn from the Latin-tinged modern jazz of his previous work toward modernist and postmodernist classical traditions. Niebla finds Vicéns with a sextet with whom he has years of history, but, as far as I can tell, has never stretched so far into this blended, abstract musical territory, at least together. The crew includes saxophonist Roman Filiú, pianist Vitor Gonçalves, bassist Rick Rosato, and the double percussion section of E.J Strickland and Victor Pablo, in addition to Vicéns himself on guitar.

On Niebla (fog), Vicéns and crew simultaneously take a step further out and a step back to Caribbean traditions. For some a split like this would tear at the ligaments of conviction. Here, the group shows rare agility in pulling it off. The album has a lot going for it. Influences range from contemporary jazz to especially Feldman and Cage-inspired classical to Puerto Rican and Cuban rhythmacism. Now, new music and driving rhythm may seem anathema to each other. Throw in some jumpy bop lines (I cannot shake the feeling that some of these phrases are slightly laggard takes on Salt Peanuts, or something like it), Filiú’s and Vicéns entangling lines (I hear nods to Metheny in the latter), Gonçalves’ seasoned restraint, and a wildly pulsing rhythm section and one might think the resulting stew could never settle properly. But it does.

The jauntier fusion numbers here – Niebla, Stray Dogs – lay into that kaleidoscopic description above. The more patient pieces – 900-50-80, Guaiza – strike an unexpectedly convincing balance between repetition, abstraction, and gradualism. The odd time signatures and especially the polyrhythmic drumming add to this, hinting at phasing and free jazz arrhythmia. So too do the moments when the band spans the gap between old and new, or indigenous and hypermodernist practices, as in the scratchy güiro solo about nine minutes into the vertiginous Ramaje. This one runs from some Escherian hive of staircases to noirish jazz (with a solo by Strickland worthy of Andrew Cyrille) to straight-up New York minimalism to the barest of güiro scrapes and rasps framed by silence, or, as the listener’s ears remain perked, an aural fog of what preceded and anticipation of what might come next. In that, Niebla is liminal, resting on the boundary between traditions and, in its various twists and turns, eschewing complacency in any given moment or direction.

Nieblais available as a CD and download here.

 

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Quagmire & Christer Bothén - Rörane (Relative Pitch, 2026)

 

By Eyal Hareuveni

The Swedish Gothenburg-based free-improvising Quagmire trio features Swiss-Swedish double bass player Nina de Heney, hyper-pianist Karin Johansson, and drummer Henrik Wartel. This trio released its debut self-titled album in 2019 on the Portuguese label Creative Sources, highlighting its imaginative layering of spontaneous, sound-oriented textures with an array of inventive extended bowing, inside-the-piano, and percussive techniques that soon coalesced into instant, haunting compositions.

Rörane was recorded at the isolated, old barn Rörane Studio and performance space in Bohuslän by Andreas Werliin (the ex-drummer of Fire! trio), and features the legendary local bass and contrabass clarinetist Christer Bothén (b. 1941), known for his collaboration with Don Cherry (he taught Cherry the donso n’goni), and for his new band Cosmic Ear (with Mats Gustafsson and Goran Kajfeš). Bothén also did the cover artwork.

The album was recorded during a short tour of this ad-hoc quartet. The Rörane area, with its rich cultural history, rock carvings, nature reserves, and burial grounds, offered the right atmosphere to immerse oneself in the spirit of the place. The five pieces deepen the nuanced interplay of Quagmire, enjoying the organic, emphatic, and profoundly poetic contribution of Bothén. Each piece suggests its own unpredictable sonic landscape and its own mysterious, acoustic mantras, flirting with the otherworldly, electroacoustic sounds, or disorienting, statis-like textures. Bothén pushes Quagmire into urgent interplay at the beginning of the 19-minute title piece, but soon the quartet’s dynamics gravitate into the more lyrical and introspective. And since then, breath, bow, strings, skins, and cymbals dance in an inspiring, delicate way, allowing themselves to push their common sonic palettes gently and invite the listeners to immerse themselves in the deeply spiritual musical universe of Qugamire and Bothén. You may feel that the ancient spirits Rörane had some part in this beautiful, arresting sonic ritual.

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gabby fluke-mogul - GUT Live at Roulette (self-released, 2026)

By Richard Blute

“Life is like playing a violin solo in public and learning the instrument as one goes on.”

-Samuel Butler

A stunner from violinist gabby fluke-mogul (they don’t capitalize their name). gabby and frequent collaborator violist Joanna Mattrey are redefining the roles of their instruments in improvised music.

There have been violins in jazz since its very earliest days, going back to the music of Stuff Smith, who played violin in Alphonse Trent’s big band in the 1920s and subsequently led his own bands. (Be sure to check out Smith’s work on the amazing historical jazz label The Complete Jazz Series.)

But this is something very different.

I first discovered the two artists when I randomly clicked on a Youtube video of a solo performance by Joanna Mattrey. My initial reaction after 10 seconds was “My god, what is she doing to that poor viola?”. Another 10 seconds later and I was completely hooked. I realized I was watching something extraordinary and unlike anything I had encountered before.

Joanna’s music led me to the music of gabby. The violin in gabby’s hands was an instrument that could combine traditional classical music, improvisation and harsh noise into a remarkable stew. While Antonio Stradivari is no doubt spinning in his grave, I was thrilled. I had found something genuinely new and exciting.

A review of gabby’s bandcamp page finds multiple treasures where gabby shows their virtuosity and their unique approach to the instrument. There are solo albums, Love Songs and Threshold,both great. There are two duos with percussionists: Lily Finnegan on Throw It In The Sink,and Nava Dunkelman on Likht,which demonstrate another side of their playing. The first is great fun.Also excellent is a duo with Joanna on Oracle.Possibly gabby’s finest collaborations are on the albums Death in The Gilded Agewith Joanna, Ava Mendoza and Matteo Liberatore and Mama Killa with Ava Mendoza and Carolina Pérez.

The album Gut: Live At Rouletteis unlike anything gabby, or anyone else, has done before. It might seem like a solo violin album, but gabby had a partner, sound technician Danishta Rivero, who, to quote the liner notes, “processed the instrument’s timbre with rock concert-quality barrages of sound”. The result was then blasted through 14 speakers, which must have been crushing but delightful to the Roulette crowd.

From the description on the Bandcamp page, I was almost expecting something like Metal Machine Music on violin. While there is an element of that, gabby produces much more. They frequently pluck the violin or bow with minimal arm movement and with Rivero’s overamplification, I swear I hear Hendrix. They also manage to use the violin as a percussion instrument. There are also quiet moments to be had. Those moments of calm make the louder moments more intense in contrast and one can listen to notes decay into something beautiful and then we just hear silence. There’s even a lovely tribute to occasional violinist Ornette Coleman to be found.

All proceeds from the sale of this album go to South Brooklyn community members targeted by ICE via standwithsouthbrooklyn.org.

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James “Blood“ Ulmer (1940 - 2026)

Photo by Peter Gannushkin

ByMartin Schray

“I don’t take a stand. I follow. I followed Ornette Coleman’s harmolodic theory, and I still follow it, and I followed it so closely that I realized that to truly follow it in the best way possible, I have to become a harmolodic person, to be able to follow the harmolodic system. So that’s why I’m talking about blues and jazz and boom-boom, and Third Rail and all this - because I am a harmolodic person,” James “Blood” Ulmer once said in an interview with Ted Panken. Ulmer’s style was absolutely unique in its harmolodic nature; no guitarist could blend free jazz, blues, jazz-rock, and funk quite like he did - perhaps because he played all kinds of Black music from an early age before finding his own path. As has only just become known, the guitarist passed away last week at the age of 86.

Born Willie James Ulmer in St. Matthews, South Carolina in 1940, Ulmer was already playing guitar at the age of four, his father taught him his first chords. He initially played in a gospel quartet, then - in 1959 - he moved to Pittsburgh as a professional musician, where he initially played in R&B bands. In the early and mid-1960s, he played in organ-dominated soul-jazz bands before he moved to Detroit and played in bands of such diverse musicians as Dionne Warwick, Chuck Jackson, George Adams, and John Patton. In 1971, he moved to New York City and there he performed with Art Blakey, Paul Bley, Larry Young, and Joe Henderson. It was also there that he met Ornette Coleman, an encounter that would shape his musical outlook for the rest of his life. Ulmer became a member of Ornette Coleman’s live bands in the 1970s and from that point on, he was the “harmolodic person” he talked about in Panken’s interview. Ulmer and Coleman then jointly developed the concept - originally conceived by Ornette for jazz - into “Harmolodic Funk”. This can be heard for the first time on Ulmer’s debut album Tales of Captain Black (Artists House, 1979), which featured Coleman and his son Denardo (drums) as well as Ulmer’s longtime collaborator Jamaladeen Tacuma on bass.

Starting in 1980, Ulmer led his own trio with Calvin Weston (drums) and Amin Ali (bass), with whom he performed his own compositions based on Coleman’s harmolodic concept. Later, he also worked with George Adams (ts) and the Music Revelation Ensemble, whose album No Wave was released in Germany in 1980 by Moers Music. Ulmer usually struck the strings very percussively with his thumb and favored sometimes bizarre open tunings, including the Ornette Coleman-inspired harmolodic tuning. But blues, distorted sounds, idiosyncratic bends, and noisy interludes also shaped his sharp, edgy, clanging playing. The recordings with his own trio that followed - such as Are You Glad to Be in America? (Rough Trade, 1980), Free Lancing (CBS, 1981), Odyssey (Columbia, 1983), Revealing (In+Out Records, 1990) or the outrageous live recordings from New York’s Knitting Factory in the 1990s - reveal a monster on the guitar. Absurd staccatos, splintering sounds, and funk rhythms pile up in the songs; in such moments, the giant Ulmer had no competition, the music shows an artist at the height of his art. During that time he teamed up with tenor saxophonist George Adams once more and created the quartet Phalanx. Their Got Something Good For You (Moers Music,1986) featured Amin Ali and Calvin Weston again, whereas Original Phalanx (DIW, 1987) and In Touch (DIW, 1988) boasted bassist Sirone and drummer Rashied Ali. Between these albums Ulmer released America Do You Remember the Love? (Blue Note, 1986), a jazz-rock quartet session with guitarist Nicky Skopelitis, bassist Bill Laswell and Ronald Shannon Jackson, heavily influenced by Laswell’s ambient/world philosophy. 

James “Blood“ Ulmer’s influence on the experimental New York downtown scene of the 1980s is undeniable; bands like DNA and Mars drew inspiration from him, and Living Colour’s guitarist Vernon Reid produced the man’s blues albums from the 2000s, for example Birthright (2005) or Bad Blood In The City. The Piety Street Sessions (2007), both on Hyena Records. “Ulmer is fully aware of his craft, both theoretically and idiomatically - he just never let those concerns hold him back. He’s a rocker. He’s unapologetically himself. He is the blues. Himself. Not his rules,” said Reid. Even at the end of his career Ulmer proved that statement and was able to soar, for example when he joined The Thing on Baby Talk (Live At Molde International Jazz Festival 2015),(The Thing Records 2017). Ulmer also released Back in Time with his Odyssey Band on Pi Recordings in 2005 featuring downtown musicians drummer Warren Benbow and violinist Charles Burnham.

At the 2024 Detroit Jazz Festival James “Blood“ Ulmer played his final concert, retiring soon after due to deteriorating health. The previous year, during a two-night residency at Solar Myth in Philadelphia, he played a concert with Calvin Weston (drums) and Mark Peterson (bass), which summed up his sound in a nutshell: the blues, the soul, the free funk - and the harmolodics.

James “Blood“ Ulmer died June, 3rd, “his music was fearless, and so was his spirit”, his family said in a statement. One of the greatest Black music guitarists ever has gone. May he rest in peace.

Watch James “Blood“ Ulmer at Solar Myth in Philadelphia in 2023:

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Marion Brown – Live in Europe 1968 &1972 (NoBusiness, 2026)

By Kenneth Blanchard

Marion Brown (1935-2010) attacked the new thing when it was really new, but he never achieved the fame of avant garde giants. If you like intense, energetic, and genuinely free jazz, listen to Why not? (ESP 1968). Or, maybe even better, Three for Shepp (Impulse 1966).

The collection here is one from the vaults. The first 3 numbers were recorded at the Maison de la Radio that same year. The last 2 at the Festival de Châteauvallon, Ollioules, France in 1972. Along with Brown’s alto sax are Gunter Hampel on vibraphone, Barre Philips on bass, and Steve McCall on drums.

The Maison Ronde recordings are by far the best of the five. Brown was a pioneer of a certain kind of free composition. He takes a simple, bluesy phrase, twists it inside out, and extracts every last drop of nectar. Beyond that phrase, there is no narrative. There is, however, the slightly melancholy mood of the horn itself. Brown’s sound reminds me somewhat of Steve Lacy, especially in his collaborations with Mal Waldron. His playing, on the other hand, is similar to what you might hear on Miles Davis Live at the Plugged Nickel or, more recently, the amazing recordings of Fred Anderson. Marion Brown is one of those jazz geniuses that could expand his soul into simple horn lines with such grace as to make the angels jealous.

One caveat is that the recording is not what the music deserves. At the 1st venue, you can hear the horn just fine. The rest of the band really needs to come up at bit. The same is true for the horn on the last two cuts, but the supporting instruments are largely reduced to the sound of wind chimes. To what extent this was intended (it was 1972 and the drugs had taken effect) I do not know. It gets better as the piece, Djinji’s Corner, goes on. Short of halfway through you can hear everything.

I am grateful to NoBusiness for bringing this document to my ears. I realize that margins are tight, but I do wish there was more documentation on this recording. There is a lot of cheap talent out there (yours truly, for example) who would do the research.

Meanwhile, if you have no Marion Brown in your collection, any time after 1972 is a good time to start. The recordings mentioned above are good. This one gives you some dangerous beauty.

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Moers Lets Down its Hair (Moers Festival 2026)

By Paul Acquaro

55th Moers Festival: May 21 - 25, 2026

Once upon a time, in a land where melodies did not necessarily neatly resolve, there lived a jazz festival known far and wide. Its name traveled on the wind, whispered across oceans, appearing on record sleeves on shelves from Frankfurt to Philadelphia. Many a listener kept treasured vinyl marked with its crest—perhaps a spellbinding Evan Parker incantation, or a tale spun by John Carter.

 

But one day, as festivals sometimes do when the moon hangs just right, this venerable gathering felt a stirring—a curious, mischievous idea fluttering at its edges. It wondered what might happen if it dared to dream a little differently…

 

Having spread its wings and expanded its scope, the Moers festival has grown from its avant-garde roots into something much larger. Weaving in modern jazz, new music, poetry, political discourse and more, the theme this year was fairy tales, which the printed program whimsically presented in its surreal prose and thematic illustrations, a densely packed long holiday weekend. The festival unfurled through the old city of Moers — the castle courtyard, the main parking lot and the city park — offering lots to discover and more than one way to enjoy the festivities.

 

To some, it might have seemed chaotic. To others, perhaps a city festival with lots of food trucks and stands to buy hippie-jewelry and dashikis. And to yet others, it was a rich, off-beat intersection of musical styles, offering unexpected encounters and discoveries. None of these categories are mutually exclusive, so one could also mix and match, being equally bewitched, bothered and bewildered.

 

***

Moon over the Moers Castle with Rapunzel's escape plan in view

In a cute nod to the fairy tale theme, Rapunzel's long hair hung from the castle's tower, and to its left was the entrance to the courtyard. This was where the festival had begun, 54 years ago, inside the castle walls, before it first moved into the city park and then further out to the city's recreation fields. Today, sitting in the blazing sun of the bright blue late afternoon was drummer Chris Corsano's drum kit, and if you hadn't arrived a half-hour (or more) early, there was not chance to get a shady spot. 

Chris Corsano

Corsano began by blowing into a clarinet mouthpiece that vibrated a drum head. He proceeded into the half-hour set that was both rhythmic and melodic, as far as melody goes on the drums. It was a thoroughly engaging improvisation, drawing the listener in close.

  

Outside the castle, a mere stones throw away, across the packed market place, was the main stage, where trumpeter and composer Nate Wooley, along with the new music group Yarn/Wire (pianists Laura Barger and Julia Den Boer, and percussionists Russell Greenberg and Dustin Donahue) and vocalist Tara Khozein were set to play. Here, the erudite trumpeter was presenting a newly commissioned piece that mixed narrative with modern classical. Long, dramatic passages brought together Scottish author Nan Shepard's mystical stories to the stage and quiet interactions between the musicians provided a charged atmosphere. The two grand pianos framed the music with light, dissonant chords while Wooley's tender passages were adorned with soft whispers and audible breaths. Mostly melancholic, the piece was punctuated by intense crescendoing passages. A brainy set, for sure.

 

Skylar Tang and Luis Lopes

Ready for a little more free improvisation, the Moers Sessions were calling. So, back through the market and past Rapunzel's locks, to "Wo die wilden Frösche klatschen" (Translation: Where the Wild Frogs Clap) stage area, nestled in a tree-lined grove in the park. Curated by saxophonist Jan Klare, various sessions throughout the festival brought together musicians appearing elsewhere at the festival in new formations and an improvised setting. This evening began with saxophonist Mia Dyberg in dialog with pianist William Schwartzman and drummer Jonathan Schierhorn. Melodic and probing, the tentative trio locked into a groove about half-way into their set, bringing the listeners along an explorative journey. Next up was the assemblage of bassist John Murray, trumpeter Skylar Tang, drummer Sofia Borges, pianist Rieko Okuda and guitarist Luis Lopes. The group seemed split, while Lopes, Borges and Okuda seemed comfortable skirting around an identifiable tonal center, Tang sounded a bit resistant to let it go. The audience did not seem to mind, Lopes' clashing guitar and Tang's attempt at tonalism generated ample, enthusiastic applause.

***

In the Zwergengasse

The city of Moers itself is an eclectic mix of sights. At the intersection of the aforementioned lush city park and old town, featuring the city's castle (or what remains of it), there is a collection of historic churches and buildings, one of which is a picturesque 18th century neo-Renaissance "Altes Landratsamt" (which translates to the rather uninspiring: Old County Administration Building). Then, if one wanders a little further, into the Fussgaengerzone (pedestrian zone), they will pass the old city mansion, the Peschkenhaus (which we'll come back to later) and then just a bit further, the sweetly curious Zwergengasse (The delightfully translated: Dwarves Alley). The latter is a narrow, colorful alley way featuring a house dating from the 1920's adorned with charming carvings - worth a trip if you happen to already be in town.

 

Ches Smith

Back to the festival: Saturday's adventure begins again at the castle courtyard, this time for percussionist Ches Smith's solo set. It starts with a crash, Smith going at his drum kit full throttle. Flanked by glockenspiel and timpani drums, it was obviously just the opening salvo. The chimes soon came into focus, stark in contrast to the drumming but one could still sense more was still to come! The action then shifted towards the timpani, and playing with expanding and contracting tension, Smith pulled unusual sounds from the instruments around him. At times exploratory and other times hard hitting, the set was another early highlight of the festival.

 

Returning to the full courtyard after a little wander around the festival grounds to find some dinner, it was time for some high-energy music. After a quick count-off and delivering the head of the first tune, saxophonist Angelica Neiscer was deep into a scorching solo. Her counterparts, cellist Tomeka Reid and drummer Eliza Salem were in cahoots as the cellist played a vibrant bass line and the drummer provided a propulsive tempo. It was a classic piano-less jazz trio, energetic, and though not free-jazz per-se, there was generous freedom within the charts. Case in point: Reid's freak-out solo during the second piece that threw anything written into the metaphorical wind (a little real wind would have been nice, it was hot!).

 

Bonbon Flamme

An exquisite chaos was already underway on the main stage as Bonbon Flamme's mash-up of cabaret, half-remembered melodies from a black-out night, old-time jazz riffs and skronk guitar filled the air. The audience was enrapt as Cellist Valentin Ceccaldi, keyboardist Fulco Ottervanger, drummer Etienne Ziemniak and guitarist Luis Lopes achieved a new level of musical abandon. As a French chanson segued into prog rock via a wheezy pipe-organ, the cello played a bass-line that triggered an explosive solo from Lopes. As they played, the keyboardist could be seen leaping acrobatically between his many instruments and all of the action on stage was being projected to a giant iPhone screen hanging from a crane to the back left of the audience area. It was a colossal structure with a mix of live and pre-recorded videos playing throughout the performances.

 

 

Evi Fillipou's "inEvitable"

Every year at the festival there is an artist-in-residence and this year it was vibraphonist Evi Fillipou, who for the festival assembled an extended version of her ongoing "inEvitable" project. In addition to the ineffable Fillipou on vibes, percussion and singing, this was singer Zuza Jasinska, guitarists Keisuke Matsuno and Arne Braun, bassist Robert Lucaciu, drummers Marius Wankel and Jim Hart, and saxophonist Daniel Glatzel. They kicked off the set with a strikingly rhythmic piece, accentuated with rave-up vocals and crashing waves of percussion, perhaps better said, they projected a party vibe. Drawing from a panapoly of musical styles, the music shifted from lithe scatting in Greek to smokey vocal jazz to heavy rock grooves. In addition to the prominent percussion, Matsuno and Braun's guitar work brought a wide sonic palette to the stage, painting a soundscape with distorted smears and blistering jabs. High octane, tight and effervescent, it was a show surely worthy of the artist-in-residence title.

 

***

 

In the city park are a thousand baby bunnies. Every 20 minute walk from the hotel to the festival grounds along the creek and fields was a stroll through a menagerie of cuteness accompanied by a symphony of frogs, kind of a fairy-tale ready experience itself.

 

Evi Fillipou, Tomeka Reid, Luis Lopes, Angelia Niescier.  Photo by Dennis Hoeren 

Mid-morning Sunday in the castle courtyard, the next Moers Session was starting - this time, three sets. The first grouping was Evi Fillipou fresh off the previous night's success, along with Angelika Niescier, Luis Lopes and Tomeka Reid. Niescier started things off with a free-jazz blast from her saxophone, which was followed by some hovering tones from Fillipous' vibraphone. Angular jabs from Lopes' guitar and low-register strikes from Reid's cello responded in kind. It was a strong 25-minute warm up, and though short, it was unrushed, unfolding with collective purpose. The next grouping was comprised of Jonathan Schierhorn on drums, Sophie Cooper on trombone, Bella Comsom on electronics and Hyunjeong Park on gayageum. Their set began with a gentle thrum of electronics supporting the deep, round tones of the gayageum, a Korean zither. Then, following the entry of the drums and trombone, the group gelled expressively. The final set featured session organizer Jan Klare on sax, Fulco Ottervanger on keyboards, Florence Christman on electronics and Bruna Cabral on drums. Klare set the direction: a series of syncopated lines augmented by Cabral's percussion. Then came an underlying buzz from the electronics while a dark organ sound welled from the keyboards. The set soon took gathered momentum as the sax, drums and keys locked into a flowing, effusive groove. Extroverted Ottervanger injected some gentle humor into the set, dueting with Klare on a harmonium at one point and adding a sci-fi synthesizer interlude. 

 

The morning stretched out into the afternoon, lunches were eaten, music absorbed, and acquaintances old and new encountered. Then, under the late afternoon sun, the Dwarves of East Aguza took the main stage. The crowd was slowly filtering in as they began a steady brooding groove. Guitarist Sam Shalabi played a mix of rhythm and brittle, agitated melodic phrases. A beguiling mix of primitivism and middle eastern flair, it locked in with Maurice Louca's electronic pulsations perfectly. At this point, Alan Bishop's guitar merged sonically with the electronics. He soon switched to saxophone and over the mutating oscillations, he smeared notes and phrases across the musical canvas. Through the mix of exotic rhythms and droning tones, the music flowed hypnotically.

 

Between the Dwarves and the next set, a volunteer 'moersfriends' tried asking for donations from the main stage, however his pitch was drowned out by a relentless noise. Throughout the festival, from the sound system surrounding the stage, recordings of different Trump speeches played simultaneously. It was the Bösewicht (German for villain) that the hero of every fairly tale encounters. All part and parcel of the theme, it was a clever but rather disturbing reminder of the raging real world. As the break continued, paper crowns decorated by local school children were handed out to the audience so everyone could be king (or queen) for one day.

 

Nicole Mitchell’s Black Earth SWAY

Nicole Mitchell’s Black Earth SWAY offered a diversion. The group with Mitchell on flute and vocals, Coco Elysses on didley bow and vocals, JoVia Armstrong on percussion and vocals, and Zahili Gonzalez Zamora on keys (everyone also had a touch of electronics) had been formed around the concept of Afro-Folk-Futurism and their first song strove to build a confessional intimacy with the audience. Spoken words about neurodivergence were augmented by thrilling flute work and driving percussion. The group's second song already offered a sing-along part, bringing the crowd and band even closer together.

 

As the late afternoon slid slowly into dusk, it was almost time for the "Secret Concert". Migrating through the city park, past the frolicking baby bunnies and croaking frogs, early ticket buyers and other Moers friends made their way to the event hall in the recreation area, where the previous year's main concerts had been staged. There, a group conceived by Nate Wooley with percussionists Chris Corsano and Ches Smith as an 'anything goes' improvising trio, were set to perform.

 

Ches Smith, Nate Wooley, Chris Corsano. Photo by Dennis Hoeren

Wooley was welcomed to the stage by the crowd singing a happy birthday tune, but was eager go get into the set. His opening electronic tones set an atmospheric buzz. The two drummers then added an extra charge of energy. Smith soon activated his own electronics, bringing the opening fanfare to an early peak. A new tune began to then emerge, a gentle, folksy melody from the trumpet supported by percussion from Corsano. As the intensity increased, Wooley used his trumpet to create the sounds of gale winds as Corsano added the wail of whales though his own inventive, acoustic means. It was an expressive and impressive set, a real aural treat.

 

Gellért Szabó's Ideal Orchestra

On the trip back to the main festival grounds, the sun had set, and as a stillness covered the lush park, the frogs were in full song. At the main stage, the evening was wrapping up with Gellért Szabó's Ideal Orchestra, a large ensemble out of Leipzig who were performing the final installment of a piece developed as a three part fairy-tale (the other parts had been performed on the previous days). Combining improvisation, jazz, classical, a choir, and the multimedia of the giant iPhone screen, the sonically dramatic final installment brought contrasting passages of calm and turbulence with an intentional and slightly tongue-in-cheek holiness to the stage. An informal survey revealed it to be an unexpected highlight for many of the concert goers.

 

As the evening bled into the night, throughout the festival grounds and nearby churches, a tribute to 20th-century avant-garde composer Morton Feldman was just starting up. Stretching into the late evening hours, the festival commemorated the composer's 100th birthday with several performances of his well-known works, such as "Rothko Chapel" and "Melancholie des Verschwindens." A gentle coda to the day.

 

***

 

The final day of the festival began with a crushing line at the Peschkenhaus. A hot sun made the line to get in and the performance space a stifling experience. Why the wait? In the attic room of the stately 18th century manor, now a meeting space and art gallery, guitarist/oudist Gordon Grdina was set to perform with drummer Christian Lillinger and keyboardist Elias Stemeseder.

Christian Lillinger, Gordon Grdina, Elias Stemeseder

Grdina began the show on a well work electro-acoustic guitar along with taps and thwaks from Lillinger, and blips and bloops from Stemeseder. This was merely an intro to a very rhythmic improvisation that snow-balled as the textural guitar work and burbling synthesizer, pushed along by the precise percussive jabs, found their footing. For a heart-pounding ten minutes, the group pressed at full speed until a break in the tension, during which Grdina switched to the oud. The large stringed instrument projected a thumping bass sound, setting the group off in a fresh new direction. The set ended with Lillinger and Stemeseder both navigating the deep space of electronics. 

 

Sam Shalabi

A compelling solo guitar set from Sam Shalabi followed. Exploring the instrument through arpeggiated, microtonal blocks of sound and lite distortion, the Dwarves of East Aguza guitarist conjured images of specious desert landscapes with wisps of dry wind blowing swirls of sand. The notes themselves seemed less important than the mood they set. 

 

Drifting out into the heat of the early afternoon, the shady Wo die wilden Frösche klatschen stage was the next destination to catch the end of percussionist/composer Bex Burch's set. Angelika Niescier was wrapping up another fiery solo as the group segued into a gentle, unfolding piece with the band acting mainly as a choir. Long minimal interludes led to moments of feverish saxophone and, for a brief moment, it felt good to let a little time slip by in the afternoon humidity.

 

Knobil

Swiss bassist and singer Knobil was another fine discovery of the festival. A mix of singer-songwriter and a swinging free improvisation, Louise Knobil, along with the engrossing bass clarinet work of Chloé Marsigny and drumming of Vincent Andreae, played a compelling set on the main stage. Between sweet banter and wonderfully syncopated melodic songs, Knobil was a welcome late afternoon refresher.

Gordon Grdina's RU'YA

In the early evening, Gordon Grdina's RU'YA, his headlining project, took the stage. With Grdina on guitar and oud, the group featured vocalist Ghalia Benali, violinist Eylem Basaldi, keyboardist Elias Stemeseder, percussionist Hamin Honari and drummer Christian Lillinger. The group's project had begun as a commission for Berlin's Boulez Saal, a center for contemporary classical and Middle Eastern music, and seems to have taken on a life of its own. A mix of passionate, evocative music, the lyrics in Arabic expressed messages of family, loss, hope and peace against a backdrop of Arabic and Western instrumentation. The insistence of Lillinger's drumming, the deep vibrations of Grdina's oud and the intense rhythmic playing from Honari, along with the vibrant violin and keyboards made for lively, urgent music. An exciting and engaging show.

 

As the closing act for the festival, saxophonist Lakecia Benjamin brought a spirited energy that fit well into the overall eclectic-ness of the program. Her act, with a strong mix of showmanship and musicianship, can and did transcend audiences. 

 

Lakecia Benjamin

Decked out in a stylish, shiny outfit, fully in command of the stage and audience, and backed by the top-notch playing of pianist Oscar Perez, bassist Elias Bailey and drummer Dorian Phelps, her approach is one that can both satisfy many of the jazz-purists and engage far more of the jazz-curious. One could complain, for example, that her take on John Coltrane's 'My Favorite Things' hit the high-notes too soon, but then again, it also sounded great - festival audience approved - and she even threw the deep listeners a bone by quoting 'Giant Steps' at a breakneck tempo. Perez's piano work complimented the saxophonist's energy as he led the group with a spiritual tune before they ended with some high-energy funk. 

***

 

And just like that, the festival dissolved into the night: a long week end of music, more than 2,000 tickets sold, and some estimated 20,000 curious souls wandering through the free concerts and market place, taking in whatever caught their eyes and ears. And they all lived happily ever after ....

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