VISITING GERMANY: BERLIN – Jazzfest Berlin 2013 begins on 30 October

The Jazzfest Berlin 2013 begins on 30 October, held by the Berliner Festspiele and presenting 22 jazz formations at the Haus der Berliner Festspiele, Akademie der Künste Quasimodo and A-Trane up until 3 November.

The festival's artistic director Bert Noglik has put an emphasis on African influences: on 30 October at 19:00, there will be a panel discussion entitled "Calling Africa – Fiction and Reality". At 20:00, the film "Transmitting" by Christoph Hübner will be screened, a documentary which will be shown at cinemas towards the end of the year. The film accompanies the pianist Joachim Kühn on his musical exploration of Morocco.

Joachim Kühn can also be seen live at the opening concert of the Jazzfest Berlin 2013 on the Main Stage at the Haus der Berliner Festspiele. In the Gnawa Jazz Voodoo project that was especially developed for the festival, Joachim Kühn, along with the Jazz icons Pharoah Sanders, Majid Bekkas, Ramón López and four West African percussionists, bring the fusion qualities of jazz to the fore.

This theme is further explored on the same evening by young trumpeter Christian Scott, who brings the sounds of his African roots together with the musical character of his hometown New Orleans. And it continues with saxophonist Gebhard Ullmann, who for the first time presents his "Berlin Suite" in a late-night show at the Akademie der Künste – a musical retracing of influences in Berlin with musicians from all over Europe and New York.

Many formations and projects during this year's festival unite diverse forms of expression in their music: Abraham Inc., Wunderkammer XXL, The hr-Bigband with Michael Wollny and Tamar Halperin, Big Circle by Michael Riessler, the Monika Roscher Bigband and John Scofield with his Überjam Band. Young drummer Jaimeo Brown and Dafnis Prieto go in search of inspiration in musical worlds far from jazz and present their latest findings on the Side Stage at the Haus der Berliner Festspiele that takes the form of a Jazz Lounge at this year's festival. Free Jazz and improvisation with electronics are key themes for the concerts in the Akademie der Künste with a special event for and with Ernst-Ludwig Petrowsky in celebration of his anniversary featuring the formations Christopher Rumble and Food. Sons of Kemet will bring the Jazzfest Berlin 2013 to an end on 3 November from 22:30 at Quasimodo.

Many of the concerts in this year's Jazzfest Berlin 2013 – especially the concerts on the Main Stage and in the A-Trane – are already sold out, but there are some remaining tickets that will be available at the evening box office.

The festival concerts will be recorded by the ARD and Deutschlandradio and partially broadcast live. Patrons and sponsors of individual projects are the Federal Agency for Civic Education and the Polish Institute.

Source: Berliner Festspiele

Tickets: www.berlinerfestspiele.de/jazzfest
or +49-30-254 89 100.

Further information: www.berlinerfestspiele.de/jazzfest