Concert
Since 1994 the ‘Deutscher Jazzpreis’ (German Jazz Award) also known as ‘Albert Mangelsdorff Award’ is biennially granted by the ‘Union Deutscher Jazzmusiker’ (UDJ) to an “outstanding and epoch-making Jazz personality”.
Laureates so far have been Alexander von Schlippenbach, Peter Kowald, Ernst-Ludwig Petrowsky, Heinz Sauer, Wolfgang Schlüter, Ulrike Haage Ulrich Gumpert and Gunter Hampel.
This year bassist Eberhard Weber, also renowned for experimenting with an additional c-string, electronic pick-ups and and sound effects created by multiplying audio tracks, will be presented with the award endowed by GEMA.
“For the last four decades, British bassist Barry Guy has continually charted a personal path in advanced improvisational settings. His endeavors range from free contexts to arranged ensembles; from solo work to orchestra; from long-term groups to ad hoc meetings; from Baroque music to electro-acoustic experiments. Through it all, his balance of formal structures and dynamic improvisation is always at play. After decades working with the London Jazz Composers Orchestra, the challenges of assembling such a large ensemble on any consistent basis led to thoughts of forming a mid-size group (…)
Guy knows how to make the most of the musicians, massing the entire group, piling skirling reeds over low end brass, or hocketing lines back and forth over cascading piano. Fernández does a noble job filling Crispell’s seat, bringing a more percussive attack while playing down the melodic cells of the music. With a group like this, one expects strong solos all around, and of course no one disappoints.”
(Michael Rosenstein, Signal to Noise)
Having worked in the avant-garde and experimental music scene in New York City since the late 1970s Elliott Sharp has released over eighty-five recordings ranging from blues, jazz, and orchestral music to noise, no wave rock, and techno music. He pioneered the use of a lap top computer in live performance with his Virtual Stance project of the 1980s and more recently has used algorithm and fibonacci numbers in experimental composition.
For more than four decades, three-time Grammy winner Dave Holland “has defined the best in jazz” (JazzTimes), commanding attention as few bassists ever have. A musician of profound imagination and sophistication, he brings together an extraordinary quartet, collaborating with acknowledged masters of the next generation, each an innovator, respecting a legacy of creative freedom. Grammy-nominated saxophone impresario Chris Potter, 39, is characterized by limitless creativity, a vibrant sense of swing, and a full awareness of past, present, and future. Genre-bending pianist Jason Moran, 34 – influenced by opera, classical and world music, and even rap– performs music that's “serious and directed, and some of the best live jazz around now” (The New York Times). Virtuosic drummer Eric Harland, 33, is one of the most in-demand and praised jazz drummers in the world, with more than 30 albums under his belt.
Eberhard Weber – awardee
Prof. Manfred Schoof – laudatory speech
Barry Guy – bass, director
Evan Parker – reeds
Mats Gustafsson – reeds
Trevor Watts – reeds
Per Texas Johansson – bass clarinet
Herb Robertson – trumpet
Johannes Bauer – trombone
Per Åke Holmlander – tuba
Agusti Fernandez – piano
Paul Lytton – drums
Raymond Strid – drums
Elliott Sharp – guitar, electronics
Chris Potter – tenor + alto saxophone
Jason Moran – piano, Fender Rhodes
Dave Holland – bass
Eric Harland – drums