Concert

Melting Pot

Collage with Emil Storløkken Åse, Hanne De Backer, Zbigniew Chojnacki, Beate Wiesinger and Evi Filippou

Melting Pot © Daniel Bierdümpfel, Laurent Orseau, Markus Lackinger, Thor Egil Leirtrø, Alois Endl

The latest iteration of this ongoing collaboration between five European jazz festivals creates a hothouse atmosphere in which five rising improvisers come together for the first time to find a common spontaneous language right before our eyes and ears.

More on European Free Jazz in the Digital Guide “Outside Traditions”

German premiere

Melting Pot

(PL, BE, AT, NO, GR)

Every year the European cooperation initiative melting pot brings together various groups of young improvisational musicians who form new ensembles without long rehearsal times. This year, the Jazzfest Berlin, Handelsbeurs Concertzaal (Ghent), Jazztopad (Wroclaw), Nasjonal Jazzscene Victoria (Oslo) and the International Jazz Festival Saalfelden are working together, with each organizer inviting a musician from their own region to participate. This year’s configuration is especially exciting, as these five distinctive, budding improvisers come together to navigate spontaneous sonic fabrics: accordionist Zbigniew Chojnacki, guitarist Emil Storløkken Åse, double bassist Beate Wiesinger, reedist Hanne De Backer and vibraphonist Evi Filippou. The great appeal and special feature of improvisation lies in that very different artists can come together without the compulsion of common contexts; that five musicians, most of whom do not know each other, symbolically bridge different styles and origins in order to develop something new.

Line-up

Emil Storløkken Åseguitar (Nasjonal Jazzscene Victoria, Oslo)
Hanne De Backersaxophone (Handelsbeurs, Gent)
Zbigniew Chojnackiaccordion, electronics (Jazztopad Festival, Wroclaw)
Beate Wiesingerdouble bass (Jazzfestival Saalfelden)
Evi Filippouvibraphone, percussion (Jazzfest Berlin)

A collaboration between Berliner Festspiele / Jazzfest Berlin, Jazztopad Festival (Wroclaw), Handelsbeurs (Ghent), Nasjonal Jazzscene Victoria (Oslo) and Internationales Jazzfestival Saalfelden