The album “BANSHEE” recently won the Spellemannprisen, Norway’s GRAMMY Awards equivalent. Emmeluth’s explosive performance will be followed by the German premiere of the dynamic new quartet led by veteran reedist David Murray, a towering figure in post-bop since he arrived in New York in the mid-70s. Its recently released debut, “Birdly Serenade”, features a peerless group of young collaborators including Spanish pianist Marta Sánchez, bassist Luke Stewart and drummer Russell Carter.
The action on the Main Stage of the Haus der Berliner Festspiele comes to a rousing conclusion with a performance by the great Chicago drummer and bandleader Makaya McCraven, a shapeshifting composer who has struck gold by forging compositions out of raw groove-oriented improvised material played by members of his fluid ensembles. On this tour, McCraven leads a tight ensemble featuring some of his most trusted collaborators – bassist Junius Paul, guitarist Matt Gold and trumpeter Marquis Hill – who instill his headnodding tunes with soulful intensity. Afterwards in the Kassenhalle, the Elder Ones – the blazing New York ensemble led by singer and keyboardist Amirtha Kidambi – preview music from its next album. The quintet imbues a spiritual jazz aesthetic marked by the keening saxophones of Matt Nelson and Alfredo Colón with a mix of progressive political fervor and searing free jazz expressionism.
Over at A-Trane, part-time Berliner Lina Allemano presents her long-running Toronto quartet with the alto saxophonist Brodie West, bassist Andrew Downing and drummer Nick Fraser playing music from the trumpeter’s superb new album “The Diptychs”. Years of playing experience have allowed the quartet to internalize her writing, transforming the written material with endless surprises and fresh perspectives. Finally, Quasimodo welcomes back The Young Mothers, which performed on the same stage in 2019. The eclectic sextet was assembled back in 2012 when Norwegian bassist Ingebrigt Håker Flaten was living in Austin, Texas, and its music reflects the dynamism of the town’s polyglot population, colliding free jazz, post-bop, hip-hop and even metal in a celebration of community.