Winter Wonderland - Jazz Orchestra, Madeline Bell, James Carter and Marjorie Barnes

Richard Bona & Brussels Jazz Orchestra

It goes without saying that The Concertgebouw and jazz & pop music make a perfect combination. The stages of both the Main Hall and the Recital Hall have borne witness to nearly the whole of jazz history. Sarah Vaughan and Ella Fitzgerald have both performed here, as have Miles Davis and Louis Armstrong. Famous pop stars and bands that have graced the stage of the Main Hall include Frank Zappa, the Doors and the Eagles, to name but a few. Legendary concerts, in the present as well as the past.

Jazz & Lyrics: Synaesthesia and jazz

Hearing colours, tasting sounds: This evening focuses on artists whose sensory perceptions function differently to those of most people and who were able to draw enormous creative potential from this. The musicians around Rüdiger Ruppert and Sebastian Krol certainly don't just look at Johann Wolfgang Goethe or Stevie Wonder. **** “Since jazz is one of the most intriguing languages out there, it’s natural to want to combine it with texts and poetry.” In its new series of jazz events in the Tischlerei the Big Band of the Deutsche Oper Berlin presents six themed concerts featuring smaller formations of the Big Band and guests. The concerts focus on a particular subject or composer, amalgamating music and poetry. Texts, biographical information, poetry and background information on the evening’s unifying theme combine to produce a unique experience for the audience.

Jazz & Lyrics: Synaesthesia and jazz

Hearing colours, tasting sounds: This evening focuses on artists whose sensory perceptions function differently to those of most people and who were able to draw enormous creative potential from this. The musicians around Rüdiger Ruppert and Sebastian Krol certainly don't just look at Johann Wolfgang Goethe or Stevie Wonder. **** “Since jazz is one of the most intriguing languages out there, it’s natural to want to combine it with texts and poetry.” In its new series of jazz events in the Tischlerei the Big Band of the Deutsche Oper Berlin presents six themed concerts featuring smaller formations of the Big Band and guests. The concerts focus on a particular subject or composer, amalgamating music and poetry. Texts, biographical information, poetry and background information on the evening’s unifying theme combine to produce a unique experience for the audience.

Blue House Jazz - Dee Dee Bridgewater with Blue House Jazz Orchestra

This spring’s Blue House Jazz series concludes with familiar faces for the Konserthuset audience: Dee Dee Bridgewater joins the Blue House Jazz Orchestra, led by Peter Asplund and Magnus Lindgren!It has been 20 years since the Konserthuset’s own big band was founded, and with this spring’s final concert, Asplund and Lindgren bid farewell as its artistic leaders, passing the baton to the next generation. This grand finale is a celebration at the highest level – not least since it features Dee Dee Bridgewater, the legendary vocalist and jazz diva who never fails to captivate her audience.Dee Dee Bridgewater’s life and career are marked by both strong integrity and artistic curiosity. A three-time Grammy Award winner, she has performed at Konserthuset three times before, most recently in 2016. This, however, will be her first appearance with the Blue House Jazz Orchestra.

Jazz at Berlin Philharmonic World Jazz

“World Jazz” is the theme of this concert – because the performers come from very different countries: Swedish pianist Joel Lyssarides and American drummer Hamid Drake meet Greek musician Georgios Prokopiou, a virtuoso on the long-necked lute bouzouki, as well as Moroccan gimbri player Majid Bekkas and French-Vietnamese guitarist Nguyên Lê. The five musicians, who are at home both in the traditional music of their respective homelands and in jazz, unite the most diverse musical influences on this evening to create a sound that spans the globe.

Blue House Jazz – Bird and Beyond – Jazz with strings

Anyone familiar with jazz history knows that Charlie Parker in 1950 released two separate albums, both titled Charlie Parker with Strings, where he played jazz standards rather than his own compositions. These albums also became his best-selling records.In other words, it’s no bad idea to revisit that concept – and that’s exactly what the American clarinettist and saxophonist Ken Peplowski and his ensemble do here. The versatile Peplowski has explored a wide range of musical genres, having collaborated with artists such as Mel Tormé, Peggy Lee, Madonna, Marianne Faithfull, and Woody Allen.Most of the music performed consists of the original arrangements from Charlie Parker’s best-selling 1950 albums. The ensemble of around 20 musicians is led by Calle Rasmusson.

Blue House Jazz with orchestra – Portraits

Many are looking forward to this exciting encounter: John Beasley and Magnus Lindgren join forces with the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra in the Blue House Jazz series, with special guest Michael Mayo!American pianist John Beasley and multi-instrumentalist Magnus Lindgren have collaborated several times before, and this time it’s with unique arrangements for the symphony orchestra. Alexander Hanson conducts the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra. Among the pieces performed, we have Portraits: a newly composed suite in three movements, created in close collaboration between Lindgren and Beasley, and at the same time, an expression of their friendship.Grammy Award winning composer, arranger, and pianist John Beasley has performed with legends such as Miles Davis, Freddie Hubbard, Dianne Reeves, Steely Dan, Christian McBride, Chaka Khan, and even one concert with James Brown. He has also worked on film scores, including James Bond movies Skyfall and Spectre. Since 2012, Beasley has been Music Director for the annual global gala International Jazz Day concerts, hosted by the Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz.Magnus Lindgren, along with trumpeter and vocalist Peter Asplund, is the artistic director of the Konserthuset's Blue House Jazz Orchestra. Recently, he was Artist-in-Residence with the SWR Big Band for three years. He has collaborated with a large number of top artists, including Herbie Hancock, Gregory Porter, James Ingram, Bobby McFerrin, Ivan Lins, Till Brönner, and John Scofield.Special guest is the highly exciting vocal virtuoso Michael Mayo, who has had Herbie Hancock as a mentor, and who seamlessly moves across soul, jazz, R&B, and art music.

Jazz at its best

Jazz at Berlin Philharmonic Jazz & Poetry ‒ Birgit Minichmayr sings Shakespeare

Shakespeare and jazz – do they go together? Absolutely! Especially when jazz pianist Bernd Lhotzky sets the English writer’s sonnets to music and Birgit Minichmayr performs them. She lends her dark, expressive voice to the music of tango, gospel. The world-music jazz quartet Quadro Nuevo, acclaimed for its melancholy warmth, will help to envelope the Renaissance poet’s texts in an intense, contemporary sound.

The Swingin’ Hermlins and Swing Dance Orchestra

Andrej Hermlin and the Swing Dance Orchestra have dedicated themselves to the music of the golden 20s and 30s. Dressed in appropriate suits and without any electronic tricks, their concerts exude the charm and glamour of times past: from the birth of swing music in Harlem and American Christmas tunes to the classics of Duke Ellington and Glenn Miller. Andrej Hermlin has fulfilled a long-held dream and recreates one of the great moments of jazz history: together with his Swing Dance Orchestra he plays exactly the concert with which jazz icon Benny Goodman took Carnegie Hall by storm in 1938.