“Distant Skies, We Dream” released on Traumton Records

Nuanced to powerful, always extremely attentive in their interplay, a working band that has noticeably grown together, a dynamic spectrum ranging from quiet to passionately escalating passages, contrasts and condensations - that is Fabian Dudek’s quartet.

Dudek released his quartet’s debut album Creating Meaning (Fixcel) in 2019 and the follow-up album Isolated Flowers (Traumton) in 2022. Both productions and the band’s concerts met with an enthusiastic response, with the latter being nominated for the German Record Critics’ Award. Now Dudek’s quartet presents new works on „Distant Skies, We Dream“.

The already remarkably high quality has been raised even further through Dudek’s sophisticated compositions, whose rhythmic sophistication and precise detail set a striking mark in the contemporary jazz landscape. And through open spaces, which can be shaped by his fellow musicians and invite improvisations, on a terrain that is undoubtedly broader than before. For example, when pianist Felix Hauptmann references the aesthetic of modern Classical music four-minute intro to the opus magnum „The River Flows Everywhere” and later in the same piece plays in an almost impressionistic manner. The music also thrives on the fact that they can surprise each other. „To achieve this the pieces need to have a certain openness, perhaps even fragility, that allows different paths.”

The album, which was recorded as part of the „NICA live” concert series at JAKI, was released on 24 May 2024 by Traumton Records.

What was planned as a studio production surprisingly turned out to be a live recording in the end. „We had recorded the pieces in the Fattoria and actually thought the results were great,” says Dudek, “especially as we had already polished the repertoire in concerts beforehand.” Back in Cologne, the quartet gave a concert at JAKI, „which was actually a bit difficult. All the more we all played ‘on fire’ and the gig developed an extremely strong energy.” Due to the intensity of the interplay, it was decided quickly to use only the live recordings for the album, even though the piano in the club did not have the sound quality of the grand piano at the studio. „I look for and sometimes need a bit of dirt,” grins Dudek, who appreciates not only Coltrane, Feldman, Ives and Sakamoto, but also James Brown with Maceo Parker, Tom Waits and some hip-hop artists.

„This album is a milestone for me personally, because I’m now at a point that I’ve been striving for for a long time,”

summarises Fabian Dudek with contentment.

„I have been seeking to get a band to flow and at the same time integrate experimental aspects into the music. We’ve managed to do that really well and it’s extremely fun to play the pieces.”

For all its emotional power, the band is more pointed than ever, consistently realising small-scale structures and letting its expressiveness flare up in a targeted manner. Further facets of this impressive development are the expansion of the sound colour palette, above all through David Helm’s electric bass, but also the synthesiser, Dudek’s punctually shimmering flute and his extremely variable expression on the saxophone.

Line-up:

Fabian Dudek – alto-saxophone, flute, compositions
Felix Hauptmann – piano, synthesizer
David Helm – bass
Fabian Arends – drums

•••

Recording: Dirk Schmidt
Mixing & Mastering: Martin Ruch
Cover art and design: Benjamin Rueckert

•••

The album was released on CD and is also available digitally.

“Convolution” released by impakt Records

impakt Records presents the new album by Marlies Debacker (Piano, Clavinet) and Salim(a) Javaid (Saxophone) entitled “Convolution”.

Convolution is an attempt to fuse saxophone and piano into a meta-instrument. The music draws an inquisitive and melancholic portrait of shades reminiscent of the past – reverberations, echoes, resonances – and transforms them into musical material.

The musicians distil influences from contemporary (chamber) music, free improvisation and electronics into a dense, dark soundscape full of tension. Memories of different playing styles, aesthetics and atmospheres serve as the basis for the inherent mechanisms of the five individual parts of Convolution.

Despite numerous musical pauses, the music hardly contains any silence. A central material of the pieces with piano is working with reverberation and modulation of the internal resonances of the piano. These constantly changing shades of sound events become malleable material in the interaction of pianistic actions (such as pedalling and silently depressing keys) with the saxophone.

The saxophone plays in the range of the reverb‘s activation threshold, so that it is sometimes caught in the resonances and sometimes merges with them.

The way it is recorded draws the listener into this world of reminiscent shades and opens their ears to the nuances of sound.

“Debacker and Salim(a) Javaid make improvised contemporary music with liveliness and plenty of room for silence.“

Line-up:

Marlies Debacker - Piano, clavinet
Salim(a) Javaid - Saxophones

•••

Recorded January (live: 1, 4) & February 2023 at LOFT Köln, by Stefan Deistler
Mixed and mastered July 2023 Stefan Deistler
Cover art and design by Markus Dorninger, Stefan Schönegg

•••

The album was released on CD and is also available as digital version.

“Enso: A Simplified Space” released on impakt Records

impakt Records presents the new album by Stefan Schönegg “Enso: A Simplified Space” with Marlies Debacker (piano), Stefan Schönegg (double bass) and Etienne Nillesen (extended snare drum).

Huge swaths of silence separate sounds on the latest album from Cologne bassist Stefan Schönegg’s long running project Enso. The absence frames each gesture - a surface rubbed, a string thwacked, and an expanse of wood struck - and frequently allows the listener to truly experience every utterance on its own, rather than as a component within a larger structure - even if that remains exactly what they are. Nearly all of the sounds produced by the bassist with his long-time collaborator, extended snare drum master Etienne Nillesen and pianist Marlies Debacker, deviate from what we expect from their respective instruments, but the various extended techniques at play aren’t the focus. Indeed, these musicians have all developed sophisticated, elusive languages over years of research and practice, yet they are merely tools in the context of this new transmission from Enso.

Line-up:

Marlies Debacker - Piano
Stefan Schönegg - Double bass
Etienne Nillesen - Extended snare drum

•••

Recorded April 2023 at Chamber Music Hall Deutschlandfunk, Cologne, Germany

Producer: Thomas Loewner
Recording producer: Stephan Schmidt
Recording engineer: Hendrik Manook, Philipp Wissler
Recording technician: Jens Müller
Mastering: Giuseppe Ielasi
Liner notes: Peter Margasak
Cover art and design: Markus Dorninger, Stefan Schönegg

•••

The album was released on CD and is also available as digital version.

NICA artist Sophie Emilie Beha is part of the »Night of Surprise« programming team.

On Saturday, 14 October, »Night of Surprise« takes place for the tenth time at Stadtgarten Köln. Since 2013, the one-night festival brings music on stage in all rooms of the venue with free admission, explicitly inviting people to leave their listening habits or genre labels at home and discover something new.

The artistic director is curator Thomas Gläßer. Since last year’s edition of the event, curator and music journalist Sophie Emilie Beha is also part of the Night of Surprise programme team. Starting in late 2022, she has been supported as a curator as part of NICA artist development and this year, for example, she was artistically responsible for »Houbara - Resonanzen Iran«, a two-day festival at the concert hall and Klub Jaki at Stadtgarten. Also involved in the programming of this experimental night on Saturday this week are Meryem Erkus, Friedemann Dupelius and Kieran Kaul.

On the tenth anniversary, »Night of Surprise« spreads her wings and starts on October 12 with Catherine Lamb’s Descensus Trio at Christuskirche and continues tomorrow evening with a concert by Trickster Orchestra at Stadtgarten.

»Night of Surprise« is an event of the European Centre for Jazz and Contemporary Music Stadtgarten Köln in cooperation with the Centre for Contemporary Music ZAM.

Philip Zoubek presents breathtaking new album

With his trio with double bassist David Helm and drummer Dominik Mahnig, pianist Philip Zoubek has once again inscribed unexpected facets and forms into perhaps the most classical jazz format - with remarkably conclusive results. Seamless transitions between composition and improvisation characterise the albums released so far, »Outside« (2016), »Nonplaces« (2020) and »Labyrinthus« (2022). Between contemplative calm, repetitive and high improvisational intensity, the musicians also create atmospheres beyond the usual by incorporating electronics, preparations of the grand piano and extended techniques.

For their new album »Mirage«, the trio has grown: expanded to a sextet, it presents its most radical work to date. With the addition of cello, woodwinds and percussion, the sextet creates luminous and sometimes orchestrally charged character pieces between jazz, new music, electronics and ambient. Kaleidoscope-like, this music shimmers in many colours that emerge from and merge into each other. The result is a trenchant ensemble music, a group sound that is originally unspent - full of tension and elasticity.

“»Mirage« is the result of an organic unity, a condensation of rhythms into sounds and sounds into structure, which is indeed breathtaking,” writes music journalist Felix Klopotek in the magazine Stadtrevue.

»Mirage« is released on 15 September 2023 on the Austrian label Boomslang Records and is available as CD, LP and download.

•••

Line-up Philip Zoubek Trio Extended:

Philip Zoubek - (prepared) piano, synthesizer, composition
David Helm - bass
Dominik Mahnig - drums
Elisabeth Coudoux - cello
Leonhard Huhn - woodwinds
Shiau-Shiuan Hung- vibraphone, cello

Congratulations!

Saxophonist and composer Fabian Dudek - NICA artist 2022 - receives the Horst and Gretl Will Scholarship for Jazz and Improvised Music 2023, which is awarded to promote contemporary music and the free artistic development of young musicians.

The prize-winner’s concert will take place as part of the Cologne Jazzweek in the concert hall of the Stadtgarten Köln. This means that Fabian will be performing live on two following days with two new line-ups featuring national and international colleagues and new compositions.

14 August // 21:00 // Stadtgarten Köln

NICA exchange x CJW: dudek carnival | an empty room, then smiling | feat. Sasha Berliner, Felix Hauptmann, Fabian Dudek, Simon Jermyn, Lesley Mok

15 August // 20:00 // Stadtgarten Köln

Horst and Gretl Will Scholarship - Prize Winner Concert feat. Fabian Dudek, Roger Kintopf, David Helm, Felix Hauptmann, Kirke Karja, Alexander Parzhuber, Leif Berger

This year’s award ceremony took place on April 27 at the Metropol Theater in Bremen.

At the award ceremony of the third edition of the German Jazz Prize 2023, trumpeter and composer Heidi Bayer - NICA artist since 2020 - won in the category “Composition of the Year” for the piece “Cookie Dough” from her album and eponymous project KORSH, released in April 2022.

The prize for “Festival of the Year” was given to Cologne Jazzweek. Delighted for the KJK (Kölner Jazzkonferenz) is, among others, managing director Janning Trumann, also NICA artist since 2020.

Special congratulations also go to other award winners from Cologne, such as the Loft, which received the award for “Venue of the Year” for the second time. The versatile multi-instrumentalist Matthias Schriefl, who frequently graces the stages of the Stadtgarten, was also able to bring the “Brass Player of the Year” award back to Cologne. And the prize for the best “Album Vocal” went to the trio LUAH.

Congratulations to all nominees and winners of the German Jazz Award 2023!

Listen in to sweeping landscape music, huge horizontal lines and tiny sounding mountains.

NICA artist Pablo Gīw and New York cellist Mariel Roberts release their duo record „Kryo“ today!

The album is available on all streaming platforms, as well as on a limited tape edition which is available through Bandcamp.

”Kryo” is a spacious landscape music, creating huge horizontal lines and tiny sounding mountains, a melancholic cosmos that gathers in the corner of a frozen creek. Trumpeter Pablo Gīw from Cologne, Germany and Mariel Roberts extend their instruments sound capabilities with a versatile palette of extended playing techniques as well as effect pedals, to create a calm yet complex improvised music. Kryo is the duos first release.

Boost for the independent music scene: NICA artist development starts 3rd funding round in September with five new artists and a new management team.

After being nominated by selected North Rhine-Westphalian organizers, music journalists and other cultural entrepreneurs, the artists living in NRW were selected by a jury of experts.

We are pleased to announce the following participants who will start this September as 3rd generation NICA artists:

•          Sophie Emilie Beha (Curation, *1997)

•          Fabian Dudek (Saxophone, *1995)

•          Kira Hummen (Voice, *1994)

•          Luise Volkmann (Saxophone, *1992)

•          Rebekka Salomea Ziegler (Voice, *1991)

Since spring this year, a new management team for NICA artist development has been formed: Esther Weickel (head of project) and Ella O’Brien-Coker (project coordination) have taken over the funding program from Kornelia Vossebein, who is the new artistic director of Stadtgarten Cologne since July 1st, 2022. For Weickel and O’Brien-Coker, communication and trust are key to ensuring that the needs of NICA artists for their professional development can be identified, articulated, and consequently realized.

They are excited to begin this process in 2022 with the 3rd funding round, working together with the new NICA artists and those who remain in the funding program to explore thoughtful ways to support them individually, while at the same time advancing the possibilities of NICA artist development.

More information in the official press info.

For general information about NICA artist development.

Deutscher Jazzpreis 2022 in Bremen

At this year’s German Jazz Award ceremony, the joy on the part of Stadtgarten and NICA artist development was great on several occasions:

The Stadtgarten Cologne is pleased to receive the German Jazz Award 2022 in the category “Venue of the Year”!

NICA artist Pablo Held was awarded in the category “Piano/Keyboards”!

Other NICA artists nominated were: Heidi Beyer (brass instruments) and Tamara Lukasheva as part of the ensemble Hard Boiled Wonderland - Music Resistance (Album Vocal of the Year). Congratulations for the nominations and winning the award!

Further information, as well as the official press release of the Stadtgarten Köln can be found here.

Click here for the official website of the Deutscher Jazzpreis.

Tuesday, 01 March 2022, 20.00 h, Stadtgarten Cologne

On the initiative of the Ukrainian NICA artist Tamara Lukasheva, who lives in Cologne, and under the patronage of the Mayor of Cologne, Henriette Reker, we are organizing a solidarity concert for the musicians living and working in Ukraine upcoming Tuesday.

We share the deep dismay that Russia’s aggressive belligerent invasion of Ukraine has caused and stand in solidarity with all people living in Ukraine, here especially with the musicians. To support msuicians directly, we not only want to stand in solidarity with them, but also provide them with money as soon as possible.

So, together with NICA artist Tamara Lukasheva, we will find a way to pass all the income generated from this concert and other actions (entrance fees, donations, fee for WDR broadcasting rights, etc.) directly to those affected.

We would like to see a strong participation as a sign of our solidarity with Ukraine.

You can still donate for musicians in the Ukraine here

More information

свобода - Freiheit // Solidaritätskonzert

www.stadtgarten.de 

Due to the current pandemic situation, the Winter Jazz Festival 2022 unfortunately has to be cancelled without replacement. More information about this can be found here.

This autumn ‘The Rotterdam Nijmegen Köln Exchange’ will kick off – the exchange project between RAUW Festival Rotterdam, Festival Jazz International Nijmegen and NICA artist development / Stadtgarten Köln. The aim is to give selected artists from Rotterdam, Nijmegen and Cologne the opportunity to exchange ideas about performing at the participating partner organisations and to get to know the respective music, music scene and professional network in the other cities during their short stay. Joining us in this first edition are Heidi Bayer (NICA), Jo Goes Hunting and Bonsai Panda.

Dates:

19.10.21 / NICA presents: Jo Goes Hunting, JAKI in Stadtgarten Köln

28.10.21 / Heidi Bayer (VIRTUAL LEAK), RAUW Festival, Rotterdam

30.10.21 / Heidi Bayer (VIRTUAL LEAK), Festival Jazz International Nijmegen

17.01.22 / NICA presents: Bonsai Panda, JAKI in Stadtgarten Köln

You can find more information here.

Es ist Sommerpause!

Ab September meldet sich das NICA Magazin mit neuen Formaten zurück. Um die Wartezeit zu verkürzen, präsentieren wir im Juli und August ausgewählte Highlights aus vergangenen NICA Konzerten im Stadtgarten Konzertsaal und Green Room. Den Anfang machte Elisabeth Coudoux mit ihrer Band Emiszatett – hochkonzentrierte Improvisationen auf dem schmalen Grat zwischen Struktur und Auflösung.

Am 30.07. folgt dann Pablo Giw mit Salomea und Kelvin Kilonzo – in dieser spannenden Dreier-Konstellation werden Improvisationen in Worte und Bewegungen übersetzt, während Jazz sich in Beat Music und dekonstruierten HipHop verwandelt.

Photo: Pablo Giw by Nathan Ishar / Pramudiya

On May 21, 2021 NICA Artist Pablo Giw is releasing the new EP »Data Is« on Ruptured Records with his electro-acoustic quartet Stellar Banger, which is composed of Lebanese musicians Ali Hout and Abed Kobeissy and German musicians Pablo Giw and Joss Turnbull.

The roots of this unique collaboration were laid down during the 2019 iteration of Irtijal Festival in Beirut, when the four men played together for the first time following their respective festival sets. The next year, right before the eruption of the Coronavirus pandemic, they set about working on a set of concrete recordings, from their homes in Beirut, Berlin, Köln and Turin. The resulting, freeform pieces were reworked, stretched and recomposed under varying states of lockdown, over the course of six months and 28 highly kinetic Zoom meetings.

The approach behind Stellar Banger is one of complete musical freedom, away from pre-assigned functions of instrumental / cultural roles, oblivious to the borders separating acoustic and digital media. At the heart of the quartet’s creative process is the notion of instant composing; improvisation with an experimental mindset, drum machines and electronic beats used in an open and intuitive manner, creating an identifiable sonic identity and structure.

The EP can be pre-ordered here. For more information, visit https://giwmusic.com/stellar-banger.

Photo: Stellar Banger by Niclas Weber

Die NICA-Künstlerin Tamara Lukasheva ist die Gewinnerin des WDR Jazzpreis 2021 Komposition. Ihr Preisträgerkonzert mit der WDR Big Band kann jetzt hier in voller Länge angesehen werden.

NICA artist Tamara Lukasheva bringt vor der Veröffentlichung ihres neuen Solo-Albums »Gleichung« die Single »Singet Leise« heraus. Hier greift sie die Lyrik Clemens Brentanos auf und gibt dessen Gedicht »Wiegenlied« neues Leben.

The single will be released on 31/01/21 on the label wismArt, the album »Gleichung« will follow in March.

photo: © Harald Hoffmann

On its 10th anniversary on January 8th/9th, Winterjazz Köln Festival was presented in a very special format and, being a first, in cooperation with NICA. 10 artists from neighbouring European countries and from all over Germany were invited to contribute their music and perform in exclusive projects together with Cologne musicians – corona-proof and via livestream from the Stadtgarten. Participating NICA artists were Elisabeth Coudoux, Heidi Bayer, Leif Berger, Pablo Gīw, Janning Trumann, Laura Totenhagen and Philip Zoubek. Information about the programme is available at www.winterjazzkoeln.com.

The videos are available here.

With different groups, NICA artist Philip Zoubek has released two new releases at once.

His project TAU 5 (with Philipp Gropper, Ludwig Wandinger, Petter Eldh und Moritz Baumgärtner) released their debut album »Kreise« on November 20, 2020 on the label Fun In The Church.
On October 19 he released »Torbid Daylight« with Frank Gratkowski, Robert Landfermann und Dominik Mahnig on IMPAKT veröffentlicht.

Tamara Lukasheva, NICA artist since 2019, is awarded the WDR Jazzpreis 2021 in the category composition! Motivation: ‘Tamara Lukasheva, born in Odessa in 1988, has developed a distinct signature as a singer, and keeps on further expanding this style as composer and arranger into a profound tonal language with Eastern European hints, expressive and urban.’ A radio portrait of Tamara as well as information on other award categories are available here; and, she will be featured in detail during today’s programme on WDR 3 Jazz & World starting at 22:00: https://www1.wdr.de/radio/wdr3/programm/sendungen/wdr3-jazz-world/titelliste-jazz-world-784.html

Congratulations to all award winners!

Photo: Foto: WDR 3

Today our NICA magazine starts with a portrait series in which we present the NICA Artists in short video clips. We start with a portrait of the cellist Elisabeth Coudoux, who moves at the intersection of different musical genres such as free improvisation, experimental music, new composed music and jazz. The portrait as well as all upcoming formats of the NICA Magazine can be viewed here.

The NICA Magazine is produced by an experienced editorial team - consisting of Martin Laurentius (Jazz thing, “Deutscher Jazzjournalisten Preis” 2017) and Felix Klopotek (Kölner StadtRevue) - in cooperation with Klangmalerei.tv.

Introducing new community Stepping Stone

Stepping Stone is a new community aimed at empowering musicians towards sustainable international careers. The current music system has gradually lost its connection to the value of music and its creation. Stepping Stone enables an open dialogue with musicians and professionals: bottom-up, aimed at long-term relationships and committed to contribute and share.

During this year’s inJazz, Stepping Stone will be officially launched and opens a dialogue on a creator-centered approach. You are invited to step up and actively participate in this conversation together with Stepping Stone ’20 participants Berlinde Deman and Bram Stadhouders.
Stepping Stone is financially made possible by among others Grensverleggers – funding to support cultural collaborations between parties in Flanders, the province of Noord-Brabant, the province of Limburg and the province of Zeeland – and by Sabam for Culture. More information: Stepping Stone

With:
Berlinde Deman, artist-composer (BE)
Bram Stadhouders, artist-composer (NL)
Svenja Doeinck, project manager NICA, Stadgarten (DE)
Martel Ollerenshaw, Arts broker & creative producer, Sound Out (GB)
Sophie Blussé, Director, Jazz International Rotterdam (NL)

Host:
Sandra Gevaert, participatory leadership expert, coach, host, Morosoph (NL)
Lobke Aelbrecht, production manager, JazzLab (BE)
Rogier Telderman, artist, creative Powered by TINC (NL)

The online inJazz conference is English spoken.

This session takes place online via the platform NetworkTables. Please note that seats are limited and available on a first-come, first-serve basis. Save your seat now.

In January this year the monthly series NICA presents at the Jaki started. Due to the current covid-19 situation the series cannot be continued for the time being. As long as this is the case, there will instead be »NICA streams« every Thursday, which will bring the artists of the free Cologne scene to life digitally, curated and recorded by the NICA artists Elisabeth Coudoux, Pablo Giw, Pablo Held and Tamara Lukasheva.

The first livestream will take place on Thursday, April 2 at 18:30: NICA streams Lukasheva/Gramss & Coudoux/Giw
to the livestream:
culture-stream.cologne/videos/nica-streams

Four Cologne musicians are the new Artists in Residence, who will help shape the programme in the Stadtgarten from 2020. On 17 December 2019, the four NICA Artists presented their current projects to the audience and invited organizers in a short performance at the Stadtgarten in Cologne. With NICA artist development, a pilot project launched this autumn by the Ministry of Culture and Science of North Rhine-Westphalia to promote jazz musicians at the European Centre for Jazz and Contemporary Music. Within a funding period of three years, it enables the selected artists to build up a professional, international network as well as a long-term presence at home and abroad, to sharpen their artistic profile and to provide them with the necessary knowledge for a successful career.

Stadtgarten Köln and NICA artist development present Patrick Essex’s “bichrom” - New exhibition and new lighting concept in the concert foyer and restaurant

Photographer Patrick Essex has created the “bichrom” series especially for the Stadtgarten Köln, which presents musicians in shadowy two-colour images.

The seven musicians depicted are former and current participants of NICA artist development. Using light, transparencies and various glass filters, Essex created a visual framework in his photo studio, which Leif Berger, Elisabeth Coudoux, Marlies Debacker, Fabian Dudek, Pablo Gīw, Theresia Philipp and Rebekka Salomea Ziegler freely interpreted with or without instruments in motion.

Patrick Essex’s flair for light and colour has produced a series of photographs that accentuate the artistic individuality of those depicted and arouse curiosity about music through the dynamism of the images. Stylist Sabine Berlipp is responsible for the musicians’ strikingly vibrant outfits.

The exhibition opening will take place on 27th May 2024 from 6:30pm.

Afterwards, we look forward to a NICA live concert by singer-songwriter and producer RAY LOZANO and interdisciplinary musician douniah at JAKI.

The concert premiere dudek carnival | an empty room, then smiling | from 14.08.2023 available for re-listening via the DLF Audiothek

Saxophonist and composer Fabian Dudek performed twice at Cologne Jazzweek 2023: With the premiere of his composition “Day By Day”, which he wrote for his Horst and Gretl Will Foundation Award Winners’ Concert, and with dudek carnival. An international line-up put together by Dudek especially for the Cologne Jazzweek, which corresponds to his idea of sound and artistic collaboration. ” Through the strength of the composition comes the freedom to play,” says Dudek. Giving his fellow musicians room to develop their individualistic spirit is particularly important to Dudek in all his compositional work. Dudek was commissioned to write this composition in cooperation between NICA artist development and Cologne Jazzweek.

A live recording of the concert is now available to listen to for 30 days in the DLF Audiothek.

•••

First broadcast: 12.03.2024, 09:05 pm “Jazz Live”

Between chaos and structure
dudek carnival

Line-up:

Sasha Berliner - vibraphone
Felix Hauptmann - piano
Fabian Dudek - saxophone, composition
Simon Jermyn - e-bass
Lesley Mok - drums

Recording from 14.08.2024 at Cologne Jazzweek, Stadtgarten Köln
Microphone: Thomas Loewner

NICA live special will take place for the second time on 5 January 2024!

For the second time, the concert evening NICA live special will take place on the eve of WINTERJAZZ Köln at Stadtgarten Köln. Six of the ten NICA artists will present current projects and music. Involved are: Laura Totenhagen, Fabian Dudek, Ray Lozano, Stefan Schönegg and Marlies Debacker.

The co-operation between WINTERJAZZ KÖLN and NICA artist development has worked well in recent years. With its two-day focus on the young, innovative improvised music scene, the start of the year in Cologne has become particularly attractive for an international audience of professionals.

NICA LIVE SPECIAL is mainly reserved for invited guests and professionals. Other interested visitors are welcome! To take part, please register by 4 January at nica@stadtgarten.de.

As always, the WINTERJAZZ evening on Saturday (6 January) is open to all music lovers. 11 bands will be performing on three stages, including NICA artist Theresia Philipp.

Admission is free on both evenings!

More information about the line-up NICA live special.

Congratulations!

Singer-songwriter and producer Ray Lozano - NICA artist 2023 - was honoured with the Holger Czukay Future Prize last night. The Holger Czukay Prize honours artists who have left their mark on Cologne or who have influenced and helped shape current developments.

The jury’s statement said, among other things:

“Ray Lozano demonstrates an outstanding flair for innovative and forward-looking sounds. […] Ray Lozano’s self-determined yet quirky soul sound, somewhere between indie, low-fidelity pop and hip-hop, has the potential to reach many people far beyond the borders of Cologne.”

The award ceremony was hosted by Mayor Henriette Reker at Club Bahnhof Ehrenfeld. The “Holger Czukay Prize for Pop Music of the City of Cologne” 2023 was awarded to the band KLEE. To honour their life’s work, the Holger Czukay Honorary Award was given to the band Floh de Cologne. This year, the Future Prize, awarded to Ray Lozano, was presented for the first time.

As part of the concert evening NICA live special on Friday 5 January 2024, the evening before WINTERJAZZ Köln, Ray Lozano will perform alongside five other NICA artists at Stadtgarten Köln/ JAKI. NICA live special is not open to the public and is primarily reserved for national and international professionals. The interested public will be able to register in advance. Further information will follow soon.

Four NICA artists present their bands at the Finnish festival

On 2 November 2023, Kira Hummen, Fabian Dudek and Rebekka Salomea and their bands will kick off the International Tampere Jazz Happening in Finland. Janning Trumann closes the festival on 5 November with his new project NOSACRUM.

The artistic director of the festival, Juhamatti Kauppinen, became aware of the four musicians during the concert evening “NICA live special” in Cologne at the beginning of the year.

Instrumentalist, singer and composer Kira Hummen presents her latest band with Valentin Brummer on drums and Karla Lee on vocals and synthesiser. Saxophonist and composer Fabian Dudek will come to Finland together with pianist Felix Hauptmann, Ruth Goller on bass and drummer Leif Berger. Rebekka Salomea presents her band SALOMEA and trombonist Janning Trumann plays with Florian Zwissler on electronics and Berlin drummer Oli Steidle.

The Tampere Jazz Happening was first held in 1982 and has been part of the city’s cultural events calendar in southern Finland every year since. The festival has been organised since 1990 by Tampere Music Festivals, which is part of the cultural department of the city of Tampere.

NICA artist development is cooperating with the international festival for the first time this year.

To the complete programme of the Tampere Jazz Happening »>

“Protecting A Picture That’s Fading” published on Traumton Records

In the past four years, Fabian Dudek has received a lot of attention, especially with his quartet (featuring Felix Hauptmann, Fabian Arends, David Helm). Their debut from 2019 already received an enthusiastic response.

The album released today on Traumton Records was recorded with the formation La Campagne, which was founded around two and a half years ago. From the end of 2020 to August 2022, the ensemble met again and again for intensive rehearsal phases to fill Dudek’s given framework with a collective vision. His compositions became the basis for creative developments, a kind of stimulus for all participants to contribute their own thoughts. “During the recordings, something new kept happening from take to take,” says Dudek, “we only got to this particular point through the many rehearsals. We play with the material and in the process loosen rules; these are personal and collaborative processes.”

Dudek and his alto saxophone become audible after about a quarter of an hour, in the second half of the second piece: “I have fun listening to the others play my music,” says Dudek calmly, “I’m interested in what’s good for the music, not in my ego as an instrumentalist.

Line-up:

Fabian Dudek – alto saxophone, composition
Pauline Turrillo – flute
Berthold Brauer – trumpet
Felix Hauptmann – piano, synth
Roger Kintopf – double bass
Alexander Parzhuber – drums

•••

Recording: Martin Ruch
Mixing & Mastering: Martin Ruch

•••

The album was released on CD and is also available in digital format.

After being nominated by selected North Rhine-Westphalian event organisers, music journalists and other cultural professionals, the artists living in NRW were selected by a jury of experts.

We are pleased to announce the following participants who will start as 4th generation NICA artists in September this year:

• Marlies Debacker (pianist, *1992)
• Ray Lozano (Singer-Songwriter, *1989)
• Theresia Philipp (saxophonist, *1991)
• Stefan Schönegg (Bassist, *1986)

All those supported since 2022 - Sophie Emilie Beha (curation), Fabian Dudek (saxophone), Kira Hummen (vocals), Luise Volkmann (saxophone) and Rebekka Salomea Ziegler (vocals) remain part of the programme. So does Laura Totenhagen (vocals), part of the second supported generation of 2020. NICA artist development enters the new funding year with a total of ten NICA artists. NICA artist development wishes all the musicians who will be leaving in autumn - after completing their full funding period - Heidi Bayer (trumpet), Janning Trumann (trombone), Philip Zoubek (piano), Pablo Gīw (trumpet) and Tamara Lukasheva (voice) - all the best for their future careers.

Read the full press release on our website.

The concert series with a focus on international networking is part of the festival in Cologne for the second time

After a successful start of the concert series “NICA exchange” in cooperation with the Cologne Jazzweek (12 - 18 August 2023) in the previous year and its successful start in the regular programme of Stadtgarten Köln, the cooperation will be continued with three concerts under the title “NICA exchange x CJW” at this year’s festival.

The cooperation project enables up-and-coming national and international musicians, especially from the fields of jazz and improvised music, to play on the stages of the Cologne Festival. The main focus of the concert series is to create spaces of exchange for a young, experimental generation of musicians, to encourage sustainable networking and creative exchange and, in the context of the festival, to initiate a connection with an audience eager to discover new things.

This year, France and Finland are participating. The artists were selected in cooperation with the NICA partner organisations there (AJC Jazz and We Jazz), who in turn invite NICA artists and support them in their research, networking and presentation.

In addition to international acquaintance, the project focuses on the stage as a place of encounter and at this point the festival premiere dudek carnival [an empty room, then smiling] can be highlighted. NICA artist Fabian Dudek was commissioned by NICA artist development and Cologne Jazzweek to compose a piece and has put together an international band for it, including the two up-and-coming New York-based musicians Sasha Berliner (vibraphone) and Lesley Mok (drums).

An overview of all “NICA exchange x CJW” projects:

- 14.8. 21:00 Stadtgarten: dudek carnival | an empty room, then smiling |
- 14.8. 22:30 Jaki: Superposition
- 18.8. 18:30 Green Room: Nefertiti Quartet feat. Frederik Köster

Cologne Jazzweek has been taking over Cologne’s city centre in August since 2021. For a full week, the varied programme offers its listeners a cross-section of the Cologne, German and international music scene. In addition to the stages in the Stadtgarten Köln, concerts also take place in the WDR Sendesaal, CBE, Loft Köln and Philharmonie Köln, among others.

Esther Weickel and Ella O’Brien-Coker started working with the NICA artists a year ago.

One year ago, Esther Weickel (head of project) and Ella O’Brien-Coker (project coordination) took over the management of NICA artist development.

For both of them, communication and trust are the key to identify, formulate and realise the needs of NICA artists for their professional development. Their main concern is to work together with the NICA artists on individual ways of support and at the same time to promote the further possibilities of NICA artist development.

What the two did before NICA, what motivates them, more about the possibilities of NICA and the connection of the support programme to the Stadtgarten Köln - Thomas Venker sat down with Ella and Esther to talk about this and more with them.

The whole interview online in kaput magazine (only available in German).

What is more alive - the ghost ship that comes to mind when listening to »Rites de passages« or the world of consumer goods in which we ascribe a life of its own to dead things? And what is more eerie - the prevailing conditions or ghostly music that takes on the real spook in all urgency?

Luise Volkmann’s »Rites de passage« is music of resistance and transition. It contrasts the life in which we settle with a utopian space that has yet to be established. The musical transformations take their cues from the concept of ritual. But Volkmann’s artistic “rituality check” is also a political reality check that evokes the question of how we can overcome walls that actually exist in fact? Walls in the minds of hard heads. Concrete walls at borders. She neither adheres to preconceived genres nor does she stop at crossing the last threshold of existence - the preoccupation with death.

Luise Volkmann sees herself as an artist with a social idea of music. This self-conception expresses itself through the pieces of »Rites de passage« - performatively. They are the first songs she has published under her own name exclusively. Her starting point was the idea of foregrounding compositional experimentation over improvisation. At the same time, there is personal history in the collectivist spirit of the album, which is released in two slightly different versions on vinyl and CD on nWog Records. The recordings, made with varying ensembles over the last few years in different places, reveal a clear signature. They are the soundtrack of a period of life.

The cover photo shoot with Thekla Ehling was supported by NICA artist development. So is the live premiere of »Rites de passage« with the participation of 18 musicians on the 15th of April 2023 at Stadtgarten Köln.

»Rites de passage« was released via the label nWog Records and is available on bandcamp.

NICA artist Pablo Gīw takes part in first edition of the european exchange

Together with nine other organisations of the Europe Jazz Network (EJN), NICA artist development (as part of Stadtgarten Köln) is launching the pilot project ‘Constellations’ in 2023.

The collaborative exchange programme aims to revive and expand the international ambitions and networks of musicians and professionals after a long period of pandemic restrictions. This is done through research stays of the participants in one of the European partner locations each, through meetings, networking and exchange of professional know-how and contacts. Constellations’ aims to set the foundation for a better networked and more sustainable music scene.

All partner organisations involved in ‘Constellations’ run their own musician support programmes. In organising and implementing ‘Constellations’, they draw on existing infrastructures and contacts. The participating artists and cultural workers benefit from these competences not only during their respective research stays, but also at joint meetings such as the European Jazz Conference in Marseille this autumn.

For NICA artist development, trumpeter and improviser Pablo Gīw is taking part in ‘Constellations’. He will spend seven days in Paris and Lyon at the end of March, building on his existing interest in the improvised music scene in France. Paris-based pianist Delphine Deau has been through the Jazz Migration programme of the Association Jazzé Croisé (AJC). For her further musical career, she wishes to gain new insights and perspectives, which she hopes to find in Germany and especially in the Cologne scene, supported by NICA artist development.

The pilot edition of ‘Constellations’ runs until November 2023. ‘Constellations’ is funded by the European Union and supported by MusicAire as part of the Music Moves Europe programme.

NICA LIVE SPECIAL on 6th January 2023

WINTERJAZZ Cologne, organised by Stadtgarten Cologne and NICA artist development, will finally take place live and with an audience again in 2023: We celebrate the 12th edition of this brilliant music festival on the three stages of the Stadtgarten! The focus is on the vital, creative and diverse scene of Cologne and North Rhine-Westphalia and its networks, which extend beyond the region to international collaborations.

New this year is NICA LIVE SPECIAL on Friday, 6th January: Seven NICA artists present an insight into their current artistic work: The musicians Janning Trumann, Kira Hummen, Pablo Gīw, Luise Volkmann, Philip Zoubek, Laura Totenhagen and Fabian Dudek will present their highly diverse projects - from solo performances to 13-piece ensembles.

NICA LIVE SPECIAL is mainly reserved for invited guests and professionals. Other interested visitors are welcome! To participate, please register by 5th January at nica@stadtgarten.de.

The WINTERJAZZ evening on Saturday (7th January) is, as always, open to all music lovers. 10 bands with a total of 36 musicians will perform on three stages, including NICA artist Rebekka Salomea Ziegler.

Free entrance on both evenings!

•••

PROGRAMME 6.1.

Laura Totenhagen Solo
Pablo Gīw & Mariel Roberts
La Campagne
Été Large
Gratkowski – Zoubek – Landfermann – Mahnig »Torbid Daylight«
Kira Hummen
Janning Trumann X NOSACRUM

PROGRAMME 7.1.

Katrin Scherer’s CLUSTER Quartett
Jan Lukas Roßmüller Trio
Marlies Debacker Solo
Christian Lorenzens „Silver Motion“
h i l d e
Yaroslav Likhachev Quartett
MOLASS
Raissa Mehner Deviation
The Human Element
SALOMEA

More info about the bands on www.winterjazzkoeln.com

European exchange project by NICA artist development / Stadtgarten Cologne in cooperation with Cologne Jazzweek 2022

This summer, »NICA exchange« will take place for the first time as part of Cologne Jazzweek at Stadtgarten Köln. The cooperation project between the NICA artist development program and Cologne Jazzweek 2022 enables European musicians, especially from the fields of jazz and improvised music, to perform on the stages of the Cologne festival. The focus of the concert series is to create spaces of exchange for a young, experimental generation of musicians, to encourage sustainable networking and creative exchange, and at the same time, in the context of the festival, to initiate a connection with an audience open to new discoveries.

This year the countries involved are France, the Netherlands, Poland, and Belgium. The selected artists for »NICA exchange« were chosen in cooperation with local NICA partner organizations (Bimhuis Amsterdam, RAUW Festival Rotterdam, JazzLab Belgium, INTL Jazzplatform Poland and AJC Jazz France), which in turn invite NICA artists and support them in research, networking and presentation.

The project focuses, in addition to international acquaintance, the stage as a place of encounter. This is the case with the concert Deman meets Coudoux/Muche on August 15th in the Green Room of the Stadtgarten, where the Belgian musician Berlinde Deman (tba/srp) meets the German musicians Matthias Muche (trb) and NICA artist Elisabeth Coudoux (vclo).

Cologne Jazzweek has been taking place in downtown Cologne since 2021. For a full week, the diverse program offers its audience a cross-section of the Cologne, as well as German and international jazz scene. In addition to the stages at Stadtgarten Köln, concerts will also take place at the WDR Sendesaal, CBE, Sartory Saal and Open Air at Ebertplatz.

• 15.08. 18:00 Green Room Deman meets Coudoux/Muche (DE/BE)
• 15.08. 19:00 Green Room Bonsai Panda (NL)
• 17.08. 22:30 JAKI Sun-Mi Hong Quintet (NL)
• 19.08. 18:00 Green Room Charley Rose Trio (FR)
• 19.08. 19:30 Green Room Amalia Umeda Quartet (PL)

Tickets Cologne Jazzweek

Official press release

Fotocredits:

Elisabeth Coudoux © Nadine Heller-Menzel

Berlinde Deman © Jan Rouwens

Matthias Muche © Lutz Voigtlaender

An era comes to an end: Forty-four years after the foundation of the Initiative Kölner Jazz Haus (IKJH) and after 36 years as Head Curator of the concert programme at Stadtgarten Köln, the ‘European Centre for Jazz and Contemporary Music’, Reiner Michalke passes the baton to his successor Kornelia Vossebein, who will take over as Artistic Director of this internationally renowned venue as of 1 July 2022.

More Info www.stadtgarten.de

Here you will find the complete press release.

Danksagung

Die Stimmung des свобода і мир - Freiheit und Frieden // Solidaritätskonzertes hallt nach. Es war ein bedeutender Abend, mit schmerzvollen Momenten. Doch in allem steckte auch Trost und “Heilung”, wie die mitwirkende ukrainische Musikerin Mariana Sadovska es sagte. Und dies war mit Sicherheit einer der bewegendsten Momente an diesem Abend, bewies er doch, dass das Ziel, den Betroffenen zu helfen, erreicht worden ist.

Und nicht nur das. Allein an diesem Abend sind über 20.000.- Euro durch Eintrittsgelder, Spenden und Senderechte zusammengekommen. Und es ist weiterhin möglich über unser Spendenkonto finanziellen Beistand zu leisten.

Wir möchten uns von ganzem Herzen bei allen bedanken, die diesen Abend möglich gemacht haben. Aber der Krieg ist noch nicht vorbei. Jetzt geht es darum, den Menschen in der Ukraine mit all unseren Möglichkeiten weiterhin zur Seite zu stehen.

Besonders freuen wir uns, dass neben Tamara Lukasheva auch NICA artist Janning Trumann am Solidaritätskonzert mitgewirkt hat.

Video von Tamara Lukasheva: Erste Gelder schon ausgezahlt!

Video des Konzerts:

Interview mit Tamara Lukasheva über die aktuelle Lage der Kriegsopfer in der Ukraine vom 28.02.2022

Foto: Mariana Sadovska, Tamara Lukasheva (Initatorin des Solidaritätskonzerts) und Taya Chernyshova (vlnr)

© Niclas Weber

The 11th edition of the “Winterjazz Köln” festival, which was to take place from January 7 to 8, 2022 with NICA artist developemtn in Stadtgarten Köln, unfortunately had to be canceled due to the current Corona situation. Since then, we have been working at full speed to make the music of the program audible to the public in its freshness and spirit of exploration, despite the circumstances.

This resulted in the new webisodes series “Winterjazz in Space”, which will be available with a total of 6 broadcasts each 3 bands from 7 to 12 January 2022 on www.stadtgarten.de and the Facebook channels of the Stadtgarten. The premiere will take place on the first day actually scheduled for the festival, Friday, January 7, at 8 pm.

PROGRAM

Friday, Jan. 7, 8 pm
Matthew Halpin - Frown Town
Elisabeth Coudoux - Violoncello solo
RE: CALAMARI

Saturday, January 8, 8 pm
NAU Trio
Giw & Kilonzo SUM
LARIZA

Sunday, January 9, 7 pm

Janning Trumann 4
Laura Totenhagen solo
Roger Kintopf STRUCTUCTURE

Monday, January 10, 7 pm
BÖRT
Leif Berger “The Noise Trumpets of Nothing”
Daniel Tamayo Quintet

Tuesday, January 11, 7 pm

TAU5
Heidi Bayer KORSH
Lukoshko

Wednesday, January 12, 7 pm
Barbara Barth ALL OR NOTHING AT ALL
THE RESONATORS
Luciel

*All information is subject to change. Program may be subject to change at short notice.*

More information: www.winterjazzkoeln.com

SUMMER, ein kollaboratives, audio-visuelles Werk der Komponistin und Produzentin Sonae und der Videokünstlerin Jennifer Trees ist von A Closer Listen in die Top-10-Liste der besten Musikvideos 2021 aufgenommen worden.

Das 90-minütige Werk SUMMER feierte am 4. September 2021 Premiere im Stadtgarten Köln. Die beiden Künstlerinnen beleuchten darin das Thema Klimawandel.

Sonaes dazugehörige Album »Summer« ist am 4. Oktober 2021 bei laaps erschienen.

On Sunday, 31 October 2021 at 1 pm, a joint multimedia concert by musicians in Hong Kong and Cologne will take place in real-time collaboration for the first time. “Imaginarium”, which will be held as part of the Freespace Jazz Festival in Hong Kong, invites selected musicians in Hong Kong to perform live in front of an audience in interaction with artists from the NICA artist development programme who will be connected from Stadtgarten Cologne.

The German artists Elisabeth Coudoux (cello), Pablo Giw (trumpet) and Philip Zoubek (piano) will perform at Stadtgarten Cologne. Their counterparts at Freespace Jazz Fest Hong Kong, will be the artists Nelson Hiu (multi-instrumentalist), Charles Ng (saxophone), Simon Hui (double bass) and Fiona Lee (sound art).

The result is a multimedia virtual and real free improvisation jam that encourages new encounters, modes of communication and forms of musical and visual experimentation. The event will be available to watch via live stream at www.stadtgarten.de.

The technical challenges involved in the implementation could only be realized with the flexibility and great support of NetCologne.

Imaginarium - HK/Cologne is co-presented and co-produced by Freespace Jazz Fest HK, Goethe-Institut Hong Kong and NICA artist development / Stadtgarten Köln, and is part of the mission to establish international platforms and initiate long-term artistic collaborations.

SUMMER is a collaborative audio-visual work by composer and producer Sonae and video artist Jennifer Trees. The walk-through multimedia constellation will be shown for the first time at Stadtgarten Cologne. Tickets can be purchased for 7 p.m., 8 p.m. and 9 p.m. here.

Climate change today poses an imminent threat to life on our planet. SUMMER stages a revealing confrontation with this provocative truth in a floor-to-ceiling A/V installation consisting of two screens placed opposite each other; the audience is positioned in between. The installation creates a space in which to feel honest, perhaps difficult emotions such as fear for the environment and grief for our changed planet. Or to indulge in denial, because the installation also offers the possibility to close one’s eyes. The two screens show different perspectives. In this way, SUMMER places its audience at the center of the problem, forcing them to make a decision at that moment and highlighting their respective active roles in the current climate crisis.

SUMMER was produced with the support of NICA Artist Development and the European Center for Jazz and Contemporary Music at Stadtgarten Cologne. Sonae’s eponymous album will be released on 04.10.2021 by LAAPS.

Sonae & Trees SUMMER © Katja Ruge

NICA Artist Pablo Held will release “Embracing You”, his first solo album on his own new label “Hopalit Records” on October 1, 2021. After 13 albums on Pirouet Records & Edition Records, Held now wants to document his work on his own, entering into a more direct exchange with his audience. The album can be pre-ordered here.

The album features eleven tracks, including eight compositions penned by Held and three interpretations of works by his musical heroes John Taylor, Wayne Shorter &Thelonious Monk. For the production of the vinyl album Hopalit Records collaborates with Green Vinyl Records.The Dutch pressing plant is currently causing a sensation with a revolutionary environmentally friendly pressing method.

“Embracing You” is special for Held in many ways: it is not a classic piano solo album, but also features Mellotron, Celestaand synthesizers in addition to the grand piano. The recording process took almost a year, with several recording sessions in different studios and some creative changes of direction. Above all, “Embracing You” is dedicated to his family, which was the main source of inspiration for his music, especially during the Corona period.

Press release: Thomas Kemp (in excerpts)

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)

Elisabeth Coudoux’s Emiszatett are releasing their new CD »Earis« on Impakt Records on May 14, 2021.

With Pegelia Gold (voice), Elisabeth Coudoux (violoncello), Matthias Muche (trombone), Robert Landfermann (bass), Philip Zoubek (prepared piano, synth) und Etienne Nillesen (extended snare drum).

In November 2020, stuck in cologne, Elisabeth composed these pieces – more close to her own intuition. These ideas are a direct result of a conceptual processes that matured over the span of many years, shaped by the individual sound and the personalities of the musicians involved. 12 short sonic islands teem with abstract, experimental sounds that don’t shy away from melody or formal play. EARIS - The ear behind the iris - the idea of seeing without words, of forming a musical poem from the inner emotional landscape, which needs no words.

Die 12 new pieces are available on Bandcamp and can be downloaded or bought as a CD.

From June 2021, the artists of the NICA artist development programme will present their musical ideas and visions at »NICA live« every Monday at 8 p.m. in the open-air concert space of the »Green Room« in Cologne’s Stadtgarten.

Tickets are available here.

For more information on the NICA Artist Development Programme and its artists click here.

Photo credits: Tamara Lukasheva © Annette Etges

We are launching a new streaming series with “NICA Magazine presents”: every Monday at 8pm Stadtgarten Köln will show a new episode with magazine features and previously unreleased concert recordings of NICA Artists. Each show will consist of three parts: A short interview, followed by concert recordings and “High Five” with spontaneous improvisations. Singer Laura Totenhagen kicks things off.

The NICA magazine is produced by an experienced editorial team - consisting of Martin Laurentius (“Jazzthing” and others), Felix Klopotek (Kölner Stadt-Revue and others) and Kornelia Vossebein (NICA) - in cooperation with Klangmalerei.tv.

WE ACTUALLY MAKE MUSIC:
four podcasts by sonae and soundartist philipp höning made for ON - Neue Musik Köln

»we’ve been thinking about how to create a format that contributes to current thinking processes as much as it allows us to be what we are: artists, and to speak in our own language, in this case: music.« 

4 reasons to shut up and play

a podcast in four parts by HÖNING + SONAE:

• Part I
• Part II
• Part III
• Part IV
  

There’s news from NICA artist Pablo Held:

His latest EP »Descent« has been released on Edition Records as a follow-up to his album »Ascent« from spring 2020.

Pablo Held also came out with some new merch: his »Investigation Notes« Notebook, for which he teamed up with a regional partner for an overall climate-neutral production. The 96 page book can be used as a notebook, a sketchbook or a journal.

On December 11, 2020 NICA Artist Philip Zoubek released his new solo CD »Vortex« on WhyPlayJazz. On Vortex, which was recorded at LOFT in Cologne, Philip Zoubek turns his traditional instrument into an orchestra:

»Fascinating new music, eventful, alert, detailed and conscious of forms: Philip Zoubek makes long process in a precisely reflected and yet spontaneously developed flow of events. Thus, in his new solo program, he layers strange sounds into a surprising, strikingly plausible and, in its urgency, convincing sound journey into open terrain, which he paces out powerfully and nuanced (…)«. 

The CD, with about 50 minutes of playtime full of sounds modulated with pieces of wood, e-bows, rubber, a wide variety of plastic and metal screws, is available on WhyPlayJazz. 

Die Dekonstruktion des amerikanischen Traums steht im Mittelpunkt des mit dem Pulitzerpreis gekrönten Romans FRÜCHTE DES ZORNS. John Steinbeck erzählt darin die Geschichte der Farmerfamilie Joad aus Oklahoma, die nach Jahren der Dürre ihr altes Leben aufgibt und sich auf die Reise entlang der Route 66 macht. Ihr Ziel: Kalifornien. Doch der Californian Dream rückt in immer weitere Ferne, als die Migrierenden im Westen bloß auf Schwindler*innen, Ausbeutung und Ausgrenzung stoßen. Ein Stoff der Stunde, der die Zusammenhänge zwischen Wirtschaftskrise, Migrationsbewegung und Klimawandel aufdeckt.

Die Musik für dieses Stück wurde komponiert von dem NICA-Artist Pablo Giw, der diese ebenso live auf der Bühne spielen wird. Die digitale Online-Premiere findet am 20.12.2020 von 17:00 - 19:00 statt.

Foto aus den Proben © Krafft Angerer

On November 6, 2020 a new remix by NICA artist Sonae was released - she took on the piece »VHS«, originally published on Si Begg’s soundtrack to the movie »Peripheral«.

The remix was published on the label Noodles Recordings and is part of a remix album of the soundtrack »Peripheral Original Motion Picture Soundtrack : Remixed Volume 2« which features also features artists like Carl Finlow, Bass Kittens, Adam Schock and Militant Funk.

The three extraordinary musicians Philip Zoubek, David Helm and Dominik Mahnig take an unconventional approach to the conventional format of the piano trio on their new CD.

On »Nonplaces«, the Philip Zoubek Trio captivates the listener with enticing sounds. The pianist Philip Zoubek has further developed his playing on the prepared grand piano and this time he also uses synthesizers. The fast music is full of imagination and challenging but fascinating urgency. It is complex and simple at the same time, inviting the listener on a creative journey to something new - something that one would not expect from a conventional piano trio. »Nonplaces« is an album of inspiring musical dialogues between composition and improvisation and a departure from the tried and tested.

»Most of the pieces are permanent shape-shifters, a kaleidoscope of bouncing melodies and subtle changes in rhythm and style, structurally held together and controlled by the phenomenal sense of tempo that the three musicians let you hear. A format-forming, extraordinary recording: the album of the year for me!«
Achim Doppler, CONCERTO

The Philip Zoubek Trio performed together for the first time in 2018.

»Nonplaces« is the second album of the formation; it is available on bandcamp and whyplayjazz.

The 2nd generation has started!
Another six outstanding musicians* have been selected as the 2nd generation to receive NICA funding for their careers. They were nominated by selected promoters and music journalists. The final selection of the ‘NICA artists 2020’ was the responsibility of an expert jury. The six artists are:

Heidi Bayer (trumpet, *Lichtenfels)

Leif Berger (percussion, *Münster) 

Sonae (producer/DJ, *Köln)  

Laura Totenhagen (vocals, *Bergisch-Gladbach)

Janning Trumann (trombone, *Uelzen)

Philip Zoubek (piano, *Tulln, Austria)

Click here for the press release.

Further information about the artists is available here.

Elisabeth Coudoux’s quintet Emißatett has released its new CD »physis«.
Five outstanding musicians meet each other with high musical values such as equality, freedom, listening, and the common form of sound. The Emißatett is the realization of direct musical communication. A dense but transparent building of events is created, a complex structure. There is no intellectual definition for this experience. It is up to the listener’s state of mind whether he hears or thinks exclusively, whether he sinks into himself or looks, whether he analyses or swings into the music.

»The cello, otherwise better known as a slightly melancholic romantic, screeches, trembles and jumps into time. Together with the piano as spaceship, the snare as satellite, the bass as nutrient and the trombone as transducer they blow up the nothingness. Sounds rush by, take us with them and set us down again with stretched perception. Destination Multiverse.« 

The Emißatett has existed since 2013 and was included in the 2019 funding programme of the Ministry of Culture and Science for professional, independent music ensembles.

The album is digital available at bandcamp.

In his interview series »Pablo Held Investigates«, Pablo Held has been talking to his musical idols and companions since 2018. Some of the interviews from the successful series can be read in JazzThing magazine. Wayne Shorter, Joey Baron, Dave Holland, Bill Stewart, John Scofield, Norma Winstone, Larry Goldings or Dave Longstreth already talked to Pablo Held about their music and creative process.

After Pablo Held tried out something new on the occasion of his new album »Ascent« and published a audio commentary about the inspirations and working method for this album, the idea for a new podcast series was born.
His plan is to publish an audio commentary for each of his albums. In the current episode he talks about his album »The Trio Meets John Scofield«, which was released in 2014 by Pirouet Records.

In January this year the monthly series NICA presents at the Jaki started. Due to the current situation the series cannot be continued for the time being. As long as this is the case, there will instead be »NICA streams« every Thursday, which will bring the artists of the free Cologne scene to life digitally, curated and recorded by the NICA artists Elisabeth Coudoux, Pablo Giw, Pablo Held and Tamara Lukasheva.

On the occasion of the International Jazz Day, »NICA streams…« will network with the three clubs Moods (Zurich), Porgy&Bess (Vienna) and Victoria (Oslo) to create a joint programme. The programme will start at 19:00 in Cologne, continue at 20:00 at Victoria and continue at 20:30 at Porgy & Bess.
In Cologne, NICA Artist Pablo Held will host the evening. Due to the occasion, he will be supported by Mascha Corman, who will conduct interviews with the three above-mentioned venues as NICA foreign correspondent. Pablo Held has invited the following two duos as musical program points:

Landferman / Ramond

With Christian Ramond and Robert Landfermann, two generations of Cologne double bassists meet for discourse. Both are connected by a Bonn past and early lessons with the great German jazz personality Gunnar Plümer. As a duo, they weave together standards of the American jazz tradition with European improvisational music.

Simon Seidl / Veronika Morscher

Austrian-born songwriter Veronika Morscher presents a program from her own pen in a rare duo performance with jazz pianist Simon Seidl. The vocalist’s passion for storytelling and her penchant for poetry are shown to advantage in a very special way in the reduced setting and through the characterful and expressive accompaniment of the Ingolstadt-born pianist.

Pablo Held’s new album, Ascent, his second for Edition Records, is a collaboration between his long-running trio (with bassist, Robert Landfermann and drummer, Jonas Burgwinkel) and the great Brazilian guitarist Nelson Veras. Regarded as one of the most talented and adventurous pianists and improvisors in Europe, Pablo Held is building a formidable reputation, not only as a pianist of outstanding ability but also for his considerable musicality, energy and risk-taking. Ascent is highly anticipated new album, following their 10th album Investigations, praised internationally for its remarkable quality, deep communication and lyrical elegance, prompting All About Jazz to describe the group as »a world-class trio of exceptional talent«. The new album is a deeply satisfying fusion of the powerful and expressive music associated with Pablo Held’s trio and the fluid invention of Nelson Veras’s guitar stylings. Live, Pablo Held will present his new CD with two concerts on April 3 & 4, 2020 at Stadtgarten Cologne.

Starting in January, the four artists in residence Elisabeth Coudoux, Pablo Giw, Pablo Held and Tamara Lukasheva will regularly present their musical ideas, visions, cooperations or discoveries in the monthly concert series »NICA presents« on a Monday evening under their names in the JAKI Club of the Stadtgarten.

Tamara Lukasheva will start on 27 January 2019 with her new project Lukoshko.

Mon 27.01.20
20:00 JAKI
entrance free
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