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.

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 

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.

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.

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)

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

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.

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 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. 

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.

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.

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.

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 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

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
more infos about concert

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.

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

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.

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

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

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

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.

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 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.

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.

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

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.

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 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.

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.