16th Hilden Jazz Days:
"Meetings - NRW & Guests"

"What is best in music is not to be found in the notes." (Gustav Mahler)

Finally here again: The Hilden Jazz Days, for years one of the most prestigious festival for friends of acoustic treats, are again issuing an invitation to a summit meeting of creative sound artists. Under the heading "Meetings - NRW & Guests" - taking place  31 May to  5 June 2011 - Peter Baumgärtner, drummer and artistic director of the Jazz Festival, presents North Rhine-Westphalia’s top-notch musicians, vocal artists and their playmates.

"Many musicians from all over the world live and work in North Rhine-Westphalia and thus one the most exciting jazz scenes in Europe has emerged here," states Baumgärtner and continues: "This concentrated musical potential in all its diversity and with all its national and international links is exactly what we – in small samples - show on stage here in Hilden."

During the festival Hilden will be the meeting point of the NRW jazz scene and its guests. The diverse panorama of the NRW music scene will be made audible: you can listen to a first encounter of musicians from Poland and North Rhine-Westphalia, a 40-year band anniversary and meetings of established Jazzcats with their younger colleagues. A jazz workshop for young students will enrich the festival even further.

By the way: Seven of the concerts are being recorded by and for the radio.

The first musicians meeting will be held on Tuesday 31 May 8pm at the „Kunstraum Gewerbepark-Süd“, Hofstraße 64 statt: The Atom String Quartet from Poland, a string quartet specializing in jazz, will perform together with Mathias Haus and Rupert Stamm, two of Germany’s best vibraphonists. The public can expect a concert full of artistic independence, enthusiasm and vibrating virtuosity on the highest level.

"Let's Groove" is the call on Wednesday 1 June, 8 pm at the youth club Area 51,  Furtwänglerstraße 2 b. „Milkyway Ride“ is based on the organ trio consisting of organist Ali Krause, guitarist Tino Kahl and drummer Paul Stephan Tetzlaff. At Hilden the band will be complemented by lead trumpeter Florian Esch from Cologne and the singer Tsega Tebege who is currently living in Paris. Tebege who, according to her own words, wanted to be a singer since the age of four, first joined various gospel choirs and then discovered her love of jazz. Critics praise her charisma, her timing and her impeccable feeling that turns every good song into good jazz.

The second act of the evening, the formation „Knee Deep“ will really get you moving and grooving. Saxophone legend Malcolm „Molly“ Duncan, now resident of Bocholt, and his latest project, a cooperation with producer and keyboard player Martin Ernst from Erftstadt, stand for sweaty rhythms and sizzling club atmosphere. Knee Deep presents a hot blend of funk, jazz and soul that moves directly into your legs. People who don‘t dance, do so at their own risk!

Meeting 5 – under this name the famous vibraphonist Wolfgang Lackerschmid, who has already toured with jazz icon Chet Baker, will meet with bassist Gunnar Plümer, guitarist Jean-Pierre Froehly, the Dutchman Hendrik Meurkens with his harmonica and the artistic director of the Hilden Jazz Days Peter Baumgärtner on drums. They will take you on a journey through the complex world Eastern European sound. On Thursday 2 June, starting at 3 pm these five exceptional musicians will prove that the best thing in music cannot actually be found in the notes at the park of „Haus Horst“ at Horster Allee.

A very special pleasure for your eyes and ears is the Cuban singer and song writer Addys D´Mercedes - a resident of Essen - and her musicians. Moving beyond nostalgia for the old Cuba, her exceptional voice will inspire you with original songs from her Caribbean homeland. She combines traditional elements such as Cuban chachacha, rumba and Son with salsa, exciting dance-floor beats and rock sounds, to which she adds a pinch of jazz. After tours and concerts with legends such as Eric Clapton, Bob Geldof and Ringo Starr, Addys D´Mercedes is recording her third album at the moment.

Fans of sunny, tropical beaches and caipirinha should definitely not miss the appearance of Gente Fina (meaning Fine People) at 7:30 pm at the Gottschalksmühle, Mühle 64. The formation from Cologne around young Brazilian singer Vanessa Oliveira, who moved to the Rhine from Salvador de Bahia, and their program of jazzy Samba and Bossa Nova will make you feel like you have been transported from Hilden straight to Copacabana beach.

At 7 pm trumpeter Markus Stockhausen and his trio Lichtblick will give a special concert in the Reformationskirche at the Alten Markt. Influenced by European art music, the winner of the WDR jazz prize and son of the world famous composer Karlheinz Stockhausen, creates with his instrument fascinating acoustic spaces between classical music and jazz. This concert promises pure musical beauty in a festive environment.

On Friday 3 June at 7 pm the Hartmut Kracht Trio will trump your expectations at the QQTEC, Forststraße 73. Prickly, headstrong and with a wink in his eye, singer and guitarist Hartmut Kracht, bassist Stefan Werni and Patrick Hengst on drums will interpret German songs by Friedrich Hollaender, Theo Mackeben and others. “Fast-paced, brutal and cooly designed fusion sounds alternate with slender walks through immortal melodies. Patrick Hengst strokes the snare with his brushes, while Stefan Werni on bass carefully provides the foundation, when Kracht loving intonates "Ich bin die fesche Lola". The beautiful floating tones that Kracht produces on his instrument in duet with his bass player during "Wenn ich mir was wünschen dürfte", make a seemingly bygone era come back to the here and now” enthuses critic Rolf Thomas in the magazine "Jazz Thing". Recorded by WDR 3 Mitschnitt

After a stroll through the Roaring Twenties, the audience can look forward to refreshingly vital, acoustic Modern Jazz played by the Engstfeld/Weiss-Quartett from Düsseldorf. Tenor saxophonist Wolfgang Engstfeld and drummer Peter Weiss have been working together - in different formations - for over four decades. Influenced by Hardbob, Latin jazz and free rhythmic structures, they draw wide melodic and rhythmic arcs, generating a vast amount of excitement and a joyful celebration of jazz. This concert too is being recorded by  WDR 3 Mitschnitt.

Then the Hannah Köpf Band and their timeless mix of jazz, pop and classical singer / songwriter elements will take the audience on a journey through a sometimes  melancholy and sometimes sunny and serene world of stories that simply need to be told. In her lyrics Hannah Köpf accurately describes the truths of life without resorting to clichés. Her enchanting clear timbre, her joy of improvisation and constant willingness to think outside the box, make this young singer and the award-winning musicians of her ensemble a real discovery. This concert will be recorded by WDR 3.

At about 11 pm an "open session" will take place at the „Blue Note“ at the Hotel am Stadtpark, Klotzstraße 22, whose participants are not yet determined. In any case, expect exciting musical encounters!

With contemporary Big Band sound the "Stadthallennacht“ (Town Hall Night) is launched starting at 7 pm on Saturday 4 June at the Stadthalle Hilden, Fritz-Gressard-Platz 1. The Thoneline Orchestra under the direction of award-winning composer and saxophonist Caroline Thon invites you join the swing. A wealth of different sounds, a successful interplay of complex issues and great improvisational freedom for the individual musicians are the hallmarks of Caroline Thon’s very personal style. The artist, who studied at the Musikhochschule in Cologne and in 2008 founded the Orchestra Thoneline, will show you with her boundless enthusiasm and desire to experiment, how innovative and vital big-band jazz can be today.. The concert will be recorded by  WDR 3 Hörfunk and is sponsored by 3M

Afterwards witness the encounter of guitarist and singer Peter Fessler and American drum legend Danny Gottlieb. Fessler became internationally known in the eighties with his band "Trio Rio" and the hit "New York - Rio - Tokyo". Since then his musical love was above all the Bossa Nova and jazz. Meanwhile he is considered by connoisseurs as one of the most versatile and expressive voices of the local jazz scene. In particular, his explosive scat singing regularly provokes standing ovations. Danny Gottlieb, his congenial partner during that evening, has played with almost all jazz musicians of Olympic format. Gary Burton, Pat Metheny, Stan Getz, Gil Evans, Bobby McFerrin and Al Di Meola are only some of big names who this gifted drummer and percussionist has already worked with. The two of musicians will present a magical universe of Brazilian sounds. Sponsored by Qiagen

Afterwards four Jazzcats will take the stage, because for „Denis Gäbel’s Organ Club“ saxophonist Denis Gäbel from Cologne has managed to win a unique musician: Frank Chastenier!

The long-time pianist and organist of the WDR Big Band is almost something of a veteran with his 42 years: For almost thirty years, he has loved and lived music. Whoever has experienced him live on stage, either with the WDR Big Band or at the side of Till Brönner, knows what it feels like to experience a true full-blooded musician. With "Denis Gäbel’s Organ Club" there is now a band in which Chastenier does his magic exclusively on the Hammond organ, an instrument which seems to be made for him. Together with Gäbel, Martin Gjakonovski on bass and Hans Dekker on drums, Chastenier creates music that has soul and blues, while still leaving space for more modern jazz sounds. The sound of a real Hammond is legendary and it is played here by a true grandmaster! A concert experience at the highest level is guaranteed as a recording by the WDR 3 proves. Sponsored by Sparkasse HRV

Sunday 5 June, starts off with a relaxing morning concert at Mercedes-Brüggemann, Im Hülsenfeld 1. At 11 am the band project Indigo JazzLounge takes us into the elegant-chilling sound spheres of jazz, bossa nova and acoustic pop. The music of singer Inga Lühning, pianist Sebastian Gahler, Nico Brandenburg on bass, as well as René Marx on drums will put you into a pure feel-good mood. If only every day could begin with the sound of the Indigo Jazz Lounge ...

At 2 pm in the park of the Capio Klinik, Hagelkreuzstraße 37, the seven-member Expeditionsteam with singer, composer and lyricist Sebastian Dey will take the audience on a genre-crossing fact-finding tour to the very center of the German-language pop world. Smooth Latin sounds, suitable for the café, will alternate with 70s retro-soul and flashy party sound, so funky it will make your feet smoke. Then there are the heart-wrenching ballads that will drive tears to your eyes. This music originates in the Ruhrpott, is highly professional, the lyrics are outstanding lyrics –  and German!

From 3.30 pm on the merger formation Phishbacher with keyboardist Walter Fischbacher, Axel Fischbacher on guitar, bassist Stanley Emanuel and Ulf Stricker on drums, will resound throughout the park, with their crossover between rock and jazz.

They are followed at about 5 pm by the open-air performance of BROWNIES COLOURS, the new quintet of jazz trumpeter and composer Rob Bruynen. He will perform original compositions with strong world music influences on a variety of instruments and with the exuberant emotion and energy characteristic of the musical qualities of this formation. Rob Bruynen has played for years in the WDR Big Band, and his collaboration with world class musicians such as Quincy Jones and Maceo Parker shines through his music.

At 5 pm also at the Galerie Koenzen the „ITS Jazz Band“ will have their traditional cult concert.

Drummer, electronic musician and composer Christoph Haberer from Dortmund will perform at 6 pm at the Wilhelm-Fabry-Museum, Benrather Straße 32a, his new solo program entitled "POLYRITMIA", the name of his latest solo album.

At the Stadtbücherei Hilden, Nové-Mesto-Platz 3, baritone saxophonist Marcus Bartelt, one of the most popular baritone sax player of (not only) the German jazz scene and Martin Sasse, currently one of the most prominent German pianist, will perform with their quintet at 7 pm, the program "Into the Blue". The concert is being recorded by WDR 3.

Guitar virtuoso Ralph Herrnkind will be the highlight of the 16th Hilden Jazz Festival with his band Herrnkind. He will be joined by Julius Pastorius, no other than son of Jaco Pastorius, one of the greats of jazz, on drums.
Recorded by WDR 3.

Festival history: 16 years ago – in 1996 – the town of Hilden and the private event agency Sensitive Colours dared the experiment of a "Public- Private Partnership". However, the festival ceased to be an experiment long ago: since its inception more than 2000 jazz musicians from all over the world have performed in the town on the river Itter. Funded by the City of Hilden, the Sparkasse HRV, the City Marketing GmbH, the Stiftung Sport und Kultur and a number of other prime sponsors, the Hilden Jazz Days have firmly established themselves as an important event in the German festival landscape.