Jun 9, 2026 10:54 AM
In Memoriam: James Blood Ulmer, 1940–2026
With deep sorrow and profound love, we announce the passing of James Blood Ulmer, a boldly innovative guitarist,…
The Marcin Wasilewsksi Trio is set to play the Polish Night showcase at jazzahead! in Bremen, Germany, on April 19. The Atom String Quartet, Monika Borzym, Joanna Duda and Power of Horns also are scheduled to perform on the eight-band bill.
(Photo: Andrzej Lazarz)Since 2006, jazzahead! has helped turn Bremen, Germany, into a place for the jazz world to congregate during a week of programming.
The annual industry meeting gathers together an international cadre of producers, labels, musicians and distributors, as well as festival bookers and club promoters at the Bremen Exhibition and Conference Center for panels, showcases and a trade fair.
This year, the festival runs April 6-22 and the trade fair runs April 19-22.
During the festival, more than 100 concerts are planned for the 3,000 participants to attend. There also are about 1,000 exhibitors at the conference center; 40 jury-selected showcases also are planned during the week; and on Saturday, April 21, jazzahead! club night boasts 30 hosting venues throughout the city.
This year’s conference partner country is Poland, which on Thursday, April 19, will host Polish Night with eight acts representing the genre’s current crop of talent.
“In the past 60 years, a very independent jazz tradition has developed in Poland with strong improvisers right up to the youngest generation of promising new performers,” said Peter Schulze, a jazzahead! jury member and part of the event’s artistic directors team.
The showcase is set to include the Marcin Wasilewski Trio, the Atom String Quartet, as well as representatives of a new generation of Polish jazz players.
Jury member Karolina Juzwa said she’s particularly excited for performances by Monika Borzym, as well as Joanna Duda, who’s leading an “original and stylistically experimental project.” Juzwa also was unapologetically enthused about free-jazz group Power of the Horns: “I’m sure they will blow the audience away.”
For more information on the festival, visit the jazzahead! website. DB
To the world, James Blood Ulmer was a legend, a visionary and a musical force whose sound was distinctive and unique. To his family, he was their teacher, their storyteller and a source of strength.
Jun 9, 2026 10:54 AM
With deep sorrow and profound love, we announce the passing of James Blood Ulmer, a boldly innovative guitarist,…
A drummer’s drummer, Rodney Holmes gigged with everyone from Joe Zawinul and Carlos Santana to Steve Kimock and the Brecker Brothers.
Jul 22, 2026 12:37 PM
Drummer Rodney Holmes, a powerful presence behind the kit who emerged as an in-demand player on the New York scene…
Clockwise from top left, Mary Halvorson, Patricia Brennan, Adam O’Farrill, Keith Jarrett’s At the Deer Head Inn: The Complete Recordings, Sheila Jordan and Jaki Byard.
Jul 16, 2026 1:34 PM
The DownBeat Critics Poll never ceases to amaze! And the 74th Edition offered plenty of accolades for poll veterans and…
Ibrahim was an early jazz acolyte, studying the music via 78s he would buy from soldiers stationed in South Africa — who also gave him the nickname “Dollar.”
Jun 30, 2026 3:19 PM
Pianist Abdullah Ibrahim, the NEA Jazz Master from South Africa who helped fuse the folk music of his home country with…
Joe Lovano’s Paramount Quartet will record live at New York’s Village Vanguard for ECM records on Aug. 26–27.
Jul 22, 2026 12:46 PM
One of Joe Lovano’s buzz terms is “the moment of now” and with seemingly infinite patience — despite a schedule…
