Mar 2, 2026 9:58 PM
In Memoriam: John Hammond Jr., 1942–2026
John P. Hammond (aka John Hammond Jr.), a blues guitarist and singer who was one of the first white American…
Chris Janka is the Artist in Residence for this year’s Jazzfestival Saalfelden, which runs Aug. 22–25.
(Photo: Petr Foltyn)Pre-sales of remaining tickets for this year’s 44th edition of the Jazzfestival Saalfelden will end on Aug. 19. The festival, which runs Aug. 22–25 in Saalfelden, Austria, recently announced that there are only a few tickets left for Mainstage and Otto-Gruber-Halle performances.
This year’s Artist in Residence is Austrian Chris Janka, a mechanical engineer, musician, composer and sound researcher. In Saalfelden, he will be presenting his MIDI Orchestra as an independent interpretation and improvisation system as well as the new record Lutebulb by his trio Blueblut. He will also pay homage to electronic music pioneer Wendy Carlos with his converted guitar in a solo act.
A commission work by Iranian artist Mona Matbou Riahi is also on the schedule. Traditionally slated as the opening concert of the Mainstage on Friday evening, she will transform the Congress in Saalfelden into an atmospheric, experimental, dreamy sound space with the premiere of her project Nebulift.
Almost 200 musicians from 16 nations promise an eventful weekend full of musical discoveries and international gatherings. The Synesthetic Octet, otherMother and Purple Muscle Car are just some of the band names that prominently feature Austrian musicians.
Artists visiting from overseas include Sylvie Courvoisier, who brings together key musical personalities from the New York jazz scene such as Nasheet Waits (drums), Drew Gress (bass), Nate Wooley (trumpet) and Mexican-born Patricia Brennan (vibes and percussion) with the electro sound of Austrian guitarist Christian Fennesz in her latest formation, Chimaera. Erik Friedlander’s The Throw presents its brand new album Dirty Boxing as a captivating experience that explores the unexpected parallels between the disciplined artistry of music and the strategic combat of mixed martial arts. Also with a new album, saxophone titan James Brandon Lewis meets the trio Messthetics with guitarist Anthony Pirog, and cellist Tomeka Reid presents her suite 3+3 together with Jason Roebke on bass, Mary Halvorson on guitar and Tomas Fujiwara on percussion. Amirtha Kidambi’s Elder Ones will be performing in Saalfelden for the first time. The formation around the extraordinary singer pushes the boundaries of jazz and electronic forms.
Returning guests from European countries include Petter Eldh, the brothers Théo and Valentin Ceccaldi, Sofia Jernberg, Daniel Erdmann, Mats Gustafsson, Dan Nicholls and Oliver Steidle.
Flash mob artist and saxophonist Yvonne Moriel has just been accepted into the New Austrian Sound Of Music 2025/2026 funding program by a jury of experts consisting of organizers, journalists and university professors for her solo project sweet life, founded in 2022. What began with an album as a starting point is constantly evolving with free improvisation surfaces, trance-like grooves and avant-garde sound paintings — with the power to transform the town of Saalfelden into a creative playground during her eager awaited presence at the festival.
Another type of musical playground will be the hermitage on the “Palfen” in Saalfelden for the first time during this year’s festival. As early as the 16th century, people made pilgrimages to this rocky cave at an altitude of over 1,000 meters, which was taken as an opportunity by members of the Order of St. Francis to build a hermitage there, above Lichtenberg Castle, in the mid-17th century. Still inhabited today as a place of contemplation by a hermit, the trombonist Alois Eberl and the trumpeter Martin Eberle — both well known to connoisseurs of the festival — will hold a “brass-blown devotion” at the heights on Friday, Aug. 23.
CLICK HERE to purchase tickets for the paid concerts.
For further information about the Jazzfestival Saalfelden, including a complete artist lineup, CLICK HERE. DB
Hammond came to the blues through the folk boom of the late 1950s and early 1960s, which he experienced firsthand in New York’s Greenwich Village.
Mar 2, 2026 9:58 PM
John P. Hammond (aka John Hammond Jr.), a blues guitarist and singer who was one of the first white American…
“Cerebral and academic thought is a different way to approach music,” Flea says of his continuing dive into jazz. “I’ve always relied on emotion and intuition and physicality.”
Mar 30, 2026 10:30 PM
In the relatively small pantheon of certifiable rock stars venturing into the intersection of pop music and jazz, the…
Lettuce, from left: Eric Coomes, Adam Deitch, Ryan Zoidis, Eric Bloom, Adam Smirnoff and Nigel Hall
Feb 17, 2026 11:05 AM
They were Berklee misfits. Neither jazzy enough for the straightahead crowd at Boston’s highly prestigious College of…
New Orleans Trad Jazz Camp
Feb 19, 2026 10:39 AM
Jazz camps have exploded around the globe as a summertime tradition for working on your chops and making new friends.…
Vocalist Dee Dee Bridgewater will be among the headliners at this year’s DC JazzFest.
Mar 2, 2026 9:48 PM
The first wave of artists scheduled to perform at the 2026 DC JazzFest have been announced. This year’s headliners…
