Jazzfest Berlin '08 Comes to a Resounding and Successful Conclusion

JazzFest Berlin 08 has come to a resounding and successful close. Concluding Festival highlights included appearances by David Sanborn and Herbie Hancock at the Haus der Berliner Festspiele and concerts at Quasimodo, A-Trane, and the UdK concert hall on Bundesallee. The multifaceted program assembled by new artistic director Nils Landgren was met with enthusiasm by members of the public and critics alike. The majority of concerts were completely sold out even before the festival opened. Musicians were greeted with standing ovations, and in the large concert hall of the Berliner Festspiele, they even danced to the music.

A terrific beginning for our new festival head Nils Landgren!, said Managing Director Joachim Sartorius. With his musicians love for jazz and his instinct for putting together a captivating and stimulating program, Nils Landgren brought JazzFest 2008 to the point of lift off I look forward to working with him in the coming two years!

After a festival prelude last Wednesday consisting of a trio of jazz films, JazzFest Berlin 08 was launched on November 6 in the Haus der Berliner Festspiele when Vince Mendoza presented his project Blauklang (Blue Sound), sponsored by the WDR, and the WDR Bigband offered a Tribute to Ray Charles with saxophonist Maceo Parker as guest performer. While the public thrilled to the full-bodied sounds in the large concert hall, others embarked on journeys of musical discovery at other venues. Featured were the Avishai Cohen Trio from Israel; drummer Michael Wertmller with Brtzmann and Pliakas; and the extravagant Swedish duo Wildbirds & Peacedrums. Characterizing the program as a whole was an irresistible mixture of the approachable and the experimental, an effective framework for appearances by among others Richard Galliano, Lina Nyberg, Alan Skidmore, Bennie Maupin, Bobo Stenson, Roswell Rudd, Bonerama, The Headhunters, Heinz Sauer, and Ronnie Cuber.

Collaboration with the institutes of the ARD once again took a highly productive and harmonious form. Arne Schumacher, Spokesperson of the ARD Board commented: The fresh impulses of Nils Landgrens program design were a real win for our broadcasts. His stylistic openness was consistent with our sense of a contemporary conception of jazz. This year's festival gives us ample reason to anticipate exciting and fruitful subsequent editions. Altogether three festival evenings were broadcast live by the radio stations affiliated with the ARD, Deutschlandradio Kultur, and the cultural program 1 of the sterreichischen Rundfunk (Austrian Radio). The entire festival program 18 concerts and more than 30 hours of music was recorded in full, and will be broadcast in the coming months.