Vienna-based German piano veteran Georg Graewe makes his long overdue return to Jazzfest Berlin with a relatively new all-star trio with drummer Hamid Drake and bassist Brad Jones. The group’s stunning 2024 debut album captured a galvanic set at Konfrontationen festival in Nickelsdorf, kindling a first-time meeting into a raging inferno. The remarkable Indian-American singer ganavya will project a much different vibe in her Jazzfest Berlin debut. Her recent albums capture her magical blend of jazz harmony, fluid improvisation and South Asian devotional practice, but the warm generosity and emotional precision of her performances can only be experienced live. The evening concludes with a remarkable, multi-generational iteration of pianist Alexander von Schlippenbach’s mighty Globe Unity Orchestra. Tonight’s performance celebrates the ensemble’s 60th year – featuring, for the first time, four-handed piano work by the leader and the great Aki Takase, along with an exceedingly rare appearance by composer George Lewis, on trombone.

Before the concert: Artist Talk with George Lewis, Alexander von Schlippenbach and Aki Takase
17:30 | Haus der Berliner Festspiele, Bornemann Bar

Exhibition: Anthony Braxton – Scores
29.10. from 17:00, 30.10.–1.11. from 17:30, free admission | Haus der Berliner Festspiele

18:30

Graewe / Jones / Drake

(DE, US)

German premiere

Line-up

Georg Graewe – piano
Brad Jones – double bass
Hamid Drake – drums, frame drum, voice

20:00

ganavya

(AT, DE, US)

ganavya – voice
Miriam Adefris – harp
Sebastian Singwald – double bass

21:20

Globe Unity Orchestra – 60 Years: Apokalyptische Nabelschau

(DE, DK, GB, IT, JP, NO, PL, US)

Pianist Alexander von Schlippenbach has an illustrious history with Jazzfest Berlin, stretching back decades. In fact, in 1966 he was commissioned by the festival’s original artistic director Joachim-Ernst Berendt, when the event was known as Berliner Jazztage – to form a large-scale improvising group, a request that heralded the arrival of the Globe Unity Orchestra. Ever since the ensemble has grappled with shifting ways to orchestrate the ineffable: the elusive creativity of free improvisation. The pianist has consistently enlisted musicians from around the planet who share his pursuit in choreographing spontaneity, and the commitment has helped him corral sonic lightning for 60 years. Over that long period, members have come and gone.

The line-up for this rare occasion is particularly special with three figures who’ve worked in the group since the 1970s – saxophonist Evan Parker, drummer Paul Lytton, and trombonist George Lewis, who rarely performs on his original instrument now that he’s devoted himself largely to composition and education. Of course, some of the junior members of the ensemble like bass clarinetist Rudi Mahall and trumpeter Axel Dörner are still Globe Unity Orchestra doyens. Joining Schlippenbach at the keyboard for the first time in the band’s history with some four-handed interaction is the great Aki Takase.

Line-up

Alexander von Schlippenbach – piano, composition, direction
Aki Takase – piano
Evan Parker – soprano and tenor saxophone
Daniel Erdmann – tenor saxophone
Henrik Walsdorff – alto saxophone
Rudi Mahall – clarinet, bass clarinet
Tomasz Dąbrowski – trumpet
Kasper Tranberg – trumpet
Axel Dörner – trumpet
George Lewis – trombone
Christof Thewes – trombone
Gerhard Gschlößl – trombone
Antonio Borghini – double bass
Paul Lytton – drums
Dag Magnus Narvesen – drums