The opening and closing of Enjoy Jazz have been announced!

The year 2017 marks the "century of jazz" due to the creation of the first record in 1917, which was a jazz record. The medium of the record meant that jazz spread on a massive scale and suddenly found its way into broad social circles. It was therefore not only responsible for the rapid rise of the newly created music genre, but also part of one of the banners that jazz carried from then on, namely to stand up for freedom, equality and justice. Jazz is still doing this 100 years later with unbroken strength and unbridled radiance. In its 19th edition, the Enjoy Jazz Festival celebrates the "Century of Jazz", both by reflecting on its roots and by looking boldly into the future.

A major highlight within this framework is undoubtedly one of the giants of the 20th century, who not only had John Coltrane as his mentor, but was soon to become an icon himself for the following generations. Archie Shepp turned 80 this year and the Enjoy Jazz Festival is dedicating a very special evening to this 'anniversary within an anniversary'. On October 28, BASF SE will present a co-production of the Enjoy Jazz Festival with the Parisian festival 'Jazz a la Villette'. Together they will bring a German premiere to the stage of BASF's Feierabendhaus. Archie Shepp's Art Songs and Spirtituals will have its world premiere at the Paris Philharmonie and will then be performed in concert for the first time in Germany on October 28.

As part of the "Century of Jazz", the Enjoy Jazz Festival also refers to the European roots of jazz. Inspired by swing, one musician was regarded as the inventor and pioneer of Sinti jazz and became an almost unrivaled icon: Django Reinhardt not only introduced the first style of jazz to emerge in Europe, but also produced a number of pupils, one of whom is still regarded as his veritable successor today: Biréli Lagrène together with the Django Memories Quartet - which recorded the film music for the 2017 film 'Django - A Life for Music' - will evoke the memory of the old master at the closing concert of Enjoy Jazz .

Before looking back at the history of jazz, however, the Enjoy Jazz Festival will first give an outlook on the present and future of jazz at its opening: The Illinois-born jazz singer Somiwhose parents come from Rwanda and Uganda, now lives in Harlem, New York. In her music, she combines the most diverse influences from Africa to New York, from African-colored grooves to velvety soft jazz vocals, but influences from hip-hop and the like are also audible. A great singer who has an outstanding career ahead of her in jazz singing and who will undoubtedly have a decisive influence on the next 100 years of jazz.

The programme has also been supplemented with further highlights. You can find an insight here.