“A feat of German engineering brilliance” Jazzahead Goes Virtual for first pan-global digital edition

Why do we love music? It’s a question that most of us immersed in music either as fans or professionals rarely questioned before the pandemic struck in 2020, but one year on and the most pertinent reply to that question is: to connect with people. Yes, listening to music has provided huge solace in these isolated times, but going to gigs and mingling among fellow music lovers is unquestionably one of the joys hearing music in person. It’s arguable too that this is one of the reasons the Jazzahead trade fare and expo in Bremen every April for the past decade and a half, has been such a success – where else in the world can so many likeminded jazz professionals meet in one place? And yet this is a logistical and health and safety nightmare in our Covid-blighted times. So, last year’s conference was cancelled outright, but with 12 months of planning the 15th edition turned a crisis into a virtual opportunity as Jazzahead moved online via the ingenious Talque smartphone app, Facebook live streams and an avalanche of website info.

The event has always set a high bar for technical excellence with hundreds of musicians seamlessly swapping places across multiple stages over its duration – and barring the odd glitch – it mostly goes like clockwork, while also being filmed and recorded to an impressively high standard. Thus, the transition to livesteamed only gigs – with 31 showcase gigs performed, with 12 livestreamed from the Messe itself in Bremen – was seamless, with sound and vision top notch. Thus, from 29 April to 2 May 2021 902 participants from 50 nations and 90 exhibitors from 41 countries took part in the digital jazz trade fair.

Early performance highlights included German trumpeter Marcus Stockhausen’s melancholic and slightly austere set, that resolved into a warm major cadence towards the end, while the two UK artists involved both gave great accounts of their current projects. Saxophonist Camilla George is a perfect example of the UK’s burgeoning and massively self-confident young jazz scene, leading her funkified quintet of keyboardist Sarah Tandy, guitarist Shirley Tetteh, bassist Daniel Casimir and drummer Rod Youngs through a bubblingly buoyant set with her cutting alto sax pushing things along. Tandy and Tetteh also shone with angular solos that eschewed showboating chops in favour for pungent phrases that hit home. Pianist and vocalist Julia Biel took things back to basics with a beautifully filmed set shot in Brighton, as her affecting soulful vocals wove between her chiming meditative chords on songs from her recent voice-and-piano solo album Black & White. Arguably with greater international reach via the web the myriad global jazz scenes were well represented – with partner country Canada showcasing both in-demand left-field pianist Kris Davis and the thrashy politically-charged sonic mash-up concocted by FYEAR.

It was the quartet Red Kite that provided a cool breath of fresh air, with trumpeter Fulvio Sigurta’s deeply melodic lines sparkling out front of the simpatico rhythm section of keyboardist Esben Tjalve, bassist Adrian Christensen and drummer Frederik Bülow. This set showed huge promise and they’re one to watch out for when they release their new album later this year. Drummer Sun-Mi Hong showed her panoramic influences that stretched freer passages of playing into tighter solo sections, with trumpeter Alistair Payne blowing up a storm. Yet, it was the manic brilliance of The True Harry Nulz, with their doubled instrumentation of pairs of drummers, clarinettists, bassists and guitarists that both induced smiles for their chaotic virtuosity and kudos for the fact it gelled and projected out through the virtual space – definitely a band to catch live when possible.

A feat of German engineering brilliance, this virtual edition has now been firmly established and as many delegates find it hard to take in all the music that’s on offer, there’s a strong case for adding this digital dimension each year – those who registered can check out the showcases and keep networking through the app until July! Nothing can beat the frisson of being there in person and making new friendships and connections via a shared passion for this music, but in our brave new hybrid online-offline world this was a technical triumph.   

Jazzahead 2022 takes place from Thursday 28 April to Sunday 1 May – for more info visit www.jazzahead.de/en/