Richard Williams appointed artistic director of Berlin Jazz Festival 2015
Friday, October 17, 2014
The Berlin Jazz Festival has announced the acclaimed British music writer, Richard Williams, is to become artistic director of the festival from 2015.
He will succeed current artistic director, the critic and broadcaster Bert Noglik, who will conclude his curatorial duties with the festival’s 50th anniversary edition this October.
Williams was editor of Melody Maker and Time Out in the 1970s, during which time he was also the inaugural presenter of the BBC music show The Old Grey Whistle Test. He was head of A&R at Island Records from 1973-76 and subsequently went on to write for many national British newspapers and magazines, including The Times and The Guardian, as well as writing a number of books including the noted jazz book The Blue Moment.
Williams said of the festival: “I ask myself not what jazz was but what it is, and what it can become. For me, the Berlin Jazz Festival has always represented a platform for possibilities and provocations. The festival has a duty to continue that work by bringing the public into contact with the artistic vitality and diversity of the present day.”
The director of the festival, Thomas Oberender, said of Williams: “When it comes to the evolution of jazz, Richard Williams has kept an eye on the most varied paths of musical development over the past decades. His attitude is fresh and cosmopolitan. He comes to Berlin as a specialist who is familiar with all the jazz conventions but has nonetheless remained unconventional himself.”
– Steve Owen
The Berlin Jazz Festival runs from Thursday 30 October to Thursday 2 November.
For further details go to www.berlinerfestspiele.de/jazzfest