Sofia Jernberg, Django Bates and Charles Lloyd let loose in Lodz, Poland

Many contemporary jazz festivals have educational programmes, mostly in the form of workshops, but this well curated event is an interesting hybrid of summer school and concerts. An international faculty that comprises Portugese trumpeter Susanna Santos Silva, British pianist Django Bates (pictured below) and three Norwegians, vocalist-saxophonist Sissel Vera Petterson, drummer Paal Nilsen-Love and double bassist Ole Morten Vagan, ensures that students from around Europe gain invaluable tuition while the live performances draw listeners in large numbers during a busy week..

The presence of American living legend Charles Lloyd at the Summer Jazz Academy in Lodz was a prestigious prelude, but the appearance of artists who are popular on the European circuit, such as Y-Otis, the Swedish-English-Finnish combo who create a kaleidoscope of jazz, funk, hip-hop and electronica, is met with wild enthusiasm. The ever-shifting nature of the groove, the shower of effects and live remixing strike all the right chords with an audience weaned on the science of the breakbeat as well as the art of the improviser. No greater contrast could come in the shape of the quite fascinating duo formed by the excellent British pianist Alexander Hawkins and the astounding Swedish singer Sofia Jernberg, whose operatic range, palette of unique wordless sounds and ability to rein in her technique to be hugely effective on folk songs and pop anthems like ‘What The World Needs Now’, make a big impression.

As for Norwegian guitarist Hedvig Mollestad, well known for her trio but leading a bigger ensemble featuring horns, she brings a personal slant to jazz-rock that ups the volume and energy considerably. All gigs take place in Wytwornia, which is a useful venue insofar as it also has rooms to host discussions as part of the Footprints programme on sustainability, an issue which could not be more relevant given recent heatwaves, as well as workshops for the students which culminate in a gala evening in which each tutor leads a band that has players who will help shape the future of improvised music. And maybe cool the planet before it’s too hot to handle.