Aalener Jazzfest

Roy Hargrove at Aalener Jazzfest 2008

Aalener Jazzfest is one of the top five jazz festivals in Germany. It is held annually on the second weekend in November in Aalen[1][2] and has about 13,000 visitors annually. Individual concerts in the spring and summer, add to the musical offerings; there are a total of approximately 25 concerts per year. From the beginning, the festival was marked by stylistic openness, accepting jazz fusion, classic hard bop, jazz funk, soul, blues, African music,[3] jazz and world music at the heart of the program. The Aalen Jazz Festival always offers a stage for talent or for musicians who for years have disappeared from the spotlight. Among the sponsors of the Aalen Jazzfest are companies and institutions such as the City of Aalen, various newspapers and utilities.

History

The organization body of the festival, the Aalen Kulturinitiative Association,[3] was established in 1989 and today has about 200 members. Since 2008, the artistic director of the festival has been Ingo Hug. The first Aalen Jazz Festival in 1990 offered an ambitious program with musicians such as Heinz Sauer, Walter Wolfman Washington, Jasper van't Hof, Bob Malach and Eddie Harris. A year later, jazz legend Miles Davis played his last European concert on the 2nd Aalen Jazz Festival.[4] Since, Dave Brubeck, Herbie Hancock, Fats Domino, B.B King, Buddy Guy, Al Jarreau, Van Morrison and Marianne Faithfull appeared at the festival, among others.[4] The main venue is the Aalen City Hall which hosts the big concerts. Smaller venues include the artist's hotel and piano bar. In July 2008, shortly before his death, the late guitarist Hiram Bullock played more than ten times at the festival. He played in spontaneous jam sessions at the piano bar.

Notable past performers

References

  1. ↑ Augstein, Rudolf (2006). Der Spiegel. R. Augstein. ISBN 978-3-89813-515-3. Retrieved 27 February 2012.
  2. ↑ Stahn, Dina (November 2010). Stuttgart. DuMont Reiseverlag. p. 115. ISBN 978-3-7701-9308-0. Retrieved 27 February 2012.
  3. 1 2 "Informationen zum Jazzfest". Stadt Aalen. Retrieved 27 February 2012.
  4. 1 2 "Aalen Jazzfest 2005". Artnsound.de. Retrieved 27 February 2012.

External links

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