The BMW Welt Jazz Award 2014. Starting next January, international ensembles will compete at the 6th edition of the Award held at BMW Welt following the motto “Sense of Humour”.

Munich. The BMW Welt Jazz Award is about to enter its sixth season. Between January and March 2014, in a series of six free Sunday morning matinées, renowned international ensembles will be featured in the BMW Welt Double Cone, following the motto “Sense of Humour”. The musicians hail from the four corners of the world including the US, Norway, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Austria and Germany. The grand finale and competition for the grand prize of 15,000 Euro will take place on May 3, 2014 in the BMW Welt Auditorium. 

For years, the preconceived notion that jazz should be a serious intellectual exercise has been dominant. Ever since jazz discovered its love for cross-genre styles, however, numerous musicians have begun emphasising its humoristic side. For this reason, this year’s motto of the BMW Welt Jazz Award is a tribute to Horace Silver’s last album from 1999: “Jazz has a Sense of Humor”. 

Maximilian Schöberl, Senior Vice President, Corporate and Governmental Affairs, BMW Group: “With its global appeal, the distinguished ensembles, the expertise of the jury and the enthusiasm of its audience, the Award has become recognised far beyond national borders. I hope that the 2014 audiences will once again experience unique moments.” 

Following the final matinée, a panel of experts will nominate two ensembles as finalists. The winner will be announced after the grand finale on May 3, 2014. The BMW Welt Jazz Award includes prize money of 15,000 Euro in total. In addition to a trophy designed by BMW Design, the winner will receive 10,000 Euro, the runner-up will receive 5,000 Euro. Additionally, an audience award will be presented to the ensemble with the best overall grade of all concerts combined. The winner of the audience award will receive an exclusive stay at Schloss Elmau.

Programme of the BMW Welt Jazz Award 2014  

Morning matinees 11 am to around 1:30 pm at the BMW Welt Double Cone: 

19 January 2014          Mostly Other People Do the Killing

26 January 2014          Stian Carstensens Farmers Market

16 February 2014        Echoes of Swing

23 February 2014        Tin Men and the Telephone

09 March 2014             Hildegard Lernt Fliegen

16 March 2014             David Helbock’s Random/Control 

Admission is free of charge, seating capacity, however, is limited. For this reason, no guaranteed seats. Admission from 10:30 am on. 

Finale at the BMW Welt Auditorium beginning at 7 pm:          

03 May 2014  Final concert with two nominated finalists. 

Tickets for the final concert on May 03, 2014 can be purchased at the BMW Welt and München Ticket as of January 19, 2014.

As in previous years, the event will be hosted by Beate Sampson, jazz editor at the radio station BR-KLASSIK.

Jury 

The distinguished jury, chaired by Oliver Hochkeppel (music and culture journalist at “Süddeutsche Zeitung”), includes:

Roland Spiegel, music editor, main focus on jazz, at Bayerischer Rundfunk, BR-KLASSIK,

Andreas Kolb, editor-in-chief of “JazzZeitung” and “neue musikzeitung”,

Heike Lies, MA in musicology, working in the field of music and musical theatre at the Department of Culture of Munich,

Christiane Böhnke-Geisse, Artistic Director at Munich’s jazz club “Unterfahrt”.

Artists and Ensembles

19 January 2014: Mostly Other People Do the Killing  

From its onset, the New Yorkean quartet “Mostly Other People Do the Killing” – made up of Moppa Elliott, bass, Peter Evans, trumpet, Jon Irabagon, saxophone, and drummer Kevin Shea – have taken pleasure in deconstructing jazz traditions with all available means. Their concerts resemble a wild ride when the ensemble rebuilds the individual quotes into new sound worlds. Multiple awards, including first place at the international critic’s choice award “Down Beat” in the category “Rising Stars”, are proof of their uncompromisingly comical jazz. Developed well away from commercial undertakings it is a luxury the four members can well afford, seeing as they all are well established artists in the field. They work with renowned jazz colleagues, well-known musicians such as Billy Joel and Michael Bublé as well as making traditional chamber music. 

26 January 2014: Stian Carstensens Farmers Market 

Its preference for the distinctly metric and harmonic charms of South-Eastern European music has led the Free-Jazz-Band “Farmers Market” to interpret well-known tunes in a humoristic manner since the early 1990s. Alongside Stian Carstensen – covering a wide variety of instruments including accordion, kaval flute, Fender guitar, pedal steel guitar or electric sitar – the Norwegian ensemble is made up of Trifon Trifonov (saxophone), Jarle Vespestad (drums), Filip Simoneov (clarinet), Nils-Olav Johansen (guitar and vocals) and Finn Guttormsen (bass). With its exciting and amusing way of exploring the history of music from Beethoven to Coltrane and Abba, “Farmers Market” has become one of the outstanding ensembles in the world of folk jazz. 

16 February 2014: Echoes of Swing  

For 15 years, the American-German quartet “Echoes of Swing” around Bernd Lhotzky (piano), Chris Hopkins (alto saxophone), Colin T. Dawson (trumpet) and Oliver Mewes (drums) has been committed to the early swinging jazz of the 1920s to 1950s. Besides keeping traditions alive, the ensemble is using music to explore the genre’s undiscovered nuances in a humoristic way. Seven albums to date are testament to the ensemble’s originality of choice in music and interpretation; they showcase the band’s own compositions and arrangements and have been awarded numerous prizes including the “Prix de l‘Académie du Jazz” and “Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik”. 

23 February 2014: Tin Men And The Telephone  

The young Dutch trio “Tin Men And The Telephone”, made up of pianist Tony Roe, bassist Lucas Dols and drummer Bobby Petrov, calling itself a “demolition team masquerading as a jazz trio”, transcends the borders of traditional jazz. With its unconventional sound worlds – a mix of contemporary classical music, jazz, hip hop, Balkan music, every-day sounds and other sound files – the ensemble creates a Gesamtkunstwerk appealing to the audience’s every sense. Their music is enriched by multimedia projections and electronic devices, creating entertainment that makes “cows musical, Prokofiev’s music danceable and football coverage palatable.” 

9 March 2014: Hildegard Lernt Fliegen 

Founded in 2008, “Hildegard Lernt Fliegen” charms its audience with much more than its unique Swiss humour: with a wide variety of instruments, depth of expression and its elegant style, this ensemble masters even the most difficult of passages and improvisations with precision. The skill of the band around Andreas Schaerer (vocals), made up of Andreas Tschopp, Benedikt Reising and Matthias Wenger (brass), Marco Müller (bass) as well as Christoph Steiner (drums), has been widely recognized with numerous awards. Schaerer, also the founder of Berner Jazzwerkstatt, is a master of all things vocal: from rough recitatives to all kinds of onomatopoeia, beat box and scat as well as coloratura. All aspects of the ensemble’s work, including composition and tonal range, have been tailored to fit Schaerer’s vocal abilities. 

16 March 2014: David Helbock’s Random/Control  

In spite of his young age, this 29 year old Austrian composer and pianist is the winner of multiple awards. To date David Helbock has twice been honoured at the world’s most important solo competition of jazz pianists in Montreux and has recently won Austria’s most prestigious award for young artists, the “Outstanding Artist Award.“

True to his reputation as the enfant terrible of young European jazz, he founded the trio “David Helbock’s Random/Control” together with Andi Broger (woodwinds) and Johannes Bär (brass). Jazz, classical music and traditional songs from the Austrian region of Vorarlberg – this trio makes cross-genre music and loves to comment ironically on their musical material. Interesting detail: all three members play a variety of instruments, often in rapid succession, making this a truly unique experience for any live audience. 

As in previous years, partners of this year’s edition of the BMW Welt Jazz Award are the radio station BR-KLASSIK, the magazine JazzZeitung, the department store Ludwig Beck, Schloss Elmau and the Department of Culture of the state’s capital, Munich. 

Photographic material is available at BMW PressClub (www.press.bmwgroup.com)

For further information, please contact

LoeschHundLiepold Kommunikation GmbH

on behalf of BMW Welt Corporate Communications

Telephone: +49-89-720187-10

Email: bmw-welt@lhlk.de  

For further questions please contact: 

Dr. Thomas Girst

BMW Group Corporate and Intergovernmental Affairs

Head of Cultural Engagement

Telephone: +49 89-382-24753, Fax: +49 89-382-10881

Leonie Laskowski

BMW Group Corporate and Intergovernmental Affairs

Cultural Engagement

Telephone: +49-89-382-45382, Fax: +49-89-382-10881

Daria Gotto-Nikitina

BMW Group Corporate and Intergovernmental Affairs

Spokesperson Marketing and BMW Welt

Telephone: +49-89-382-60340

Internet: www.press.bmwgroup.com, Email: presse@bmw.de

For questions regarding the BMW Welt programme of events please contact

Gabriele Weber

Head of Brand Experience at BMW Welt

Telephone: +49 089 382 57521 

About BMW’s Cultural Commitment

For more than 40 years now, the BMW Group has initiated and engaged in over 100 cultural cooperations worldwide. The company places the main focus of its long-term commitment on modern and contemporary art, jazz and classical music as well as architecture and design. In 1972, three large-scale paintings were created by the artist Gerhard Richter specifically for the foyer of the BMW Group's Munich headquarters. Since then, artists such as Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, Olafur Eliasson, Jeff Koons, Zubin Metha, Daniel Barenboim and Anna Netrebko have co-operated with BMW. The company has also commissioned famous architects such as Karl Schwanzer, Zaha Hadid and Coop Himmelb(l)au to design important corporate buildings and plants. In 2011, the BMW Guggenheim Lab, a global initiative of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, the Guggenheim Museum and the BMW Group celebrated its world premiere in New York. The BMW Group takes absolute creative freedom in all the cultural activities it is involved in for granted – as this is just as essential for groundbreaking artistic work as it is for major innovations in a successful business. 

Further information: www.bmwgroup.com/culture and www.bmwgroup.com/culture/overview

BMW Welt – at the heart of the brand, on the pulse of the city

With its attractive programme of events and cutting-edge architecture, BMW Welt is a Munich venue that promises a host of diverse experiences. Since its inauguration in 2007, BMW Welt has become a major attraction that boasts around two million visitors a year, putting it in the number one spot in Bavaria. Visitors can look forward to a highly varied programme of events covering culture, art and entertainment, along with culinary treats served up in several restaurants. Whether it’s a jazz concert, a poetry slam, clubbing, improv theatre, family Sundays, a film premiere, gala event or panel discussion – BMW Welt is the perfect platform for innovative events with capacity for up to 2,500 guests.

The BMW Group
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