BMW Welt Jazz Award 2018.

Munich. The BMW Welt Jazz Award will celebrate its 10th anniversary with a total of six free Sunday matinees between February and April 2018. This edition’s theme will be “Jazz moves” and it will be interpreted by renowned international ensembles at the double-coned structure of BMW Welt. The featured musicians hail from various countries including Finland, Norway, Austria, Switzerland and Germany. The final concert of BMW Welt Jazz Award and the competition for its prize money totalling 15,000 Euro will take place on June 9, 2018, at the auditorium of BMW Welt.

From its early days of ragtime, boogie-woogie and New Orleans dixie to the height of its popularity, the swing era, jazz was primarily meant and made to inspire dancers. Today, at a time when the genre encompasses a very broad range of styles, once again many jazz musicians dedicate themselves to music that inspires people to move – as will be illustrated during the upcoming live performances, during which the musicians will continue the tradition or develop new dance music as part of the genre while creating entirely novel rhythmic combinations.

Following the sixth and last matinee, the expert jury will nominate two of the participating bands to perform the final concert at the auditorium of BMW Welt, where the winner will be chosen. In addition to a prize of 10,000 Euro, the winning ensemble will receive a trophy designed specially by BMW Design; the runner-up will receive 5,000 Euro. The ensemble with the best combined average of all concerts will receive the audience award, which includes a performance at resort Schloss Elmau.

Maximilian Schöberl, Head of BMW Group Communication and Policy, said, “Jazz is constantly in flux – as is BMW AG. We are delighted to celebrate the 10th anniversary of this unbiased competition that is well-known and popular far beyond the German borders with such a powerful theme. ‘Jazz moves’ will transform into six exciting matinees spent in the unique atmosphere of the double-coned structure of BMW Welt. In addition, we are looking forward to the final concert – none of which would be possible without our long-term partners, to whom we would like to say thank you.”

“The 10th anniversary of BMW Welt Jazz Award presents a great opportunity to express our gratitude toward BMW AG for their continued cultural commitment and for having been a reliable partner and supporter of the city of Munich for many decades. At the heart of all of BMW’s cultural endeavours are events with an international appeal that are equally accessible to all the curious souls of our city,” added Dieter Reiter, mayor of the state capital Munich.

The upcoming year will also see the third edition of the BMW Welt Young Artist Jazz Award, which is awarded together with the city of Munich. In addition to a prize money, the winner will be offered to hold a concert at Jazzclub Unterfahrt as well as an appearance at the Leipziger Jazztage festival. Young musicians, individuals and ensembles, working with jazz and hailing from the city of Munich or its surrounding areas are eligible to be considered. As previously seen with Josef Reßle and Roman Sladek, the jury members of BMW Welt Jazz Award will decide.

A Programme of BMW Welt Jazz Award 2018

Matinees: 11 am to c.1:30 pm at the double-coned structure of BMW Welt:

February 18, 2018                LBT

Febuary 25, 2018                 Jukka Eskola Soul Trio

March 18, 2018                    PUERTA SUR – Tangomoods. Arroyo/Schläppi/Engler

March 25, 2018                    Andi Kissenbeck’s CLUB BOOGALOO

April 8, 2018                         Beady Belle

April 22, 2018                       BartolomeyBittmann progressive strings Vienna

Admission is free of charge but seating is limited. Tickets are subject to availability. Doors open at 10.30 am.

Grand finale at the auditorium of BMW Welt at 7 pm:

June 9, 2018             Final concert featuring the two nominated finalists

Tickets for the grand finale on June 9, 2018, will be available as of February 18, 2018, at BMW Welt and München Ticket.

As in previous years, the programme will be hosted by Beate Sampson, jazz expert and editor at the German broadcasting station BR-KLASSIK.

Jury

The distinguished panel of expert jurors will be headed by Oliver Hochkeppel (journalist for music and cultural affairs at the German daily Süddeutsche Zeitung) and will include the following members:

Roland Spiegel, editor at the music desk and jazz expert at the German broadcasting station Bayerischer Rundfunk BR‑KLASSIK;

Andreas Kolb, editor-in-chief of the magazines JazzZeitung and neue musikzeitung;

Heike Lies, musicologist, Music and Music Theatre Division of the Department of Cultural Affairs of the state capital Munich;

Christiane Böhnke-Geisse, Artistic Director of the international jazz festival Bingen swingt.

Artists and Ensembles

February 18, 2018: LBT

Together with bassist Maximilian Hirning and drummer Sebastian Wolfgruber, pianist Leo Betzl regularly performs as the rhythmic group known as LBT. The musicians also come together as part of Vincent Eberle Quintett as well as Jazzrausch Bigband, which only recently received an invitation to perform at the Lincoln Center, New York. During the three years since its inception, at which point the ensemble members were still studying at the University of Music and Theatre, LBT has produced music that surprises its audiences with drama and excitement alike. The trio likes to experiment and as such has won various awards including Steinway’s young talent award, Kurt Maas Award and Hansjörg Henzler Jazz Award. With their new programme featuring a combination of techno and jazz, the three young musicians are a perfect fit for the theme “Jazz moves” of BMW Welt Jazz Award 2018.

February 25, 2018: Jukka Eskola Soul Trio

While Norway and Sweden been known on the forefront of revived European jazz for many years, Finland entered the stage only some years ago. Trumpeter Jukka Eskola ought to be mentioned in the same breath as giants such as pianist Iiro Rantala, saxophonist Timo Lassy and trumpeter Verneri Pohjola. Over the past ten years, he demonstrated his versatility by joining renowned ensembles playing various kinds of music including dancefloor with Five Comers Quintet, expressionist jazz with the big band of Mikko Innanen and entertaining parodies of jazz with Jimi Tenor. Together with organist Mikko Helevä and drummer Teppo Mäkynen, Eskola’s Soul Trio shines a new light at the essence of jazz. Following its own rules and using a humorous approach, the trio will perform moving soul jazz as heard in the 1960s and 70s, which was first made popular by legendary labels such as Blue Note and Prestige at the double-coned structure of BMW Welt.

March 18, 2018: PUERTA SUR – Tangomoods. Arroyo/Schläppi/Engler

Ever since the 1950s, Latin-American rhythms that almost always correspond with dance moves have been one of the most important influences of jazz music. Over the past years, the tango turned out to be one of the most influential rediscoveries for a myriad of new musical combinations. Zurich-based trio Puerta Sur with bassist Daniel Schläppi, violinist Andreas Engler and Argentinian singer Marcela Arroyo uses this famous dance as inspiration for their world music. They combine European roots such as found in Arroyo’s voice schooled in traditional Portuguese Fado and Engler’s classical sounds and add the fascinating instrumental improvisations and New Tango arrangements by Schläppi to create their truly unique sound. Understated, reduced to its essence and filled with suspense, this musical concept will once again delight the audience at BMW Welt with the third collaborative programme “Tangomoods”.

March 25, 2018: Andi Kissenbeck’s CLUB BOOGALOO

Born in Bonn and teaching at Munich’s conservatory, pianist Andreas Kissenbeck is one of Europe’s leading Hammond organ players. With his PhD in music theory and a doctoral thesis on “Rare Grooves” of the 1960s, he is one of the most well-reflected representatives of today’s retro wave. Kissenbeck’s band, Andi Kissenbeck’s CLUB BOOGALOO has recorded three albums to date and takes a new look at the musical tradition of Spanish Harlem, a version of hard bop featuring Latin influences. He is accompanied by guitarist and singer Thorsten Goods, drummer Tobias Backhaus and saxophonist Karel Ruzicka. Audiences at BMW Welt’s double-coned structure will be experiencing the band’s multi-faceted programme with its take on exploits in funk music by Jimmy Smith, torrential after-beats of Joey DeFrancesco and, of course, “Boogaloo” as it was interpreted by Lee Morgan.

April 8, 2018: Beady Belle

The Norwegian concept band Beady Belle of singer Beate S. Lech and bassist Marius Reksjø first saw the light of day in 1999 at the talent-filled powerhouse of keyboarder and head of label Bugge Wesseltoft. Ever since, the band has been at the forefront of NuJazz, which combines elements of folk, soul, funk and electronic music to create modern sounds for clubs. The band’s seven very successful albums featuring guests such as Jamie Cullum and India.Arie are a testament to its creative potential and continued progress. Its programme for a trio, “On My Own” is an intimate work centered around Lech’s powerful voice and her stunning ability to modulate. At this year’s BMW Welt Jazz Award, Beady Belle will delight its audience with a grooving sextet set up to also perform vocal arrangements. Lech and Reksjø will be accompanied by keyboarder David Wallumrød, drummer Bjørn Sæther and background singers Anja Martine Mørk and Sofie Tollefsbøl.

April 22, 2018: BartolomeyBittmann progressive strings Vienna

With their powerful rock fusion, these two young musicians, cellist Matthias Bartolomey and violinist Klemens Bittmann, will demonstrate how to combine and further develop traditional Austrian string music and jazz improvisation. Hailing from the Austrian city of Graz, Bittmann studied classical violin as well as jazz violin with Didier Lockwood and made his name as a creative mind willing to transcend borders as founder of the ensembles Beefólk und Folksmilch. Viennese-born Bartolomey – generally known for his classical work including as solo cellist of Concentus Musicus – is also a fierce admirer of John McLaughlin and the Mahavishnu Orchestra and for him, this collaboration “is a release of energy nursed over a long period of time”. At BMW Welt, the duo BartolomeyBittmann will showcase its outstanding and progressive skills as string players, which led to Austrian conductor Nikolaus Harnoncourt saying, “It is just incredibly well-played and cannot be done any better!”

This edition of the BMW Welt Jazz Award will once again enjoy the generous support of BR-KLASSIK, nmz, nmz-online and JazzZeitung.de, resort Schloss Elmau and the Department of Cultural Affairs of the city of Munich.

For further questions please contact:
Dr Thomas Girst
BMW Group Corporate and Governmental Affairs
Cultural Engagement
Telephone: +49-89-382-247 53

Leonie Laskowski

BMW Group Corporate and Intergovernmental Affairs

Cultural Engagement

Telephone: +49-89-382-45382

Micaela Sandstede

BMW Group Corporate and Intergovernmental Affairs

Spokesperson BMW Welt

Telephone: +49-89-382-61611

www.press.bmwgroup.com

Email: presse@bmw.de

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For almost 50 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 contemporary and modern art, classical music and jazz 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, Jeff Koons, Daniel Barenboim, Jonas Kaufmann and architect Zaha Hadid have co-operated with BMW. In 2016 and 2017, female artist Cao Fei from China and American John Baldessari created the next two vehicles for the BMW Art Car Collection. Besides co-initiatives, such as BMW Tate Live, the BMW Art Journey and the “Opera for All” concerts in Berlin, Munich and London, the company also partners with leading museums and art fairs as well as orchestras and opera houses around the world. The BMW Group takes absolute creative freedom in all its cultural activities – as this initiative is as essential for producing groundbreaking artistic work as it is for major innovations in a successful business.

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