With the world in turmoil, the legendary guitarist Marc Ribot asks on his new album, Map of a Blue City: “Where will you run when the world’s on fire?” In light of global crises and turbulent times, this year’s Jazzfest Berlin are welcoming 120 international musicians from more than 20 countries to Berlin, spanning an artistically diverse range.
From free improvisation to hip-hop and noise, from lyrical and melancholic tones to distorted guitar sounds and stuttering beats, and from introverted solo sets to thundering large ensembles. Across four days, 27 acts featuring exceptional artists who have shaped the style of jazz history will share the stage with up-and-coming voices.
To open the festival on 30 October at the Haus der Berliner Festspiele, saxophonist Angelika Niescier, cellist Tomeka Reid and percussionist Eliza Salem can be heard in a trio that deliberately defies categorisation of any kind.
At Quasimodo, two acts combine jazz with hip-hop: the noise improvisation group MOPCUT with rapper MC Dälek and the sextet The Young Mothers. The visitors from the USA will include David Murray – one of the outstanding figures of New York’s post-bop scene for decades – and the legendary trumpeter and composer Wadada Leo Smith together in a duo with the pianist Vijay Iyer. From New York are welcomed as well saxophonist James Brandon Lewis with his quartet, saxophonist Tim Berne with his trio CAPATOSTA and guitarist Mary Halvorson with her Amaryllis Sextet including the Mexican American vibraphonist Patricia Brennan, who will also play with her septet. And the thrillingly complex, cross-genre approaches of Chicago-based percussionist Makaya McCraven can be experienced.
The trio The Handover creates a fusion of classical Egyptian music with the popular street sound shaabi and European jazz at Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church. Berlin-based bassist Felix Henkelhausen uses samples and electronics to push beyond the post-bop sound in his project “Deranged Particles”.
Amirtha Kidambi’s free jazz band Elder Ones premieres its new album in Europe. From Scandinavia Signe Emmeluth and Amalie Dahl’s Dafnie EXTENDED come to Berlin. And the large-scale Fire! Orchestra will present the world premiere of the project “Words”, while another large ensemble will also perform a world premiere: the London Jazz Composers Orchestra led by double bassist Barry Guy with the pianists Marilyn Crispell and Angelica Sanchez as soloists.
Jazzfest Berlin 2025
30.10–2.11.2025 | Doors 17:00 | Starts 18:00 CET
Haus der Berliner Festspiele | Schaperstraße 24 in 10719 Berlin
→ To the full program
