- Old North American songs -
The tenor saxophonist DIRK ENGELHARDT is dedicated to this project in a "classic" quartet cast his favorite pieces of the Great American Songbook.
Against the background of wide-ranging experiences with numerous modern jazz, pop and avant-garde ensembles and musicians such as Albert Mangelsdorff, René Urtreger, Marianne Rosenberg, Hannes Zerbe or Christian Burchard from the group Embryo, Dirk Engelhardt presents himself in the traditional sense with SKETCHES OF JAZZ , expressive, at the same time lyrical and compact swinging. From concert to concert, the great compositions of e.g. Cole Porter, Victor Young or Jerome Kern from the quartet, each time completely spontaneously, almost as in a jam session, retold.

“Space Tigers” is a Berlin based band gathered around Greg’s and Vanja’s compositions. „Real Sofa Techno Jazz Surfers“ keep their spirit ahead with their own brand. Call it Jazz, Techno, Punk or Funk for them it doesn’t matter. Be aware – It’s not just a band, it’s a movement, it’s an invasion. Debut album released for Swiss record label Unit Records.

Soul Thrivers are undoubtedly one of the most original bands on the current European blues scene. On both acoustic and electric instruments, the trio uses raw, handmade country-blues, roots, gospel, folk and soul sounds to explore traditional and original compositions, awakening spirits and taking the audience on a journey through space and time. The band began in 2013 as Black Kat and Kittens with the meeting of Adam Sikora and Dvora Davis. After collaborating with different guitar players and other musicians from the Berlin blues scene (and a first recording, 2014’s Gypsy Life), in 2019 they recorded You Better Watch with guitar player Nick Morrison, and renamed themselves the Soul Thrivers. With wit and charm but especially with her expressive, dynamic and unique voice, Dvora Davis leads the audience through more than a hundred years of African-American music history. An English woman with Jamaican and Indian heritage, her singing is born from these roots, from her intense connection to the spirit-songs, and from the warm, playful energy of the band on stage. The Polish-born musician Adam Sikora presents not only his excellent harp playing, taking you back to the origins of country blues; he also takes up the drums for part of their set and delivers vocals in his own personal style. The two founding members are joined by Nick Morrison, a French-American musician with an ecstatic, otherworldly guitar style. The result is a distinctive sound that will capture and rock any house. New Album ‘You Better Watch’ due out December 2019! ‘Hope is a Beggar’ digital single out now:

The quintet with her singer Malika Alaoui has dedicated herself above all to the French pop music of the 1960s and 1970s. Thus, the musical program resembles a grasp in the Bonbonnière French classics written by Michel Legrand, Francis Lai and Serge Gainsbourg, but also by Neil Sedaka and Burt Bacharach. The jazz musicians Thibault Falk (p), Klaus Axenkopf (db) and Charlie Köhn (d), as well as the exceptional saxophonist Jens Bodenburg, make sure that jazz does not get stuck in the elevator. Maitred'Arrangement and the trombone: Julian Gretschel. Malika Alaoui has been a soloist at the Cirque du Soleil for many years "and toured the world with the production" Alegria ".
Photo: Matthias Martin

One of the traits of world music is that it travels, settles here and there, and makes new connections. A wonderful example of this is the Flamenco, which is no longer played and developed not only in the country of origin Spain, but also, for example, in Berlin, where the band Rasgueo for a few years, an exciting fusion of jazz and flamenco with dueling guitar and trumpet melodies developed Has. And Rasgueo is an international band with the Greek Nikos Tsiachris on guitar, the Bavarian trumpeter Martin Auer, the Uruguayan drummer Diego Piñera and the double bass player Martin Lillich, who originally comes from Baden-Württemberg.

The sought-after, dynamic rhythm section consisting of Yonatan Levi (b), Jorden Dinsdale in combination with Tel Aviv-born brothers Gur on guitar and Gal on saxophone, presents a soulful mix of jazz music of the 1960s and Israeli music. French roots of the band members. The music includes traditional jazz standards (including jazz legends such as John Coltrane, Thelonious Monk and Miles Davis) with a Mediterranean touch and original compositions. The result is an electrifying musical journey through impromptu landscapes - from the Negev Desert to Provence to the East Village, New York.

Influenced by traditional jazz, the three musicians, without any instrument of harmony, play jazz with irrepressible curiosity, exploding meter and nostalgic longing, opening up new atmospheres and dreams. Here are original compositions, which have been initiated by the jazz of Charles Mingus, Ornette Coleman, Thelonious Monk and the traditional music of Portugal and have evolved. It is always about the whole: statements, not contingencies, perfection, not particularity. The music lives on the changing influence of the three, so that in the dynamic process of temporary ecstasy the classical scheme of soloist and accompanist partially dissolves. The beat and groove of traditional jazz are captured by the soloist sound and enriched with the Saudade of Portugal, creating a unique sound aesthetic of harmony, melancholy, fire and surprise.

the legendary Jam Session with Robin Draganic'

The young drummer and composer Michel Meis, ascending star of the Luxembourg jazz scene, presents a band with traditional instrumentation, but with a future-oriented approach, as well as a sound vocabulary enriched with elements of many musical styles. The result is a decidedly modern jazz - a captivating sound universe between melancholy and energy, where interplay, improvisation and courage find their place. The debut album "Lost in Translation" will be released in January 2019 in the series "Jazz thing Next Generation" on Double Moon / Challenge Records - a premiere for a Luxembourg artist.
Copyright is © Kary Photography.

Call Me Cleo Urban Groove Pop
Call Me Cleo uniquely combines pop, jazz and groove, creating a powerful, dark and energetic sound. The head and engine of the whole is the German-American front singer Susanne Folk "Cleo", which embodies a kind of modern Cleopatra. Determined rhythms, punchy bass and guitar lines and a wide range of sound from the keyboard instruments combine with the recognizable warm female voice. A changing mosaic emerges from memorable melodies, sweeping grooves and solo parts of the band members, in which the saxophone of the front woman may not be missing.

Elis Regina was a spirited and charismatic person and set new standards with her lecture. She was called the "Queen of Música Popular Brasileira". Elis came from a lower middle class background and grew up in the south of Brazil. Her personal style was not only characterized by her voice, but also by the choice of gestures, facial expressions and costumes.
The Sardinian jazz singer and songwriter Lucia Fodde is one of the Italian jazz artists who brings innovative sounds into the power of traditional rhythms. Her performances have a haunting quality that makes you want more and her intricate improvisations seem to be as effortless as breathing, her birth is always warm and personal.A passionate songwriter and singer, Lucia moved to Berlin in 2013, where she definitely performs in the local jazz scene and performs in the city's best jazz clubs. Last year their album "Freedom" was released at the Copenhagen Jazz Festival 2018.

From the big to the small, from the orchestra to the septet: Basel-based saxophonist Sarah Chaksad, born in 1983 in Wohlen, takes a rather unusual approach. Having caused quite a stir with both her 16-piece orchestra and the 15-female "International Female Musicians Collective IFMC" as leader and her own compositions, she now brings together two musicians and four musicians - a band with outstanding and on international stages well-known personalities. With Hildegunn Øiseth, the Norwegian trumpet player from the IFMC is one of the party who lends a special touch to every sound - not least the extraordinary goat horn. Lisette Spinnler is one of the most renowned vocal artists in Switzerland, whose special talent lies in the spontaneous, pleasurable and exuberant improvisation. The Austrian Tyrolean saxophonist Christoph "Pepe" Auer is a Hans Koller prizewinner who studied in Basel and plays the striking bass clarinet here. Also Austrian and studying in Basel is Marc Mezgolits, who was nominated as bass guitarist for the Focusyear Band 19 and with his instrument contributes a lot to making the sound so fresh and downright hip. On the piano sits the genius, also rhythmically immensely effective, independent and cosmopolitan Malcolm Braff and on the drums of the extremely versatile Gregor Hilbe, who is also at home in ethnomusical and electronic projects. While Braff - like Spinnler - is one of the lecturers at the jazz campus in Basel, Hilbe has meanwhile moved from there to Zurich and heads the section "Jazz and Pop" in the ZHdK Department of Music.

The Syrian oudist and composer Mohannad Nasser has emerged as an innovative musician through many years of experience in music making. His compositions are described by the audience as "tender, serene and magical". His deep desire to share his conception of music led to his completion of his education project Contemporary today, Heritage tomorrow as his Masters at the prestigious Berklee College of Music. At Berklee College Mohannad played with the internationally known guitarist Al Di Meola the song "Mediterranean Sundance". His musical vision is based on traditional Arabic music with a strong taste of oriental roots. Mohannad's journey with the Oud came from his extensive studies at the Higher Institute of Music in Damascus, where he perfected his knowledge of traditional oriental music and explored classical western music. During his career, he was able to expand the oud skills by adapting them to different styles of music, such as classical music, jazz music, Brazilian music or flamenco. In 2015, Mohannad - like most Syrian artists - faced a hard and daily danger due to the conflict in Syria. He therefore moved to Lebanon to become a music educator. He has been trained by several international organizations that offer refugee children music lessons. This inspiring experience inspired him to encourage the next generation of musicians to find their voices. In 2017, Mohannad released the first album of his Oumi ensemble "Imaginary Dance" and launched his solo project "L'Oud Whispers".

Oli Bott (vibraphone) and Chester Harlan (guitar) have known each other since their years of study at the Berklee College of Music in Boston. After several years on geographically separate paths, they u.a. through the US, Brazil, Italy and France, they found together in Berlin a good two years ago. They decided to develop a joint duo program, which they initially designed as a tribute to Gary Burton and Ralp Towner. Chester Harlan and Berlin-based percussionist Andreas Weiser got to know each other through a joint project with singer Nina Ernst and love for Brazilian music. The chemistry was right and the way was free to expand the originally planned as a duo project to the stylistically versatile and for many years the Berlin scene co-determining percussionists. The result of this collaboration is now presented by the trio in Bflat. Melodic beauty coupled with solo extravagance and the wide world of percussive soundscapes.

the legendary Jam Session with Robin Draganic'

Jazz is not the only thing jazz is all about: the Berlin band around Anna Margolina arranges, interprets and improvises songs of different genres and cultures and makes them sound surprisingly new. The musicians came together from all directions to create a common tone on numerous stages. Jazz is broad - entertaining, moving and full of life! There's a lot more to jazz than meets the eye with Anna Margolina and her band, who arrange, interpret and improvise. They take songs from different genres and cultures, turn them around and give them a surprisingly fresh, new feel. The musicians, who came from all walks of life, joined forces in the creative city of Berlin and brought the project to life. Their repertoire embody jazz in its broadest sense: entertaining and moving - a real slice of life!

The Cosmos Bigband project is a collaboration between Latvian Saxophonist Toms Rudzinskis and Danish Bassist Kenneth Dahl Knudsen. The two composers are joining efforts, and together they’ve ventured out into deep space. Galileo, Kepler, Einstein, Sagan, Hawking and many more have provided us with knowledge beyond our understanding. Toms and Kenneth have read through books, studied equations, heard stories discovered articles and found a way to put some of these things in to music. 

The Cosmos Bigband project is a collaboration between Latvian Saxophonist Toms Rudzinskis and Danish Bassist Kenneth Dahl Knudsen. The two composers are joining efforts, and together they’ve ventured out into deep space. Galileo, Kepler, Einstein, Sagan, Hawking and many more have provided us with knowledge beyond our understanding. Toms and Kenneth have read through books, studied equations, heard stories discovered articles and found a way to put some of these things in to music. 

The Tuscan singer-songwriter Kinzica Caterini and her musicians from the Berlin jazz and theater scene present their finest Italian songs with grooves between folk, jazz, funk and bossa. The band has already recorded well-known Berlin jazz clubs and festivals and is now coming back to the B-Flat to give the audience an evening with Mediterranean vibes.

The Flemm is a quintet based on the beautiful and rarely practiced formation of the Chico Hamilton - Eric Dolphy quintet. The usual rhythm group around drums and double bass is complemented by alto saxophone, electric guitar and cello. These three play around gallantly, forming common chords, or join the rhythm in their low registers. In the style of a Liberos they instinctively find their position on the musical playing field. This is defined by compositions of the musicians, ranging from - in the best sense - swinging titles over complex melodic architectures to gorgeous ballads.

Mysterious dreams, special characters, fascinating places – there is no end for profound resources to inspire a remarkable and unique band name. Well, in this uplifting case two best friends were eating some terrible burgers in a low-key, ghosted fast food restaurant at 2 AM and found a phone application by accident which generates invented band names.„Foyl aka” popped up, and bam, the baby was born.

"Neo soul meets jazz" - The songs of FOYL AKA are written by hungarian vocalist Maja Mágedli and estonian piano player Mathei Florea, the band furthermore consists Arno Grussendorf (Germany) on guitar,  Max Hughes (US/Germany) on electric bass and Amund Kleppan (Norway) on drums. The musicians of this international quintet all met each other at the renowned Jazz Institute Berlin and they have quickly discovered how smooth, natural and thrilling it feels to create a soft, but grooving sound together. These compositions are influenced by mostly neo soul in a jazz context: though the group does not intend to limit its genres and is excited to build an own little world without musical boundaries.

the legendary Jam Session with Robin Draganic'

The three members of the trio color and explore the compositions of David Tixier. Unity, energy and surprise are the keywords of this project. Each of these musicians is awarded the prestigious French National Prize of the La Défense Jazz Festival (Paris). Jeremy Bruyère on bass, Lada Obradovic on drums and David Tixier on the piano. The trio's latest album titled "Universal Citizen" was recorded in November 2017 in New York City and features guest artists Mike Moreno & Sachal Vasandani. The David Tixier Trio was founded in February 2016 and has performed at Sunside-Sunset in Paris, Sala Clamores in Madrid, the Alexander Platz Jazz Club in Rome, the B-Flat Jazz Club in Berlin and the Satchmo Jazz Club. Maribor, Jazz En Ville Festival 2016 and Jazz En Baie Festival 2016, France, JazzOo Festival, Jakobstad in Finland, Cully Jazz Festival, Switzerland and others.

The band "Les colorés" established the drummer true to his roots in the Biguine Jazz lie. The multicultural mix of musicians gives the group its meaning. Groovy like Zouk, Biguine and Mazurka, Soul and Funk; newly arranged standards and own compositions,
melodic and rhythmic at the same time, inspiring to listen and to move. This music is one Invitation to dance and travel in colorful soundscapes.

INDIJANA and the BANDITS ... stands for individuality, intensity and true playfulness. Her weapons are extremely feminine! Powerful female voices, rousing guitar and keyboard riffs, supported by the pulsation of the rhythm section, ensure a round sound and convince of the professionalism of the musicians. But do not worry, they do not shoot ... They only rob you of your last breath! Blues and Soul á la Etta James and Bonnie Raitt lay the foundation for the soulful and funky sounds of the Berlin band. INDIJANA - the frontwoman and singer of the band - writes her own songs. They give the band sound a special, fresh note and are in no way inferior to the old music. And so this band offers a rousing show of well-known and own songs with elements of soul, Texas blues, rhythm & blues and a touch of big city Berlin sounds. Music, videos and current events can be found on our homepage:

The quintet, consisting of prominent Berlin musicians, works in the field of tension between free forms and linear group improvisations. The minimalist originals allow groove and soul their right, create room for melodies and inspirations from all over the world. Organically, dynamic border areas and the smallest musical details are explored. It offers great improvised tennis by all players in mixed doubles and singles, a breathtaking jazz concept of experiment and lucid sound. Like tennis, it's about the virtuoso delivery of musical sound balls, with the incredible explosive power of psychedelic soundtracks. The quintet THE GARND SLAMMERS is the jazz project of the drummer Christoph Schlemmer. Schlemmer has been a permanent member of the ensemble at the Friedrichstadt-Palast Berlin for over 20 years as a drummer. His special passion has always been jazz, to which he has dedicated himself since his youth in various formations and occupations. He presents his compositions with the quintet THE GRAND SLAMMERS he founded in 2014. Schlemmer's minimalist originals make groove and soul right, create space for melodies and inspirations from all over the world. Here, ready-made structures are overcome, musical influences from other cultures flow into the group improvisations, in which the distinctive personalities of the band members can unfold freely. The band consists of recognized greats of the Berlin jazz scene who have long been companions to Schlemmer's side.

'The project title DpE goes back to a whimsical conversation with a British colleague who said over a glass of wine his two favorite guitarists from the' 60s were Eric Clapton and Derek Bailey - and how the two would have sounded together? A musical squaring of the circle, and since these two musicians were also defining figures of my early years in the 70s, so to speak by itself from the title, Derek Plays Eric 'this band project, a (hopefully contemporary) homage to the British jazz and rock scene of 60s and their (US) roots. Of course, associations from Eric Dolphy to Derek & the Dominos are not forbidden, and we're also playing material from Jack Bruce (whose co-songwriter Pete Brown wrote the liner notes for our CD), McLaughlin, Ellington, Mingus, Freddie King, and so on. '

The Johannes Kersthold Trio plays compositions by the pianist, born in Trier and living in Brandenburg. Modern Creative: Modern elements are to be found in Kersthold's compositional work as well as elements from Afro, Funk, Swing, Post-Conventional Music. Friends of the classical piano trio are looking forward to an extraordinary listening pleasure. The joy of playing with the 3 equal musicians takes the audience on a journey into the future, without denying the roots of tradition.

the legendary Jam Session with Robin Draganic'

" These three musicians play together in their own exciting and fun way of making improvised jazz music. 
Their individual messages in music come out in a dynamic way and can be influenced by the others all the time which leads their music into an adventure. They regard the public as the musicians they miss when having a rehearsal or private jam. There is always something special happening when playing live on stage when there are people to share emotions with in music. Besides that, the public is one of the most important aspects of their development in trusting each other and the moment.
Their performances contain heavy emotional moments which they share with the audience by trusting the way the music is developing. 
Besides energetic bebop classics, ballads and own compositions are being played.
If there are any questions for them to be answered, the music will give the answer in her own sweet way.
Although the trio is experimenting a lot with free jazz, modern genres, tough arrangements and own compositions, this band currently has it's focus on the romantic American standard repertoire, totally improvised and played in the moment without too many rules or expectations. "


The band plays Modern Jazz mixed with funk and Nordic Jazz. Apart from that, Christian Meyers is known for his lyrical ballads.
"Meyers'Truppe combines elements of jazz, funk, hip hop, soul and gospel music, and those who like to dance to jazzy music are well served." Kulturspiegel 2/2014 "You can not resist the charm of the compositions, you have to immerse yourself in this through and through great record"