Leverkusen Jazz Days

The Leverkusener Jazztage is an internationally renowned music festival in Leverkusen . It has been held every autumn since 1980.

Fabian Stiens (right) at the press conference for the Leverkusener Jazztage 2016 with the head of the cultural department Marc Adomat (left) and the operations manager KulturStadtLev Biggi Hürtgen (middle)

Future Sounds 2017 award ceremony - NuH [u] ssel Orchestra

history

With well over 20,000 visitors per season, the festival is now one of the largest jazz events in German-speaking countries. For up to ten consecutive days, the audience will be offered several live acts per evening. The concerts are traditionally assigned to different theme evenings (blues night, ladies night, African dance night, generation night, etc.). In addition to jazz, the festival is primarily dedicated to world music.

In 1980 the Leverkusen Jazz Days took place for the first time. The city of Leverkusen celebrated its 50th birthday that year and asked all of the city's clubs to take part in the festivities. Some jazz enthusiasts who had already founded a jazz club two years earlier came together to organize the festival, which was initially intended as a one-off project. Due to the positive response in the region’s cultural scene and the large number of spectators, it didn’t stop there - in the following period the event rather consolidated its position as an integral part of the cultural life of the city and the region. Since 2008, the Future Sounds young talent award has been presented at the Leverkusen Jazz Days .

In the past few years there have been rumors about a possible cancellation of the festival due to a lack of financial support from the sponsors. The city of Leverkusen in particular came under increasing criticism because it cut funding for its flagship year after year. The event is supported by a large number of volunteers.

In autumn 2016 Fabian Stiens will take over the festival management from Eckhard Meszelinsky, who has been developing the concept for over 20 years.

Musicians (selection)

Over the years, many international jazz artists and great musicians have performed at the Leverkusen Jazz Days , so u. a .:

Chet Baker Lester Bowie Dee Dee Bridgewater James Brown Dave Brubeck Ray Charles Chick Corea Jamie Cullum

Miles Davis Candy Dulfer Ibrahim Ferrer Herbie Hancock Al Jarreau Kool & The Gang John McLaughlin Miriam Makeba

Mariza Marcus Miller Nippy Noya Maceo Parker Oscar Peterson Michel Petrucciani Gregory Porter Wayne Shorter Jimmy Smith

Tower of Power Paco de Lucía Al di Meola Joe Robinson Lucky Peterson Carmen Souza Zaz Johnny Guitar Watson

Venues

The festival not only takes place in the town hall (Forum Leverkusen), but also takes place "decentrally" in numerous venues in Leverkusen. Regionally and nationally known jazz musicians regularly perform in the following locations:

• topos
• K1 + gallery at work
• clef
• Scythe hammer
• St. Agnes Church
• Widow emperor
• Godot
• Scala
• Bayer Erholungshaus ("Leverkusene Jazz Days meets Erholungshaus", 2019)

Web links

Commons : Leverkusener Jazztage  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Web presence of the Leverkusener Jazztage
• topos [1]

Individual evidence

1. ↑ See Leverkusener Jazztage at RP-Online
2. ↑ See Future Sounds
3. ↑ 37th Leverkusener Jazztage in the Leverkusener Stadtanzeiger from September 2, 2016. Retrieved September 2, 2016 .