Comblain Jazz Festival

The Comblain Jazz Festival is a Belgian jazz festival in Hamoir - Comblain-la-Tour in the Ourthe valley in the Ardennes .

Comblain-la-Tour on the Ourthe

It takes place on two or three days in early July. The Parc Biron serves as the event area .

The festival was founded in 1959 by the American Joe Napoli, a veteran of the Battle of the Bulge . He was supported by journalists from Liège (Nicolas Dor, Jean-Marie Peterken, Raymond Arets, Willy Henroteaux). The venue was a former soccer field. In the 1960s, the festival began partly in late July or early August. In 1961 Bud Powell , Benoît Quersin , Tete Montoliu and René Thomas performed there. Already 40,000 visitors came to the 1962 festival, who took the chance to see jazz stars at moderate admission prices. Until 1966, jazz greats such as John Coltrane (with quartet August 1, 1965), Woody Herman with Big Band (1965), Ray Charles (1964), Kenny Clarke (1961), Nina Simone (1965), Bill Evans (1964) performed here ), John Dankworth with Big Band, Zbigniew Namysłowski (1964), Stéphane Grappelli , Cannonball Adderley (1962), John Tchicai , Chet Baker (1960), Archie Shepp , Earl Hines (1966) and Stan Getz (1966) as well as the blues musician Memphis Slim . Belgian jazz musicians were also presented ( Bobby Jaspar , Jacques Pelzer , Léo Fléchet , André Brasseur ). The festival was also very popular outside of Belgium ( Roger Moore made a brief appearance in 1965 ). Diana Dors tried her hand as a jazz singer here, Sacha Distel appeared, Petula Clark and Charles Aznavour (1960). 1966 was the last festival for the time being, until it reopened in 2009.

There is a memorial at the train station that represents three jazz musicians.

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