Who Are These People? Anything Worthwhile?

So here's the schedule for the Berlin Jazz Fest this year. I have to admit, none of this is really getting me too excited. Maybe because I don't know who most of these people are. Of the ones I do know, I'm not terribly excited (Matthew Shipp with DJ Spooky?!) I'm a fool for not going last year when Corbett was the artistic director (the reasons are too complicated to go into here...).

Anyway, is any of this worth seeing? Is it even worth it to get a full pass to all acts? Or maybe I should just settle for Total Music Meeting (their schedule must be more interesting then this one).

So, any suggestions about the worthiness of these acts is extremely welcome.

Mi, 5. November

19.30 - Haus der Berliner Festspiele
Arfi: La Grande Illusion
Miharu Koshi Musique Hall

22.30 - Quasimodo
Arfi at Night

__________

Do, 6. November

18.00 - UdK Konzertsaal Bundesallee
Anna Homler/Richard Sanderson/Steve Beresford

19.30 - Haus der Berliner Festspiele
David ‘Fathead’ Newman Quintet
Tin Hat Trio
Jun Miyake Exotica

22.30 - Quasimodo
Eric Vloeimans Trio

__________

Fr, 7. November

18.00 - UdK Konzertsaal Bundesallee
Masabumi Kikuchi

19.30 - Haus der Berliner Festspiele
Jon Balke Magnetic North Orchestra
Louis Sclavis ‘Napoli’s Walls’

22.00 - Tränenpalast
Ilhan Ersahin Wonderland
noJazz

22.30 - Quasimodo
Paul Brody/Michael Rodach/Alan Bern

__________

Sa, 8. November

15.00 - UdK Konzertsaal Bundesallee
Hans Reichel/Rüdiger Carl
Albert Mangelsdorff-Preisverleihung
Guy Klucevsek/Phillip Johnston Duo

19.00 - Haus der Berliner Festspiele
Don Byron ‘Music for Six Musicians’
Ballin’ the Jack

22.00 - Tränenpalast
DJ Spooky and the Matthew Shipp Trio
Jaga Jazzist

22.30 - Quasimodo
Dr. Lonnie Smith-Hank Crawford Quartet

__________

So, 9. November

15.00 - Haus der Berliner Festspiele
Mino Cinelu
DuOud

18.00 - Quasimodo
Satoko Fujii/Tatsuya Yoshida Duo

20.00 - Haus der Berliner Festspiele
Paradox Trio
Tomasz Stanko Band

22.30 - Quasimodo
Gilad Atzmon Orient House Ensemble

[Brian Olewnick]

Scalvis can be fun--not sure if this Napoli thing is a special project.

The 3PM gig on 11/8 looks OK too. If you've never seen, Klucevsek, you should.

[Nate Dorward]

Originally posted by Alex
Mi, 5. November

19.30 - Haus der Berliner Festspiele
Arfi: La Grande Illusion
Miharu Koshi Musique Hall

22.30 - Quasimodo
Arfi at Night

The only thing to ring a bell here is the ARFI, which is a musicians' organization in France which has had some notable players pass through it--Louis Sclavis, the Workshop de Lyons, &c. Probably worth checking this out

Do, 6. November

18.00 - UdK Konzertsaal Bundesallee
Anna Homler/Richard Sanderson/Steve Beresford

19.30 - Haus der Berliner Festspiele
David ‘Fathead’ Newman Quintet
Tin Hat Trio
Jun Miyake Exotica

22.30 - Quasimodo
Eric Vloeimans Trio

Anything with Beresford can't be too bad, surely. I've no idea what Newman's playing like nowadays--but probably worth seeing as an old veteran? Vloeimans I recall encountering in the Bvhaast/Ramboy circle of players, & is likely to be worth checking out. Tin Hat is a familiar name but I don't know the music.

Fr, 7. November

18.00 - UdK Konzertsaal Bundesallee
Masabumi Kikuchi

...is a darn killer player, & is definitely worth seeing. Cf. his work with Paul Motian & Gary Peacock in Tethered Moon, or the wonderful album he did with the singer Helen Merrill, You & the Night & the Music (one initially grimaces at the thought of him accompanying a vocalist--Kikuchi is a groaner & howler in the Keith Jarrett vein, despite the delicacy of his playing--but just listen to their completely devastating duo on "Young & Foolish"...)

19.30 - Haus der Berliner Festspiele
Jon Balke Magnetic North Orchestra
Louis Sclavis ‘Napoli’s Walls’

22.00 - Tränenpalast
Ilhan Ersahin Wonderland
noJazz

22.30 - Quasimodo
Paul Brody/Michael Rodach/Alan Bern

Don't know anything about these acts except Sclavis, who can be good, depending on the project.

Sa, 8. November

15.00 - UdK Konzertsaal Bundesallee
Hans Reichel/Rüdiger Carl
Albert Mangelsdorff-Preisverleihung
Guy Klucevsek/Phillip Johnston Duo

19.00 - Haus der Berliner Festspiele
Don Byron ‘Music for Six Musicians’
Ballin’ the Jack

22.00 - Tränenpalast
DJ Spooky and the Matthew Shipp Trio
Jaga Jazzist

22.30 - Quasimodo
Dr. Lonnie Smith-Hank Crawford Quartet

Certainly the terrific lineup on the 15.00 gig is worth checking out

So, 9. November

15.00 - Haus der Berliner Festspiele
Mino Cinelu
DuOud

18.00 - Quasimodo
Satoko Fujii/Tatsuya Yoshida Duo

20.00 - Haus der Berliner Festspiele
Paradox Trio
Tomasz Stanko Band

22.30 - Quasimodo
Gilad Atzmon Orient House Ensemble

I can't say that Fujii's recent stuff appeals to me so I'd give that a pass. But the Paradox Trio (actually a quartet) & Tomasz Stanko are a great double bill, definitely worth sampling.

Hope that helps.

[Fred K]

I heard Tomasz Stanko last year and he was great live. I would see him if you could.

Kikuchi was slightly disappointing last month in a trio with Peacock & Motian.

I like Don Byron's Music for 6 Musicians, so the live version would be interesting to me.

Sorry, I can't help more with the more obscure names.

[David Gitin]

Caught Byron's group last year in Monterey, and Stanko in Santa Cruz. Easy to recommend both. And Fujii duo was outstanding in Vancouver two months ago.

[Valerie]

Originally posted by Alex
Anyway, is any of this worth seeing?
__________

19.30 - Haus der Berliner Festspiele
David ‘Fathead’ Newman Quintet
Tin Hat Trio
Jun Miyake Exotica

Sa, 8. November

15.00 - UdK Konzertsaal Bundesallee
Hans Reichel/Rüdiger Carl
Albert Mangelsdorff-Preisverleihung
Guy Klucevsek/Phillip Johnston Duo

22.30 - Quasimodo
Dr. Lonnie Smith-Hank Crawford Quartet

__________

So, 9. November

15.00 - Haus der Berliner Festspiele
Mino Cinelu
DuOud

Well, I'm an old fogey, so my taste probably wouldn't appeal to you, but the above are the ones I'd definitely pay to see!

[walto]

I think I'd catch Rudiger Carl.

[Jonathan Sutton]

Especially with Reichel. Check out the guitar samples at http://www.daxo.de and see what you think. They give the flavor of some of the man's work, I think.

[Pete C]

Thumbs up for both Sclavis & Stanko.

[LeMo]

L'ARFI (Association à la Recherche d'un Folklore Imaginaire) is the matrice of many bands like Le Workshok de Lyon, The Marvellous Band (both featuring Louis Sclavis), La Marmite Infernale. They where created just after May 68.
It makes them one of the older "collectif" of improvised music still operating in Europe.
Their "Leader", if I can use this term here, and sax player, Maurice Merle, died some month ago.
But I think it's worth to see them.
They are very underrated.
The Louis Sclavis Napoli's Wall feature Mederic Colignon (trumpet and an incredible vocalist - not singer: vocalist), Hasse Poulsen (guitar) and Vincent Courtois (cello).
They must record this "project" for ECM. Certainly something to check.

For the rest Hans Reichel/ Rüdiger Carl is may be the best thing you can hear during this festival.
Satako Fuji a pianist who was a student of Paul Bley in duo with Tatsuya Yoshida who is a drummer influenced by Christian Vander and the "noise scene" could be interesting to.

[walto]

Thanks for that Reichel link, Jonathan. That's an extremely cool website.

[Gary Sisco]

I'd go out for Sclavis, Fathead Newman, and Satoko Fujii. I don't know the rest of the lineup, so can't say.

[Jonathan Sutton]

The Reichel site is one of my favorites, Walt -- I have stuck a link to it and a link to the NPR Partch instruments site on my website for no reason other than that they are very cool. There is no explanation of the links whatsoever, to encourage visitors to think "What on earth is this?" and click on them.

Reichel has another site http://www.yuxo.de

[Pete C]

Originally posted by LeMo
The Louis Sclavis Napoli's Wall feature Mederic Colignon (trumpet and an incredible vocalist - not singer: vocalist), Hasse Poulsen (guitar) and Vincent Courtois (cello).
They must record this "project" for ECM. Certainly something to check.

Courtois is brilliant.

[Tom Storer]

I'd check out Sclavis. The trumpeter/vocalist Médéric Colignon is said to be a memorable performer, but I haven't heard him myself.

Other than that, I'd go see "Fathead" Newman and Hank Crawford. Their names in this festival lineup made me think it was an exercise in "what's wrong with this picture?"

Tom,

LOL my thoughts exactly. There just doesn't seem to be any coherence in the line-up this year.

Last year's director was John Corbett, and the line-up was about what you'd predict: Chicago stuff, New Dutch Swing, and German free improv.

This year's line-up seems to be: French guys, Eastern Europeans, New Yorkers who sound like Eastern Europeans, and Soul Jazz. (???)

Thanks everybody for the suggestions, and keep 'em coming. At this point, I'm probably definitely maybe going to that show on 15:00 on Saturday, which looks like a solid German free improv line-up.

The Sclavis and Stanko recommendations are the other ones that seem to be popping up a lot in people's recs, but I think at this point I'll wait and see what the line-up for Total Music Meeting is (it happens the same week). Depending on how good it is, I might just make a go of everything at TMM and only see that 15:00 Saturday show at JazzFest.

I've been looking to save up more money for books recently, so maybe it's a blessing in disguise that nothing at JazzFest is really grabbing me...

[Nate Dorward]

Yes Courtois is excellent--cf his work on the Battaglia/Rabbia disc Atem on Splasc(h).

I'm very saddened to hear of Merle's death: I was unaware of that. I'll pull out the Workshop de Lyons' Chant Bien Fatal for a memorial spin.