ONCE AGAIN: RECORD ATTENDANCE AT ELBJAZZ – DESPITE THE BAD WEATHER

21,000 VISITORS CELEBRATED THE 8th EDITION OF THE FESTIVAL ON BOTH BANKS OF THE ELBE.

ADVANCED BOOKING FOR ELBJAZZ 2019 HAS BEGUN, WITH EARLY-BIRD OFFERS.

Hamburg, 03 June 2018 – With 15,000 visitors on each of the main days of the festival – in all, more than 21,000 1-day and 2-day tickets were sold – this year’s ELBJAZZ set a new record, beating the previous top sales figures of last year by almost 2,000 tickets. The eighth ELBJAZZ began on Thursday evening with three concerts in the Elbphilharmonie, followed by more than 50 other concerts on a total of eight unusual stages – as well as the Grand Hall and the Recital Hall of the Elbphilharmonie, also in the storage hold of a former cargo ship, in the nave of St. Katharinen, and of course on the shipyard grounds of Blohm+Voss. In particular Blohm+Voss provided visitors with a unique backdrop of raw industrial charm, elaborate illuminations, gigantic projections, attractive decorations, and of course – by now obligatory at ELBJAZZ – disco balls on the hooks of the loading cranes.

Thanks to the optimised shuttle concept, with larger barges and a higher transit frequency for the buses, visitors were able to switch from stage to stage in a much more relaxed manner than in previous years, allowing them to concentrate fully on the ELBJAZZ principle of “discovery and experience”. And there was quite a lot to discover and experience: For the first time in its history, ELBJAZZ engaged an “artist in residence”: Michael Wollny was the outstanding artist this year. Few pianists in Europe have as much creativity and energy as Wollny. With three different programmes he thoroughly enraptured his audiences.

The CMQ Bigband brought the Great Hall to its feet. With their elegant black-and-white outfits, the 17 young musicians revived the Cuban mambo and bolero sounds that were once played in Havana in the 1940s and 1950s. The band from Madrid, playing its German premiere, was the surprise package of the festival. And indeed big bands shaped this year’s festival like never before. Already on Thursday, the Andromeda Mega Express Orchestra presented a wild, avantgarde mix in the Elbphilharmonie, and one day later it all turned Brazilian on the main stage, when the NDR Bigband conveyed South American flair with Alon & Joca. On the last day of the festival the SWR Bigband and the pianist and arranger Django Bates showed just what can be done with Beatles compositions. “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” and other Beatles classics received a new guise under Bates’ direction.

While the US saxophonist Kamasi Washington did not bring a big band, his combo nevertheless had the infectious energy of a large ensemble. Washington provided the closing note to the stylistically varied festival: Urban Jazz with Nils Wülker and his guests Nico Suave, Maxim and DJ Mad encountered the earthy blues of the Marcus King Band; the legendary Cookers aroused memories of the jazz of the 1960s and 1970s, which had freed itself of all shackles; African elements were added by the singer Nneka and percussionist Tony Allen and his band; and the Frenchman Michel Portal and his German colleague Heinz Sauer, two veterans of modern jazz, proved that magical moments are still possible, even over the age of 80.

The ELBJAZZ artists, whether newcomers or legends, radiating a joy in performing that spread not only to the many thousands of visitors who listened while transfixed, or who danced with abandon, depending on the concert, but obviously also to the entire harbour. Not even a stormfront on Friday evening could diminish this enthusiasm on and in front of the stage. Due to heavy rain, the programme on the two open-air stages at Blohm+Voss had to be interrupted for around two hours, however the programme on the five indoor stages of the festival continued as planned, and the concerts on the two open-air stages in the shipyard resumed later. Two halls were opened temporarily for the shipyard visitors, to provide shelter from the rain. Only the performance of the Michael Wollny Trio fell victim to the deluge, since there was no time for them to perform before their 11 p.m. show in the Elbphilharmonie. As a result, the three musicians committed spontaneously to perform at Blohm+Voss at ELBJAZZ 2019.

But this year’s ELBJAZZ provided not only musical premieres and highlights: the Business Mixer format was also new, a sector platform with networking events for artists and people in the music industry from all over the world. With 65 participants in its first year, it has already proven to be extremely popular.

After the festival is before the festival: Preparations are already underway for ELBJAZZ 2019, the dates have already been set. Next year ELBJAZZ will take place on 31 May and 1 June. Those who are quick to decide can enjoy cheaper early-bird tickets for 85 Euro, incl. all booking fees, for the entire festival weekend, including one concert in the Elbphilharmonie – available immediately at www.elbjazz.de. The early-bird offer (for 2-day tickets only) is valid until midnight on Sunday 10 June; thereafter the ticket for both festival days will cost 99 €, while the 1-day ticket for Friday (31 May 2019) costs 55 €, and the 1-day ticket for Saturday (1 June 2019) costs 69 € (all ticket prices incl. booking fees).  

A selection of press photos of ELBJAZZ 2018 is available online at:
www.elbjazz.de/en/press-photos

Programme of ELBJAZZ 2018:
Kamasi Washington
Michael Wollny Artist in Residence

Nils Landgren Funk Unit, Nneka, GoGo Penguin, Tony Allen, Nils Wülker & Band feat. DJ Mad, Maxim & Nico Suave, KAT FRANKIE special acoustic performance, Nighthawks, China Moses, Marius Neset & Guests, NDR Bigband feat. Alon & Joca, Omer Klein Trio, Kinga Głyk, Charles Pasi, The Marcus King Band, The Cookers, Heinz Sauer & Jasper van't Hof, Django Bates & hr-Bigband, Doug Carn West Coast Organ Band, Matt Andersen, JOCO, Andromeda Mega Express Orchestra, Theo Croker & Dvrk Funk, Pablo Held Trio, Emil Brandqvist Trio, Echoes of Swing, Goldings/Bernstein/Stewart, Mammal Hands, Chassol, Web Web, Eva Klesse Quartett, CMQ Big Band, Steinmetz & Stickan feat. Simin Tander, Magnum Coltrane Price, Laura Perrudin, Botticelli Baby, Dan Gottshall feat. HfMT Big Band, Estonian Voices, Estrada Orchestra, Monkey Plot, NuHussel Orchestra, Cadenza Collective feat. HfMT Big Band, European Jazz Laboratory, Siena Jazz feat. David Grabowski Quartett, Fabia Mantwill Quintett, Daniel Hirth Trio feat. Frank Delle, BAMM, Kabaloon, Überraschungskonzert