After a gap in 2023, with no UK acts chosen for the jazzahead! Showcase programme, three are in the list this year:
from Scotland Mama Terra and saxophonist Matt Carmichael‘s quartet – and from England pianist Sultan Stevenson. Our congratulations to all three. (See NOTE below)

The full list of all forty bands is here, followed by today’s complete press release:

Dutch Showcases

Alessandro Fongaro’s Pietre (NL)
Ben van Gelder & Reinier Baas (NL)
BOI AKIH (NL)
Guy Salamon Group (NL)
Kika Sprangers Large Ensemble (NL)
Marmoucha Orchestra (NL)
Raw Fish (NL)
Tineke Postma Aria Group (NL) 

German Jazz Expo

Not yet a subscriber of our Wednesday Breakfast Headlines?
Join the mailing list for a weekly roundup of Jazz News.

Alexandra Ivanova Trio (DE)
GANNA (DE)
Julia Kadel Trio (DE)
MASAA (DE) 
METEORS (DE)
Phillip Dornbuschs Projektor (DE)
Rebecca Trescher Tentet (DE)
Shuteen Erdenebaatar (DE)

Overseas Showcases

Afro4Band (NG)
Alune Wade (SN)
Andy Milne and Unison (US) 
Antiánima (MX)
Ariel Bart (IL)
Christine Kamau (KE)
Oran Etkin Open Arms Project (BR/US/IL)
Yonglee & the DOLTANG (KR)

European Showcases 

Bálint Gyémánt (HU)
daoud (FR)
DZ’OB (UA)
Fil (FR)
Kaisa’s Machine (FI)
Linda Fredriksson Juniper (FI)
Liv Andrea Hauge Trio (NO)
Mama Terra (GB)

Matt Carmichael (GB)
O.N.E. (PL)
Sinfonia de Carnaval (AT) 
Sultan Stevenson (GB)
Trombone Ensemble Nabou Claerhout (BE)
Trondheim Jazz Orchestra & Marianna Sangita Røe “Spiti/Home” (NO) 
Xavi Torres Trio “Quarantena Songs” (ES)
Yumi Ito (CH)

(Press Release begins)

Showcase acts for jazzahead! 2024 announced with the Netherlands as partner country

“A new emphasis for jazzahead! 2024” (Sybille Kornitschky) – Götz Bühler’s influence already visible – African jazz to be given a specific focus

Thursday, 14 December 2023 – The selection process for showcase acts is now complete: from a total of around 800 applications, five international juries bringing a high level of expertise have made their decisions. The 40 acts who will be performing at the showcase concerts for jazzahead! 2024 are announced today.

jazzahead! 2024 is an event produced by MESSE BREMEN. It combines a festival and a trade fair, and will take place from 11 to 13 April 2024. This year’s partner country is the Netherlands. The complete list of all showcase acts – the European Showcases, the German Jazz Expo, the Overseas Showcases and the Dutch Showcases – is to be found at the foot of this press release. Full information on the bands and concert timings /venues will be available at later dates.

The declared objectives of jazzahead! are to be open to and to reflect the myriad of new creative impulses from the entire world of jazz and related music. “With next year’s programme of forty showcases, we have succeeded in doing this in a very natural and logical way,” says Artistic Advisor Götz Bühler, who, together with Sybille Kornitschky, director of jazzahead!, set the juries’ processes in motion: “Our programme reflects the living traditions and current inspirations of this fascinating and completely international music.” Speaking of her work with Bühler, who has been involved in the process for the first time this year, Kornitschky says: “I am enjoying working with him, and he is absolutely the right man to open up new horizons for jazzahead!, since he brings new names, new contacts and a wonderful sense of what is currently going on in the scene. He has his finger on the pulse of the times, it’s great for us!”

A major focus of jazzahead! 2024 will be on the tremendously diverse scene of this year’s partner country, the Netherlands, and this is reflected in the showcase listings below. “As is typical for the Netherlands, the programme presents a combination of innovation and superb musicianship, a respect for the jazz tradition plus a uniquely Dutch sense of humour,” says Bühler. The range on offer includes everything from wild duos to large ensembles, with the occasional nod to North Africa or Indonesia.

Looking beyond the Netherlands, “we want to represent the most exciting things on the European and international marketplace,” says Kornitschky. “And that is why we looked at various festivals to witness their programming and to understand their DNA. To put it simply, there’s a new emphasis for jazzahead! 2024.”

This year, a special place will be given to African Jazz, a topic “which we believe deserves much more attention”, says Bühler. By working closely with a specially assembled jury of experts from the African continent, the organisers of jazzahead! have succeeded in selecting some of the best bands and musicians from Kenya, Nigeria and Senegal as part of the showcase programme. Bühler says: “What I note is the fact that whereas we didn’t need to spend time on discussions about topics such as parity and diversity, the programme is both contemporary and forward-looking and has a balance in these respects. And that is a tribute to the work of our five international juries.”

The five juries are not just high-calibre but also very international, with jazz festivals from all over the world represented. “Two thirds of the jury members are women, something we are very pleased about,” says Kornitschky. The names of the jury members are listed at Showcases — jazzahead!. (Press Release ends)

NOTE: The UK presence is being run by LondonJazz News. To join the UK presence, register as a co-exhibitor for stand 6A46 HERE. Registrations are currently open. Creative Scotland will also have a stand at jazzahead! 2024.

Photo credits L-R: Publicity photo/ Edition Records / Tatiana Gorilovsky

LINK: FULL PRESS RELEASE ONLINE