Enduring traditions

The festival features greats from the hardbop of the fifties and sixties, such as Herbie Hancock and The Cookers as well as one of the best-known faces of eighties neo-bop: Branford Marsalis. The bop tradition is being honored by a new generation of musicians such as keyboardists Sullivan Fortner, Emmet Cohen and Xavi Torres, and drummers Johnathan Blake and Gene Jackson who all rejuvenate that music by adding a contemporary twist while still remaining firmly rooted in the mainstream jazz tradition.

Free jazz, revolutionary in the sixties, was at the forefront of major innovations; without it, European improvised jazz would not have developed into what it is today. American saxophonist David Murray and Norwegian bassist Arild Andersen (known from his ECM albums) come from that tradition; young names in it include Guy Salamon, Aki Rissanen & Steven Kamperman, Mary Halvorson, Zoh Amba and Ambrose Akinmusire.

The sixties was not only about innovation; the civil rights movement inspired socially aware musicians to draw attention to injustice. At the festival, drummer Terri Lyne Carrington is performing her interpretation of the iconic 1960 Max Roach/Abbey Lincoln album We Insist. Even today, social awareness remains an important theme for artists, including Tony Roe, Makaya McCraven, Immanuel Wilkins and Kamasi Washington.

Jazz rock emerged in the seventies under the influence of rock and funk. This year, Lee Ritenour will perform, while Kurt Elling and Yellowjackets are paying homage to Weather Report. Guitar virtuoso Matteo Mancuso is delivering a fresh take on this genre. In addition, Ghost-Note and Cory Wong are giving energetic performances at the intersection of funk and jazz.

In slightly different ways, traditions live on in artists who mix them with new styles, designing new jazz patterns built on the shoulders of past pioneers. Take keyboardist and composer Kassa Overall, for example: like Herbie Hancock forty years ago, Overall manages to combine contemporary rap and hip-hop naturally yet unexpectedly. London-based Ezra Collective, recently the first ever jazz band to win a BRIT Award, will have Maas hall dancing to their unique combination of Afrobeat, reggae and jazz. A bright future also awaits the duo Dana and Alden, two American brothers on saxophone and drums who, with as much love for jazz as pop, play a special blend of musical styles: fresh and soulful, but with a feeling for tradition.