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| jazzahead! 2016 For the past 11 years, jazzahead! has emerged as the crucial meeting point of the international jazz industry. More than 3, 000 professionals in the genre, festival directors, club programmers, publishers, label owners, musicians, agents, producers and journalists gather every April in the provincial town of Bremen, Germany. This city might be better known for its harbor Bremerhaven that for decades served as a gateway for hundreds of thousands of European emigrants, embarking for the US and after WW II as a naval base for the US Navy. Originally more European-centered, jazzahead! developed into a worldwide market place for any participants in the international jazz scene. Whoever you only knew by mail or by phone, jazzahead! became the place to meet face to face. An important part of jazzahead! is its showcase festival that initially started out with a German and a European Jazz Meeting showcases, introducing great bands, new and old, known and unheard of. "jazzahead! began showing what it could do, actuated by Euro gatekeepers possessing an egalitarian approach to jazz - that is, the all of jazz, with myriad sub-genres worth celebrating, without any of the parochialism or condescension often heard in American diatribes.", explained Jeff Levenson, one of the key players in the American record business and longtime observer and supporter of jazzahead! When the fair and its concerts became more international a third showcase module was introduced in 2010: the Overseas Night, a term in need of explanation: seen from Europe as any place beyond as overseas, might it be Bali or the USA. This year's official showcase selection, five out of eight bands come from the US, including the trios of Kevin Hays and Aaron Diehl and Hadar Noiberg, Omer Avital as well as Amir El Saffar's Two Rivers Ensemble. Starting in 2011, jazzahead! began inviting a partner country every year - which in 2016 is Switzerland - to expose itself, transcending jazz in a culturally broader sense, including theater, poetry, dance and art. Thus in a fourth showcase module, bands of the partner country are presented in a special opening night. How are the bands chosen to participate in these four showcases? In each showcase, bands, or their representing record companies or agencies apply for one of the 40showcase slots. Four annually changing high ranking juries of seven international festival directors, decide upon the program using an elaborate scoring system. This year, 587 applications were submitted from 43 countries covering a broad range of styles, concepts and personnel. You can find the program online at www.jazzahead.de. The attendance at jazzahead! has been growing steadily and has been tremendous. The trade fair started in 2006 with 90 exhibiting companies and it has more than 950 this year. From 800 professional participants in 2006, it now accommodates more than 3, 000 representing 64 countries in 2015. Audience attendance for the musical performances has increased from 3, 000 to 25, 000 as well. There are different ways to register online at www.jazzahead.de, either as an exhibitor with an own booth, as a co-exhibitor at the USA umbrella stand (registration fee is 275 € +19% VAT) or as a professional participant without a booth (175 € +19% VAT). A registration gives access to the fair and the showcases. The umbrella stand of the USA is shared by festivals, labels, agents and promoters as well as media people from the USA. This year, DownBeat will be attending for the first time. Other registered co-exhibitors are for example BFM Jazz, 1630 Music Publishing Services or University of California, San Diego/AthenaeumJazz. There are companies with their own booths like Dot Time Records or SAIP together with the Monterey Jazz Festival. And of course there are registered professionals without a booth, 42 from the USA so far this year such as Motéma Music LLC, CAM Jazz or Music Works International. Important deadlines: March 11th, 2016: deadline guide entry & deadline for stand bookings April 5th, 2016 online registration will close. Registration is then still possible, but only on site. jazzahead! Bremen, Germany Trade Fair and Festival Since 2006 21 - 24 April 2016 write your comments about the article :: © 2016 Jazz News :: home page |