Copenhagen Winter Jazz
Feb 6-22; various venues; jazz.dk/en/vinterjazz

If the gloomy weather has left you feeling down lately, then you probably want to soothe your winter blues with some quality jazz from headliners including John Scofield, Jeremy Pelt, Brad Mehldau and Nancy Harms. 

As it does every year in February, the Vinterjazz festival will reinvigorate the popular genre with a line-up of close to 450 concerts at over 100 locations across Denmark. Far from being an exclusive event, the festival has something for everyone – from a family night out to free jazz and fusion.

The festival started in 2001 as a little sister to July’s Copenhagen Jazz Festival. It was a national initiative developed through a close collaboration between venues, organisers and artists. It gathers top international and Danish names, and for this year, its 15th anniversary, it is  introducing 30 new venues, taking its range to a record of over 100 locations.

While some of the main gigs require a paid ticket, most of the concerts are free of charge. 

This is part of the main concept of the festival, which also focuses on popularising jazz by hosting concept events such as Jazz for Kids, Future Sound of Jazz, Jazz’n’Poetry and the newly-introduced JazzCamp for Girls.

For a better overview of the highlights of Vinterjazz, you can turn to the recommendations of our resident music writer on page 6. He’s opted for two home-grown acts: the Niclas Knudsen US Organ Trio and Songs from Paris featuring Niels Lan Doky.