Vinterjazz festival set to break all records in numbers of venues and concerts

The seventeenth Vinterjazz festival will be bringing jazz to all corners of Denmark during its 24 day run. This year promises to be a record-breaker, with more than 650 concerts in over 130 different venues to choose from.

The combination of country-wide venues and the almost month-long time-scale during which it takes place provides opportunities for international stars to tour, new Danish prize-winning projects to be launched and themed concerts, such as for example Jazz for Kids, Jazz Remixed, Something Else, Nordic Highlights, Wild at Heart and 21 century jazz.

International names are certainly not neglected; this year, there are visits from e.g. Richard Bona, Jonatha Brooke, Ed Motta, Nick Waterhouse, Melissa Stylianou, Jeff ‘Tain’ Watts, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Ben Monder, Charanga Habanera – and others.

Jazz camp
For the first time, there is a JazzCamp for Girls, which is an improvisation-orientated musical meeting arranged by music schools all over Denmark with the intention of trying to redress the balance of the sexes in Danish music and encourage girls to play.

What makes Vinterjazz such a unique musical event is that there is a coming together on a national level between venues and concert promoters, musicians and members of the public, larger cities and outlying areas – a national initiative which is created and takes place locally.

For example, Vinterjazz comes to town with a series of concerts in towns such as Aalborg, Vordingborg, Rønne and Svendborg – all arranged by local enthusiasts.

Breadth and quality
In the Vinterjazz program, Tove Enevoldsen, the driving force behind the Paradise Jazz concerts in Huset, says “… breadth and quality are really important to me, and that is reflected in the program. It’s primarily Danish musicians, and if international stars come, they have to play with the Danish musicians. Vinterjazz is really important. I actually prefer it to the summer jazz festival because it is more serious. Summerjazz means that any cafe with two chairs outside puts on music, and the musicians often play for free, but they can’t play outdoors in the cold for Vinterjazz.”

Jeppe Skjold of Forbrændingen in Albertslund adds that “we present concerts during Vinterjazz because jazz is a beast that’s constantly developing and especially because of the high quality of the Danish musicians. During Vinterjazz, we really emphasise intimacy – you should really be able to get right in under the skin of the musicians.”

So first and foremost, Vinterjazz is a club festival, which kick-starts the season for the many jazz clubs which provide an environment in which jazz can develop and thrive all the year round.

Vinterjazz 2017 takes place from 3-26 February. More information can be found on the official Vinterjazz website at: www.jazz.dk