The Jazz Voyager

Remaining on the continent the next sojourn takes The Jazz Voyager to Ethiopia and the African Jazz Village. An intimate venue in Addis Ababa, one can enjoy great musicians, including the timeless Father of Ethiopian Jazz, Dr. Mulatu Astateke.

Located on the spacious, verdant compound of the Ghion Hotel, popularly known as ‘The Garden Palace Hotel of East Africa’, which dates back to 1950s, one will be surrounded by tranquil trees and gardens filled with indigenous flora and bird life.

This week the adventure continues as this Jazz Voyager is going to hold down a performance by the Ethio Jazz Band starting at 9:30pm. And maybe I will be fortunate enough to catch a set with the doctor himself. The address is 2Q75+HVM, Addis Ababa Harar City. For more information they can be reached at +251 91 189 7438.

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The Jazz Voyager

The Jazz Voyager is departing Europe for the Dark Continent as his next stop and Ghana is the destination. The venue is Marabi Club that is located in the Maboneng Precinct at 54 Siemert Road, New Doornfontein, Johannesburg, South Africa.

In the 1920s and Thirties, the rise of the Doornfontein slumyards, created in the wake of one of the world’s richest gold rushes, gave rise to an urban culture known as “marabi”. As the foundation of this new culture, the music was energetic and improvisational. It was a lifestyle prompted by the need to escape the hardships of the working week, defined by illegal shebeens, where the fierce talk of politics was accompanied by the equally disruptive soundtrack of jazz.

Tucked in the basement of Hallmark House, the Marabi Club evokes this history through the many careful details of the club’s interior. With an excellent menu and bar with jauntily dressed waitrons offering friendly and slick service, add live jazz and your visit to this landmark will leave you captivated by the atmosphere.

This week the adventure continues as this Jazz Voyager is stepping into this Joburg venue without knowing who will be performing. Nothing like a surprise. For those who need to know, their phone number is +27 (0)10 591 2879.

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The Jazz Voyager

The next destination The Jazz Voyager is looking forward to is one to South America and a new venue for me called Jazz Voyeur Club. Motivated by his two great passions of jazz and photography, Gerardo Cañellas Engel from Mallorca traveled halfway around the world in search of the small clubs that make up the history of jazz. He captured images following the scheme of a voyeur and twenty years produced two jazz voyeur clubs, the first in Palma  de Mallorca and its sister in Buenos Aires. This week I will be traveling to the Argentina club.

I close out the month of travel with what will be an unforgettable evening of music with The Fuse Of Vinicius de Moraes. It’s a commemorative show celebrating the 50 year anniversary of the album La Fusa, recorded in Buenos Aires, Argentina by Vinicius De Moraes, Maria Creuza and Toquinho. Bringing the music alive is Brazilian singer Josi Dias, guitarist Pablo Plebs, pianist Alejo Scalco, bassist Mariano Promet with Sergio Morán on drums.

Located at Posadas 1557, Recoleta / Buenos Aires The cover is 10 euros and their phone number is +34 649 67 75 05.

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The Jazz Voyager

This week the Jazz Voyager is flying out of Paris and is off to Denmark’s capital city to be part of the audience in the legendary jazz venue, Jazzhus Montmartre. The club gained its status as one of Europe’s preeminent venues during the Sixties when homegrown world class stars such as bassist Niels Henning Ørsted Pedersen emerged. Soon Black musicians Coleman Hawkins, Dexter Gordon and Ben Webster, worn down by their treatment at home became Copenhagen residents and were intrigued by the warmth shown to them by Scandi audiences.

There I’ll be witness to a jazz competition between three up and coming jazz groups with their own take on where the music is heading. The jazz competition focuses on the development of young jazz musicians by offering them the opportunity to play live at professional venues, get professional feedback on their music, coaching and the opportunity to be exposed on the radio via P8 Jazz.

Kosmos Trio plays modern jazz in a minimalist and Nordic-sounding sound universe. The trio speaks a simple and understandable language via complex compositional ideas. This field of tension makes them an interesting and wide-ranging group that ensures a present and great concert experience. The trio is Frede Holger: Piano, Harald Hagelskjær: bass, Gustav Hagelskjær: drums.

KÖZ is a burgeoning band with origins in the Roots & Hybrid scene in Aarhus. The band fuses genres and styles from distant lands with modern western tones. The music encourages dancing as well as reflection. Rock, hip-hop, jazz and Afro-grooves are mixed with odd tones and time signatures and melancholic floating universes from the cold north. :The group is Anne Skov Frost Jensen, vocals & trombone, Alma Hjelholt: vocals & trumpet, Aske Høj Krogh: bass, Bjarke Frandsen Andersen: keys & rap, Frederik Lyhne Uhrenholt: guitar, Jacob Tang Maunsbach: guitar, Johanna Mosbech: vocals & trumpet , Mathias Ploug: drums.

Aske Stubkjær plays Nordic-sounding jazz with an experimental approach. The tracks emerge from visual and auditory observations from everyday natural actions. He captures situations in the present, and tries to embrace the moment in his music by using real sound and integrating the moments in the tracks. The duo is Aske Stubkjær: piano, Daniel Skov: guitar & synthesizer.

The club is located at Store Regnegade 19A, 1110 Copenhagen K. For more info the number is 70 20 20 96.

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The Jazz Voyager

From Italy to the Czech Republic to France is a journey that has led this Jazz Voyager to the long-running jazz club Le Duc des Lombards where American pianist Bobby Few opened the venue, then called the Bar de l’Etoile. With an upright piano under the stairs they have been hosting diverse artists for nearly 40 years.

The venue has been the essential club in Paris offering an intimate setting with drinks & nibbles. Decorated by the American designer Elliot Barnes, the club has become the Parisian reference for jazz clubs. Performances are Monday to Saturday and its free entry Jams every Friday and Saturday beginning at 11:30 p.m.

This week I will be in the 10:00pm audience to partake of the talents of drummer and vocalist Roni Kaspi and her trio with Oxy on Keyboards & synthesizer and bassist Noé Berne. Later that night the jam session commences where musicians, young and old come to improvise, explore and learn.

Located at 42, rue des lombards 75001 Paris, more information can be attained by calling 01.42.33.22.88.

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