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Saturday, April 10, 2010

Free and avant-garde jazz festivals

It is quite impossible to keep track of the jazz festivals around, although free and avant jazz festivals might be harder to find. Please help keep this list up-to-date with comments and suggestions below.

We will keep the links to the biggest festival websites throughout the years.

Last update: 4/2021

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Festivals:

March
April
May 
June
July 
August
September
October
November
December 
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Concert Series: 




© stef

30 comments:

Chris Monsen said...

Hi fellas!

A bit late to te party, but thought I'd give a shout out to the Blow Out! Festival, which takes place in Oslo in August (I forget how long it's been running, though). This year's line-up is pretty great, in my opinion, and can be accessed via this link: http://www.konsertforeninga.no/konserter/340

Also worth mentioning Brighton Alternative Jazz Festival: http://brightonalternativejazzfestival.com/

Best,

Chris

simon camatta said...

Free Essen Festival 2015
Goethebunker, Goethestraße 67, Essen, Germany - 20:15h, 6€ every day
21.sep
Gottschalk/Koltermann/Blume
Gunda Gottschalk - violin, Eckard Koltermann - bassclarinet, Martin Blume - drums
The Wisseltangcamatta
Georg Wissel - (präp.)sax, clarinet, Achim Tang - bass, Simon Camatta - drums, percussion
22.sep
St.Kirchhoff
St.Kirchhoff - guitar
Völker/Sheridan
Ute Völker - accordian, Angelika Sheridan - flute
23. sep
Hein/Lytton
Nicola Hein - guitar, Paul Lytton - percussion
Klar&Schwer
Jan Klare - basssax, Alex Schwers - drums

http://www.jazz-offensive-essen.de/

neverfadingwood said...

The 10th Kraków Jazz Autumn - a free jazz/improv festival - is on now.

http://en.kjj-festiwal.pl/

Peter said...

http://www.12points.ie/

Anonymous said...

Festival Bruisme - last week of June
last edition (#5): http://festival-bruisme.blogspot.fr/
archive : http://www.jazzapoitiers.org/archives-des-concerts

Anonymous said...

Check out Eldenaer Jazz Evenings / Greifswald / Germany - concerts of upcoming and well known jazzheads in the unique setting of Eldena Abbey ruins.
Two days, six concerts - www.eldenaer-jazz-evenings.de
2016 featuring PLOT, KUU!, First Circle, Eva Kruse Quintett, Wojtek Mazolewski Quintet, NDR Bigband & Django Deluxe

Anonymous said...

I'd like to add these great free jazz/sound festivals from Austin Texas to your database


NMASS- June
http://nmassfest.org

No Idea Festival--February
http://noideafestival.com/

FAST FORWARD Festival--April
http://www.fastforwardaustin.com/wordpress/

Sonic Transmissions Festival---Septembre
https://twitter.com/h_flaten
curated by internationally renowned bassist Ingebrigt Håker Flaten (The Thing, Atomic),
Sonic Transmission is a three-day showcase that gives equal weight to some of the globe’s
best free jazz, post-punk, experimental hip-hop, and improvised music.

Creative Jazz Fans said...

INDUST 2016. Second festival of alternative jazz and imrovised music at Island Khortytsia, Zaporizhya, Ukraine. Some bands with creative approach from Ukraine, Lithuania and USA will play during 3 days.

More details http://cjfans.weebly.com/indust-2016.html

Filas said...

Pomeranian Jazz Jantar festival is a must here!

http://www.jazzjantar.pl/

Dhaniel Preito said...

Free Jazz Montreal 2016
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Mv_JN1r6_Ww

Theo said...

Amazing job ! Congrats.
I would like to suggest to add BUCHAREST INTERNATIONAL JAZZ COMPETITION & FESTIVAL 2017, www.jazzcompetition.ro which promotes the values of the new jazz generation. It is a great platform for jazz artists to meet, interact and play together. All jazz styles are accepted.

6 said...

There are also a few really nice festivals that deal with adventurous here in Slovenia:

http://www.culture.si/en/Sound_Disobedience
http://www.culture.si/en/Brda_Contemporary_Music_Festival
http://www.culture.si/en/Jazz_Cerkno_Festival
http://www.culture.si/en/Ljubljana_Jazz_Festival

+

One that takes place in Croatia: https://www.facebook.com/improcon/

Doek said...

I'm happy to see dOeK Festival on the list. The festival is now held in May and dOeK has become Doek. The next edition takes place from 12 to 19 May in Amsterdam and will focus on the great venues, series and musicians that make up Amsterdam's thriving impro scene.

Carolyn
(coordinator Doek)

Anonymous said...

Detroit Jazz Festival is the worlds largest free jazz festival

http://www.detroitjazzfest.com/

4fakultät said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
4fakultät said...

Not a festival, but a new and unique concert series, each a mini-festival in itself:

4FAKULTÄT - Concert series for cross-genre Improvisation

with 4 Contributors (Bands, Soloists), 4 times a year at Künstlerhaus FAKTOR, Hamburg, Germany
http://4fakultaet.de/
https://www.facebook.com/4fakultaet/

Next concert will be on July 29th, 2017 with:
Nika Son (Electr.),
Chad Popple (Drums) & John Hughes (Bass),
David Wallraff (Noise),
Sven Kacirek (Mallets) & Charly Schöppner (Perc)

https://www.facebook.com/events/1515678158451446/

Anonymous said...

The Thirteenth Újbuda Jazz Festival realised in the coproduction of the MU Theatre and the A38 Ship will present some of the very best, most original, intriguing and stunning acts of new improvised jazz in broad sense.

https://www.a38.hu/en/series/13th-ujbuda-jazz-festival
http://mu.hu/aktualis-musor/2017-szeptember/item/427-ujbuda-jazz-fesztival-1-nap
http://mu.hu/aktualis-musor/2017-szeptember/item/429-ujbuda-jazz-fesztival-3-nap

Anonymous said...

I like to add the Freejazzfestival Saarbrücken to the list that always takes place the week before easter: http://freejazzsaar.de/

in the 4th edition, 21. - 25.3. 2018, we are celebrating the 50th birthday of the album "machine gun" with the Yahoos, Tobias Delius, Christian Lillinger, Ava Mendoza, John Dikeman, Barry Guy, Mette Rasmussen, Paul Lytton, Olaf Rupp, Antonio Borghini, Tristan Honsinger, Han Bennink, Peter Brötzmann & many others

Steffen Roth said...

Hello Everybody!

I'd like to announce our first edition of (((potentiale)))

It's a brand new festival for improvised music, arts and crafts starting on may 31st till june 3rd.
During the day you're invited to enjoy the region around the small town Kalbe (Milde) and participate in workshops with the artists.

Every evening will be full of improvised concerts with artists like:

Günter 'Baby' Sommer
Almut Kühne
Carl-Ludwig Hübsch
Marius Moritz
Sascha Henkel
André Meisner
Gürsoy Tanc
Steffen Roth

http://potentiale-festival.de

Hope to see you there!


Anonymous said...

Just wanted to inform you, that the "Ruhrjazz Festival" in Bochum, which once was an important event for free and improvised music, is back: http://www.jazzwerkstatt.eu/ruhr-jazzfestival

c u there,
Cheers!

4fakultät said...

Hello Everyone,
we're happy to announce the 10th edition of 4fakultät – Concert series for cross-genre Improvisation
on Nov.24th 2018 at Künstlerhaus FAKTOR, Hamburg.

Each edition is a mini-festival in itself, with 4 guests or groups improvising in all 4faculty combinations.
For #10, our guests will be:

1. Kate NV
2. JBXDR
3. Shitney (Maria Faust & Qarin Wikström)
4. A.K. Klosowski

DJ:
Nina (V I S, Golden Pudel Club)
 
Light Design / Projections:
Alexander Trattler & Arthur Musalimov

4fakultät #10, November 24th, Künstlerhaus FAKTOR, Max-Brauer-Allee 229, Hamburg
21h, doors open 20h. 15 € / 10€ reduced

More on:
https://4fakultaet.de/en/24-nov-2018/
https://www.facebook.com/events/322412305204576/

SiM said...

AUGUST
Summer Bummer Festival - Antwerp, Belgium
http://soundinmotion.be/events/summer-bummer-festival-2/

Cem said...

6th Annual
SOMETHING ELSE! FESTIVAL
June 20 - 23, 2019
The Rock on Locke
— Church of St. John the Evangelist
(320 Charlton Ave. W., Hamilton)
[+ Whitehern House & Garden
(41 Jackson St. W., Hamilton) Free Event]
Tickets: $20-25 advance
Passes: $100-125
zulapresents.org

Zula (Music & Arts Collective Hamilton) Presents the 2019 Something Else! Festival featuring six ticketed events and one free quad-bill, with rare appearances from Czech virtuoso violinist/ vocalist Iva Bittová, playing solo and joining again revered drummer Hamid Drake, whose crack Chicago trio Indigenous Mind with Joshua Abrams and Jason Adasiewicz will perform twice. Drake also revisits a duo with Toronto saxophonist Brodie West. Genre-busting clarinet giant Don Byron will be featured solo and in other contexts.

Also visiting are the legendary NY drummer, poet William Hooker, nimble NY drummer, composer Harris Eisenstadt’s Poschiavo 50, vibrant Polish pianist/ electronicist Joanna Duda, eclectic NYC soprano sax specialist Sam Newsome, plus, No Silenz, with leading Québecois artists Jason Sharp, Susanna Hood, and French guests Fredéric B Briet, Christophe Rocherr…and prodigious Québec saxophonist Yves Charuest, multi-dimensional Géraldine Eguiluz and her eponymous trio.

From Toronto, Glen Hall leads EAR-CAM an all-star cast of Christine Duncan, Tomasz Krakowiak, and John Oswald… the fiery Archives of Eternity with Mark Hundevad, Mike Gennaro, Patrick Smith, & Andrew Furlong, the enigmatic songcraft of Picastro, Brodie West‘s buoyant, polyrhythmic octet Eucalyptus, the subtly explosive trio of Bill Gilliam, Ambrose Pottie, and Kayla Milmine.

Plus, Hamilton’s own Sourpussy’s deliciously volatile performance, Connor Bennett’s solo sax/ electronics project Tidal Pool, and wayward choristers Earth Wind and Choir …


Thursday, June 20, 2019
(7-11 pm)
EARTH WIND & CHOIR
YVES CHARUEST
INDIGENOUS MIND
WILLIAM HOOKER

[Only Event at Whitehern Garden — Free/ By Donation
Friday, June 21, 2019
(12-4 pm)
THE ARCHIVES OF ETERNITY
JASON ADASIEWICZ
BRODIE WEST & HAMID DRAKE
IVA BITTOVA]

Friday, June 21, 2019
(7-11 pm)
PICASTRO
GILLIAM/ MILMINE/ POTTIE
HOOKER/ CHARUEST/ NEWSOME/ EGUILUZ
IVA BITTOVA & HAMID DRAKE

Saturday, June 22, 2019
(1-5 pm)
SARA SCHOENBECK
HARRIS EISENSTADT’S POSCHIAVO 50 ENSEMBLES
JOSHUA ABRAMS
NO SILENZ

Saturday, June 22, 2019
(7-11 pm)
TIDAL POOL
EGUILUZ TRIO
IVA BITTOVA
INDIGENOUS MIND + DON BYRON

Sunday, June 23, 2019
(1-4 pm)
JOANNA DUDA
EUCALYPTUS
SAM NEWSOME

Sunday, June 23, 2019
(5-8 pm)
SOURPUSSY
EAR-CAM
DON BYRON

Passes: $125 regular (up to $190 value) OR $100 (up to $170 value) students, seniors, under-waged
[for all 6 x (3-4 bills each) events]
PayPal.me/ZulaTix

Advance Tickets: (Thursday-Saturday each event) $25
(Sunday each event) $20
PayPal.me/ZulaTix

Door Tickets: (Thursday-Saturday each event) $35 regular OR $30 students, seniors, art-worker, under-waged
(Sunday each event) $25
PayPal.me/ZulaTix

No one will be refused entry for lack of funds

zulapresents.org

Contact:
Cem Zafir
cem@zulapresents.org
289.993.1993

Laima said...

Vilnius Jazz! www.vilniusjazz.lt It is an avant-garde oriented festival (not to be confused with more mainstream Vilnius Mama Jazz).

James Collins said...

The October Revolution of Jazz and Contemporary Music takes place in Philadelphia during the month of October. https://www.theoctoberrevolution.org/

4fakultät said...

Next edition of 4fakultät - concert series for cross genre improvisation
is on Sun, March 14th, 19pm as a live-video-stream from resonanzraum st.pauli with:

Spill (Magda Mayas, Tony Buck)
Jasmine Guffond
Ale Hop
Sky Walking

More infos and link to stream on https://4fakultaet.de/en/march-2021/

Anonymous said...

I'm Andrea from Italy.
I use to check this beautiful site everyday since the beginning of the 2010s.
I spent the last weekend in St. Johann in Tirol to see Artacts, a great festival for free, improvised and creative music. It always takes place in March, though last year's edition was held in September, due to the infamous pandemic causes.
I would like you to add it to the list.
Keep up your essential work (who cares about mainstream music?).

Anonymous said...

Belgrade Jazz Festival in October, https://bjf.rs/en/

Anonymous said...

A bit off to the side, but what is the name of the Nashville TN jazz festival? Is it usually in March?

Anonymous said...

Big Ears in Knoxville ... not sure about sth in Nashville