The STOP OVER Series

By Paul Acquaro

The Berlin House of Jazz - Center for Jazz and Improvised Music is a work in progress. The effort between the Deutsche Jazz Union, the Berlin government's IG Jazz Berlin group, and renowned jazz trumpeter Till Brönner, is to establish a place in Berlin, arguably the center of improvisational music in Europe, for supporting and fostering improvisational music. The Berlin House of Jazz, now in its 8th year of development is, however, currently homeless.

Hopes were high that Berlin's Alte Münze, a historical space in the middle of the city, would be that home. In fact, a series of events called STOP OVER were developed by successful curator Tina Heine, who has worked to develop the Elb Jazz Festival, Jazz & the City in Salzburg, and the Monheim Triennale, to test drive the space and negotiate the issue of space in artistic and urban planning aspects. This first set of events in February of this year, were a success for the organization in showcasing what it could foster. Fast forward a few months, however, and it seems plans from the city changed and the group is back on the search for a new place to continue their work.

After the first set of concerts concentrating on how to use the former space, STOP OVER series #2 is taking place as a sequence of performances negotiating the concert format itself. It is currently underway over multiple weeks at the Radial System, a performance space on the banks of the Spree River, a kilometer or two east from the Alte Münze. Comprised of projects curated by the artists involved in the first event, STOP OVER 2 is meant to provide a sense of continuity as well as a sense of new discovery. 

Representative from the Deutsche Jazz Union and renowned jazz trumpter, Nikolaus Neuser, explained: "The idea of STOP OVER was to produce a series of events that represent the functions of the institution." He stressed that the center does not impose styles or conditions on the artists, which is such a foundational concept for it that they "hired Heine, a curator from from outside, who is always thinking a lot about space, urban spaces and communities" to help develop the events.

While the hope is to find a permanent home, current plans involve further STOP OVER events, the next being the most ambitious so far: a residency with an focus on international cooperation, in which some artists will spend a few weeks in Berlin developing and presenting new projects. 

While the first concerts were more locally focused, first on the city and artists from Germany, the view of the center is much broader. As Neuser said, "the next STOP OVER is a kind of residency program that concentrates on international cooperation, because a big problem is that even though Berlin is very international, if you want to cooperate with people from anywhere in the world, it's really impossible due to a lack of resources." He continued, "the institution we have in mind should should produce connective effects within the city, within the country and internationally."

The residency program is slated tentatively to happen during January of 2025. Participating artists, selected through a committee, will be provided travel, accommodations and a space to develop their projects. Applications can be submitted online for one month beginning in mid August 2024.

Following the residency version of STOP OVER, Neuser said that a further instance will likely be a publication, and he says there is even more to come: "it will continue, we now have two more STOP OVERs in mind, but what happens next also depends on the overall situation - in any case, we are continuing to work on our vision of such a place for the scene and society as a whole."

To learn more, visit: https://www.zentrum-under-construction.berlin

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Images from the most recent STOP OVER #2, June 23, 2024, at the Radial System
by Berlin music photographer Cristina Marx (all photos © Cristina Marx/Photomusix)

Marvin the Destroyer - Kofie da Vibe (v), Els Vandeweyer (vibes), Daniel Erdmann (sax), Vincent von Schlippenbach aka DJ Illvibe (DJ) 

 

 

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20.000 Hour Band - Silke Eberhard (sax), Richard Koch (t), Gerhard Gschlößl (tb), Rieko Okuda (p), Johannes Fink (c), Antti Virtaranta (b), Taiko Saito (vibe), Florian Fischer (d)