The BMW Welt Jazz Award to celebrate its fifth anniversary with an exciting programme. Under the motto “Leading Drums“, six international ensembles will again compete against each other in Munich starting January 2013.

Munich, 25-10-2012 — /europawire.eu/ — In its fifth season, the BMW Welt Jazz Award will be placing its main focus on drummers. With a total of six admission-free Sunday matinees being held from January until March 2013, the BMW Welt Jazz Award will present at the BMW Welt Double Cone under the motto “Leading Drums” prominent and entirely different exponents of their profession. The two finalists will then compete in the final being held at the BMW Welt Auditorium on 20 April 2013.

Drummers have always been the driving force of jazz. While jazz has expanded during past decades to encompass virtually all styles, drummers have also refined and enhanced their technique, style and sound. As Oliver Hochkeppel, chairman of the jury comments: “Apart from the choice of trendsetting musicians with their own unique styles, the BMW Welt Jazz Award also excels through its thematic parenthesis, consistently allowing us to keep track of current trends in the international scene. The fifth anniversary of the series will present drummers who are not only rhythmical accompanists, but also composers and bandleaders – which again addresses one of the today’s most significant developments in jazz.”

Frank-Peter Arndt, member of the board of the BMW AG, on the choice of jury: “Also during the fifth season of the event, we can expect a selection of musical treasures under the motto ‘Leading Drums’. Once again the jury has been able to organize a both high-class and varied programme that will underscore the international standard of the competition.”

After the last matinee, a jury of experts will select two of the six ensembles for the grand finale concert at the Auditorium where they will choose the winner. The BMW Welt Jazz Award is endowed with a prize money of €15,000, of which €10,000 go to the winner along with a trophy designed exclusively for the event by BMW Design, whilst €5,000 are awarded to second place. In addition to the jury prize, an audience prize is also awarded. The ensemble with the best average mark after assessment of all concerts wins an exclusive stay and an appearance at Schloss Elmau.

BMW Welt Jazz Award 2013 – programme

Selected matinees from 11 a.m. to approx. 1.30 p.m. at the BMW Welt Double Cone:

20 January 2013 Jim Black Trio feat. Elias Stemeseder & Chris Tordini

27 January 2013 Dejan Terzic – MELANOIA

17 February 2013 Samuel Rohrer – Daniel Erdmann w/ Frank Möbus & Vincent Courtois

24 February 2013 Ari Hoenig Quartet

10 March 2013 Alfred Vogel – Die Glorreichen Sieben

17 March 2013 Antonio Sanchez Migration

Admission is free, but capacity limited. Therefore seats cannot be guaranteed. Admission begins at 10.30 a.m.

Finale at the BMW Welt Auditorium commences at 7 p.m.:

20 April 2013 Final concert with the two nominated finalists

Tickets for the finale on 20 April 2013 can be purchased from the BMW Welt and München Ticket commencing 20. Januar 2013.

Jury

The high-class jury chaired by Oliver Hochkeppel (music and culture journalist of the Süddeutsche Zeitung) comprises the following members:

Christiane Böhnke-Geisse, Artistic Director of the Jazzclub Unterfahrt, Munich.

Andreas Kolb, editor-in-chief of the “JazzZeitung” and the “neue musikzeitung”

Heike Lies, musicologist for music and musical theatre in the culture department of the state capital of Munich.

Roland Spiegel, music editor at the Bavarian Broadcasting Company, BR-KLASSIK, with the main focus on jazz.

Artists and Ensembles

20 January 2013: Jim Black Trio feat. Elias Stemeseder & Chris Tordini

The 45-year-old American Jim Black is a leading jazz drummer of the kind that do not wish to be categorised into a musical context or even the role as an accompanist or simply a producer of rhythm. His extremely percussive, both complex but laid-back style has influenced the sound of ensembles from various genres ranging from free jazz and new music to jazz rock and electronic music. Jim Black will be playing at BMW Welt with bassist Chris Tordini and the very promising 20-year-old Austrian Elias Stemeseder on piano.

27 January 2013: Dejan Terzic – MELANOIA

Dejan Terzic from Nuremburg is one of the few internationally renowned drummers from the first generation of the relatively young academic jazz training courses held at German music conservatories. After seeking his Southeast European roots with his own quartet

“Underground” for ten years, he will now present at the BMW Welt Jazz Award his brand new, top-class project “MELANOIA”, a quartet more at home in the modern jazz genre. Alongside saxophonist Hayden Chisholm, guitarist Ronny Graupe and pianist Achim Kaufmann, Terzic will devote himself to the theme “dreams” in all its facets, from the nightmare to the daydream.

17 February 2013: Samuel Rohrer – Daniel Erdmann w/ Frank Möbus &Vincent Courtois

Samuel Rohrer from Bern has lived in Berlin for nine years now and thanks to his filigree and versatile style of playing is one of the most sought-after European drummers.

Many different artists such as pianists Wolfert Brederode, Colin Vallon and Malcolm Braff, clarinettist Claudio Puntin, singer Susanne Abbuehl as well as many others profit from his groovy style, which is always beneficial to the band, constantly present and sensitive. At BMW Welt he will be performing with his probably most well-known band, the quartet led both by him and Franco-German saxophonist Daniel Erdmann alongside the exceptionally talented cellist Vincent Courtois and guitarist Frank Möbus, a formation which also combines rock sounds, jazz feeling, popular music, free improvisation as well as classical compositions into its very own remarkably “cool” synthesis of styles.

24 February 2013: Ari Hoenig Quartet

His father was a classical singer and conductor, his mother a classical violinist and pianist, so Ari Hoenig from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, also first learned to play violin and piano before switching to drums at the age of twelve. These are probably the most decisive factors leading to the 39-year-old being referred to today as possibly the most melodic jazz drummer around. There is now hardly a well-known American jazz musician he will not have played with. However, since 2002, Hoenig has also devoted himself to diverse bands and projects of his own. The latest one, with which he will be performing with at BMW Welt, is a quartet exclusively from New York featuring the highly sought-after Gilad Hekselman on guitar, Shai Maestro on piano and Orlando le Fleming on bass.

10 March 2013: Alfred Vogel – Die Glorreichen Sieben

For more than 15 years now, Alfred Vogel has been a drummer, percussionist, composer and owner of the label “Boomslang” as well as one of the most versatile and productive assets of the Austrian jazz scene. Coming from funk and soul, he has developed his style of playing to reach far beyond the traditional comprehension of jazz and has in the meantime established a far-reaching network comprising musicians from all over Europe who accompany him in his search for new musical paths. Vogel will perform at the BMW Welt Jazz Award with probably the most humorous part: “Die Glorreichen Sieben” interpreting famous western melodies in a dynamic, intelligent and humorous fashion. For this showdown he is accompanied by three true “gunslingers”: Guitarist Kalle Kalima and bassist Flo Götte as well as Christian Lillinger from Berlin, also an outstanding German drummer.

17 March 2013: Antonio Sanchez Migration

It is probably no coincidence that a Mexican, a musician on equal musical terms with both North and South America, has considerably influenced the style of the younger generation of drummers: The now 41-year-old drummer Antonio Sanchez took decisive steps in the late nineties to develop Latin jazz rhythms even further. Pat Metheny took notice of him, hence Sanchez became the pioneer of a new drumming style: Based on outstanding technical ability and precision he whirls so polyphonically and cross-rhythmically, that one might think that a second drummer is playing along with him. This has a tremendous impact on all bands he plays with, especially of course his own quartet named “Migration”, with which he will be performing with at BMW Welt: David Binney, one of the most creative jazz saxophonists for some time now, bassist Orlando de Fleming and the young and upcoming British pianist John Esceet who, like all four, lives in New York, will be his worthy musical companions.

Photographic material is available from the BMW PressClub (www.press.bmwgroup.com).

About BMW’s Cultural Commitment

For more than 40 years now, the BMW Group has initiated and engaged in over 100 cultural cooperations worldwide. The company places the main focus of its long-term commitment on modern and contemporary art, jazz and classical music as well as architecture and design. In 1972, three large-scale paintings were created by the artist Gerhard Richter specifically for the foyer of the BMW Group’s Munich headquarters. Since then, artists such as Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, Olafur Eliasson, Jeff Koons, Zubin Metha, Daniel Barenboim and Anna Netrebko have co-operated with BMW. The company has also commissioned famous architects such as Karl Schwanzer, Zaha Hadid and Coop Himmelb(l)au to design important corporate buildings and plants. In 2011, the BMW Guggenheim Lab, a global initiative of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, the Guggenheim Museum and the BMW Group celebrated its world premiere in New York. The BMW Group takes absolute creative freedom in all the cultural activities it is involved in for granted – as this is just as essential for groundbreaking artistic work as it is for major innovations in a successful business.

Further information: www.bmwgroup.com/culture and www.bmwgroup.com/culture/overview

BMW Welt. The heart of the brands, on the pulse of the city.

With around 2.5 million visitors each year, BMW Welt in Munich is Bavaria’s favourite place of interest and since opening in 2007, it has established itself as a true crowd puller. With its trendsetting architecture, BMW Welt is the heart of all brands produced by the BMW Group – BMW, the sub-brands BMW M and BMW i, MINI, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, BMW Motorrad und Husqvarna Motorcycles, which all present themselves impressively in their own worlds of experience. However, not only are the exhibitions and the collection of a new car highlights for automobile fans from all over the world. All year round visitors can expect a varied programme of events comprising culture, art and entertainment as well as culinary delights in several restaurants. Whether jazz concert, poetry slam, clubbing, improvisational theatre, family Sunday, film premiere, gala event or panel discussion, BMW Welt offers an ideal platform for events for up to 2,500 guests. At BMW Welt children and young people enjoy exciting guided tours and workshops dealing with mobility and sustainability issues.

###