INTRO

The last Saturday in August sees the start of the 29th edition of the SummerJazzCycleTour (SJCT). Five cycling routes will take you through the beautiful Reitdiep valley, to the north-west of the city of Groningen. You may take your pick from no less than 27 concerts in medieval churches and farmer’s barns. As usual some tough decisions are to be made, for the afternoon will only fit about five concerts.

The five cycling routes offer a way into the varied programme full of the latest trends in jazz and improvised music.

The Swiss route is the only one with a theme: contemporary jazz from Switzerland. A figurehead in the SJCT Swiss programme is the seasoned performer Erika Stucky. Her programme Bubbles + Bangs features tuba player Marc Unternährer and percussionist Lucas Niggli. Trombonist Robert Morgenthaler takes two duos to Groningen: Windbone and his duo with guitarist Urs Röllin. Gerry Hemingway (an American expat drummer currently based in Lucerne) can also be heard in two outfits: the WHO Trio and a duo with trombonist Samuel Blaser. Guitarist Christian Kuhn from Zurich will present his Groningen based hardcore band Kuhn Fu.

The Central route takes you to Oldehove and starts at the Aduard church with the Swiss duo Windbone. By way of the French twosome Wood (in Fransum) and the Jean-Luc Cappozzo / Erwan Keravec duo (in Harkema) the route takes you to the Huizinga family’s barn, where Atanga Boom will be performing its afro-funk. Then you’ll be heading north to Oldehove where cellist Tristan Honsinger will be presenting his new Japanese quartet House of Wasps. Then it’s back to Michael Moore and Achim Kaufmann in Ezinge and finally there’s jazz legend Lee Konitz, duetting with pianist Rein de Graaff in Feerwerd.

The Northern route kicks off at the Garnwerd festival tent with the Michael Moore Bigtet. Then we’ll be changing speed to Feerwerd for Martin Fondse and his 22 piece orchestra of talented youngsters: Nationaal Jeugd Jazz Orkest (Dutch Youth Jazz Orchestra). Ezinge sports yet another mix of talented youths and old hands in the quartet Delius / Stadhouders / De Joode & Govaert. Then you may choose to return to Garnwerd for Erika Stucky’s Bubbles + Bangs’ spectacular show. But you may also take a breather at the Wierde Museum before the intimate concert by Michael Moore and Achim Kaufmann starts at the Ezinge church. And then it’s finally back to Garnwerd for Joris Roelofs’s inventive trio.

The Western route to Niehove has a new starting point: the Van Gelder barn, straight across from the Chinese restaurant at the Friesestraatweg, where the Lars Dietrich Trio featuring. Gideon van Gelder will open the route with its hip sounds. Then it’s on to Aduard for the Paul Stocker Trio featuring Pablo Nahar and Victor de Boo. You will then cross the Van Starkenborgkanaal for Arab improvisations by Haytham Safia. The raucous noise of Luc Ex and Naked Wolf at the Frytum barn is followed by some Surinam vitamins by De Nazaten at Niehove. Back via Saaksum and Bert van Erk Alto Trios feat. Alex Simu and Frans Vermeerssen and finally there’s the duo of jazz heroes Lee Konitz and Rein de Graaff at Hans’s barn in Feerwerd.

The Eastern route starts in Adorp with Paul van Kemenade’s Three Horns and a Bass. The American pianist Matthew Shipp will perform solo at the recently renovated Klein Wetsinge church. The artificial grass at the Hekkum barn is ideally suited for Kuhn Fu. Then you’ll be crossing the Reitdiep for Erika Stucky at the Garnwerd festival tent. Close by in the Krassum curve the international LAMA Trio will feature bass clarinettist Joachim Badenhorst. And finally it’s back to Garnwerd for the special SJCT project by Steven Kamperman and Oene van Geel featuring tuba specialist Michel Godard.
 

Following the traditional 78 RPM fest with DJ Swingmaster Sem and DJ Yeah Man the 29th SJCT will conclude with the Belgian Black Flower’s Ethiopian groove music at the Garnwerd festival tent.

At this point we would already like to thank all of the SJCT volunteers who will be making this last Saturday of August a great success.