Festival Jazz International Rotterdam (30/31 Oct) and Festival Jazz International Nijmegen (29 Oct ‒1 Nov) are delighted to welcome the International Music Meeting Festival as a programme partner in 2020. A number of bands originally listed on the programme for the cancelled International Music Meeting Festival will still have an opportunity to perform at both jazz festivals in late October. With the announcement of the first names, the three collaborating festivals are promising line-ups packed with musical encounters, new projects and budding talents, in a live setting and in front of a live audience.

Premiers

Two new productions being developed in Rotterdam will premiere at both festivals. Drummer and composer Jimmi Hueting will transform his indie rock band Jo Goes Hunting into a big jazz ensemble, christened Jo Goes Hunting XL for the occasion. Another festival special is ‘Enkuentro’, a collaborative project bringing together the Curaçao pianist Randal Corsen and the New Rotterdam Jazz Orchestra, the flagship of jazz in Rotterdam.

The Pack Project

A young talent takes centre stage! This year the annual Pack Project will be in the hands of the energetic saxophonist Alba Gil Aceytuno. She has already shown her spirit and open-minded attitude playing with the trio Amaguk. The Pack Project challenges her to put together a whole new band, or ‘pack’, write new music, make an artistic dream come true, and present it in Rotterdam and Nijmegen. Jazz International Rotterdam guides and accompanies her during this process.

Unique musical encounters

In collaboration with International Music Meeting Festival, the Athens-based Nigerian guitarist Adedeji Adetayo has been invited to assemble a band. Adedeji lived in the Netherlands for some time and graduated in 2012 from the Prince Claus Conservatoire in Groningen. No doubt he will be approaching some musicians from the Netherlands to join him in creating African music with a progressive jazz attitude!  The experimental and genre-free improvisational Berlin duo Witch ‘n Monk is another Music Meeting invited band who will feature on the programme at both festivals. Joining them for the concert in Nijmegen will be the much-praised viola player and Boy Edgar prize-winner Oene van Geel. Witch ‘n Monk will team up in Rotterdam with Jorrit Westerhof, a leading figure on the Rotterdam ‘impro’ scene.

More names will be announced in the lead-up to the festivals.

COVID-19

Although we’re hoping that Corona restrictions will have been further relaxed later this year, we are taking into account the possibility of staging festivals where the 1.5-metre-social distancing rule will need to be respected. Following the safety protocol drawn up for music venues and the latest instructions from the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM), we will provide both musicians and staff with a safe working environment and ensure that the public can enjoy live music safely.