Concerts in Bonn’s underground What’s on offer in the JazzTube Festival in Bonn

BONN · On Friday, the JazzTube Festival series will get underway in Bonn, with numerous concerts planned for some of Bonn’s subway stops.

Starting this Friday, it will be worthwhile to linger in the underground stations in Bonn where music fills the air. At the subway stop Bonn / Hauptbahnhof (Exit Thomas-Mann-Strasse) the Leon Plecity Quartet opens the seventh year of the festival series JazzTube on August 24th at 5 pm, with a second set at 5:45pm and a third set at 6:30pm. Plecity founded the quartet in early 2017, with fellow musicians Felix Ambach on drums, Roger Kintopf on bass and Niklas Roever on piano. Strong on original compositions, their music has unusual instrumentation with two polyphonic instruments opening up acoustic spaces which can at times be dense and powerful, but then in contrast, reduced, ambiguous and open. The result is a music that is rooted in jazz tradition, but at the same time does not shy away from an array of contemporary influences.

One stop further, at the Uni / Markt stop, Oliver Pospiech gets out his trombone at 5:15 pm. The renowned big band leader from Bonn plays this time in a smaller group, with Johannes Zink and Stefan Rey accompanying him on guitar and double bass. Oliver Pospiech’s bebop-oriented repertoire is based on compositions of the 1920’s and 1930’s and similar to that of one of his greatest role models, Bob Brookmeyer in that it takes root in a minimal line-up without drums. Zink and Pospiech met 30 years ago in a street jazz band in Bonn’s pedestrian zone.

At 5.30 pm, the singer Nina Lentföhr and her band Rusty Horns will play at the Heuss-allee / Museumsmeile stop (Exit Haus der Geschichte). The Cologne musicians, all in their thirties, have discovered a traditional kind of jazz: New Orleans, refined with some blues and swing. Sometimes, there is even a taste of rock’n’roll. The tunes of Nina’s Rusty Horns are definitely danceable and they always tell a good story. And even if a little of that German “Schlager” music sneaks into their repertoire, it still feels like it’s straight from New Orleans. The band will also play a second set at 6:15pm and a third set at 7pm.

It was Bonn municipal works (SWB) that came up with the idea for JazzTube. SWB spokeswoman Veronika John says it is a concept that works. "We surprise people with live music at our stops and at the same time give young jazz musicians the opportunity to open up to new audiences."

Thomas Kimmerle from the North Rhine-Westphalia jazz scene is the organizer of the festival, and he travels between the stops, supporting the musicians and observing the audiences. A hat is not passed around for money, a performance fee is paid by SWB. It means a win-win situation in many ways with the decisive factor being - that lots of passengers stop and listen to the jazz. Musician Nina Lentföhr says, “When a crowd of people stops to listen, that’s a success.” On other hand, a musician can’t take it personally when people just pass by.

For a complete schedule of future concerts and more information about JazzTube, please visit the website in English: https://jazz-tube-bonn.de/konzert/leon-plecity-quartett/?lang=en/

(Orig. text: Heinz Dietl, Carol Kloeppel)

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