Note: The concerts at hr-Sendesaal are possible in compliance with an extensive spacing and hygiene concept, which includes modified hall plans, new entry and exit situations, and the waiving of breaks and catering. For more information, please download the pdf Hinweise zum Hygienekonzept des Hessischen Rundfunks [PDF - 546kb].

Bild © hr/Ben Knabe

Actually, Tony has always been here. Officially, the native Hungarian has been with the Frankfurt Radio Big Band since 1993. With his sound on the tenor saxophone, he is still defining the sound of the band today. Our manager once said, "I've never heard an only dubious solo from Tony!". Now the sad moment has come to say: "Goodbye, Tony!" to one of the most gifted musicians of European jazz, to one who has no musical blinders and to a great person who shaped our big band for 28 years. We want to hear the best of Tony once again and prepare a special evening for him in return. Joining us will be his quintet, the Frankfurt Radio Big Band and, of course, the chief conductor himself: Jim McNeely. Take advantage of one of the last four opportunities for a concert evening with the Frankfurt Radio Big Band and Tony Lakatos on tenor saxophone! 

 Tony Lakatos Quintett 
Jim McNeely, conductor 

Thursday, October 14th 2021 
Friday, October 15th 2021 

Frankfurt, hr-Sendesaal 
6 p.m. & 8 p.m.

Tickets: 24,- € 

(069) 155-2000 
hr-ticketcenter.de 

German version and ticket link

Bild © Emmanuel Afolab

»She IS the future of Jazz«. Although this statement by the jazz producer Larry Rosen might seem exaggerated, one thing is for sure: Jazzmeia Horn is undoubtedly THE new shooting star among today’s jazz vocalists. The highly praised 29-year old singer has had an incredible start to her career: Already two of her albums have been nominated for a Grammy. In addition to this, she won first prize at the Thelonious Monk Jazz Competition in 2015. The whole range of Afro-American vocal art, from archaic field hollers to highly virtuous scat solos, comes to life in the extraordinary sound of this temperamental and confident young woman, who, being rooted in the present herself, manages so well to artistically connect the past with the future. In the first half of the evening, Jazzmeia Horn will play with her own band, in the second half, she will share the stage with the Frankfurt Radio Bigband under the direction of Jim McNeely.

52. Deutsches Jazzfestival Frankfurt 2021

Jazzmeia Horn Quartett 
7 p.m.

hr-Bigband feat. Jazzmeia Horn  
Jim McNeely, conductor
9 p.m.

Wednesday, October 27th 2021
Frankfurt, hr-Sendesaal 

Tickets each 25,- €  
(double ticket 42€) 

(069) 155-2000 
hr-ticketcenter.de 

German version and ticket link

Pablo Held Trio Bild © Nadine Heller-Menzel

Music was always there, always around him, says Pablo Held. Born in 1986 in Hagen, the son of a pianist and a piano maker.
Young Pablo Held had his very first performance at the age of four, though not yet on the piano. His uncle had given him a drum set for his birthday, and so Pablo drummed for the first time in front of an audience at a party, to the music of Stevie Wonder. Spontaneously, without thinking, without hesitation, just like a child. To this day, Pablo Held considers this to be probably the best way to make music and still prefers to let himself fall into the unknown.
At the age of ten, the piano became his instrument, with lessons and later a successful entrance examination for jazz studies in Cologne. In retrospect, for Pablo Held the ticket to a new magical world: lessons with John Taylor and Hubert Nuss, daily sessions with new friends, evening inspiring concert visits. And: the birth of his trio!
Since 2006 the formation with bassist Robert Landfermann and drummer Jonas Burgwinkel is the musical home of Pablo Held. Concerts with this trio are a great adventure in radical spontaneity, usually there are no prior arrangements let alone slips of paper with the exact course of the concert. On their CDs the trio presents itself differently, there are notated compositions, the pieces are more compact and structured. But always a consistent equality of all three musicians remains the basis of their fascinating music.
For the concert at the 52nd German Jazz Festival Frankfurt, Jim McNeely will arrange Pablo Held's music for his trio and the hr-Bigband. Pablo Held cannot and will not reveal which compositions these will be in the end. He is curious to see how Jim McNeely, the chief conductor of the Frankfurt Radio Big Band (hr-Bigband), will transform his music into a large orchestral sound. In any case, this will allow the musicians of the trio to continue to let themselves fall into the open.

52. Deutsches Jazzfestival Frankfurt 2021

hr-Bigband featuring Pablo Held Trio

Pablo Held | piano
Robert Landfermann | bass
Jonas Burgwinkel | drums
Jim McNeely – conductor/arrangements

Frankfurt, hr-Sendesaal
Saturday, October 30th, 9 p.m.

German version and ticket link