Articles by Martin Longley
Jazzkaar Interviews: Jason Hunter
by Martin Longley
Miles At 100 is now all-pervasive, as we celebrate the centenary of that shooting star pioneer of jazz trumpet. The currently-running Jazzkaar festival in Tallinn, Estonia, is also contributing to the retrospective rush, presenting a specially-conceived gig on Friday May 1st, assembled by the Stateside trumpeter Jason Hunter. Hunter was raised in Los Angeles, but has now become an honorary Estonian, moving to Tallinn around 15 years ago. He's become embedded on the scene, leading his own band ...
Continue ReadingJazzkaar Interviews: Donny McCaslin
by Martin Longley
jny: Tallinn's nine-day Jazzkaar festival is one of Europe's finest, always strengthening its line-up via visiting Statesiders, native Estonians and a spread of acts from around the continent. One of its climaxes in 2026 will be the appearance of tenor saxophonist Donny McCaslin, striking out with his powerful and stable quartet lineup, and concentrating on 2025's Lullaby For The Lost album, released by the mighty British label Edition Records. With records by Chris Potter, Dave Holland, Ben Wendel and Kurt ...
Continue ReadingJazz Juniors 2025
by Martin Longley
Jazz Juniors Cricoteka Krákow, Poland October 2-4, 2025 What is happening with today's youth? The annual Jazz Juniors competition (and accompanying festival) assembled its usual eager participants, vying for cash and concerts in prizes. For this 49th edition, six acts appeared at the very suitable Cricoteka riverside venue, allotted very brief spans to reveal their talents, for maybe 20 minutes and two or three numbers (this being jazz). The entrants are selected in blindfolded fashion, ...
Continue ReadingOstrava Days 2025
by Martin Longley
Ostrava Days 2025 Ostrava, Czech Republic August 21-30 2025 Close to the beginning of this moderne music festival in the old coal-mining capital of Czechia, its Minimarathon Of Electronic Music is an inevitable highlight of each edition. Lordy knows what a full-on marathon would be like, but this mini-version is substantial enough, spanning 2pm until 1am. Often itinerant, this time it rears its tape-heads up in a new venue (new since the preceding 2023 Ostrava Days ...
Continue ReadingViljandi Folk Music Festival 2025
by Martin Longley
Viljandi Folk Music Festival 2025 Viljandi Castle Hills Viljandi, Estonia July 24-27 2025 When your scribe first visited the Viljandi Folk Music Festival in 2021, it was still straggling along within the lockdown period, held with a reduced crowd capacity. The long weekend seemed perfectly well-attended, even under those circumstances, given its sprawling, multi-hilled setting. Fears of the full enchilada of an uninhibited 2025 festival (the 32nd edition) were unfounded, as although it was massing ...
Continue ReadingLive From Cologne (And Dortmund): Jordan White, Roger Kintopf, Luise Volkmann, Kiko Dinucci, The Dorf & The German Jazz Prize
by Martin Longley
Jordan White/Roger Kintopf The Loft Cologne, Germany June 10, 2025 Here's an evening of electro-acoustic sounds from a pair of local investigators, each using their instruments as a foundation for expansion via plugged-in tinkering or other sonic-altering techniques. The music of both artists gave the impression of improvisational abstraction, but ultimately featured some prepared content. Cologne's own Roger Kintopf used an upright bass to establish subtle patterning, with curt bow-strikes, low ...
Continue ReadingMoers Festival Interviews: Bart Maris
by Martin Longley
Bart Maris is a heroic Belgian trumpeter, deeply committed to the art of improvisation, treading a wilder jazz path, and possessing a mighty appetite for road-life, gigging prolifically and always seeking out unfamiliar collaborators, knowing that this act will force his own playing into a continual sense of vital change. Therefore, he is a fine choice for this year's Improviser In Residence, a position that's been connected to the Moers Festival for nearly two decades. The concept involves an artist ...
Continue ReadingLive From Tallinn: Eggvn, Oranssi Pazuzu & The Tallinn Ensemble For New Music
by Martin Longley
Eggvn Kino Maja April 19, 2025 Just on the perimeter of the Estonian capital's mystical Old Town, your scribe chanced upon the Tallinn Industrial Festival, a long evening that offered one of its most curious acts right at the beginning. Fortunate not to be missed, as an early arrival was for once the justified course. This is a Mexican duo called Eggvn (apparently their names are IV and V), hidden under large hornéd ...
Continue ReadingJazzkaar Interviews: Kristjan Randalu
by Martin Longley
The Estonian pianist Kristjan Randalu gave one of the best performances at the 2021 Jazzkaar festival in jny: Tallinn. It was the premiere of a work-sequence for the New Wind Orchestra, and it blew the audience on a wayward journey. Once again, Randalu will be delivering a premiere piece for Jazzkaar, opening up this year's 36th edition with his “Marginaalid ja Dividendid" (Margins And Dividends). Your scribe and this keysman ended up with a most unusual interview setting: ...
Continue ReadingMaerz Musik 2025
by Martin Longley
Radialsystem/ Sophiensaele/Haus der Berliner Festspiele Berlin, Germany March 23-25 2025 Maerz Musik is organised by the Berliner Festspiele, the same venue that presents Jazzfest Berlin. This ten-day Maerzfest concerns itself with the spiky end of moderne composition, but frequently crosses the line into freely improvised spontaneity. Your scribe was in town for a mere three-day wedge of the avant-pie, attending performances at Radialsystem, Sophiensæle and the Haus der Berliner Festspiele itself. His ...
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