Jazz in the Brunnenhof

A dancer on the drums: Philippe Lemm is known in the jazz scene for choreographing rhythmic playing, anchoring melodic movement in his compositions, turning the music into a physical expression of dance, which for the Dutch musician embodies the possibility of connection. This urge to find common ground, to seek a relationship not only with his band members but also with the audience, is also reflected in his facial expressions on stage. Philippe Lemm, Sharik Hasan and Jeff Koch smile at each other and at themselves, congratulate each other on successful transitions with a wink and radiate the pure joy of being on stage together.

Band founder Lemm has been doing this for over 20 years. He started working as a musician at the age of 16, three years later he studied at the conservatory in Amsterdam, and from 2011 onwards at the renowned Manhattan School of Music in New York. With his trio, he released his first album "New Amsterdam" in 2016 (with pianist Angelo di Loreto), which was followed in 2021 by the acclaimed sequel "First Steps", inspired by traditional dances and folkloric rhythms, which will also characterize the opening of this year's Jazz im Brunnenhof series.

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It's not the big names of her collaborations that could be cited to outline Judith Hill's career. It's more about the deep connection to these names that can gauge how the greatest artists of our time appreciated Hill's talent. Prince counted the singer among his closest confidants until the end; he produced her debut album "Back in Time" in 2015. In 2009, she was chosen as one of the singers for Michael Jackson's planned comeback tour This Is It, sang as a sang backing vocals for Stevie Wonder, Elton John, John Legend and George Benson.

In her own music, Judith Hill follows her own musical path, which does not run straight towards the goal of a genre. Psychedelic funk, earthy rhythm & blues and soulful piano ballads merge with Judith Hill to create an unmistakable sound, which she carries with a voice that is sometimes crystal-clear and tender, sometimes expressively erupting and sometimes powerfully blaring. And which has recently been supported by sharp guitar solos. "For me, the guitar is like a new character, a voice that simply wants to be heard," says Hill. It will be heard: Judith Hill's concert is already one of the absolute highlights of this year's Jazz im Brunnenhof series.

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All that glitters is gold. That's how you could describe Luca Simonelli's motto. With his half Italian, half Belgian roots, the 32-year-old not only presents himself as a passionate jazz trumpeter, but also as a composer, multi-instrumentalist and, above all, a dance-loving entertainer.
His formation Circo Simonelli describes itself as a power funk band: founded in 2011, the band initially began with cover songs, but quickly found its very own style with original compositions, a fusion of soulful harmonies, super-tight unisons and hip-swinging Latin grooves. The result is a show in which, as Luca says of himself, he goes in search of his alter egos, but at the same time gives every instrument on stage its space. And the audience needs this too: after all, Circo Simonelli take to the stage with the aim of creating an unforgettable party atmosphere in the Brunnenhof. Anyone who dances, grooves and sparks along to these concerts is definitely part of the golden majority.

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Their roots lie in Peru, Cuba, Mexico, Chile and the Netherlands, among other places. However, many of the six band members of Los Pipos consider their home port to be the Rhineland: singer and violinist Claudia Ramos Barreto lives in Cologne, trumpeter Geo del Valle Miranda plays in the New Rhineland Chamber Orchestra, percussionist Philip Kukulies was born in Düsseldorf, where bassist Juniors Cesar Sarracent now teaches. And singer Ramón Mendeville and pianist Enrique Delgado now also see Germany as their home, where they want to spread the vibe of Latin jazz as widely as possible.

Thanks to their energy, their joy of playing and their extraordinary repertoire, consisting of traditional pieces and surprising original compositions, Los Pipos find this easy. Their audience loves the rhythmic interpretations of their songs, which can also be carried by timpani, tubular drums or guiros. The familiar bars of Latin American melodies are given an exciting, contemporary twist by the improvisational freedom and complex harmonies of jazz. Their sound is both familiar and new, as diverse and dynamic as the cultures they represent.

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Few jazz artists currently combine the worlds of jazz and pop as easily and likeably as Lennart Allkemper. Born in 1992, the musician, who won his first prize at the age of 12, toured stadiums with the Fantastischen Vier in 2022 to celebrate their 30th anniversary and regularly appears on TV productions such as TV Total and ZDF Magazin Royal. At the same time, the multi-instrumentalist, who plays soprano, alto and baritone saxophone, clarinet, bass clarinet, flute, alto flute and EWI in addition to tenor saxophone, has already worked with a number of renowned jazz greats such as Vince Mendoza, Kurt Elling, Dave Liebman, Bob Mintzer, Lizz Wright, Joel Frahm and Till Brönner in his still young career.

Since graduating from the Cologne University of Music and Dance in 2017 with top marks, Lennart Allkemper has been touring Europe and the world for workshops and masterclasses, but above all for his performances.  In his current project, the "Lennart Allkemper Quartett", he is also active as a composer: there he translates his unmistakable style of modern jazz with rich melodies and sensitive tone control into distinctive musical arrangements. How many of his instruments he will bring with him to Trier remains a surprise.

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Cyrille Aimée's career started early with prizes and awards - but it began at an early age. As a teenager, she climbed out of the bedroom window of her parents' house in Samois-sur-Seine at night to mingle with the musicians at the annual Django Reinhardt Festival held there. These visits sparked in her a great passion for jazz manouche, which she enriched with the ingredients of her family history: the Afro-Caribbean rhythms of bachata and merengue from her mother's homeland, the Dominican Republic.

By the time she was 20, she had already lived on four different continents, including New York, where she studied during the day but performed as a singer in Manhattan jazz clubs at night. Her hard-to-describe voice, which seems to laugh as bright as a bell and tell profound stories at the same time, spontaneously finding its way and yet guiding the rhythm, quickly earned her a reputation as a fearless, witty improviser and a warm-hearted interpreter at the same time. On her latest album "A Fleur de Peau", Cyrille combines the depth and sophistication of jazz with the directness of pop and the irresistible dance rhythms of the Caribbean - a mixture that she will also bring to the Brunnenhof.

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For Veda Bartringer, who started learning the piano at the age of eight, took lessons in classical singing at 16 and finally studied jazz guitar at the Conservatoire Royal de Bruxelles, anything distracting should be avoided on stage: no special effects, no fog machine, no projectors with loud fan noise. The only thing that counts is the rhythm and melody based on classic modern jazz compositions, some of which draw their inspiration from Brazilian and Indian music. At the same time, the composer and her band colleagues Julien Cuvelier (saxophone), Boris Schmidt (double bass) and Maxime Magotteaux (drums) attempt to set their impressions of nature to music in their compositions. At their performance in the Brunnenhof, however, their 2nd album will be included, which whets the appetite for adventures beyond the local flora and fauna. Its title: "Deep Space Adventure".

Also performing on the regional evening will be the "Nils Thoma Constellation" led by Trier jazz club boss Nils Thoma, whose original compositions combine so-called serious music with Norwegian-Nordic folk in a jazzy style. They are joined by Benedikt Schweigstill, a pianist who also plays the accordion, Frederik Noll, a drummer who plays the flugelhorn, and Nils Thoma himself, a saxophonist who is not afraid to pick up the recorder. In addition, Charlotte Wonnebauer on cello and Stefan Zawar-Schlegel on double bass provide the impetus for the pieces, which sound familiar despite the rarely heard sound combinations, because the improvising jazz meets the "classical" music firmly anchored in Western collective memory.

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