The third edition of the summer Blue Summer Jazz Festival lies ahead. Its very name fully encapsulates its essential character. Note the word "Blue", which, of course, derives from the name of the Blue Note Jazz Club, the event's main organiser. The key, however, lies in the words "Summer Jazz", which aptly define the character of the music that runs throughout the festival. For anyone who might be "fearful" of jazz, this is an opportunity to make friends with the genre in a light, relatively easy-going and accessible format. References to soul and neo-soul, R&B and several other genres are equally central. After all, the focus is not to strictly adhere to stylistic templates, but rather to draw on the canon and offer audiences a few hours of intelligent, not necessarily obvious music that sounds contemporary and remains accessible to a relatively broad listenership. As the organisers put it, what awaits is rather "something that starts with jazz and goes well beyond it, through soul and fusion all the way to the modern sounds of the British and New York scenes".

On day one of the event, an Old Brewery Park concert will feature Sam Greenfield, Gretchen Parlato and Nubiyan Twist. Greenfield, a versatile saxophonist and bandleader based in Philadelphia, is now closely associated with the Brooklyn scene in New York City. Notably, by way of recommendation, he has collaborated with the likes of Ed Sheeran, John Legend, Mariah Carey and Joss Stone. Gretchen Parlato, meanwhile, is one of the most compelling jazz vocalists of her generation, who has spent years developing her own distinctive voice within jazz, employing silence, detail and rhythm. Equally exciting is the London collective Nubiyan Twist, whose big-band format offers an original and equally electrifying blend of jazz, Afrobeat, soul, hip-hop and dance music.

On day two of the festival, expect Ledisi, also known as the "queen of soul, R&B and jazz". This Grammy Award winner is also a songwriter, producer and actress. Her accomplishments include collaborations with artists such as Herbie Hancock and Robert Glasper. Also in the line-up is the outstanding Japanese pianist Hiromi with her band Sonicwonder. This is her most dynamic incarnation, sitting at the intersection of jazz-rock fusion, funk, classical music and contemporary jazz. Finally, audiences will hear from the Blue Jazz Orchestra, the Blue Note club's big band, already familiar to fans in Poznań, formed by leading musicians from the town's local scene. This time, the concert will be dedicated to the work of Kenny Wheeler. On stage, the orchestra will be joined by the phenomenal vocalist Anna Gadt and the acclaimed trumpeter Jerzy Małek.

Tomasz Janas

translator: Krzysztof Kotkowski

Blue Summer Jazz Festival
Old Brewery Park (Park Starego Browaru)
18-19 July
for more, see: Blue Summer Jazz Festival (available in Polish)

© Wydawnictwo Miejskie Posnania 2026