Peitz 55

Peitz is the oldest avant-garde jazz festival in Germany, remembered for its extraordinary concerts from 1973 to 1982. Until it was banned by the East German authorities, this “Woodstock at Karpfenteich” was a place of longing where music enthusiasts could quietly (and sometimes not so quietly) escape the cage of rigid cultural policies of the GDR. The festival tradition was revived in 2011 by the jazzwerkstatt Berlin-Brandenburg which continually strives to develop contemporary jazz music in innovative ways. In 2018, the jazzwerkstatt established an exchange between Peitz and the Polish border city of Gubin in order to increase the visibility of the festival and promote artistic exchange with Germany’s neighbor. Gubin, the Polish part of the border city, has served as the venue for a German-Polish saxophone summit. Some 100 international musicians have performed at “Peitz 55” in 2018 which spotlighted the British jazz scene. The London jazz scene, like Berlin’s, has generated innovative and creative impulses in recent years. In the lead-up to the festival in Peitz, organisers have staged a concert in London to introduce the Berlin jazz scene to the British capital. The festival programme has also featured the organ and harp as instrumental focuses.

Artistic directors: Ulli Blobel, Marie Blobel
Musicians: Julie Sassoon (GB), Alexander von Schlippenbach Globe Unity Orchestra (D/F/PL/US/GB), Wolfgang Schmidtke Orchestra Blue Monk (D/I), Monks Mood, Silke Eberhard Potsa Lotsa, Jan Roder, Alan Skidmore Quartett (GB/D/US), Helmut “Joe” Sachse, Nils Wogram (CH), Vesna Pisarovic (HR), Tom Arthurs (GB), Ehwald-Schultze-Rainey (D/US), Roscoe Mitchell/Art Ensemble of Chicago (US), Kathrin Pechloff Trio, Lauer Large

Additional Venues:

Concert “100 Years of Thelonious Monk”, Berlin: 11 Oct. 2017;
Guest performance of jazzwerkstatt in London, Vortex, London: 25–26 Nov. 2017;
jazzwerkstatt Peitz Nr. 55 in Gubin, Gubin (PL), Cottbus and Peitz 8–10 Jun. 2018