Multiphonics Festival: NoSaxNoClar | Naissam Jalal "Healing Rituals" | Michel Godard Trio feat. Florian Weber & Mohammed Najem

For the tenth time, Multiphonics has the world as its guest, and for the tenth time, this unique, special music festival demonstrates the full range of the clarinet family. As profound as it is diverse, as emphatic as it is sensual, as cosmopolitan as it is curious, in its anniversary year the festival delves deeper than ever into the multiphonic sound realms of jazz, world music and avant-garde. In the Stadtgarten in Cologne, a spectacular program can be experienced, which, under the artistic direction of clarinettist Annette Maye, strings together one highlight after another.

Listen to and experience Samantha Wright, Magnus Lindgren, Naïssam Jalal, Mohammed Najem, Michel Godard, Daniel Erdmann, Vincent Courtois, Maria Portugal and many more.

On its dazzling world tour with Armenian, Arabic, Turkish, Central Asian as well as several European sound styles and sound traditions, Multiphonics playfully expands the traditional clarinet family with dazzling members such as various flutes, nay and duduk. Let yourself be fascinated and enchanted by this unique event, which not least also stands for a great cultural-political idea: for a borderless, respectful and inspiring togetherness.

7:00 p.m.
NoSaxNoClar.
Sometimes there's something good about being condemned to external stasis: Julien Stella and Bastien Weeger met on a train platform on a day of strikes and became aware of what a mystery travel is after all. With light luggage they set out on a common (sound) journey: Clarinet and bass clarinet, alto and soprano saxophone are all they need for fascinating excursions through improvising chamber music, stopping off at Celtic, Berber or Balkan folklore. In subtle miniatures, they constantly reweight the rhythmic and melodic parts, change moods and voice pitches, and let their instruments pop percussively like shimmering soap bubbles.

8:00 p.m.
Naïssam Jalal - Healing Rituals.
Any attempt to put into words the beguiling musical universe of flutist, nay player, singer and composer Naïssam Jalal must fail: one would only deprive it of its magical properties and effects! Astonished, one imagines oneself on board of that fragile celestial vehicle, half dhow, half flying dragon, which adorns the cover of Naïssam Jalal's CD Healing Rituals. Indeed, much of it is about rituals: rituals of the wind, the sun, the river, the forest, or the moon - music as a solemnly festive act, thoroughly formal, but always gloriously free and unbound. Born in France to Syrian immigrants, Naïssam Jalal discovered the art of improvisation through John Coltrane's Olé, explored Arabic music, and returned to Europe with her own fascinating interpretation of world music.

9:30 p.m.
Michel Godard Trio feat. Florian Weber & Mohammed Najem.
Piano and drums - led by a tuba? That may sound unusual at first. For a long time, the massive woofer acted as a reliable bench in the background and was responsible for the rhythm. After Bob Stewart and Howard Johnson had given the tuba a place in modern jazz, Michel Godard took the instrument to previously undreamed-of realms in Europe. Godard studied classical music, undertook sound journeys through Italian music history, worked with Pierre Boulez and played with Michel Portal, Kenny Wheeler and Rabih Abou-Khalil. At his side: the musically soulful, immensely versatile pianist Florian Weber, ECM artist and, since 2021, pianist of the NDR Big Band, and drummer Bodek Janke, who has long been one of Europe's leading percussionists. Mohamed Najem also virtuously combines jazz with oriental influences. His powerfully pulsating music, rich in sonic flavors, transfers the sound of the Middle East into a new musical language.