Jazzfest Berlin 2026 Closes With Globe Unity Orchestra's 60th-Anniversary Return

Jazzfest Berlin's 63rd edition came to a close on Sunday, Nov. 1, with a set by Alexander von Schlippenbach's Globe Unity Orchestra, the free-jazz big band that first played the festival 60 years ago. The four-day festival, which ran from Oct. 29 at the Haus der Berliner Festspiele and other venues, has already set its next dates: Jazzfest Berlin 2027 will take place Oct. 28 to 31.

The closing concert, titled Apokalyptische Nabelschau, was billed by the Berliner Festspiele as the return of "a Berlin legend." The organizers note that the ensemble "made music history in the 1960s" when it challenged audiences at the Philharmonie Berlin with uncompromising free jazz.

In a review published Nov. 2, UK Jazz News writer Tony Dudley-Evans reported that the orchestra concentrated almost entirely on free improvisation, moving between full-ensemble passages and individual solos. Saxophonist Evan Parker played a solo built on circular breathing, and George Lewis made what the review called a rare return to the trombone. Schlippenbach and pianist Aki Takase shared the piano for four-hand passages, and each also conducted the full group. At its first festival appearance, Dudley-Evans wrote, the orchestra was met with a mix of boos and cheers; this time it received a standing ovation.

This year's program, under the theme Dream Baby Dream, brought together 24 acts and more than 135 musicians from over 25 countries, including four world premieres, two European premieres and five German premieres, according to the festival. The edition opened on Oct. 29 with the premiere of a new septet led by Anthony Braxton.

The UK Jazz News review counted six large ensembles developing new work this year. Among them were drummer Christian Lillinger's Open Form for Society II, with five keyboard players and no horns, and Matthias Muche's trombone orchestra BONECRUSHER, which performed at the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church. Dudley-Evans also singled out the Amir ElSaffar New Quartet, which blends Middle Eastern maqam with post-bop, as a particular highlight, alongside sets by the Tomeka Reid Quartet and the Chicago Underground Duo of Rob Mazurek and Chad Taylor.

British bandleaders Alexander Hawkins, with Willow Music, and Laura Jurd, with her Rites and Revelations Ensemble, were also well received, according to the review. Vocal-led groups featured Karoline Wallace and Wendy Eisenberg, and singer ganavya played just before the closing set, following a trio of Georg Graewe, Brad Jones and Hamid Drake.

Beyond the main stages, the festival ran a community week in Berlin's Moabit district in cooperation with 15 local initiatives. The festival lists eight neighborhood concerts at six venues, a creative music workshop with Anthony Braxton for students of the Jazz Institute Berlin, children's workshops, city tours and film screenings. Festival director Nadin Deventer has made the community program a central part of her tenure, and the short film Dream Baby Dream, made with 60 Berliners, gave this year's edition its title.

Several concerts were recorded for broadcast through the festival's cooperation with the ARD radio network and Deutschlandradio.