After the bankruptcy of the non-profit organization Jazz en Muziek, which organized both Gent Jazz and Jazz Middelheim, Gent Jazz had a surprisingly smooth restart last summer. The rebirth of Jazz Middelheim, which skipped a year in 2023 and would return in 2024, was more complicated. After a market survey by the VRT, owner of the Jazz Middelheim brand name, yielded nothing, the city of Antwerp started a search for candidate buyers at the end of November last year.
It has now been completed. Eight candidates submitted a project, and it is the team behind Brosella Festival that emerged as the winner in collaboration with Paradise City Festival and that today received the green light from the Antwerp Aldermen. “They will receive the concession for the 2024 and 2025 editions, with the option to extend it for two years afterwards,” says Nabilla Ait Daoud (N-VA), Antwerp’s Alderman for Culture.
The fact that there were eight candidates proves that the need for the festival is great, she says. “I would also like to expressly thank the seven other candidates. The fact that there is so much desire to organize this jazz festival again shows how strongly people feel about it.”
Ait Daoud is happy that the new organizer has once again chosen Park Den Brandt as the festival location. “That was not a requirement,” says the alderman. “But it is certainly a plus. The green environment contributes to the pleasant, relaxed atmosphere of the festival. The castle, the pond, the lawns: it all promotes the sustainability of the festival experience.”
Young talent
Middelheim remains a jazz festival, Ait Daoud emphasizes, with respect for the past, but also with an ‘urban vibe’ and with its finger on the pulse of today’s musical developments. Bert Schreurs, the man behind Brosella who will now be responsible for the organization and programming of Jazz Middelheim, also sees it this way. “Jazz is a house with many rooms,” says Schreurs. “We will still program people like Fred Hersch and groups like Taxiwars. But DJs who are influenced by all kinds of jazz forms can also be featured.” That is the contribution of Paradise City, which organizes an annual electronic music festival in Perk (Steenokkerzeel).
Park Den Brandt. — © anp/ Alex Vanhee
Respect for tradition, with an eye for all kinds of new hybrids: that will be the philosophy of the new Jazz Middelheim. “With a lot of attention for young talent,” Schreurs emphasizes. “Giving new people opportunities is something we have a long tradition at the Brosella Festival. What we do in March at Brosella Spring Festival, a cross-pollination between the London and Brussels jazz scenes, could also be done perfectly at Middelheim.”
Schreurs does say that putting together a full-fledged edition of Jazz Middelheim by August is not realistic. Not enough time remains for that. “We are planning an event on a weekend in September, on one or two days, in which we will give an idea of what the new Jazz Middelheim could look like.” This will be a kind of transitional edition, but Schreurs wants to offer a full festival from 2025. In a large tent, in Park Den Brandt, as usual. The green environment, which brings with it all kinds of extra worries, does not deter Schreurs. “We have extensive experience with Brosella (which takes place in the Osseghem Park, near Heysel, ed.) and Paradise City (on the grounds of Ribaucourt Castle in Perk, ed.).”
Normally the festival will take place again around August 15 from 2025, although that could still change. Strictly speaking, it is not yet a foregone conclusion whether the name Jazz Middelheim will be retained. The VRT owns that brand name. “In the coming weeks we will indeed be talking to the VRT to see under what conditions we can use that name,” says Schreurs. “It is a brand name with an international appeal and a quality label. So we have to sort that out quickly.”
2024-02-09 10:06:05
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