Let the Summer come – Kunst!Rasen 2024

What better way to warm the hearts of music lovers on cold and wet Bonn Winter evenings than posters advertising next year’s Summer open-air concert season at Kunst!Rasen? The Season is currently set to kick off with Taylor Swift’s favourite band ‘The National’ from Brooklyn. Okay, so Swift is a bit biased since National Bassist Aaron Dessner produced her “Evermore’ and ‘Folklore’ discs as well as being a co-writer, but they should get the Season off to a flyer. More details on the Kunst!Rasen website

Bonn Youth Jazz Orchestra wins WDR Jazz Prize

WDR Jazzpreis 2024 Nachwuchspreisträger: Jugend Jazz Orchester Bonn ©WDR/Lutz Voigtlaender

Congratulations to The Jugend Jazz Orchester Bonn (Bonn Youth Jazz Orchestra) on winning The WDR Jazz Prize for young musicians. Congrats particularly to the two Thomas’s – Kimmerle and Heck – who have been working hard for many years now to encourage Jazz music in the area. Bonn really does punch above its size where this music is concerned and the popularity of concerts in Dottendorf by top stars is a clear sign that Jazz is enjoyed here by players and listeners alike.

The Jugend Jazz Orchester Bonn will perform its prize-winning concert on March 14 at the Pantheon Theater in Bonn. More info (in German) HERE
In 2018 3songsbonn interviewed Thomas Kimmerle and Thomas Heck to find out more about the Youth Jazz Orchestra: LINK TO INTERVIEW

Ana Popovic Rides the Funk Train at Bonn Harmonie

Posters for her current ‘Power’ Tour proudly proclaim “The Blues Queen is Back!”  and there’s no doubt that Ana Popovic has been away from Bonn for quite a while.  That pause was down not just to Covid and her move to The States, but also due to a fight with Cancer that she has thankfully won.  She looks as bewitching as ever in those posters, but is she truly still the Blues Queen?  There was a packed house at Bonn Harmonie to find out.

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Beth Hart in Cologne

Ten years ago Beth Hart was a little too small for the Kunstrasen main stage, hence her appearance at the
Kunstpalast’ Marquee stage from where this picture was taken. Fast-forward ten years and seeing the fiery American singer live will entail a visit to Cologne’s mighty Lanxess Arena where Rock music’s creme-de-la-creme ply their trade in this area of NRW. Would I have liked to have seen her in Bonn? Yes, I would, for the intimate atmosphere that suits her emotional shows. But anyway, fans of one of the best female vocalists currently to be heard should make a diary note not to book any holiday away from home on Monday 18 November 2024 and also note that ticket pre-sale starts today (2 November) see links at the end of this article.

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Zucchero coming to Kunst!Rasen in 2024

Zucchero during his Kunst!Rasen concert in 2017

As part of his ‘Overdose d’Amore World Wild Tour’ Italian Rocker Zucchero will be making an appearance in Bonn at Kunst!Rasen. 11th July 2024 – save the date!

Despite covering a wide spectrum of Gosüel/Rock Zucchero is credited by many as ‘The Father of Italian Blues’. In a career, spanning more than three decades, Zucchero (Sugar) Fornaciari to give his full name, has sold over 60 million records around the world. He has performed live with such legends as Joe Cocker, Stevie Ray Vaughan Eric Clapton and Miles Davis but is best known for the international hit “Senza una donna” (“Without a Woman”), which was released as a duet with Paul Young.

Kunst!Rasen 2024 Season

Make someone happy and buy them Jamie Cullum for Christmas. Well, a ticket for his just-announced concert at next year’s Kunst!Rasen at least. For details on this and other concerts announced so far check the Kunst!Rasen website HERE

New Album recommendations

As John Harrison, Folk Club MC and Folk-blues Master Supreme has been saying since around the Folk Club in September – Christmas is not so far away, so buy a CD. But which one? At Bonn Folk Club the choice is ‘only’ between what the guest artist has on the table, but outside, in the big-wide-world there are a squillion discs/downloads crying for attention. Here are some of my favourites from this year.

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Rockpalast with Bywater Call & Eddie 9V

This year sees the 20th Anniversary of the Rockpalast Crossroads Festival in Bonn. To celebrate it’s longer than ever this year, starting on Tuesday and rocking clean through to Saturday, so there should be something for every rock music fan in there. Tuesday’s openers Bywater Call were definitely a good reason for me to head down to the Harmonie, and I also had a niggling desire just to see how anyone could call themselves Eddie 9V. It turned out he was more than just a fun name.

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