ÜBERJAZZ Festival
FRIDAY
Past dates
10/31/25
7:00 PM
ARTISTS A-Z
Àbáse is the solo project of Hungarian producer and keyboardist Bognár Szabolcs, now based in Berlin. Shaped by his early discovery of Fela Kuti’s Afrobeat, he studied jazz in Budapest and expanded his knowledge in New York and Rio de Janeiro. "Àbáse" is Yoruba for “community” – a principle reflected in collective processes that weave jazz, Hungarian folk, hip-hop, West African and electronic music into intense live recordings. This is also true of his latest album AWAKENING, described by NDR as “a unique blend of spiritual Coltrane jazz, Afrobeat, and Hungarian folk traditions.”
BANDCAMP | BACKSEAT MAFIA ALBUM REVIEW | VIDEO
British saxophonist, poet, and composer Alabaster DePlume returns to Kampnagel after his 2023 ÜBERJAZZ performance with his seventh studio album, A BLADE BECAUSE A BLADE IS WHOLE (International Anthem, 2025). Featuring string arrangements by Macie Stewart and contributions from Donna Thompson and Mikey Kenney, the record merges jazz, folk, spoken word, and classical elements. Tracks like THANK YOU MY PAIN reflect on grief and healing, while WHO ARE YOU TELLING, GUS embodies vulnerability and dignity. “On this graceful new album, the reminders to savor each day and to forgive oneself feel less like jazz tunes than wordless hymns” (Pitchfork).
After her acclaimed ÜBERJAZZ debut in 2019, multi-instrumentalist, singer, and composer Angel Bat Dawid returns to Hamburg. A central figure in Chicago’s vibrant scene between jazz, beats, and the avant-garde, she records for International Anthem, the label closely linked to the festival – with Alabaster DePlume, Saul Williams, and Carlos Niño also appearing at ÜBERJAZZ 2025. This time, Angel Bat Dawid presents a project with Swedish keyboardist and interdisciplinary artist Naima Nefertari from London: their joint album JOURNEY TO NABTA PLAYA is a spiritual, meditative sound journey to a stone circle in Egypt’s Nubian desert, released on London’s Spiritmuse Records, which also features fellow ÜBERJAZZ artist Kahil El’Zabar.
INSTAGRAM ANGEL BAT DAWID | INSTAGRAM NAIMA NEFERTARI | VIDEO
corto.alto is the acclaimed future-jazz project of Scottish multi-instrumentalist Liam Shortall. His debut BAD WITH NAMES was shortlisted for the 2024 Mercury Prize and hailed as offering a European counterpart to the “syncretism à la Brainfeeder and other American beat visionaries” (laut.de). With trombone, synths, and a live band he fuses jazz, hip-hop, club music, and soul into high-energy, erratic performances. His new Ninja Tune single DON’T LISTEN pushes the eclectic style further—a track bursting with rhythmic intensity, heavy basslines, distorted leads, and hazy vocals that collapse under a wash of strings. “If Hiatus Kaiyote and Masters At Work had a child, corto.alto would be it – the future is now!” (Gilles Peterson).
Since her debut album A LOT, NOT TOO MUCH, German-Moroccan singer douniah has built a large audience with her distinctive dreamy, beat-driven R&B and most recently performed at Kampnagel’s Summer Festival in 2024. Her sound is inspired by jazz, North African Gnawa music, and her mother’s cassette collection.
Flur is the promising new trio of Miriam Adefris (harp), Isaac Robertson (saxophone), and Dillon Harrison (percussion), who met while studying at Goldsmiths University in London and have collaborated with artists such as Floating Points, ganavya (on Saturday also live at ÜBERJAZZ), and Shabaka Hutchings. Their album PLUNGE (Latency Records) was released in September and hailed by taz as “a strong debut from an ensemble that rethinks spiritual jazz without false reverence and reveals a clear, idiosyncratic voice.” Drawing on contemporary classical, free jazz, and ambient influences, Pitchfork described their music as “a vaporous, polyrhythmic style somewhere between astral jazz and cosmic minimalism.”
INSTAGRAM | PITCHFORK REVIEW | BANDCAMP
Joy Guidry, U.S. bassoonist and composer, is regarded as one of the most exciting voices in the experimental jazz scene. On their new album FIVE PRAYERS (2025), Guidry transforms personal crises into sonic meditations on vulnerability, liberation, and spirituality. With bassoon, harp, synths, and electronic textures, they create prayers in sound—drawing inspiration from Alice Coltrane, Jazmine Sullivan, and Lorna Simpson—somewhere between ambient, gospel, and Black sonic traditions.
HOMEPAGE | BEATS PER MINUTE: ALBUM-REVIEW | VIDEO
Summit of two hip-hop icons: Detroit jazz drummer and producer Karriem Riggins — known for his work with Erykah Badu, The Roots, and J. Dilla, as well as co-founding the supergroup August Greene with Common and Robert Glasper — performs live with J.Rocc. A Stones Throw mainstay, co-founder of the Beat Junkies, and longtime Madlib live-DJ, J.Rocc has been one of the defining turntablists since the 1980s. Together they fuse drums and turntables into a journey through the universe of groove, where beat science meets improvisation.
LABEL INFO KARRIEM RIGGINS | LABEL INFO J.ROCC | VIDEO
Lucy Liebe is a transfemme multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and producer based in Berlin. Whether in her solo projects, as part of the experimental jazz trio Bokoya, as live bassist for douniah, or producing the latest album by Swedish trombonist and singer Ebba Åsman, her versatile output centers on alternative RnB and themes such as queerness, trauma, and love. At ÜBERJAZZ, she will be playing live in a quartet.
HOMEPAGE | BOKOYA BANDCAMP | VIDEO
Estonian composer, producer, and multi-instrumentalist Misha Panfilov blends psychedelic jazz, electronic lounge, and ambient exotica into a distinctive sound. For more than a decade, he has released albums both solo and with ensembles such as Estrada Orchestra, Center El Muusa, and Misha Panfilov Sound Combo. In September he released his latest album, TO BLUE FROM GREY IN MAY (Ultraääni Records), which he now presents on a European tour with a seven-piece band.
Thai-born percussionist and composer based in Montréal presents her new album RAMMANA: a groundbreaking fusion of Afro-jazz, funk, and Thai instruments that Salin calls “Afro Thai Funk.” Her songs address themes of identity, spirituality, and political events; working with Thai musicians and Western instrumentalists alike, Salin weaves all four directions into a subtle global sound that knows no borders.
HOMEPAGE | BANDCAMP ALBUM OF THE DAY | VIDEO
Tomoki Sanders, child of jazz legend Pharoah Sanders, is part of New York’s new generation of musicians. Having toured internationally with Kassa Overall’s supergroup and curating “Tomo Tuesdays” in Brooklyn, they draw on African American and Japanese heritage and a non-binary perspective to merge Great Black Music, urban sounds, electronics, and the avant-garde. Their debut album will arrive in 2026—echoing the spirit of Impulse! while carving out a distinctive voice between spiritual jazz and the present.
The Berlin-based trio Zeitgeist Freedom Energy Exchange (Z*F*E*X) is the meeting point of improvisation and dance music. Founded by Australian drummer Ziggy Zeitgeist (known from Melbourne’s future-jazz collective 30/70), the group fuses jazz energy with broken beats, synths, and flute lines into a live DJ-set in human form. Following acclaimed performances at XJAZZ, MELT, and We Out Here, their fifth album INSPIRE // RADICALISE (Energy Exchange Records) arrived in 2025—an ecstatic fusion of dancefloor, jazz, and psychedelic transcendence.
