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Are You Syncopated?! 2023 – Press release


The Syncopation Society announces the second edition of its festival Are You Syncopated?! (27 Sep – 01 Oct) at the Säälchen on Holzmarkt and Xelor Kesselhaus. This hybrid festival at the junction of dance and jazz celebrates the diversity of jazz and swing heritage with a rich programme of music, dance and discussion.

As last year, there will be a focus on politically and historically relevant lectures and discussions. Topics include the treatment of jazz as an Afro-American cultural form, the influence of racism and sexism on the development of jazz, and how to appreciate Black and other cultures without cultural appropriation.



The festival will also feature the BERLIN HOT JAZZ CAMP, i.e. music workshops, with several teachers from the Syncopation Society. It will be dedicated to early jazz styles and collective improvisation.



This year’s new additions are the Dance Workshops, where participants can learn and share the joy of dance with a focus on musicality and expression. Guest teachers such as Felipe Braga (Brazil), Marie N’diaye (France) and the Smile Trio (Mozambique) will enrich the understanding of music and dance.



In the evenings, participants can experience the energy of the Berlin music scene during concerts, dance parties and jam sessions. The programme includes bands from the Syncopation Society – Ragtime Nightmare, The Big Five, Jungle Jazz Band, Syncopation Society Orchestra – as well as international guests such as Kelvin Sholar Trio, American singer and actress Nicolle Rochelle, world-renowned Parisian saxophonist Olivier Franc and his son Jean-Baptiste Franc on piano. The aim is to bring together different generations, dance and music scenes, united by a common passion for swing and jazz culture.”Are You Syncopated?” is co-funded by the Creative Europe Programme of the European Commission as part of the Swinging Europe project, which brings together 13 European partners from 9 countries to celebrate swing dance and music. We expect visitors from Berlin and abroad to make the festival a unique and inspiring experience. 

For more information about the festival, the line-up and registration, please visit the official website.

Meschiya Lake & The New Movement: Looking the World Over.

NEWS | Meschiya is coming for one concert with The New Movement Fr. 30. Sept. at Are You Syncopated?! 2022 in Ballhaus Prinzenallee, Berlin.

Meschiya Lake’s new album “Looking the World Over” is the second collaborative release between Sungroove Records & the Syncopation Society. It has been guarded in the safe for two long years until she teamed up with François Perdriau to complete the process that stopped with the Pandemic, well before the catastrophic collapse of live music, the Black Lives Matter movement and the war in Ukraine. Lots have changed… Yet this album holds a peculiar significance and resonates with our times, perhaps even more so than as initially intended.

The album has been acclaimed received from the German press ( Jazzstetik rated the album ★★★★☆, WESTZEIT and Zeitzeichen have been particularly enthusiastic about the album complimenting both the performance and the song curation). The main songs of the album have also been featured on RBB online, SWR2, Hr2 Kultur, SR2 Kulturradio.

The album is now available on CD, Vinyl and on all music platforms. Purchase from the source in Europe at Sungroove.com or on Bandcamp.

Media

Are You Syncopated?! 2022

That was the first edition of AYS?! – 4 grand nights of music and dance in the realm of early jazz in the greatest respect and acknowledgment of the African-American cultural heritage.

This festival is the largest project of the Syncopation Society. It is a huge get-together of the Berlin music scene with the addition of special guests from abroad. It promotes openness in the discovery of jazz culture and welcomes the swing dance community to experience high-quality bands in an environment suitable for dancing. The activities also include workshops, dance lessons, daytime activities, a kid program, and more.

Festival website

This festival is part of the project Swinging Europe. Co-funded by the Creative Europe Programme of the European Commission.

Syncopation Society Orchestra at Fête de la Musique 2021

Life is coming back to Berlin with lots of spontaneous action outside. The city remains however cautious and has set up a giant website to stream the gazillion of concerts happening on the 21st June. We applied and got accepted!

The concert will take place in Altglienike and you can stream it live on the official fetedelamusique website at 16:00 (here’s the FB event). This will close the first half of the BackBeat Jazz Academy project to bring a big finale while showcasing a full Big Band in action.

We also want to draw attention to the #musikmöglichmachen campaign which will collect donations to support different music projects in Berlin that are currently calling for support. If you wish to support us on that day, then here’s the link: https://www.betterplace.me/aktion/fetedelamusique

Claus Jacobi’s Music Scores.

We have the great pleasure and privilege of making available to you a vast collection of transcriptions by world-renowned traditional jazz specialist, Dr. Claus Jacobi.

Dr. Jacobi and us share the idea of transmitting this music and he graciously allows us to put his transcriptions online on our website. Nearly 700 titles from the early days of jazz will be available and they will present all kinds of instrumentations ranging from 3 front-liners to big-band arrangements. This work of a lifetime covers almost all the titles that make up the richness of this extensive repertoire.

We will regularly add new music to the page and for now, you can find transcriptions for about 30 songs from the Original Dixieland Jazz Band, the King Oliver Creole Jazz Band, and the New Orleans Rhythm Kings.

Please note that this invaluable resource is reserved to members only. Join the Society by creating an account to access the files. We also invite you to make a donation allowing us to finance the downloading setup and the maintenance of this treasure.

Have fun browsing! – www.syncopation.de/music-scores

TIP: join the FB group where we will post every new releases.