PROPULSION is a career development and networking programme dedicated to jazz and improvised music artists from the Région Grand Est (France), Luxembourg and the French-speaking part of Belgium.
The laureates, who are selected upon a call for proposals, are granted tailor-made training on touring, production and communication. Mentors from each country provide the laureates an artistic point of view and advice on their projects.
The first edition of the programme gave the bands of Daniel Migliosi (Luxembourg) and Hugo Diaz (Région Grand Est) the opportunity to be accompanied by the team of the Compagnie Tangram and the artistic mentors of the programme, who were Stéphane Scharlé and Maxime Bender.
This second edition of the program brings a number of new features. Firstly, the arrival of Belgian partners in the program, and the introduction of a second program entitled PropulsionWOMEN, aimed exclusively at female musicians wishing to develop their skills in the leadership of musical projects. In addition to taking part in the joint PROPULSION program, the aim of the three laureates will be to finalise an artistic project to be presented live by one of PROPULSION’s partners by the end of the program. The winners will be mentored by a fellow musician with a proven track record. The mentors are Marion Rampal for the Grand Est region, Claire Parsons for Luxembourg and Margaux Vranken for the French-speaking part of Belgium.
Propulsion #2 is also offering the second edition of its PropulsionBANDS program, dedicated to the career and artistic development of existing projects. The BAND mentors are Stéphane Scharlé for France, Jeff Herr for Luxembourg and Manuel Hermia for the French-speaking part of Belgium.
Both programmes have the following objectives:
- Accelerate the professionalisation of emerging talents through comprehensive, individualised support;
- Promote and raise the profile of a generation of jazz artists on a European scale;
- Promote cooperation between cross-border cultural players and create a network open to Europe;
- Exploit the potential of mentoring and pooling resources;
- Include eco-responsibility and social issues (parity, diversity, etc.).
Who are the Luxembourgish laureates of PROPULSION #2?
PropulsionWOMEN | Veda Bartringer, guitarist
Veda Bartringer is a multi-instrumentalist from Luxembourg. She discovered the world of jazz at the age of 17, taking classes at the Conservatoire d’Esch-sur-Alzette, the Conservatoire de Luxembourg and the École de Musique de Dudelange, where she learned from musicians such as Pit Dahm, Pol Belardi, David Laborier, Jacques Pirotton and Erik Teuwens.
Starting in 2017, she pursued advanced musical studies in jazz guitar at the Royal Conservatory of Brussels, graduating with a Master’s degree in jazz guitar in 2022. During these 5 years of study, she learned alongside guitarists Fabien Degryse and Victor Da Costa, as well as François Decamps. Veda is a member of several Belgian and Luxembourg projects and has shared the stage with various artists. She is currently working on several personal projects, including duo projects with saxophonist Fabrice Muratore, Madagascan guitarist Joël Rabesolo, a solo guitar project, as well as the Veda Bartringer Quartet.
Guitarist Claire Besson is the winner of PropulsionWOMEN for the Grand Est region, and Lucia Pires, a flautist based in French-speaking Belgium, has been selected to take part in the program.
PropulsionBANDS | The Metz Foundation, Joël Metz
Joël Metz is a saxophonist. Having achieved his Bachelor and Master studies at the conservatory of Amsterdam and Codarts Rotterdam, Joël pursues his musical career as a bandleader of his group The Metz Foundation, a sideman for projects like the Josh Island Band and the Luxembourg Jazz Orchestra and as an educator for modern music at the Conservatoire du Nord in Luxembourg.
With an affinity for extended techniques like multiphonics, Joël likes to combine traditionally informed material with experimental sounds in his playing.
PropulsionBANDS selected Nobaban for the Région Grand Est and Bodies for the French-speaking part of Belgium.
Georg Ruby & Sascha Ley | The Laughter of the Red Moon. Dedicated to Hildegard Knef
Album release: October 12, 2023 | JazzHausMusik
Georg Ruby and Sascha Ley allow a wide range of musical parameters to take effect, creating original reinterpretations of the chansons and lyrics of the great German actress, singer and author Hildegard Knef (1925-2002) without imposing any stylistic boundaries.
Dock in Absolute | [RE]FLEKT
Album release: October 13, 2023 | Cam Jazz
Piano trio Dock In Absolute are perhaps the leading lights of a tremendous recent resurgence of creative music in Luxembourg, a territory that punches well above its weight in musical terms. The group’s previous work for CAM JAZZ established a distinctive voice, energised by pianist Jean-Philippe Koch’s compositions but realised by the energetic and thoroughly musical contributions of bassist Arne Weigand and drummer Victor Kraus. With roots in the vast literature of jazz piano trios, but with eyes set very much on the present, Dock In Absolute offer a music that is unmistakably contemporary and fresh but aware of tradition as well. Recorded in CAM JAZZ’s signature bright, responsive sound, [RE]FLEKT is set to be one of the must-have jazz records of the year. (Liner notes by Brian Morton)
Shauli Einav | Living Organs
Album release: November 18, 2023 | Outside in Music Europe
After six albums as a leader with only acoustic instrumentation, Shauli Einav, an Israeli saxophone player based in Luxembourg, explores more electronic and electric soundscapes. The music is inspired by both jazz and music from outside the jazz idiom. Einav aims to revive the sounds he was listening to in the 1990s: British artists such as Jamiroquai, The Prodigy, Simply Red or David Bowie, mediaeval folk music, and modern jazz-influenced harmonies.
“In a way, this is my homage to my teenage years where I aim to bring more audiences to jazz music, by building a bridge from the younger generation’s popular aesthetics to today’s mainstream jazz.”
For this new project, Einav’s band was selected for a week-long residency at opderschmelz, a week dedicated to getting deep into Einav’s new compositions and tightening the band! Einav teamed up with some of the rising stars of the European jazz scene: Dutch guitarist Eran Har Even, French organist Laurent Coulondre as well as Luxembourg drummer Paul Wiltgen.
Michel Reis | For A Better Tomorrow
Album release: December 1, 2023 | CamJazz
If jazz remains the “sound of surprise”, Luxembourgish pianist Michel Reis still cleaves to that hoary definition of the music. While still attractively accessible, Reis’s solo improvisations constantly take unexpected directions. He plays the piano “straight”, but still somehow manages to make it sound deliciously unfamiliar, as if it was only invented yesterday.
On his second recording for CAM JAZZ, Reis dedicates his music For A Better Tomorrow. There’s no clear political agenda in that title, but simply a dedication to the notion that in constantly reinventing itself, jazz is inherently progressive and committed to a human desire for improvement and self-development. Not a fiery showman, Reis is more like a close-up magician. One can hear everything he does, but it isn’t always quite clear how he does it. The magic of a music that never stops moving forward… (Liner notes by Brian Morton).
Under the supervision of music producer Ermanno Basso, For A Better Tomorrow was recorded and mixed in January 2023 by Stefano Amerio at Artesuono Recording Studio in Cavalicco (UD), Italy, and mastered by Danilo Rossi.
Kultur | lx, Taller de Músics and the Accion Cultural Española joined forces to implement a joint residency programme dedicated to Luxembourgish and Catalan jazz artists. In order to favour artistic encounters between both scenes and foster the international career development of jazz artists, two Luxembourg-based musicians and two Barcelona-based musicians will gather from November 18th to 21st in Barcelona to share their artistic visions. The result of these days dedicated to research and creation will be presented at Jamboree (Barcelona) and neimënster (Luxembourg), respectively on November 21st and 26th.
As this programme seeks to encourage the transmission between emerging and experienced artists, it will involve two established artists: Marc Demuth, a doublebass player and composer from Luxembourg, and Irene Reig, a saxophone player and composer based in Barcelona. They will coordinate the residency and share their experiences with two emerging artists selected by a jury.
The jury, composed by Marc Demuth, Irene Reig, Stéphane Wasila (neimënster) and Josep Mestres (Jamboree), decided to select the Luxembourgish vibist, composer and producer Arthur Clees, as well as the Barcelona-based drummer and composer Andreu Giró Espasa.
About the laureates
About Arthur Clees
Arthur Vinzent Clees is a young vibist, composer and producer from Luxembourg. He grew up in the small town of Esch-sur-Alzette and began his musical studies by taking cello. He soon decided to switch instruments and started finding interest in percussive instruments. After several years of studying classical percussion and taking multiple theory classes, he started to find his way into Jazz. Through playing drums and, eventually, by picking up the vibraphone as a main instrument, he started exploring the endless facets of contemporary improvised music. In 2019, he was a laureate of the Bourse Michelle and won the first prize during the drummer days in Luxembourg in 2020. After finishing high school in 2021, he started his bachelors in Jazz Composing in Dresden, where he currently studies.
Over the years Arthur was involved in many different band projects, both as a sideman and as a bandleader. With the band Anima he won the first prize of the Hans & Eugenia Jütting Stiftung in 2022. Arthur is currently active as a performer, composer and producer in both modern improvised music as well as contemporary classical music. Recent projects include a live album of an improvised set with Jan Jelinek (Faitiche & Terres Rouges), the release of debut albums with both Anima (Xjazz!) and Jambal (self released), as well as a brand-new duo project with vocalist Kateryna Kravchenko. In addition to his studies in composition and vibraphone, Arthur consistently kept working on his passion for electronic music and music production. Not only has he been making beats and mixes for other artists, including Culture the Kid, but he will also release his debut album stay, temporary home as a songwriter/producer on the Berlin based Label Macro end of 2023.
Andreu Giró Espasa
Andreu Giró is a passionate and dedicated musician who has devoted a significant portion of his life to studying and performing music. He commenced his musical education at the Can Ponsic Municipal School of Music, l’ARC Foundation, during the 2006-2007 academic year and continued his studies until the 2015-2016 academic year. During his tenure at the school, Andreu displayed a keen interest in the piano, dedicating 7 years to mastering this instrument and participating in various chamber music ensembles at the school. From 2010 to 2016, he concurrently pursued drum studies under the tutelage of teacher Iñaki de la Linde, broadening his repertoire and honing his skills with this instrument.
Andreu continued his education at the Taller de Músics School of Music in Barcelona. Between 2016 and 2019, he studied drums, piano, and ensemble (combo) under the guidance of different teachers delving into the techniques and expressions of jazz. Andreu’s unwavering dedication to music propelled him to commence his higher music studies at Taller de Músics ESEM in September 2019, where he continued to refine his drumming interpretation in jazz under the mentorship of teachers Ramón Ángel Rey, Toni Pagès, and Jordi Gardeñas. Andreu Giró successfully completed his higher Jazz studies and presented his graduation concert at Jamboree in Barcelona in June 2023.
About the mentors
Marc Demuth
Over the past several years, Luxembourg bassist Marc Demuth has emerged as a strong voice in the European jazz scene. In 2004 he was selected to be part of the European Jazz Orchestra on their tour through Europe and Brazil, under the conduction of the Portuguese leader and composer Pedro Moreira. A long-term usical partnership with Portuguese singer Sofia Ribeiro resulted in numerous appearances at venues and festivals all over Europe and the release of their Duo recording “Dança da Solidão” in 2006. Since 1998 has played in the Reis Demuth Wiltgen Trio, who released their fourth CD SLY for the Italian label Cam Jazz. Saxophonist Joshua Redman met the band at a festival in France in 2014 and fell in love with their music from the moment he heard them. Joshua joined the trio as a featured guest on many occasions and tours. He also was part of a project featuring the music of REIS/DEMUTH/WILTGEN arranged for the Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg by multiple Grammy Award winning composer and conductor Vince Mendoza.
As an accomplished and passionate jazz educator, Marc shares his experience and insights with the next generation of creative musicians at the Echternach Music School in Luxembourg. He started his musical studies at the Luxembourg conservatory, and pursued them at the Royal Conservatory of Brussels with Jean-Louis Rassinfosse and Michel Hetzigeorgiou. He got his master from the Royal Conservatory of The Hague under Hein van de Geyn.
In 1996, at the young age of 18, he won a scholarship for studying electric bass at the famous Berklee College of Music, while participating at their annual workshop in Perugia, Italy.
Irene Reig
Irene is a saxophone player and composer based in Barcelona. She got interested in jazz music at an early age and she has been involved in music since then. She has been living in different cities such as Amsterdam and Philadelphia where she developed her career and recorded her firsts albums: Views and The Bop Collective. She is currently playing with her own trio and many other ensembles. She is also part of the collective and label The Changes.
Arthur Possing | ID:entity
Album release: August 25th 2023 | Double Moon/Challenge Records
ID:entity, the first solo album, draws a deep and intense introspection – both musically and humanly – into the world of pianist and composer Arthur Possing. The singer-songwriter format has always had an impact on the artist and the essence of songs has been the essential guideline for this new record. By using multiple textures of the piano, Arthur creates a very personal and intimate universe, combining originals with covers of influential songs and free improvisation.
Listen to ID:entity album
Listen to ID:entity’s first single : The Essence of Joy
Jambal | Enterprises of great pith and moment
Release: September 15th
Jambal and L.A. based composer/producer Tristan de Liège teamed up last summer to record a new full-length collaboration album called Enterprises of Great Pith and Moment.
After one week of songwriting, composing, arranging and rehearsing, they started putting the album together at Unison studios in Differdange.
The result is a very intimate insight into the unique band-sound of Jambal, which has evolved considerably since their first EP release in 2021. A blend of experimental textures, modern grooves, and shifting harmonies, as well as improvisations, heavily influenced by contemporary jazz. The album also features a string quartet, played by L.A. based musician Gregory Allison and Luxembourgish artist Claire Parsons. Sound engineering as well as mixing was done by Eric ‘Slunnes’ Slunecko, the mastering has been made by Nate Wood.
Their first single Uncertainties just recently got a spin on John Osborne’s show on JazzFM UK.
Listen to Jambal:
04.08. : release of Uncertainties
01.09. : release of Collisions of Light
15.09. : album release
VictorKrausGroup | Canto Ostinato
Album release: October 7th | Donemus Records
For Canto Ostinato, Victor Kraus (playing the marimba) is joined by eight of the best musicians from the Luxembourg and international music scene: Kae Shiraki (piano), Aniela Stoffels (flute), Anik Schwall (cello), Max Mausen (clarinet), Guy Frisch (vibraphone), Emre Sevindik (electronics), Michel de Souza (voice) and Pit Brosius (conductor). In collaboration with this team, performing as the VictorKrausGroup, he has developed a hybrid project around the 1976 piece Canto Ostinato by Dutch composer Simeon ten Holt. Other projects are currently being planned and will follow in 2024/2025.
The project began in 2017 as part of a production by German broadcaster NDR at the international festival Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (Germany), culminating in 2023 in the recording of an album to mark the composer’s 100th anniversary during an artist residency at Trifolion in Echternach (Luxembourg). Simeon ten Holt used the term “genetic code” to describe the rhythmic foundation of his piece. It is a quintuplet that develops Canto Ostinato by exploring 106 repeated cells ad libitum.
Victor Kraus presents a brand-new version by adding wind and string instruments, electronic elements and vocals to this magnificent piece, originally written for multiple keyboard instruments. Electronics and vocals play a predominant role in this project, which is conceived as a hybrid project, an artwork and a sensual performance, blending a “classical” work with minimalist transformations, electronic music, singing, lighting and recitation of poems by Fernando Pessoa, Gianni Rodari, Gabriel Marcel and Anise Koltz.
Maria Miteva | Golden Lights
Album release: October 22nd
Flutist Maria Miteva’s new album Golden Lights features works by four Luxembourgish composers and five Bulgarian composers – Boris Schmidt, Alexander Müllenbach, A. Petrovic-Vratchanska, Ivan Boumans, Miroslav Danev, Dimitar Bodurov, Milcho Leviev, Antoni Donchev, Valeri Kostov. After her last album Ways, Maria Miteva shows a new face of her work, merging jazz and classical music together along with world-renowned classical and jazz musicians.
Maria Miteva -Flute
Eugenia Radoslava -Piano (contemporary pieces)
Antoni Donchev – Piano (jazz pièces)
Boris Dinev – Drums, Tupan, Percussions
Boris Schmidt – Doublebass
Luc Hemmer – Vibraphone
Josip Dragnić-Gitarre
Olivier Dartevelle – Clarinet
Mariya Parashkevova – Voice (recording)
The album was recorded at the Luxembourgish Studio Tonstudio Schlim.
With the support of Ministry of culture, Fondation Independance by BIL, and the SACEM
Claude Lenners | Hôtel à insectes
Release: September 15th | NEOS Music
Carried by contemporary music and works, the CD Hôtel à insectes explores the extraordinary and abundant of insects through a 25-piece cycle with texts by Shakespeare, Kafka, Grass, Neruda, Virgil, as well as Schlechter. It is a collection of texts with insects as a central topics, addressed on different points of view.
The works are recorded by the Noise Watchers Ensemble:
Marie-Reine Nimax (soprano),
Max Mausen (clarinet)
Hany Heshmat (guitar)
Greg Lamy, laureate of the Global Project Grant 2023 in the category of Jazz/World music, has released his new album, Letting Go, with Flavio Boltro on 8 June 2023 via Igloo Records.
Letting Go marks a clear evolution in the guitarist’s playing, distinguished by the care taken with the colours, the play with space, the increasingly refined sound, and the lightness of the accompaniment that avoids overload. Above all, they emphasise the importance of listening to their partner. This is an album of spellbinding spontaneity – all the themes are first takes! – and a natural fluidity at all times.
Greg Lamy enlisted the help of a digital communications agency to raise awareness of his album, develop a conversation with his fans and attract new ones, as well as generating excitement for his new album through the creation of high-impact content.
As well as raising his profile at a European level, he has developed his international reputation, leading him this autumn, in addition to numerous dates in Europe (Italy, France, Germany), to perform solo in Canada and in Taiwan with Flavio Boltro.
“Wonderful” – Alice Leclercq in Jazz News
“You want to let yourself go to the indolent rhythm of this music, like in a boat abandoned to the slow current of a wide river in which you feel so comfortable that you wish the river would never reach the sea.” – Jean-Claude Vantroyen in Le Soir, ****
“he lets his guest do the honour of taking his piece to the top, in the kind of letting go that refers to the title, which is a key feature of the art of improvisation, of which the album is a sparkling example.” – Ismaël Simeon in Jazz Magazine, ***
About Greg Lamy
“A guitar player whose refreshing and pure guitar sound gives birth to multiple melodic climates, underlined by a most fluid style, a musician with a promising future. ” Such is Lionel Loueke’s praise of the American-Luxembourgish guitarist and composer Greg Lamy, one of the most talented artists of the European jazz scene.
After studying jazz guitar in Boston at the Berklee College of Music as well as in London at the Trinity College, Lamy was quickly noticed when showcasing with various bands in clubs and at festivals across Europe and the United. He plays and has played with, among others, Lionel Loueke, Gretchen Parlato, Flavio Boltro, Bojan Z, Marco Massa, …
For Lamy, a tour follows hot on the heels of another. Europe, United States, Brazil, China – his music goes around the world. He released numerous albums with different projects, most notably, with his quartet, “Meeting” in 2013 and “Press Enter” in 2017, both on Igloo Records and both highly praised and among the label’s bestselling albums. In 2016, Greg Lamy won the Export Artist of the Year Award (music:LX) in the Jazz category. In 2020, he was offered an endorsement deal by the renowned guitar manufacturer “Westville”
About the Global Projet Grant
Created by music:LX and taken over by Kultur | lx, the Global Project Grant is awarded to a musician of each genre (pop/rock/electro/hip-hop, jazz/world, classical/contemporary). It allows to support the artist in the development of a project that aims to stimulate his/her career. Kultur | lx follows the artists and their teams in each stage of the project.
More information about the Global Project Grant can be found here
Applications to be submitted by September 18, 2023
Kultur | lx – Arts Council Luxembourg, Taller de Músics and Acción Cultural Española aim to provide spaces for musical creation and to promote the international careers of emerging jazz and improvised music artists. The program includes a period of gestation during an artistic residency and the presentation of the show in Barcelona and Luxemburg during autumn 2023.
The main premise of this call is to select one emerging musician from Luxembourg and one emerging musician from Barcelona to create a quartet of experienced and emerging musicians for a residency programme that will take place from November 18th to 21st, 2023.
For four days, two musicians from Luxembourg and two musicians from Barcelona will meet and share their compositions, cultures and musical visions. The project will be co-led by Marc Demuth, established and talented bass player and composer from Luxemburg, and Irene Reig, saxophonist and composer representing one of the standard-bearers of the new generation of Catalan jazz musicians.
After an initial concert to mark the end of the residency at Barcelona’s Club Jamboree, the quartet will set down roots in neimënster (Luxembourg) for a second concert.
This residency project is supported by Taller de Músics, Kultur | lx – Arts Council Luxembourg, neimënster, Jamboree in collaboration with Fabra I Coats – Fabrica de Creació. This project is part of Acciones para Músicos Noveles, a co-production between Taller de Músics and Acción Cultural Española, AC/E.
About Taller de Músics
Taller de Músics is much more than a pioneering school in the dissemination of jazz, flamenco and modern popular music. In its more than 40 years of history, it has built up its own system of education, creation, production and dissemination of music. In the field of education, it is a unique and complete project of artistic accompaniment that consists of creativity and spontaneity accompanying their students on their paths from the classroom to stage.
Actions for New Musicians is a collaborative project between Taller de Músics and Acción Cultural Española (AC/E). Since 2019 it has been providing spaces for musical creation and promoting the international careers of emerging artists from the Taller de Músics community. The actions it carries out include periods of gestation in artistic residencies with national and international figures, the promotion of shows, co-productions with festivals, digital publishing and attendance at seminars and festivals.
Conditions for participation
The call is open to emerging jazz musicians from Barcelona and Luxembourg. Applicants from Luxembourg must fit the following criteria:
- Be a Luxembourg citizen or a resident in Luxembourg
- Dealing with jazz and improvised music
- Having ties to the Luxembourgish musical life
- Having completed or being in the process of completing a professionalising music curriculum
- Having a desire for a professional career
- Being in capacity to bring his/her own compositions during the time of the residency
- Having a significant experience in a music band as a leader and/or side-musician
- Having good adaptation capacity and a taste for new encounters
- Having a spirit of openness to other cultures and to sharing and questioning one’s own practice
- Being available on the dates of the residency and the concerts
The applications should be submitted by August 31th, 2023 at 11:59 pm.
The names of the selected musicians will be published on mid-september 2023.
Material and financial terms
The selected participant will receive a fee for each concert.
Kultur | lx will cover all the expenses related to the residency of the Luxembourgish participants :
- Travel expenses to Barcelona
- Accommodation for the time of the residency in Barcelona (from November 17th to November 22nd)
- A residency allowance of 600€
Taller de Músics will cover the expenses related to the production costs of the residency.
Jury and criteria
A committee formed by the two band leaders (Irene Reig and Marc Demuth) and the two venues bookers (Jamboree and at neimënster) will evaluate the submitted applications.The jury will select one emerging musician from Luxembourg, and one emerging musician from Barcelona.
The jury’s decision is final.
Required documents
- Photocopy of ID
- Residency certificate
- Healthcare registration certificate
- CV
- A letter of intent explaining the motivation of the artist to take part in this residency programme
- Videoclips where the artist is playing live
- Links to original tracks of the artist
Propulsion is a support programme dedicated to accompany emerging jazz artists from the French Région Grand Est and Luxembourg. It is designed as a career accelerator offering an artistic point of view and a support to the structuration path.
For this first edition, Propulsion selected the Daniel Migliosi 5tet (Luxembourg) and the Hugo Diaz Quartet (Grand Est). Both laureates were under the mentorship of Maxime Bender (saxophone) and Stéphane Scharlé (drums).
Propulsion also was an occasion for the laureates to receive know-how in the fields of structuration and touring thanks to several training opportunities provided by all the partners involved in the project.
As a partner of the project, Kultur | lx gave the musicians access to its workshop dedicated to the French jazz market, and to project pitching. Also, as part of its mission to support artists in their networking extension, Kultur | lx provided a support for the travel of the Luxembourgish laureate Daniel Migliosi to jazzahead!.
On the 17th of June, all partners involved in Propulsion gathered to make a review of this prefigurating edition, and to prepare the next one. This day was followed by the release concert of the Propulsion laureates at neimënster.
About Daniel Migliosi, Luxembourgish laureate of Propulsion
Daniel Migliosi is a Luxembourgish trumpet player. Since 2020, he has been studying at the Hochschule für Musik in Cologne, where he founded several bands, notably a sextet with whom he released his debut album Left on scene in 2022. Parallel to this, Daniel Migliosi is part of outstanding bands such as the Westdeutscher Rundfunk Big Band and the Orchestre national de jazz des jeunes.
Propulsion is a programme chaperoned by the Compagnie Tangram and the Trifolion Echternach. It has received the support of the Oeuvre de Secours Grande Duchesse Charlotte through the Prix Culture et Création, of Kultur | lx – Arts Council Luxembourg, the Région Grand-Est, and the DRAC Grand Est. Jazzdor, Jazzus and neimënster are also partners of the programme.
For more information about Propulsion, click here.
The Global Project Grant, available to artists in the Luxembourgish music scene, offers them the chance of setting out and proposing a project that will enable them to kick-start their career development, promotion and marketing, participation in tours, involvement in international workshops/conferences, and to increase the depth of their compositional work.
This initiative is intended to add value to the project and to encourage artists and their teams to plan their strategy one year ahead, with a dedicated budget. For its part, Kultur | lx is committed to accompanying the laureates in all stages of the project.
More information about Global Project Grant here
Deadline to apply: September 18, 2023
In 2022, Francis of Delirium embarked on three tours: early in the year, a first-ever North American tour as support act for The Districts, with around thirty dates across the USA and Canada, including their first headline gig in New York at Baby’s All Right; the band then supported Briston Maroney across Europe before touring the UK as headliners in the autumn. Francis of Delirium have also released a series of three EPs with The Funhouse, out on 27 April on Dalliance Recordings.
Francesco Tristano released his new album on early music on 11 February 2022 via Sony Classical. The promotion of this album, which marks his return to the baroque repertoire, was accompanied by a series of concerts in Europe and a marketing strategy designed to promote both the release of the album and tour dates in specific territories.
Claire Parsons and Laurent Peckels founded the collective The Aquatic Museum, at the crossroads of pop and chamber music. The collective worked on their eponymous album, which combines jazz harmonies with pop sounds, while retaining the delicacy of chamber music. Alongside this album, an application is currently being developed that will transport users into an aquatic museum and guide them through the rooms of this virtual space.
Previous laureates
2023
Pop/Rock/electro/hip-hop : Josh Island
Jazz/World : Greg Lamy
2022
Pop/Rock/electro/hip-hop : Francis of Delirium
Jazz/World : Claire Parsons
Classical/contemporary : Francesco Tristano
2021
Pop/Rock/electro/hip-hop : TUYS
Jazz/World : Michel Meis 4TET
Classical/contemporary : Cathy Krier
Committed to foster the promotion and export the Luxembourgish jazz scene, Kultur | lx joins forces with CCRD opderschmelz for the Like A Jazz Machine Festival (May 10th to 14th 2023), to organise a Focus dedicated to Luxembourgish jazz. On May 12th and 13th, Kultur | lx will invite a delegation of international guests to discover the Luxembourgish projects featured at the festival.
On May 12th, two projects arising from opderschmelz residencies will be presented: Mathieu Clement and his collective will present their first compositions. They will be followed by Shauli Einav’s Living Organs Quartet.
On May 13th, the day will start with a concert by the young guitar player Veda Bartringer. The audience will then discover Greg Lamy’s new project, with trumpet player Stéphane Belmondo as a guest. In the evening, Michel Reis will present a new project with his German trio and the United Instruments of Lucilin contemporary music ensemble. The band Tele-Port will play the compositions from their new album Please Disperse, to be released very soon, and recorded during an opderschmelz residency.
In the aim of encouraging encounters and synergies that are necessary to the export of these projects on the international level and the career development of the artists, Kultur | lx will organise a speedmeeting session and a lunch between international guests and local professionals and artists.
Click here to discover the full line-up of Like A Jazz Machine.
Michel Meis 4tet, Lollipop Moment
Release: May 25, 2023
The quartet around the Luxembourg drummer Michel Meis is back with their third opus Lollipop Moment.
The record features three new compositions (Puff Puff Puff, Silberfell and The Madness) embedded in a freely improvised session. The musicians remain Meis’s usual fellows: Alisa Klein on trombone, Cédric Hanriot on piano and Stephan Goldbach on double bass. In contrast, the instrumentation moves towards a more electronic sound with the addition of synthesisers and effects.
While improvisation is the common thread of the album, the new hybrid acoustic and electronic sound enhances the band’s sonic spectrum. In contrast to smooth transitions between these two poles, hard cuts underline the band’s career-spanning explosive, edgy, and slightly provocative character.
Through its diverse moods and complex yet never arbitrary structures, Lollipop Moment offers music that is as elaborate as it is spontaneous, giving jazz a fresh touch by breaking down genre boundaries.
Inspired by Drew Dudley’s definition of a lollipop moment, where someone said or did something that fundamentally made someone else’s life better, Michel Meis wants to touch people with his music and accompany them on their journey.
Singles to discover:
21/04/2023 – Puff Puff Puff
02/05/2023 – Silberfell
12/05/2023 – The Madness
Triana y Luca, Fragmentos del Olvidos
Release: June 2023
Triana y Luca’s goal is to transcend the barriers between the old and the new. They aim to reconnect listeners to their roots, wherever they may lie buried. As children of first- and second-generation immigrants, their project explores origins and identities. They emphasise the importance of tradition, even in modern times where it may seem obsolete, to encourage listeners to come on the journey of reunification with cultural knowledge and lost stories.
Their upcoming EP, Fragmentos del Olvidos, was recorded at Tritone Studios (LU) and produced by Mike Butcher (producer of Black Sabbath, Rod Stewart, Jaco Pastorius) and is set to be released in June 2023. The EP is a collection of stories and sonority recompiled in five songs of different styles and rhythms. Earlier this year, the duo released their first two singles Raíz and Recuerdos de Tánger. On April 21st, they published Malinche, a letter dedicated to one of the most important women in the history of the Americas.
Tele-Port, Please Disperse
Release: May 2023
From hypnotic minimalism to fully improvised supernovas to powerful groove songs, this energetic quartet blends European tradition, American jazz and Eastern influences to create an exciting modern sound. The band is composed of leading figures of the Luxembourg jazz scene: Pol Belardi (bass), Jérôme Klein (keyboards) and Jeff Herr (drums) who have teamed up with Zhenya Strigalev, an adventurous saxophonist from London. Their new album, “Please Disperse”, will be released in May 2023 by Double Moon/Challenge Records.
Markus Brönnimann, Bachs, Benda And Brönnimann
Release : June 15th, 2023 (Toccata Next)
Markus Brönnimann, Jean Halsdorf, Léon Berben, Ensemble Pyramide
Solo flutist of the Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg, Markus Brönimann is about to release a CD dedicated to flute works by the Bach family, Franz Benda and his own composition. Combining works from different times, the album seeks to reflect on the posterity of ancient music works and our contemporary relationship to this music.
Nik Bohnenberger, d|ecken
Nik Bohnenberger presents his last composition d|ecken on YouTube. d|ecken combines textile processes – graphic conception, cutting and fabric sewing – with electroacoustic experiences. The result of this is an Instrument that associates the childish concept of a castle with the idea of the tent. Fabric strips from the installation form a semi-permeable surface between the internal and external worlds. The interaction between textile and electronique can be perceived, heard and seen by the visitors themselves.