The jazz festival See more Jazz will take place from August 15 to 17.
Press release Festival See more Jazz 2025
The jazz festival See more Jazz will take place from August 15 to 17. The organizers Andreas Martens and René Geschke have once again succeeded in bringing international and national jazz greats to Rostock in 2025.
The festival is traditionally opened on Saturday by musicians from Rostock. This year it will be the Christoph Möckel Trio.
Christoph Möckel, one of the "most promising young German saxophonists" according to Deutschlandfunk, represents a new generation of innovative jazz musicians in his trio with Oliver Lutz and Fabian Rösch. They form an exciting trio with the rather rare combination of bass clarinet/saxophone, electric bass and drums. The additional use of live electronic effects enables an almost limitless exploration of sound and leads to a homogeneous and surprising fusion of contemporary improvised music with experimental jazz rock and electronic music. With this musical breadth, the trio appeals to experienced jazz listeners, but also ventures into new territory and seeks its audience at the interfaces to alternative pop music, for example.
Together they create imaginative soundscapes that blossom in highly energetic improvisations and interactions. Creative jazz on the pulse of time! The band leader is a lecturer in saxophone at the Rostock University of Music and Drama.
Afterwards, Sebastian Gahler and the "Electric Stories" will perform high-energy jazz with depth.
"Electric Stories" - the new album by Düsseldorf jazz pianist Sebastian Gahler. Following the huge success of his Haruki Murakami-inspired album "Two Moons" (2022) - with over 10 million streams - Düsseldorf jazz pianist Sebastian Gahler is releasing his next album just three years later. "Electric Stories" offers groove-based high-energy jazz with depth and underlines Gahler's self-image as a versatile musical storyteller.
The sound setting is based on the electro, funk and fusion jazz of the 1960s and 70s, in which Gahler locates his musical roots, and traces role models such as Herbie Hancock's groundbreaking album "Head Hunters". To do this, Gahler switches from the classic grand piano to a castle of vintage keyboards. He combines the bell-like tines of a Fender Rhodes with the crisp punch of a Wurlitzer electric piano, mixes the floating vibrato of a Hammond B-3 organ with the warm lead sounds of a Moog synthesizer and adds the icing on the cake with the silvery sound of a Hohner String Performer.
Electric Stories" not only closes the circle to the electro-jazz of the 70s, but also to Sebastian Gahler's own musical work.
Friday ends with Radius , one of the hottest German funk & soul bands.
With a mixture of backbeat and funky basslines, their music goes straight to the heart and the hip region. As support for Gregory Porter and at numerous appearances at festivals and clubs, the 7-piece band has made a name for itself with an irresistible and danceable mix of funk and soul. For their second album "Vly" (2025), Radius has managed to win over singer Leonora. The 23-year-old German-Italian Leonora is one of the rising stars of the German funk-pop scene and an absolutely exceptional talent. With her powerful voice and refreshing lightness, she is reminiscent of artists such as Dua Lipa and Lizzo. Radius has gathered a well-oiled funk and soul machine around her and manages to bring an explosion of feel-good vibes and high-energy brass and guitar riffs to the stage. Everything is subordinated to the groove, sometimes reminiscent of Stevie Wonder and Vulfpeck, sometimes of a mixture of Bob Marley and Herbie Hancock. Radius brings together the crème de la crème of German funk and pop musicians who have already worked with greats such as the WDR Big Band, Klinke Supreme (TvTotal), Die Fantastischen Vier and pop stars like Nina Chuba. The irresistible joy of playing is transferred to the audience from the very first minute and leaves no dancing leg unmoved.
Saturday begins with Iiro Rantala and his international trio HEL. The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung attested him "intelligence, humor, a lot of sentiment, unpredictable ideas and the finest piano craftsmanship"; Jazz Thing spoke of a "natural phenomenon on the keys". After a decade and a half, Finnish pianist Iiro Rantala is returning to his roots. This is the first time since the dissolution of his cult band Trio Töykeät in 2008 that Rantala has presented his music again in the format of a classical piano trio. With Trio Töykeät, he turned the European jazz world upside down from 1988 and, alongside the Esbjörn Svensson Trio, was considered the hottest trio on the continent. Since the group disbanded in 2008, Rantala has been searching for the ideal formation - a search that has now come to an end with the HEL Trio.
He is joined by two congenial improvisers and partners: the British bassist Conor Chaplin on the one hand and the Swedish-Norwegian drummer Anton Eger on the other. Entertaining and rousing performances between classical and jazz, fiery as hell (maybe that's why the trio is called that!) and presented with a lot of humor are guaranteed.
Saturday ends with JBBG SMÅL feat. Arto Tunçboyacıyan and Michael Sagmeister (AUT)
Music on the pulse of time: For over 10 years, the internationally acclaimed JBBG - Jazz Bigband Graz has been making a name for itself with its ingenious and unique sound, which is located somewhere between jazz, pop, minimal, world music elements and jazz music attitude. Driven by the musical vision of Kalnein and Schaffer, the JBBG has broken new musical ground for jazz orchestras with its last three productions. Now the two present a new project that gives the JBBG a new facet: JBBG Smål - GRAN RISERVA, JBBG in pocket format, so to speak. The music itself draws on the compositional world of the two experienced leaders and the newest member of the ensemble, Armenian keyboardist Karen
Asatrian. Highly varied and colorful, it combines expressive melodies with ample room for musical surprises and a wide improvisational range.
The festival traditionally ends on Sunday in the Kunsthalle with the Austrian pianist Martin Listabarth . Martin Listabarth is an excellent musical storyteller whose music begins exactly where words no longer suffice.
His music is deeply rooted in jazz, but also moves between classical and pop - all garnished with a touch of oriental esprit. His compositions are inspired by landscapes and cities, people and personal encounters. This is reflected in highly emotional music - sometimes melancholy, sometimes full of tension and then again witty, peppered with harmonic and rhythmic refinements that are "reminiscent of the lively, cantabile lines of Stefano Bollani" (Wiener Zeitung). Listabarth uses keys and pedals instead of brushes to create magnificent sound paintings and is excellent at getting the audience in the mood for the pieces with his announcements. His two solo albums "Short Stories" and "Dedicated", as well as his current trio album "Postcards", have meanwhile won over national and international media.
The entire program can be found at www.seemorejazz.de; tickets are available at the press center, at eventim and at mvticket.de or at the box office.
Overview of the program
Friday, 15.08.2025 I 18:45 I Zoologischer Garten
CHRISTOPH MÖCKEL TRIO (D)
Friday, 15.08.2025 I 19:45 I Zoologischer Garten
Sebastian Gahler Electric Stories (d)
Friday, 15.08.2025 I 21:00 I Zoologischer Garten
RADIUS feat. Leonora (D)
Saturday, 16.08.2025 I 19:00 I Zoologischer Garten
IIRO RANTALA: HEL TRIO (FIN, GB, S)
Saturday, 16.08.2025 I 20:45 I Zoologischer Garten
JBBG SMÅL feat. Arto Tunçboyacıyan and Michael Sagmeister (AUT)
Sunday, 17.08.2025 I 11:00 a.m. I Kunsthalle Rostock
MARTIN LISTABARTH (AUT)
