We Europe: A jazzy ending to the pandemic

Following the Spanish flu pandemic the economy boomed, major technological advances were made, artistic life flourished and the jazz music scene blossomed. With those events from the 1920s in mind, nine artists will give the largest online concert in the Old Continent’s history, called “We Europe”. All performances will be available to viewers online and free of charge at WeEurope.art. On Friday, 21^st May at 8 p.m. (CEST)

Today, on the 30^th of April when we celebrate the International Jazz Day, Krzysztof Kobyliński – a charismatic pianist and composer from Gliwice, Poland has officially announced the “We Europe” concert on his Facebook page (facebook.com/KrzysztofKobylinskiArt):

“An entire year of the pandemic has gone by. This experience, in whose wake so many lives were lost, has been shared at the European and global level. We still do now know when this pandemic will be over but we do know that after the last global pandemic the jazz music scene, artistic life in general and the economy had flourished. We are convinced that this time a spring revival is also imminent. With this hope in mind we would like to invite you to the ‘We Europe’ concert which will be broadcast live and free of charge on the 21^st of May from eight European towns at www.WeEurope.art and on the Facebook page (facebook.com/WeEuropeArt) in the Events section”, wrote the artist.

Largest online jazz music concert in Europe

The „We Europe” concert will be the largest jazz music concert in the Old Continent. Jazz music concert organisers from all over Europe have worked together to make this project a reality. The main initiator of the project, Krzysztof Kobyliński, will appear at the venue of the annual Palm Jazz Festival in Jazovia, Gliwice, Poland, followed by the Szymon Klima and Dominik Wania duo. In Prešov, Slovakia, David Kollar will play a duo with Tomas Mutina at a concert organised by the makers of the Hevhetia Košice Festival. In Brno, Czech Republic, famous for the Ponava Fest, the Jakub Mizeracki Trio will perform. In the Austrian Diersbach Sweet Emma Band (Inntoene Jazz Festival) will play. The Lorenzo de Finti Quartet (Rosetum Jazz Festival) will give a concert straight from Milan, Italy and from Tilburg in the Netherlands the Paul van Kemenade Quintet (Stranger Than Paranoia Jazz Festival) will perform. Izabella Effenberg will give a concert in the German Nuremberg and the Leonid Shinkarenko Band (Nida Jazz Festival) will make their appearance on stage in Vilnius, Lithuania. The ninth concert will be given by the Jacques Seguin Group in Montreal, Canada as a part of the Polish-Canadian partnership (Jazz Crossing Festival).

History tells us that a spring revival in imminent

The idea of a spring revival that would unite all artistic efforts is supported by history. In his recent publication Apollo’s Arrow: The Profound and Enduring Impact of Coronavirus on the Way We Live Nicholas Christakis, a Yale professor, has analysed previous pandemics and discerned a recurring schema: when deadly germs are at large, societies tend to put away money and eschew risk of any kind. Once the pandemic is over, those tendencies undergo a dramatic reversal. To give an example, in the 1920s when the Spanish flu pandemic was over there was a major development in radio broadcasting, jazz music and women’s rights movements. “Now in the wake of the coronavirus epidemic we are bound to experience similar phenomena. In the coming years an artistic, economic, technological and political recovery will unfold”, writes Christakis.

All concerts at WeEurope.art

All concerts organised as part of the „We Europe” project can be viewed online free of charge at WeEurope.art and on Facebook.com/WeEuropeArt in the Events section.