Hence an original tune Mal Du Pays that sent shivers through the crowd. Even though the two Lopez Nussa brothers are happy to live in France, they also get homesick for their native land (and who wouldn’t in this case?). His “Timba a la Americana” quartet features his brother on drums, bassist Luques Curtis and last but not least, master of the harmonica, Grégoire Maret. Set between two German showcases, Harold Lopez Nussa, the Cuban pianist now a French resident, gave an outstanding performance at the Schlachthof (the attendees’ favourite venue which, as the name translates, used to be a slaughterhouse). There was live music from, among others, two of Germany’ leading jazz musicians, trumpeter Till Brönner and bassist Dieter Ilg. One of the highlights of the first day was a major opening ceremony which was very well-attended. Time is of the essence and, while the trade fair is running every day from 10:00 to 19:00, it’s always a challenge to check out as many showcases as possible, notably in late afternoon when trying to escape the alternative temptations of the various country cocktail receptions. This way, we could hear a German project and then move on to check a European or overseas showcase, and so on and so forth. Instead of the usual modules normally set on fixed dates (German Expo, European and Overseas showcases), the organisers had a brilliant idea of mixing them all up. After last year’s rather clumsy decision to have simultaneous showcases, Jazzahead (styled commercially as the typographically awkward “jazzahead!”) returned in 2023 to its original format of allowing a large audience to taste a very diverse programme throughout the three days of the festival.

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