© Picture: Micke Keysendal

Timing (per day)
- 3 p.m.: doors open
- 4pm: start of concerts
You can find further timing on this website.

/ The Collectives

For the ninth edition, the Summer Bummer Festival is addressing the request of Mats Gustafsson, Johan Berthling, Anna Lindal, Mats Äleklint, Alexander Zethson and Mads Forsby to kickstart a community-based activity (CBA) of the renowned Fire! Orchestra in Antwerp. The festival opens with Fire! Orchestra CBA Youth – with musicians between the ages of 8 and 12 – and concludes with Fire! Orchestra CBA, with more than 20 musicians in its ranks.

Another collective at Summer Bummer is that of Ensemble Nist-Nah. Led by Australian drummer Will Guthrie, this eight-piece gamelan beast serves you a percussive Tsunami of Javanese and Balinese gamelan, seasoned with a healthy dose of experiment and free jazz.

/ The Trios

With the improvisation pioneers Evan Parker (saxophones), Barry Guy (bass), and Paul Lytton (drums), one of the longest recording and best trios ever will grace the Summer Bummer stage. The legacy of adventurous music will further be spontaneously passed on to younger generations in the unprecedented collaboration between free jazz pioneer Cel Overberghe (saxophones) and the 60 years younger reed players Ornella Noulet and Adia Vanheerentals.

The British trio of reed player Rachel Musson, drummer Mark Sanders, and bassist Olie Brice just released 'Immense Blue' their highly acclaimed debut for West Hill Records and will be performing on a Belgian stage for the first time. Bassist Nils Vermeulen met Norwegian alto saxophonist Heidi Kvelvane during the previous Summer Bummer edition and now presents a brand new trio featuring Tollef Østvang – one of the most active drummers on the Norwegian scene. Armed with 16 mm film projectors and analog electronics, Jérôme Noetinger, Xavier Quérel, and Christophe Auger, performing as Cellule d’Improvisation Metamkine, deconstruct the concepts of viewing (film) and listening (concert) and do everything with them, except what you expect.

/ The Duos

Farida Amadou (bass) and Heather Leigh (pedal steel) will play for the first time as a duo on stage. They previously graced the Summer Bummer stage – albeit separately – with the legendary reed player Peter Brötzmann, who passed away in 2023. During a tribute to Brötzmann in London this year they – in collaboration with a host of freejazz mainstays – jointly delivered quite some sonic fireworks on stage. And Sonic fireworks are exactly what the Lebanese-Swiss tandem of clarinet player Paed Conca and multi-instrumentalist Nadia Daou offer under the name The Mad Laboratory Of Anti-Matter.

Drummer Mauricio Takara has collaborated with artists like Pharoah Sanders, Yusef Lateef, Naná Vasconcelos and Damo Suzuki, while Carla Boregas is known from the avant-punk band RAKTA and her superb solo work – check ‘Pena ao Mar’ for iDEAL Recordings. Takara and Boregas, both mainstays of the São Paulo experimental music scene, recently relocated to Berlin and shake up jazz, kraut, experiment, improvisation and composition as genre-defying drums and electronics duo.

Cellist Jasmijn Lootens‘ contribution to the success of the world premiere of The Death of Kalypso (Angles) during Summer Bummer 2023 did not go unnoticed, earning her an invitation to Fire! Orchestra CBA. But there’s more to Lootens and her adventurous cello, as will be evident during her duo with the French, Brussels based violinist extraordinaire Clara Levy. And there’s more string power on the horizon. Alison Chesley (Helen Money) who prefers to let her cello roar while standing, often performs with renowned players like Anthrax, Bob Mould, Thalia Zedek, or Jarboe and finds a perfect partner in guitarist Steve Marquette (The Few, Marker, Instigation Orchestra/Festival) for Liminal Rites, a duo that navigates between noise and sheer beauty in their cinematic soundscapes.

/ The solos

And then there is also the necessary space for a number of musicians - who often serve other musicians and collectives - to profile themselves solo. Guitarist Ava Mendoza (Quok, Nate Wooley, William Parker, ...), saxophonist Sakina Abdou (Trapeze, Muzzix, ...) and cellist Lia Kohl (Makaya McCraven, Circuit Des Yeux, Steve Gunn, ...) will receive a forum to share their unique individual musical approach with the Summer Bummer audience.

/ The framework

An exhibition with images of previous Summer Bummer Festival editions is presented in a surprising way and a second festival magazine, with interviews of central festival guests and a handy timetable, is in the making. The high-quality record fair during the Summer Bummer Festival has become both for the artists and for the visitors a very appreciated tradition. The same goes for the stand with freshly made slow food: rich flavors and pure ingredients prepared with love and care by the Summer Bummer crew.

A detailed overview of the program can be found at this page!

With the support of: Flanders, Sound in Motion, Trix, De Studio, The Swedish Art Council, PKHedborg, Pro Helvetia, Radio Centraal, B&B Hotels

• #EXPERIMENTAL