A L’ARME! Festival Vol. X

Unfortunately, we have to cancel Claire Rousay's performance at short notice – we're very sorry and wish her all the best! On 12.08. Ludwig Wandering spontaneously joins Macie Stewart and Ken Vandermark on stage in her place.

Music demands excitement, friction, confrontation. Music needs to be lived and felt… A celebration of uncompromising sounds, the 2022 “A L’ARME!” Festival marks its tenth anniversary by once again bringing to Berlin artists with an unflappably innovative spirit. The anniversary edition Vol. X takes place from 10 to 13 August in Berlin. silent green hosts opening night, with three festival days following at Radialsystem.

This international festival for everything outside of the status quo and false certainties is more diverse than ever before. The programme spans from black jazz to sound art, from electronica to current jazz codes. The Norwegian band Shining performs their fervid avant-garde metal, whose album “Blackjazz”(2010) was the decisive impetus behind the creation of “A L’ARME!”. This energy is also seized upon by US-American Moor Mother, who presents the world premiere of her work “Jazzcodes” together with her ensemble. Trios Ludwig Wandinger/Macie Stewart/Ken Vandermark and Anja Lauvdal/Heida Johannesdottir/Maja S.K. Ratkje perform in Berlin for the first time as well. Bassist Farida Amadou returns with a new formation following her acclaimed performance last year, and drummer Katharina Ernst premieres her band-collective Ventil’s A/V show.

The festival provides space for the unexpected, for new courage and new ideas, especially in a time in which one existential crisis is replaced by the next. For its anniversary, “A L’ARME!” has set itself the tasks of bringing musicians and avant-garde artists to the stage who, at the time of the festival's founding, had little or no international presence, and of representing a substantial number of female artists in the jazz scene.

For the first time, all three Radialsystem headliners – Shining (11.08.), Farida Amadou (12.08.) und Ventil (13.08.) – take place in a club-like atmosphere with a standing audience. The deck at Radialsystem hosts the “A L’ARME!” X Anniversary lounge with a Natural “Naked” wine bar on all three days, and will show films of “A L’ARME!” concerts from 2020 and 2021.

Further information at www.alarmefestival.de

An event by Louis Rastig and Karina Mertin (ABOUTNOW). In cooperation with silent green and Radialsystem. Supported by the Berlin State Department for Culture and Europe, NEUSTART KULTUR, Initiative Musik and the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media. With the generous support of the Royal Norwegian Embassy.

Media partners: Digital in Berlin, rbb Kultur, Jazzthing, Berta Berlin, The Quietus, Rausgegangen, ExBerliner, taz. die tageszeitung, tip Berlin.