Since 2015, the Potsdam Jazz Festival has hosted top international and regional musicians on stage at the fabrik. With the 11th edition, the festival is changing its name to RARE BIRDS!
RARE BIRDS - International Music Festival Potsdam appeals to a curious audience to discover rare musical treasures. This year, the focus is on rhythm, grooves and percussion and brings together artists from Switzerland, Ivory Coast, Brazil, Belgium, Germany and the USA.
Nik Bärtsch's RONIN (Switzerland) have been touring the world since 2001 and call their music Zen Funk or Ritual Groove Music. RONIN follows a crystal-clear aesthetic vision: to achieve maximum effect with minimal means, creating trance-like states in the audience. Balafon player Aly Keїta (Ivory Coast), winner of the German Jazz Award 2022 and freshly returned from the Martha Argerich Festival, meets drummer and percussionist Mariá Portugal (Brazil) in a blind date concert. A spontaneous encounter between two musical cultures in which rhythm is the defining force. Das Kondensat from Berlin plays a wild mixture of grooving dub soundscapes and has expanded into a quartet with the US-American keyboardist, graphic artist and make-up artist Liz Kosack. DJ Illvibe (aka Vincent von Schlippenbach) from Berlin will conjure up a grooving tête-à-tête on his turntables with Belgian vibraphonist Els Vandeweyer. Records and vibraphone, a very special combination that goes beyond the expected! RARE BIRDS also offers a stage for the younger generation: with the Jugend jazzt competition, the festival is cooperating with the Brandenburg State Music Council for the second time. Jugend jazzt will be held as part of the festival, and the winners will open the evening on Saturday evening.
The name RARE BIRDS is also a tribute to the legendary saxophonist Charlie Parker. His playing is reminiscent of the free and rapid flight of a bird. Like a rare bird with its marvellous song, jazz has a special role: little heard and absolutely worth protecting. The RARE BIRDS 2025 programme promises a cosmos full of colourful and very different languages and styles, diverse and exciting!
PROGRAMME
Friday 28 Nov 2025 | 20:00
Nik Bärtsch's RONIN
Nik Bärtsch (piano), Kaspar Rast (drums), Jeremias Keller (electric bass), Sha (alto saxophone, bass and contrabass clarinet)
Els Vandeweyer & DJ Illvibe (aka Vincent von Schlippenbach)
Els Vandeweyer (vibraphone), DJ Illvibe (turntables)
Saturday 29 Nov 2025 | 19:30
Winners band Jugend jazzt
Aly Keїta & Mariá Portugal
Aly Keїta (balafon), Mariá Portugal (drums, percussion, voice)
Das Kondensat feat. Liz Kosack
Gebhard Ullmann (soprano/ tenor saxophone, looper, sampler) Oliver Potratz (electric bass, analogue effects) Eric Schaefer (drums, modular synthesizer), Liz Kosack (keyboards)
