In the anniversary year, the festival even gets two new improvisers in residence! New Yorkers Kevin Shea and Matt Mottel are no strangers to Moers. Several times they have been guests at the festival, especially as Duo Talibam!
Unforgettable their Big Impact 2018, when keyboardist Mottel faced a drum storm of 12 drummers – probably the loudest final concert of all the festivals! Mottel and Shea are highly imaginative, interdisciplinary artists whose political and social implications go far beyond the musical. For their year in Moers, they have brought a lot: they want to trace the history of German free jazz, which has built numerous connections to the USA since the 1960s. This can be seen particularly well in the programmes of the festival – how fitting for the anniversary year! Projects with migrants are planned as well as numerous actions in public space, let us be surprised!
The name Talibam! incidentally, it is based on a headline in a New York newspaper that has tried to heroically denounce the american bombing in Afghanistan, an attack that the two artists strongly condemn.
The project, which is heavily funded by the Kunststiftung NRW, is entering its 14th year. Every year, personalities from the international scene are invited to Moers as city musicians.
Picture by Miriam Juschkat.