# The 12th Travejazz Festival 2026 – When Lübeck Began to Swing, Groove and Dance: Photos

- Link: https://jazzblues.eu/2026/09/09/the-12th-travejazz-festival-2026-when-lubeck-began-to-swing-groove-and-dance-photos/
- Published: 2026-09-09T05:00:34+01:00
- Author: https://JazzBlues.EU

**There are festivals that simply present a succession of concerts, and then there
are festivals that gradually transform an entire city into a musical organism. The
12th Travejazz Festival in Lübeck belonged unmistakably to the second category. **

From September 3 to 6, the Hanseatic city became a meeting point for jazz, blues,
funk, soul, swing, groove, contemporary sounds and youthful musical energy. The 
festival once again demonstrated that jazz does not have to remain confined to a
traditional concert hall: it can live in churches, on open-air stages, in cultural
spaces, among families, among young musicians and, above all, in the movement of
an audience that is willing to listen, clap, dance and participate.

![May be an image of guitar and text](https://scontent.fevn2-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t39.30808-
6/794144992_1676714721124053_1257770079361428157_n.jpg?stp=dst-jpg_tt6&cstp=mx2048x1365&
ctp=s2048x1365&_nc_cat=106&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=127cfc&_nc_ohc=4glgZVYpL-QQ7kNvwHpUYUt&
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dfPB8Gag&oe=6AA61DE2)

The opening on Thursday evening immediately established the spirit of the entire
festival. At LiveCV Lübeck, The Maestros & Guests delivered an opening concert that
was less an introduction than a declaration of intent. The room was packed, the 
atmosphere was charged and the audience responded with the kind of enthusiasm that
every live musician dreams of receiving.

The band had already made a strong impression at the previous year’s open-air concert,
and their return gave the opening night a sense of continuation: a musical relationship
between performers and audience that had already begun and now had the opportunity
to grow.

![May be an image of piano, accordion and saxophone](https://scontent.fevn2-1.fna.
fbcdn.net/v/t39.30808-6/793001903_1676715184457340_8052061901337896895_n.jpg?stp
=cp6_dst-jpg_tt6&cstp=mx2048x1381&ctp=s2048x1381&_nc_cat=106&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=127cfc&
_nc_ohc=6TuOUhGTDWsQ7kNvwF0qgMv&_nc_oc=AdoSkqtHgq7HHbzhIXTIS8c0dD_KVTmONj7KpH2Vw4uJM1DffmuuSNdHGMTFDSFusW8&
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oh=00_AQIrWsuLSM2YyXgxg76TPlgu2k_TMEQcy2x1Vcg0dEiXQg&oe=6AA62056)

The Maestros brought a particularly physical dimension to the music. Their sound
drew from blues-rock, funk and soul, with the electric guitar occupying a central
expressive position. The influence of the great guitar tradition could be felt without
the performance becoming merely nostalgic. Instead, the music took those historical
elements and pushed them into a contemporary festival environment.

The guitar could roar, bend, sing and attack; the rhythm section supplied the muscular
foundation from which the music could rise; and the entire performance possessed
an instinctive understanding of dynamics. It was music designed not merely to be
heard but to be experienced physically.

![May be an image of speaker, saxophone and crowd](https://scontent.fevn12-1.fna.
fbcdn.net/v/t39.30808-6/790491153_1677609811034544_9054410490857972771_n.jpg?stp
=dst-jpg_tt6&cstp=mx2048x1363&ctp=s2048x1363&_nc_cat=107&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=127cfc&
_nc_ohc=YKaiR9SrEJgQ7kNvwEsVqJm&_nc_oc=AdodtHpWMBaXT0y-GDzp2Og2s9nhnkXUBbmPARNKUTwrId_P58zcgnHFv47k_48q_Yk&
_nc_zt=23&_nc_ht=scontent.fevn12-1.fna&_nc_gid=y6DP9vRl5g6vFZIbN-_2yw&_nc_ss=7b2a8&
oh=00_AQLboNe59DdNC3DGvJzXpD_Uxib7HCb6kmhkZmift-ViZA&oe=6AA5FF73)

That distinction became important throughout Travejazz 2026. The festival’s programme
repeatedly asked what happens when jazz leaves the boundaries of conventional jazz
presentation and enters the territory of funk, soul, swing, dance music and popular
culture. The answer was heard in almost every corner of the festival: jazz becomes
larger, more accessible and more unpredictable without losing its artistic identity.

Friday brought another side of this musical philosophy. The programme was built 
around the meeting of groove, soul and dance. At the centre stood the Hammond-organ
virtuosity of Lutz Krajenski and his trio, krajenski.3, joined by the soulful vocalist
MOORE. Their music reached back into the great traditions of Hammond-driven soul-
jazz, rare groove, funk and boogaloo, but it was presented with contemporary energy.
The Hammond B3 is an instrument with enormous historical baggage, yet Krajenski 
treated it not as a museum piece but as a living, breathing machine.

![May be an image of lighting and crowd](https://scontent.fevn2-1.fna.fbcdn.net/
v/t39.30808-6/788015714_1677610101034515_8216280567230821186_n.jpg?stp=dst-jpg_tt6&
cstp=mx2048x1363&ctp=s2048x1363&_nc_cat=106&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=127cfc&_nc_ohc=MGg5R6JJBx0Q7kNvwFx3TeB&
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Uv3EYlRailA49l6bNB3Z7t2Jz5w&oe=6AA60C8B)

The organ’s deep resonance, its growling bass register and its ability to shift 
almost instantly between tenderness and power gave the music an unusually broad 
emotional spectrum. Against that foundation, MOORE’s voice supplied another dimension.

Soul music depends upon communication, and his performance made that communication
immediate. His vocal presence could move from intimacy to theatrical intensity, 
from smooth phrasing to explosive projection, giving the performance a dramatic 
quality that made the songs feel larger than their arrangements.

Then came Make a Move, and the entire concept of the evening moved decisively toward
the dance floor. Their music exists at the intersection of brass-band energy, funk,
rap, electronic dance culture and contemporary groove. The bass and drums generate
a physical pulse while the horns can suddenly transform that pulse into melody, 
colour and celebration. The result is music that does not ask the audience to remain
passive.

![Ist möglicherweise ein Bild von Violine, Saxophon, Akkordeon, Klarinette und Menschenmasse](
https://scontent.fevn12-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t39.30808-6/792146970_1678686047593587_2531674580331369896_n.
jpg?stp=dst-jpg_tt6&cstp=mx2048x1363&ctp=s2048x1363&_nc_cat=102&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=
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oh=00_AQJW5VpugiMSq--wkfrZQuRYXP4d1rwsOywzeWsUni3how&oe=6AA5F2E0)

Make a Move’s great strength is precisely this ability to dissolve the distance 
between stage and audience. Their performances combine powerful beats with brass
melodies, rap and a highly theatrical live presence. The festival itself described
the band’s sound as something that moves directly from the ear into the legs, and
that is an unusually accurate description of their artistic effect.

By this point, the Travejazz audience was no longer simply attending concerts. It
had become part of the rhythm of the festival.

Saturday brought an entirely different atmosphere, beginning with the return of 
the sun and the restoration of the open-air spirit. Weather had threatened the outdoor
programme earlier in the festival, making the appearance of sunlight feel almost
like a musical intervention of its own. Suddenly Lübeck could breathe again, and
the festival could take its music outside.

![Ist möglicherweise ein Bild von Menschenmasse](https://scontent.fevn2-1.fna.fbcdn.
net/v/t39.30808-6/789707753_1678686270926898_5863067371466433810_n.jpg?stp=dst-jpg_tt6&
cstp=mx2048x1363&ctp=s2048x1363&_nc_cat=100&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=127cfc&_nc_ohc=fRqZLCqGTvsQ7kNvwHhfyh1&
_nc_oc=AdqzT0bpr8gZDZqhrAKBDJs84wDQBiNeqTSQWIwyfvpRTZ1wzdm0lB2l8blUJ7jULxk&_nc_zt
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oe=6AA61C40)

One of the most important appearances was that of Sounddrift, the young ensemble
presented through the Travejazz connection with the national Jugend jazzt competition.
Sounddrift had represented Bavaria at the 2026 Bundesbegegnung Jugend Jazzt in Halle/
Saale and received the Travejazz concert prize there. Their appearance in Lübeck
therefore represented something larger than another festival booking: it was an 
affirmation of the future of jazz.

There is something particularly important about hearing young musicians in a festival
environment surrounded by experienced artists. They are not presented merely as 
students waiting for their turn. They are placed directly into the professional 
musical conversation. Sounddrift’s presence demonstrated that jazz remains a living
language precisely because young musicians continue to reinterpret it, question 
it and make it their own.

![May be an image of one or more people, trumpet, saxophone, clarinet, accordion
and text that says 'EJA NT nard nordelectr electr'](https://scontent.fevn2-1.fna.
fbcdn.net/v/t39.30808-6/796543701_1679791007483091_3833367746202497472_n.jpg?stp
=dst-jpg_tt6&cstp=mx2048x1363&ctp=s2048x1363&_nc_cat=105&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=127cfc&
_nc_ohc=8D7oFmrSPMYQ7kNvwFAAIG5&_nc_oc=Adobf3iOOJRDu_SyTBTXeSAty4v6I-XWQjJuuEQABS9u5x_XfYcQt9qCeVjfCYoLy1w&
_nc_zt=23&_nc_ht=scontent.fevn2-1.fna&_nc_gid=qAt4Eodr3nhrr0xojk8yFA&_nc_ss=7b2a8&
oh=00_AQIQZBZGBeuLxdDOETCHIa-YHATgha-rUpHBpyum6SSxoA&oe=6AA5FD26)

The open-air setting amplified that feeling. Instead of the concentrated silence
of a concert hall, there was the sound of the city around the music: conversations,
footsteps, movement, the harbour atmosphere and the natural reactions of an audience
gathering outdoors. Jazz became part of everyday life.

Analogue Swing brought another colour to the Saturday programme. Their music possessed
the elegance, rhythmic lightness and visual imagination of a French street café,
yet beneath the charm was a sophisticated understanding of swing. The performance
encouraged audiences to tap their feet almost instinctively. Here, swing was not
presented as an historical style preserved behind glass; it became a social language
once again.

![May be an image of ‎clarinet, trumpet, saxophone, accordion, speaker and ‎text
that says '‎. TRAYEJAZZ TRAVEJ JAZZ FES SOVAL JAZZ DER| ATZ.DE אהמבמת‎'‎‎](https://
scontent.fevn12-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t39.30808-6/791197070_1679792817482910_4730584193562814527_n.
jpg?stp=dst-jpg_tt6&cstp=mx2048x1363&ctp=s2048x1363&_nc_cat=107&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=
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oh=00_AQIrhszpq0B81tAaQS_Vlvqt4AVTo1E_aBdRQZP03EF9DA&oe=6AA61C33)

That is one of the great strengths of swing music. It carries rhythm as invitation.
It creates a space between performer and listener in which movement becomes part
of listening. With Analogue Swing, the audience did not have to be persuaded to 
participate. The rhythm itself did the persuading.

The Saturday programme also showed how seriously Travejazz takes the idea of reaching
audiences beyond traditional jazz circles. The festival’s family concert, Lieder
der Sesamstraße, brought the Hamburg Art Ensemble into St. Jakobi Church, one of
Lübeck’s most historically resonant musical spaces.

The concert transformed familiar Sesame Street songs into a jazz-based family experience,
allowing children and adults to encounter improvisation, ensemble playing, rhythm
and musical interaction through material they already knew. This was not simply 
a children’s entertainment programme. It was an artistic act of translation.

![May be an image of one or more people, violin, accordion, guitar, clarinet, saxophone
and text that says 'TRAVE * GL CT'](https://scontent.fevn12-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t39.30808-
6/791493360_1679794534149405_7442947151168443414_n.jpg?stp=dst-jpg_tt6&cstp=mx2048x1363&
ctp=s2048x1363&_nc_cat=104&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=127cfc&_nc_ohc=YSxZ3lMN6cAQ7kNvwEA0xto&
_nc_oc=Adrhhn6tcNlfjh5AJWI99aZ_mqxYUnahPQL1Hde_BD-qifXgYhkMFICkD6p5ROl2yPY&_nc_zt
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00_AQJoh5m8aXCHU2KcpKYB_bQRrRornKaG6VzKMfGoSdnR7g&oe=6AA6105A)

The musicians took familiar melodies and opened them up to a different musical language.
A song associated with television and childhood could suddenly acquire new harmonic
colours, rhythmic variations and instrumental textures. For young listeners, this
creates a first encounter with the basic idea at the heart of jazz: a melody is 
not a fixed object. It can be reshaped, answered, interrupted, transformed and reinvented.

The choice of St. Jakobi was equally meaningful. A church deeply associated with
Lübeck’s musical, pilgrimage and maritime history provided an acoustic and symbolic
environment in which the concert could take on an almost timeless quality. Generations
of listeners gathered beneath the historic architecture, and music once again became
a bridge between ages.

This sense of musical continuity was one of the defining qualities of the 12th Travejazz
Festival. The festival did not place tradition and innovation in opposition. Instead,
it allowed them to exist side by side.

![May be an image of one or more people and crowd](https://scontent.fevn2-1.fna.
fbcdn.net/v/t39.30808-6/796747245_1679786940816831_9207881922900285257_n.jpg?stp
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6a-s&_nc_zt=23&_nc_ht=scontent.fevn2-1.fna&_nc_gid=kmhuZTIUrAd0xNeG3Uwkeg&_nc_ss
=7b2a8&oh=00_AQIFcjHTPhzEccTRz2_j0mjFP5KfEPpm39DZwvWHh0Ygug&oe=6AA6054F)

Young musicians could stand beside established artists. Swing could exist beside
electronic dance influences. Hammond soul could meet rap and funk. Children’s songs
could become jazz arrangements. Open-air concerts could sit naturally alongside 
performances in historic churches. And through all of it, Lübeck itself remained
an essential participant.

The Friday night programme and Saturday’s outdoor concerts also revealed another
important aspect of contemporary jazz culture: audiences increasingly want to experience
music with their entire bodies. Listening remains fundamental, but so are movement,
atmosphere, community and spontaneity. The distinction between jazz concert and 
dance event is becoming increasingly fluid, and Travejazz understood this very well.

What makes the festival particularly attractive is precisely this diversity. The
official programme included The Maestros & Guests, krajenski.3 feat. MOORE, Make
a Move, Sounddrift, Analogue Swing, the Hamburg Art Ensemble, the Jakob Bänsch Quartett,
Peace, Baltic Unity Experience and the Lübecker Jazzpreis presentation to bassist
and composer Marla Stier. Such programming creates a festival that refuses to define
jazz too narrowly.

![May be an image of violin and clarinet](https://scontent.fevn12-1.fna.fbcdn.net/
v/t39.30808-6/792206671_1678762244252634_7010572409628786035_n.jpg?stp=dst-jpg_tt6&
cstp=mx2048x1363&ctp=s2048x1363&_nc_cat=102&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=127cfc&_nc_ohc=YrENux0LaewQ7kNvwGTMN6E&
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00_AQK3DUtcC24uAPzwPRVoY2XgdRnLHK6VXMrvK_odu9yJBQ&oe=6AA6073D)

Jazz here is not only about the traditional language of bebop, swing or hard bop.
It is an attitude toward sound: curiosity, improvisation, rhythmic freedom, communication
and the willingness to cross boundaries. Funk becomes jazz. Soul becomes jazz. Swing
becomes jazz. Contemporary popular music can become jazz. A children’s song can 
become jazz. And a young competition-winning ensemble can enter the same artistic
landscape as seasoned professionals.

That is why the 12th Travejazz Festival felt larger than its individual concerts.
It was a celebration of musical coexistence. The weather itself seemed to become
part of the narrative. After rain threatened the outdoor programme, the return of
sunshine allowed the Saturday concerts to breathe beneath the open sky. The festival
audience responded with the same enthusiasm that had marked the opening night. The
difference was that now the music had room to spread outward, across the waterfront
and into the city.

And perhaps this is where the true success of Travejazz can be found: in its ability
to make jazz feel at home in Lübeck. The city possesses centuries of history, architecture
and cultural memory, but during these four days the past did not become an obstacle
to the present. Instead, historic spaces became resonating chambers for new musical
ideas. St. Jakobi could host a family jazz concert; LiveCV could explode with blues-
rock and funk; the open-air stage could introduce young German jazz musicians and
elegant swing ensembles; Schuppen 6 could become a meeting point between soul, Hammond
groove, brass, rap and dance.

![No photo description available.](https://scontent.fevn2-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t39.30808-
6/796866862_1677610801034445_7290263706654144579_n.jpg?stp=dst-jpg_tt6&cstp=mx2048x1363&
ctp=s2048x1363&_nc_cat=109&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=127cfc&_nc_ohc=Vct_-IfxFvYQ7kNvwEV4Xyl&
_nc_oc=AdoMtP7SCeLCmuM9qrXSedluwufuEgcPELTNcmqtfWioNkYQ8TP25Uc_6b6PlTQ0hlk&_nc_zt
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PEV8jfea6zVjYxZzD8fN4w&oe=6AA61630)

The 12th Travejazz Festival therefore offered much more than a sequence of performances.
It created a musical landscape in which different generations, styles and audiences
could meet.

From The Maestros’ powerful opening to the youthful confidence of Sounddrift, from
the street-café charm of Analogue Swing to the family imagination of the Hamburg
Art Ensemble, from Krajenski’s Hammond-driven soul-jazz to the explosive dance energy
of Make a Move, the festival demonstrated how broad the contemporary jazz experience
can be.

And above all, it reminded us of something fundamental: jazz is not a style that
stands still. Jazz moves. It swings. It grooves. It sings. It dances. It remembers.
It reinvents itself. And for four September days in 2026, the 12th Travejazz Festival
made Lübeck move with it.

**By Lauren Wulff**

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fna.fbcdn.net/v/t39.30808-6/788822260_1677611261034399_4873447258979425963_n.jpg?
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oh=00_AQIrQsq_PgTLAJpyr6aeG3bH3HX-98X071dUASlS0dIzsg&oe=6AA5EEFD)

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