world music, jazz, popular music

Yellowjackets & WDR Big Band

one interval
Béla Bartók National Concert Hall
  • Produced by Müpa Budapest
  • JAZZ SPRING 2022

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"An anomaly in contemporary jazz", as one authoritative jazz portal described the group Yellowjackets. You could say that the members of the Jackets have graduated to an XL, given the group has now been around for 40 years. And though they have succeeded in constantly reinventing themselves, they have also retained a distinct musical sound that can be identified in just a few beats. This notable anniversary also sees the release of their 25th album, where timeless Yellowjackets hits are given a unique, celebratory feel through a collaboration with the WDR Big Band from Cologne. The Yellowjackets arrive at the Jazz Spring with a full line-up.

It is almost exactly ten years to the day since they last visited Müpa Budapest. Back then, we celebrated the Yellowjacket's 30th birthday with Bob Mintzer on saxophone, founder Russel Ferrante on keyboards, Will Kennedy as the old-new drummer and Felix Pastorius on bass guitar. Now, the latter has been replaced by Dane Alderson, who was born two years after the formation of Yellowjackets and made his band debut in 2016 on the album Cohearence. In the same year, Bob Mintzer became band leader of the WDR Big Band. Mintzer is not alone in his view that the Cologne group is one of the most impressive big bands in the jazz world. The band was founded as the Kölner Tanz-und-Unterhaltungsorchester in 1946, and has collaborated with such greats as Ron Carter, Paquito D'Rivera, Arturo Sandoval and the Brecker Brothers. They won a Grammy with the latter, as well as a German Jazz Award with arrangements from Vince Mendoza. One of the secrets of Yellowjackets is their continuous renewal. They consistently reinterpret their past music with a fresh sound while always preserving their trademark style. The quartet and the big band will join forces to perform YJ classics like 1986's Eternal Revelation, 1987's Mile High, the 1991 Downtown and Even Song from 1993, not to mention Coherence, from the aforementioned album of (almost) the same name!

Presented by: Müpa Budapest
  • tenor saxophone, EWI
    Bob Mintzer
  • piano, keyboard instruments
    Russell Ferrante
  • drums
    Will Kennedy
  • bass guitar
    Dane Alderson

Parking information

We wish to inform you that in the event that Müpa Budapest's underground garage and outdoor car park are operating at full capacity, it is advisable to plan for increased waiting times when you arrive. In order to avoid this, we recommend that you depart for our events in time, so that you you can find the ideal parking spot quickly and smoothly and arrive for our performance in comfort. The Müpa Budapest underground garage gates will be operated by an automatic number plate recognition system. Parking is free of charge for visitors with tickets to any of our paid performances on that given day. The detailed parking policy of Müpa Budapest is available here.

Refreshments – Without the Queue

Thanks to our new catering service at the Átrium Snack Bar, you can forget about waiting in line during intermissions for some refreshments and get your order prepped especially for you by the time the intermission actually starts. Find out more about pre-ordering here.

Safe ticket purchase

Dear Visitors, please note that only tickets purchased from the Müpa website and official ticket offices are guaranteed to be valid. To avoid possible inconvenience, we suggest buying tickets to our performances and concerts via the mupa.hu website, the Interticket national network (jegy.hu) or at our official ticket offices.



JAZZ SPRING 2022


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