Raphael Jost's Swingin' Christmas

teilbestuhlt / partially seated

Christmas and jazz - it&#x27;s a tradition. And so are the Swingin&#x27; Christmas concerts by Raphael Jost and his band, which have been a firm fixture of the festive season for many people for over 10 years and ensure sold-out halls. Raphael Jost is that rarest of birds, the British saxophonist Will Vinson, who lives in New York, once said. A singer and songwriter with a great voice and at the same time a pianist whose skills enable him to share the stage with the best. Jost, who has already won the Swiss Jazz Award for his debut album, sees himself as a modern crooner. He leads through the evening with humor and without too much kitsch. Swinging classics such as Let It Snow and Winter Wonderland are joined by his own songs, JingleBells gets a pinch of Brad Mehldau and Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer becomes a sleigh ride to New Orleans. The program leaves plenty of room for solos and at the same time impresses with sophisticated and original arrangements. Singer Stefanie Suhner combines jazz and soul in her magnificent voice and has already toured with Udo Jürgens and Pepe Lienhard, among others. The horn section features the two outstanding soloists Bastien Rieser on trumpet and Christoph Grab on tenor sax. Jost&#x27;s long-time companion Raphael Walser on double bass and the renowned drummer Elmar Frey form the rhythm section. The six musicians are united by their irrepressible joy of playing and their love of the jazz tradition. They inspire the audience with a lot of energy, groove and lively interplay - and ensure a swinging Christmas.

Vocals

Trumpet

Saxophon

Piano

Bass

Drum Kit

Raphael Jost's Swingin' Christmas für Familien

Christmas and jazz - it&#x27;s a tradition. And so are the Swingin&#x27; Christmas concerts by Raphael Jost and his band, which have been a firm fixture of the festive season for many people for over 10 years and ensure sold-out halls. Raphael Jost is that rarest of birds, the British saxophonist Will Vinson, who lives in New York, once said. A singer and songwriter with a great voice and at the same time a pianist whose skills enable him to share the stage with the best. Jost, who has already won the Swiss Jazz Award for his debut album, sees himself as a modern crooner. He leads through the evening with humor and without too much kitsch. Swinging classics such as Let It Snow and Winter Wonderland are joined by his own songs, JingleBells gets a pinch of Brad Mehldau and Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer becomes a sleigh ride to New Orleans. The program leaves plenty of room for solos and at the same time impresses with sophisticated and original arrangements. Singer Stefanie Suhner combines jazz and soul in her magnificent voice and has already toured with Udo Jürgens and Pepe Lienhard, among others. The horn section features the two outstanding soloists Bastien Rieser on trumpet and Christoph Grab on tenor sax. Jost&#x27;s long-time companion Raphael Walser on double bass and the renowned drummer Elmar Frey form the rhythm section. The six musicians are united by their irrepressible joy of playing and their love of the jazz tradition. They inspire the audience with a lot of energy, groove and lively interplay - and ensure a swinging Christmas. - Duration of the concert 50-65 minutes - Children of all ages are welcome at this concert. - We will make sure the volume is appropriate, but we still recommend ear protection for the little ones. - Children under 12 can attend the concert free of charge, but we ask that you reserve a free ticket. - Young people aged 12-16 pay half price. - Can&#x27;t afford a ticket? Email us at info@moods.ch.

Style Bakery feat. Lou Kaena / Jule X / BIGZIS

Renowned acts present their songs in unique versions developed especially for this evening. Raw and unpolished. Hosted by the outstanding collective Jonny Ive, Pablo, Toni Schiavano and Flo Reichle. The December edition features three extraordinary characters: Lou Kaena is an important new voice in Swiss rap. Directly from Wiedikon, she brings French-language lyrics to the stage that deal with sexism, self-image and social expectations - personal, powerful and poetic. It is no coincidence that her collaboration redwhite with Soukey and Ella E became the anthem of the Women&#x27;s National Team 2025. Jule X, the exceptional talent from Bern, has been providing a breath of fresh air with his Vokuhila Mafia for a few years now. His sound is electronic and playful - an unmistakable mix of pop, techno, punk and rap that dissolves genre boundaries with a wink. Big Zis has stood for independence and artistic unyieldingness for over twenty years. She is considered one of the most influential exponents of Swiss rap: lyrically and musically uncompromising, politically clear. Her flow is unmistakable - direct and razor-sharp. She has been a regular on the Style Bakery stage for years and the evenings with her are real highlights. And don&#x27;t forget: Hand-picked vocalists also freestyle with the band. The band and MCs rock each other to unimagined heights and improvise the unheard-of.

Host

Keyboards

E-Bass

Shantel & Bucovina Club Soundsystem

Shantel &amp; Bucovina Club Soundsystem bring the full energy of club culture and dance parties live on stage. The analog meets the digital, the east meets the west. With a pulsating spectacle where acoustic is mixed with electronica and beats, you will dance to Balkan Pop, Global Bass, Diaspora Beats, Turkish Psychedelica and Electro to the point of no return.

Ilan Jamon

Warm Up & Afterparti

Global Beats way beyond the Balkan borders: with the BalkanEkstra Parti there are no stops for Oriental sounds or Arabian rhythms – what’s important is the motto: danceable! Where the journey will take us through the night is unclear, but one thing is certain: dancing until the hips hurt, the feet burn and the stars dissolve with the dawn.

Zurich Jazz Orchestra feat. Melissa Aldana

At the end of the year, the Zurich Jazz Orchestra presents the Grammy-nominated Blue Note artist Melissa Aldana - one of the most innovative and independent jazz musicians on the international scene. Born in Santiago de Chile, the saxophonist comes from a family of musicians: her father and grandfather were both saxophonists. She began playing the saxophone at the age of six under her father&#x27;s guidance. Initially influenced by Charlie Parker and Cannonball Adderley on the alto saxophone, she switched to the tenor saxophone after hearing Sonny Rollins. As a teenager, she played in jazz clubs in Santiago and was invited by pianist Danilo Pérez to perform at the Panama Jazz Festival in 2005. She later moved to the USA to study at Berklee College of Music. She released her debut album &quot;Free Fall“ in 2010. At the age of just 24, she was the first instrumentalist and first South American musician to win the prestigious Thelonious Monk International Jazz Saxophone Competition. The Washington Post praised her as representing a new sense of possibility and a new direction in jazz. Her album Visions (2019) earned her a Grammy nomination in the Best Improvised Jazz Solo category. Nate Chinen (NPR Music) called it one of the best jazz albums of the year and praised Aldana&#x27;s ability to combine technical brilliance with a rich emotional palette. The concert program she is presenting with the Zurich Jazz Orchestra at Moods was written entirely by her. One part was arranged by Jim McNeely for the HR Big Band, the other by Ed Partyka especially for the ZJO and its soloists.

Leitung

Tenorsaxophon

Altsaxophon

Baritone Saxophone

Trombone

Bassposaune

Guitar

JazzBaragge Wednesday Jam

SPECIAL: The President’s Holy Groove Jam 

The JazzBaragge Wednesday Jam offers an important platform for the Swiss jazz jam scene. After the musical opening of the jam band, lively and exciting sound conversations begin between musicians who spontaneously meet on stage, reflecting the diversity of jazz in all its facets. The JazzBaragge Wednesday Jam is supported by the non-profit association JazzBaragge. There is no presale for JazzBaragge, only box office.

muralim

Album Release «pony»

For Zurich-based band Muralim, music is a matter of the heart and soul. It&#x27;s those moments when you forget everything else and can just be in the present. Their melodies are catchy yet sophisticated. The grooves invite you to tap your feet, and their enthusiasm fills the air above the stage with excitement. The quintet consists of saxophonist Mauro Reimann, guitarist Joachim Frey, pianist Tim Bond, bassist Elias Kirchgraber, and drummer Martin Maron. They met while studying at the Zurich University of the Arts. There, they quickly attracted attention and were featured in the &quot;Best of Swiss Jazz Bachelors&quot; series. Although Mauro Reimann writes the band&#x27;s music, it is ultimately not a solo effort. When the band jams together, the pieces evolve through the influence of all the band members. The result is music that is hard to resist.

Synthesizer

Muriel Grossmann Quartet

Album Release «Breakthrough»

Muriel Grossmann is considered a master of spiritual jazz and has created impressive works with albums such as Devotion (Third Man Records, 2023) and The Light Of the Mind (RR Gems Records, 2024). The Ibiza-based multi-instrumentalist interweaves modal jazz in the tradition of John Coltrane with spiritual post-bop, free improvisation and sonic depth. Her compositions are tailor-made for her fellow musicians and impressively showcase their individual strengths. Grossmann creates a dense, meditative atmosphere on stage, as can be heard most recently on the live album MGQ live at King Georg, Cologne. At Moods, the quartet will present their latest album Breaktrough, which will be released at the end of September 2025 - and prove that they play even more vividly live than in the studio.

Composition

Hammond organ

Nesrine

jazzhane & Moods present «Kan Ya Makan»

The Franco-Algerian singer, cellist, and songwriter Nesrine is a modern-day Scheherazade—a storyteller of our time. Her album Kan Ya Makan, Arabic for “Once upon a time,” is like a contemporary collection of tales from One Thousand and One Nights. Nesrine’s rich and intricate sound mirrors her diverse musical background. As a classically trained cellist, she has performed with Daniel Barenboim’s West-Eastern Divan Orchestra and the Valencia Opera Orchestra under Lorin Maazel. She has also taken the stage as a guest performer with the Cirque du Soleil. Despite a promising career in classical orchestras, she chose to follow her solo path—a decision that has led to great success. Several extensive tours throughout Europe followed and Nesrine has thrilled audiences in classical venues such as the Berlin Philharmonie and the Amsterdam Cello Biennale as well as at major jazz and world music festivals. Her songs, which she performs in Arabic, French and English, reflect her personal journey, which is rooted in her Algerian heritage and characterised by her life in Paris. Nesrine has released two internationally acclaimed albums on ACT Music. In early 2024, she also released a digital EP on which she performs together with the world-famous Metropole Orkest. Now she is playing her debut in Zurich, live at Moods. This concert will be partially seated.

Cello

Percussion

Fulu Miziki

The name says it all! Roughly translated, Fulu Miziki means music made from garbage and that is also the concept behind this eco-friendly afro-futuristic punk collective: the musicians make their own instruments, costumes and masks from discarded objects such as canisters, metal cans and PVC pipes. Their message is unmistakable: the multidisciplinary artists from the Congo want to draw attention to the accumulating waste in Kinshasa and everywhere else in the world and call on people to reconnect with nature. What does that sound like? Complex yet danceable rhythms and vocals somewhere between punk, electro and Congolese rumba.

Afreekaya

Warm Up & Afterparty

Afreekaya, who shuttles tirelessly between Latin America and the Middle East, between the Caribbean and Africa, is always on the lookout for raw, funky and psychedelic Afro-tropical tunes that have long remained under the radar to share with the world. As label manager at Analog Africa and curator of the Hors Tribu Festival, Afreekaya is constantly active, sharing his musical knowledge to keep the cultural scene moving.

Patrick Sommer Sextet – Rhythm Creature

Patrick Sommer

With Rhythm Creature, Patrick Sommer has created an ensemble that behaves like a pulsating organism. The band as a creature is only marginally tamed and indulges its instincts with relish. The musical ideas for this mostly originate from Patrick Sommer&#x27;s preoccupation with the Moroccan guembri, a lute-like, three-stringed instrument from the Western Sahara. The resulting creative output has also had a lasting influence on his approach to his other bass instruments, rhythms, and phrasing. The resulting pieces are characterised by interwoven rhythms, intense moods and captivating melodies. The band members are all groove specialists: Patrick has been working closely with guitarist Michael Bucher for countless years, and he has been playing in various formations with drummer Kaspar Rast, keyboardist Peter Wagner, saxophonist Dave Feusi and percussionist David Stauffacher for almost as long. Rhythm Creature now breathes life into these pieces and releases them into the wild.

Sopransaxophon

Fender-Rhodes E-Piano

Guembri

Jowee Omicil

Album Release «sMiles»

Jowee Omicil is a tireless boundary-breaker constantly exploring new musical worlds. No category does justice to this exceptional artist—a saxophonist, singer, pianist, and visionary—who draws inspiration from his Haitian roots to create music that tastes of freedom and carries a mystical touch of rebellion and memory. Born in Montreal to Haitian parents, Omicil blends his heritage, experiences, travels, and discoveries into his music, creating a distinctive expression of curiosity and authenticity. Full of energy and joie de vivre, Jowee is a passionate entertainer who thrills audiences with his melodies and grooves. His music blends the freedom of jazz, the depth of gospel, and pulsating beats that surprise, refresh, and empower—a boost of energy for the soul. At Moods, Jowee Omicil will present his latest work, sMiles, to be released on November 11. It is a manifesto of uncompromising authenticity. It celebrates self-expression, the beauty of imperfection, and the courage to take risks. What appears at first glance to be a rebellious web turns out to be a clear commitment to boundless freedom — the common thread that connects all his work. He pays tribute to Roy Hargrove, recalls Wayne Shorter, and bows to Miles Davis — yet he remains unmistakably himself, never imitating and always creatively new.

Clarinet

Flute

Cornet

MKZ Förderpreis Pop/Rock/Jazz

The Musikschule Konservatorium Zürich (MKZ) is organizing the Pop/Rock/Jazz Advancement Award for the eleventh time. Every year, the best students and bands in this field - the cats and cracks of tomorrow - qualify for the final competition. The finalists in the solo category will be accompanied by a first-class combo made up of MKZ teachers. Appearing will be: Kim Tohora (Voc, Git, Piano) Raffy Bowen (Voc, Git) Yan Gonzales Torres (Git+Trio) Zenne Reijmer (Voc+Trio) Safire James Blond Red Elephant

K.O.S Crew Dancehall Mood

Party

Dancehall Mood is the monthly reggae and dancehall party at Moods. Like on every first Saturday of the month, the K.O.S crew will make the Moods club cooking with hot riddims. This promises an evening full of dancehall hits and reggae rarities, perfectly tuned to the respective audience and immaculately presented by the K.O.S crew and their guest.

Manou Gallo

The path of the energetic bassist, drummer and singer led from the small town of Divo on the Ivory Coast to the biggest stages in the world. None other than the bass legend Bootsy Collins paved the way for Manou Gallo to be named one of the “Top 10 World Best Bass Players”! Gallo is pure power on the bass, mixing jazz, funk, groove, and Afro beat. Once you’ve experienced her, you immediately recognize her uniqueness: In her hands, the bass sometimes becomes a percussion element, driving the groove to fascinating heights. It’s no wonder Bootsy Collins calls her the “African Queen of Bass”. Other giants like Manu Dibango, Mamady Keita, Wyclef Jean, Marcus Miller, and Lucas van Meerwijk have also taken notice of her and shared stages with her. Proud of her African roots, Gallo says she has the musical freedom to play anything. And it’s precisely this freedom that you’ll find on stage: an explosive mixture of funk, jazz, Afro-Cuban rhythms, and confident Afro grooves. With her technique and her music, Manou Gallo impressively proves that she is one of the best bassists in the world.

Annie Aries, Lionel Friedli & Henry Strongbox, Doug Weiss, Romarna Campbell, Estefania Padilla

20 Jahre Metonic Records

SECOND ACT Annie Aries – Annie was brought to Engel&#x27;s attention by an old friend from Everest Records. Engel was impressed by her attention to detail and minimalist compositional skills. The idea of pairing her with Lionel Friedli quickly took shape. Friedli&#x27;s style fits perfectly with Aries&#x27;. Engel first met Friedli when he was 15. Even back then, they shared a love of music. As teenagers, they learned jazz standards together and played in various ensembles. Looking back, both musicians are very grateful for this educational time spent together. Henry Strongbox – Manuel Engel&#x27;s &#x27;alter ego&#x27; – loves building boxes that beep, screech, scratch and squeak. He also plays &#x27;prepared piano&#x27; – adding screws, magnets, paper and other items to the strings. He performs alongside Doug Weiss, a world-class bassist and an important mentor during Engel&#x27;s time in NYC. He is a source of inspiration for a whole generation of young double bassists exploring modern jazz. In early 2024, Engel and Weiss had the idea of forming a trio. Now, they have formed a quartet with two young, talented and dynamic drummers who are attracting attention on the European music scene. Romarna Campbell is from Birmingham, and Estefania Chamorro is from Barcelona.

Electronics

Joy Frempong & Meta Marie Louise, Napoleon Maddox, Ana Igluka

FIRST ACT Joy Frempong – Manuel Engel first met Joy Frempong a long time ago, either backstage at the Pod Ring Festival or at a Puts Marie concert in Lucerne, where she performed with Fredy Studer&#x27;s band on the same evening. He congratulated her on her performance and immediately became a fan of her work. Meta Marie Louise – A band that Manuel Engel founded with Kevin Chesham in 2010. Several collaborations followed, and this year the two are performing alongside Napoleon Maddox (Cincinnati) and Ana Igluka (Nantes). Maddox joined them on their last tour in 2024, impressing everyone with his ease, agility, and command of the English language. Igluka worked with Meta Marie Louise in 2015, and the musicians have been close friends ever since.

Rhodes

Beatbox

Disk Jockey

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Streaming

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