In the organizer's words:

JAZZ AGAINST THE MACHINE

Diversity, joy of playing, testing boundaries - From Tuesday, January 27 to Thursday, January 29, 2026, the Artheater in Cologne-Ehrenfeld will open its doors for the "Jazz Against The Machine" festival, which has now been taking place for 18 years. Originating from the jazz/pop department of the Cologne University of Music and Dance, the student festival offers a stage for unique musical projects.

The festival has always impressed with a variety of line-ups and genres, from jazz in all its forms to rock and pop.

Personal, political, musical and poetic themes are combined under one festival motto to show what moves the students of the University of Music.

The promising line-up brings students' joy of playing and experimenting into the unique atmosphere of the Artheater: the bands Iara Serodeo Quintet (brazilian jazz fusion), Dog Soup (meta impro), Asant (indie pop), personne (minimalist pop), Eleven Seconds (acapella magic), Moritz Kröger Quartet (modern jazz), KLSD (heavy jazz-rock fusion), Lara Grogan Band (folk-rock de lux) and KAU & blu quartet (electronic grooves + strings) come together for three unforgettable festival days.

Line-up

27.01.26 Tuesday

8 pm Iara Serodio Quintett

Matt, shiny, flowing or new?

In the newly formed line-up consisting of tenor saxophone, vocals, guitar, bass and drums, saxophonist Iara Serodio develops her own musical language with her compositions and arrangements.

Among other things, the focus is on the creation of timbres, the telling of stories of both a musical and linguistic nature and the fusion of certain jazz styles.

Iara Serodio - tenor sax

Lilith Walkenhorst - vocals

Liam Möller - guitar

Xaver Feest - double bass

Jakob Görris - Drums

9 pm Dog Soup

Dog Soup functions as a meta-instrument. Through numerous sessions together, the four Cologne musicians developed a common voice. Mutual trust leads to a way of playing that suggests an organism of its own that reacts to changes and impulses at lightning speed.

In this way, the band creates long, dense arcs of tension in which noisy elements meet theatrical moments. Clear decisions lead to surprises, so that the meta-instrument Dog Soup creates an individual understanding of beauty.

Philipp Hayduck - trombone

Ben Jones - saxophone

Anna Größbrink - bass

Marius Lamm - drums

10 pm Jan Liesefeld

ASANT is the German indie pop project around musician Jan Liesefeld.

Hamburg school meets new wave and groovy guitar riffs, melancholy and euphoria paired with the sometimes rough, sometimes dreamy voice of Jan Liesefeld, who

tells stories from everyday life and, almost incidentally, deals with the big issues in life.

His first single already made it onto WDR radio. In 2019, the multi-instrumentalist released his first album "Wir bitten zum Tanz" under the name ASANT.

In 2021, the song "Teil der Erinnerung" was selected by Christopher Annen (AnnenMayKantereit) and others for the new-heimat-sounds compilation 2021.

In 2024, the band released a series of 4 singles and played at the KPiP Festival in Rheinberg and the [wa:|wa:] Festival in Düsseldorf, among others.

In addition, the song "Schatten" was placed in the popular Spotify playlist "Fresh Finds" in November 2024, which brought the band thousands of plays and new followers.

With the support of the Cologne Cultural Office, the band is currently producing their second album "Fremd in der Welt", which will be released on vinyl in January 2026.

Jan works with the ASANT band project in various formations - whether solo

acoustic, as a duo, trio or full band.

Hiromi Hiomata - bass, backing vocals

Jan Kreisel - Drums

Johann Zeijl - Keys, guitar, backing vocals

Jan Liesefeld - Vocals, Guitar, Drum Computer

28.01.26 Wednesday

8 pm personne

Anna Girsberger, Paul Studer and Basil Schreyer had to find each other. All born in the early

born in the early 00s and caught up in the tensions between digital dopamine, virtualized

encounters and late stage capitalism, they are ready to shake off the fast pace of life.

shake off the fast pace. They long for meaning beyond the visible and for real connections.

connections. "attention economy" is a critique of a world that is increasingly defined by presence

and its counter-design all in one: analog, warm, human music that evokes

associations with the surreal pop worlds of Aldous Harding, the uncompromising honesty of Sophie Hunger and the

honesty of Sophie Hunger and the lyrical depths of Adrienne Lenker.

Anna Girsberger - piano and vocals

Paul Studer - electric bass and synth bass

Basil Schreyer - Drums

9 pm Merle Böwering

Eleven Seconds is a five-part jazz ensemble that came together through their enthusiasm for vocal jazz.

vocal jazz. From quiet, emotional ballads to self-arranged uptempo jazz tunes

jazz tunes, you can expect everything from them.

Their "long-distance bandship" has made them inventive and they are particularly present on the

Internet. In Julie 2025, they successfully won 2nd prize at the international a-capella competition Vokal.total

where they won 2nd prize and made their competition debut.

Kayla Meyer - soprano,

Merle Böwering - soprano

Carolin Smykla - alto

Tilman Brand - tenor, arranger

Tobias Happ - bass

10 pm Jan Janzen

"Unknown Waveforms" is the second album by the Brussels trio KAU, released on

10.10.2025 on Sdban Records. The new work deliberately focuses on atmosphere rather than rigid

formats and expands the band's sound for the first time with a Cologne string quartet called the Blu

Quartet. The sound is more open and immediate: it thrives on human connection, energy captured live

connection, energy captured live and creative spontaneity. KAU develops its own,

contemporary interpretations of instrumental music and draws from a broad spectrum of influences

influences - from jazz and hip-hop to classical music and electronic soundscapes.

Jan Janzen: Keys, synths, vibraphone

Matteo Genovese: Bass, Moog, Sampling Machine

André Bridled: Drums, Fx

Katharina Koch - violin I

Louise Ullrich - violin II

Margo Trofimov - viola

Muriel Bonn - cello

29.01.26 Thursday

8 pm Lara Grogan

Elisabeth from Dudelange, Veit from Echternach, the werewolf of Bettembourg ... These are

some of the stories that Lara Grogan presents in her new collection of songs,

inspired by the little-known tales and legends of Luxembourg's past.

past. Accompanied by her band in a folk-rock sound, she brings these stories to life

stories to life in a way that still feels relevant today. In doing so

she explores timeless themes such as communication, self-confidence, the courage to

change and the complexity of human nature.

With this project, Lara wants to share her passion for storytelling

and invite the audience to rediscover the Luxembourgish legends and their surprising

surprising connections to the present in a fresh way.

Lara Grogan - vocals, guitar, piano

Liam Möller - guitar

Tristan Sorg - double bass, backing vocals

Jonas Heck - drums

9 pm Moritz Kröger

The Moritz Kröger Quartet is a young jazz quartet from Cologne, consisting of students from the

HfMT Cologne. The band mainly plays original compositions by trombonist Moritz Kröger. The

sound is based on modern jazz and is inspired by Avishai Cohen and Marquis Hill, among others:

vocal, catchy melodies, carried by beautiful harmonies and a driving groove.

groove.

Moritz Kröger - trombone

Lion Lauer - piano

Thomas Bailey - double bass

Jack Wang - drums

10 pm KLSD

|KLSD is an automatic sound bias design. Through the use of a limited

patented helical gearing concept in the instrumentation and the musical strategies

strategies, the band reacts immediately to slippage events and brings the power directly to the

the ground. There are no kneecaps to wear out and the load capacity is

almost unlimited. KLSD integrates seamlessly into the venue, without chatter,

rattling, start-up noises or excessive maintenance routines, while ensuring maximum

maximum entertainment, less waiting time and fewer disruptive factors.

The band KLSD (Krön - Löbner - Sonnenschein - Drach) formed in September 2021.

The unusual line-up of two electric guitars, drums and alto saxophone creates a

alto saxophone, the band creates a sound whose underlying strategies are consistently

between the poles of composition and improvisation. The repertoire feeds

from concepts shared by the band members and leaves genre boundaries behind

as naturally as fixed role attributions.

Despite being spatially separated from each other, the focus is on collective work: material is developed together

material is developed together, interpreted individually and reshaped through interaction. This results in a band sound that defies conventional

categorizations and impresses with its powerful fragility.

In 2024, KLSD was awarded the Central German Jazz Prize; the band also received the

the Leipzig Jazz Young Talent Award from the Marion Ermer Foundation. The debut album

"KLSD_1" was released in January 2025.

Max Löbner - electric guitar

Fridolin Krön - electric guitar

Julian Drach - Saxophone/FX

Eddie Sonnenschein - Drums