A TRIBUTE TO BILLIE HOLIDAY

Reason enough, then, to dedicate an evening to "Lady Day" at the ZigZag jazz club. A band consisting of five of Berlin's best young jazz musicians will take you on a journey through some of Billie's favorite pieces.Danish singer Mette Nadja Hansen was discovered and trained by the "Danish National Girls Choir" at the age of ten.

Soon she also found a love for jazz, inspired by role models such as Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong and Sarah Vaughn. In 2013 she joined the Jazz Institute Berlin, where she graduated with a Bachelor's degree in 2017, she also developed a passion for playing percussion. In addition to her devotion to old-school swing jazz, she serves many other musical spectrums: for example, since 2016 she has been singing with the Brazilian "Mariana Zwarg Sexteto Universal", which has toured Brazil, France, Finland, Germany and Denmark.

She has also worked throughout her career with artists and ensembles such as Snorre Kirk, Carsten Dahl, Alex Riel, Jesper Løvdal, Simon Thorsen, Christian von der Goltz Trio, Markus Ehrlich's Flexible Eingreiftruppe, Johannes von Ballestrem, Marc Doffey Quintet, Fyodor Stephanov's Legion Live in Us and many more. She has performed at Konzerthaus Berlin, WABE, Saxtall as well as Kunstverein in Hamburg, Sunset/Sunside Festival in Paris, Jazz Fola in Aix-en-Provence, Finland and Brazil.Eldar Tsalikov moved to Berlin in 2011 after initial studies in his native Tar, where he began his studies at the "Jazz Institute Berlin" and added the clarinet to the saxophone as a second instrument. In 2018, Eldar successfully graduated from the institute with a Bachelor's degree as an instrumentalist and a Master's degree as an arranger and composer. A skilled and versatile musician, Eldar has expanded his knowledge of jazz music (and not only that), collaborating with numerous European and Western performers of the various types of this genre: from the profound traditional styles, such as "hot jazz" (or "trad jazz") and swing, to modern forms of jazz and experimental music (Greg Cohen, Joey Baron, Laurie Anderson, Elias Stemeseder, Manlio Maresca, "The HAF", Anna Webber's "Percussive Mechanics"). With these and many other artists, Eldar has traveled throughout various countries, performing in world-renowned venues and concert halls.Declan Forde is a pianist from Scotland and has been living in Berlin since 2014. In recent years, Forde has developed into a pianist in Berlin who covers a wide range of musical situations. From early jazz with Igor Spallati's Musicomaniacs, to performing the music of Duke Ellington with American bassist Greg Cohen (Ornette Coleman, John Zorn, Woody Allen, etc.); original music with James Banner's Usine to free improvised music with artists such as Jeff Williams, John Hollenbeck, Tobias Delius, Max Andrzejewski, Cansu Tanrikulu, Rudi Mahal, Jan Roder and Michael Griener.... Outside the world of jazz and improvised music, Forde has been performing, touring and recording with Scottish vocalist and artist Rachel Sermanni for over ten years.James Banner was born in Dudley, England and is now based in Berlin, working as an improvising musician and composer. Current projects include: USINE with Cansu Tanrıkulu, Max Andrzejewski and Declan Forde; commissioning, workshopping and recording new solo pieces for double bass and presenting his solo programme; Borage with Megan Jowett; Machair Duo with Stephanie Lamprea focusing on commissioning and developing electro-acoustic works in collaboration with composers, and class-work. He also co-curates the bi-monthly improvised music residency Practically Married with pianist Declan Forde at Berlin’s Donau115.Ugo Alunni is a percussionist from Perugia, Italy. He attended the Conservatorio di Musica "Francesco Morlacchi" di Perugia (2000-2004) and then moved to New York to continue his studies at the Collective School of Music (2005-2006). Since 2010 he has been living in Berlin, where he studied at the Jazz Institute Berlin under the direction of John Hollenbeck, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Greg Cohen and David Friedman, graduating in 2016. He has played with Rossano Emili, Perugia Jazz Orchestra, Pietro Tonolo, Joe Chambers, Dan Kinzelman, Alessandro Lanzoni, Elias Stemeseder, Phil Donkin, Uli Kempendorff, Julia Hülsmann and many others.