Bavaria in the South of Germany is a region famed for lederhosen, quaint castles and fine beers. But as of 2012, the sleepy state in southern Germany has a new claim to fame. Bluetone is the new name for Germany’s legendary Jazz an der Donau or ‘Jazz on the Danube’ festival.

Over the past 25 years, legends such as James Brown, BB King, Al Jarreau and Herbie Hancock have all played at the festival’s home in the town of Straubing – 80 miles north east of Munich. But times change and the organisers of Jazz an der Donau have decided to try something new.

Over four days from the 12–15 July, nearly 10,000 jazz, soul and funk fanatics descended on Straubing to see if the new format, which promised “a new perspective with a new concept” was actually any good. Luckily for me, I was one of the 10,000.

While acts like ZAZ, Milow and Stéphan Rizon added a distinctly European ‘jazz pop’ flavour, a strong line-up from the US, Italy and the UK added elements of soul, funk and hip hop. Jazz purists were also catered for with a superb line-up of jazz masters and quartets.

On the Friday night, the musical influence started and ended in New Orleans. The Soul Rebels kicked off the evening with a brass extravaganza. Later, Trombone Shorty and Orleans Avenue quite literally blew the roof of the festival’s main tent with their own unique blend of rock, brass and stunning vocals.

On the Saturday night, Lizz Wright and Raúl Midón shared a stage for nearly two hours. Lizz Wright’s smooth and enchanting voice was the perfect complement to Raúl Midón’s distinctive guitar playing, superb vocals and mouth trumpet sounds. Fourplay, yet another act from New Orleans, concluded a truly superb night of live music.

On the funkier side, UK based Incognito were simply stunning. No mean feat given they had to follow the ‘Italian Stallion’ Mario Biondi and his superb Italian band. For me, Incognito delivered the finest performance of Bluetone 2012, Ironic perhaps given Incognito’s front man Jean-Paul Maunick is known affectionately as ‘Bluey’.

Next year’s artists are usually announced at the beginning of the year. No exact dates have been fixed yet but the festival always takes places in mid-July. With tickets starting at just £35 per night, this is one event in 2013 that should not to be missed.

 For more info www.bluetone.de

– Andrew Samson