News
Night of Stadtgarten
On the exact day of its 40th birthday, Stadtgarten opens its doors for a night full of international sonic artistry and the Cologne jazz scene – featuring Nils Petter Molvær, Rebekka Salomea & Friends, RE:CALAMARI, Arve Henriksen & Stian Westerhus and many more!
On Friday, September 4, 2026, Stadtgarten opens its doors for a concert program like no other. For its 40th anniversary, the outstanding club invites you to the Night of Stadtgarten, which connects the history of the house with its present and brings together both international artists and Cologne's jazz and improvisation scene.
Concerts run in parallel across several stages inside the venue, so the audience is free to move between sets throughout the evening. The Cologne scene is prominently represented: Die Patin – Saxophon Mafia Mash Up, led by Luise Volkmann and Camila Nebbia, picks up the thread of the Cologne Saxophon Mafia's history. Fun Horns, originally from East Berlin and turning 40 this year just like Stadtgarten, also return with a new program to the stage where they first played back in 1990.
International guests add further highlights: Nils Petter Molvær performs one of his rare solo concerts exclusively for the anniversary, while Arve Henriksen and Stian Westerhus reunite as a duo after a long time apart from the stage together. Rebekka Salomea, with her project Rebekka Salomea & friends, brings together a specially curated gathering of remarkable voices for the anniversary, and RE:CALAMARI adds another international perspective. Just how closely these two worlds intertwine on this night is reflected in the fact that New York-based musician Selendis Johnson has brought in musicians firmly rooted in the Cologne scene for her new work.
From midnight, the late-night party takes over Stadtgarten. Cologne scene stalwarts DJ Money and MK Braun, who co-initiated the legendary Cologne Sessions in 2011 and shaped the sound of JAKI (formerly Studio 672), move between Detroit house, electro, and house. In the main hall, Tom-Tom Discotec takes over with Coco María, one of the most influential voices in the international Afro-Latin scene, selecting across jazz, samba, Latin funk, and cumbia, supported by La Cata Montesa with salsa dura, boogaloo, and tropical grooves.The FLINTA collective behind Cologne's Hyperlove party series, a fixture since 2024, rounds out the lineup with queer, bass-heavy sound courtesy of DJ AssTits, Slaymira, and Juno.J.
With this program, Stadtgarten once again shows why it has been one of the most important places in the European jazz scene for four decades – a meeting point for improvisation, genre-crossing encounters, and the connection between tradition and new beginnings.
More information is available at stadtgarten.de.
