You hear a drum groove from around the corner: a bit of hi-hat, rimshots, little rolls on the snare. There’s a jazz band at this side-street carnival, and as you see the drummer’s hat, a staccato bass riff joins in, and the bassist dances like it was rockabilly. Then swirls of accordion fill the spaces between the drums and the bass for moments on end, until an alto saxophone runs along on top of it all. The sun sparks off the cymbals and the curve of the saxophone, the band plays stops for the melody, and then the solos begin their dance past the stalls and all the people wandering along. (Andrew Shields, #111Words, 5 December 2025)

For Florian Arbenz (drums), Rafael Jerjen (bass), Joāo Barradas (accordion), and Tineke Postma (saxophone), and their concert at the Bird's Eye in Basel on Friday, 5 December 2025