Lenk is a small village in the "Berner Oberland" in Switzerland, well- wellknown for its ski-slopes and great summer activites but also for their famous and family friendly hotels and pensions. But for 24 years, Lenk too is famous for its Jazz Festival in the midst of the Swiss Alps!  If you want to learn more about Lenk, visit their homepage.

The 24th Lenker Jazztage startetd on July 13th with the German Jazzpolizei. I've not been in Lenk before Saturday July 14th, but visitors told me that it was great fun. The main act on Friday evening was the concert of the Pasadena Roof Orchestra, the British Swing Band with a history of more than 40 years. This orchestra is wellknown throught the world!

I arrived in the early aftern of Saturday 14, 2012 in Lenk an attended a concert of the Newe Orleans Hot Shots, a Swiss Band that played Dixieland at its best. 

The New Orleans Hot Shots in action

The main act of the day was the appearance of the Big Chris Barber Band, for the first time in Lenk. And it was quite a special evening. Regular visitors of the band will notice the absence of Amy Roberts and David Horniblow. So, Ami was temporarely away from the band (but will return next week) and Bert Brandsma stepped in. For David Horniblow, who has left the band at the end of June (but will do a few more gigs in July and August 2012) as he will move in September 2012 to Australia, Martin Nikless stepped in for only this gig, as Bert Brandsma will take over the place of David. Very impressive - Martin never did a rehearsal with the Big Chris Barber Band - but his performance was great.

The evening was a great sucess - hundreds of fans applauded the gig of the Big Chris Barber Band. The music presented that night was the full regular programme.

Go the the slideshow in order to see more pictures of the Big Chris Barber Band performance in Lenk / Switzerland