This week builds. ADHD opens things up at A-Trane tonight with two nights of their genre-defying Icelandic jazz-rock. By midweek you have a Sarah Vaughan Competition winner and a deeply personal CD release. Thursday is stacked: Dave Holland and Lionel Loueke at Zig Zag, Yakou Tribe at A-Trane, Coen Molenaar at B-flat. And then Friday, Steve Coleman brings Five Elements to town. Ten shows, five venues, six days. Here is what you should know.

ADHD (two nights: Mon + Tue) at A-Trane

The Icelandic quartet ADHD has been quietly building one of the most distinctive catalogs in European jazz for nearly two decades. Nine albums in, they still sound like nobody else: saxophone, guitar, keys, and drums folding jazz, rock, and ambient textures into something that hits more like a weather system than a concert. Six Icelandic Music Award wins. Their ninth album, the first on the international label Enja/Yellowbird, moved through Icelandic-titled pieces that swing between brooding melodic passages and collective eruptions. They are in Berlin for two nights, road-testing material from an upcoming tenth album alongside the ADHD 9 repertoire. Their live shows have been described as trance-inducing collective rituals. Monday or Tuesday, just go.

Jakob Bänsch Quartett at B-flat

New York jazz critic Bill Milkowski compared this trumpeter to a young Wynton Marsalis. That is a big claim, but Jakob Bänsch backed it up when his debut album Opening won the German Jazz Award 2024 for Debut Album of the Year. His second album, All The Others, weaves impressionistic classical music, modern jazz, and folk elements into something personal and sophisticated. Tonight at B-flat with Niklas Reover on piano, Jakob Obleser on bass, and Leo Asal on drums. One of the most promising young voices on the European scene right now.

Tyreek McDole at Zig Zag Jazz Club

Twenty-four years old and already carrying a resume that would take most singers a full career to build. Tyreek McDole won the Sarah Vaughan Jazz Competition in 2023, only the second man to ever take first place in the competition's history. Before that, he took the best vocalist award at Wynton Marsalis's Jazz at Lincoln Center in 2018. His debut album Open Up Your Senses on Artwork Records showcases a baritone voice that is deep, expressive, and remarkably mature for someone his age. He has performed alongside Theo Croker, Gary Bartz, and Rodney Whitaker. Tonight he brings a band of American musicians to Zig Zag: Caelen Cardello on piano, Dan Finn on bass, Gary Jones III on drums.

Martin Wind Gravity Trio: "September" CD Release at A-Trane

This one carries weight. Martin Wind's new album September on Laika Records is a tribute to his mentor, the pianist and composer Jim McNeely, who passed away in September 2025. The album was recorded on September 26-27, 2025. McNeely died the morning of the first recording day. Wind and tenor saxophonist Peter Weniger go back 35 years, having first met as members of the German National Youth Jazz Orchestra. With Jonas Burgwinkel on drums, the Gravity Trio plays music shaped by three decades of friendship and loss. Wind has been based in the US for 30 years, teaches at NYU, placed third at the Monk Bass Competition, and has recorded with everyone from Pat Metheny to Michael Brecker. A release concert with real gravity behind it.

Dave Holland & Lionel Loueke at Zig Zag Jazz Club (Early 18:30 / Late 21:00)

When a NEA Jazz Master with 50-plus years on the bass meets one of the most inventive guitarists of his generation, you show up. Dave Holland and Lionel Loueke are touring their 2024 duo album United, and Zig Zag landed them for two shows in one night. Holland's history speaks for itself: he joined Miles Davis's band at 22, recorded Bitches Brew, and went on to lead some of the most respected small groups in modern jazz. Loueke, born in Benin, has been Herbie Hancock's guitarist for years and brought an entirely unique approach to the instrument, weaving West African vocal techniques with jazz harmony. He played on Hancock's Grammy-winning album River. This is the week's marquee booking. Two shows, same night. Get tickets early.

Yakou Tribe at A-Trane

A Berlin band that has been exploring its own sonic corner for 20 years. Yakou Tribe sits somewhere between jazz, progressive rock, and Brazilian folk, led by guitarist Kai Brückner and alto saxophonist Jan von Klewitz, with Pepe Berns on bass and Rainer Winch on drums. Their latest album Out Of Sight has been described as "jazz with red ears," which is about as good a description as any. Short, accessible compositions that drift between cinematic melancholy and quiet joy. Think 70s progressive rock aesthetics filtered through South American rhythms and Berlin sensibility.

Coen Molenaar Trio at B-flat

Dutch pianist Coen Molenaar brings his trio to B-flat with music from their album Wildflowers. Mainstream swinging jazz played with sensitivity and precision, featuring David de Marez Oyens on bass and Mark Eshuis on drums. A solid Thursday night set for anyone who wants to hear a piano trio play at a high level without conceptual gymnastics.

Steve Coleman & Five Elements at Zig Zag Jazz Club

Steve Coleman is one of those musicians whose influence runs so deep that even people who have never heard him have heard him. The co-founder of the M-Base movement and 2014 MacArthur Fellow has spent four decades rethinking how improvised music works, and Five Elements is where he puts it all into practice. The current lineup features Jonathan Finlayson on trumpet, Rich Brown on electric bass, and Sean Rickman on drums. They perform using what Coleman calls non-linear modules: pre-composed and spontaneous sections that can be combined in any order, meaning the band does not know what they will play until they play it. Every performance is a one-off. Their Village Vanguard recordings are legendary. This might be the hardest ticket of the week.

Olivia Trummer: Songbook at Zig Zag Jazz Club

Olivia Trummer is celebrating 20 years of recording by opening her personal Songbook, flipping through two decades of original compositions. Eleven albums in, she has played Carnegie Hall, Montreux, and Umbria Jazz, and shared stages with Kurt Rosenwinkel, Eric Clapton, and Bobby McFerrin. Jazzwise Magazine compared her to Esperanza Spalding, which tracks: there is the same joyfulness and genre fluidity. Tonight's quintet is a strong one: Johannes Lauer on trombone, Ariel Bart on harmonica, Makar Novikov on bass, and Amir Bresler on drums. A pianist and vocalist with real depth marking a milestone worth witnessing.

Fuasi's Organ Ensemble at B-flat

Close out the week with some Hammond organ heat. Fuasi's Organ Ensemble is a Berlin-based international quartet pulling from Hard Bop, Blues, African, Oriental, and Funk traditions, with musicians from Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Lüneburg, and Los Angeles. Fuasi handles tenor sax and flute, Tal Balshai is on the Hammond, Gur Liraz on guitar, and Tilman Person on drums. They were nominated for the German Jazz Award 2025 as Live Act of the Year, which tells you what you need to know about their stage energy. A late Saturday set that will send you into Sunday properly.

Ten shows, six days, five venues. From Reykjavík to Benin to the Lower East Side, all of it passing through Berlin this week. See you out there.