Louis Armstrong Celebration Band
Michael Varekamp trumpet · Peter Verhas clarinet & tenor sax · Harry Kanters piano · Harry Emmery bass · Erik Kooger drums
The MASiMAS Festival welcomes the Louis Armstrong Celebration Band, a formation conceived as a living tribute to the spirit of Louis Armstrong’s legendary All Stars. Far from literal recreation, this project recaptures the festive, communicative, and deeply popular character of traditional jazz, placing the music at the point where swing, humor, and emotion connect directly with the audience.
The band, made up of highly respected musicians from the European jazz scene, approaches this repertoire through interpretation rather than imitation. Their focus is on bringing to the present the sense of showmanship that defined Armstrong’s most successful years, when jazz was synonymous with entertainment, charisma, and collective celebration. The result is a sonic journey to a time when music made listeners smile, dance, and actively participate.
With a relaxed stage presence, vocal highlights, and constant energy, the concert becomes a true party where swing is always front and center. The music breathes, moves, and conveys a contagious joy that almost makes Louis Armstrong’s personality tangible—not as a distant icon, but as a living presence still engaging with the audience across time.
Why you shouldn’t miss it: because this is one of those concerts where jazz is not just heard—it is lived, laughed with, and celebrated. It’s the perfect occasion to surrender to the swing and leave with the feeling of having attended a true musical celebration.
