Baloise Session (previously known as the Rheinknie Session and AVO SESSION Basel) is an indoor music festival, which takes place every October/November in

Basel , french: link=no, Bâlois(e), it, Basilese , neighboring_municipalities= Allschwil (BL), Hégenheim (FR-68), Binningen (BL), Birsfelden (BL), Bottmingen (BL), Huningue (FR-68), Münchenstein (BL), Muttenz (BL), Reinach (BL), Riehen (BS ...

, Switzerland. The festival features international as well as national artists of diverse music genres in an intimate club setting. In 2010 the festival celebrated its 25th jubilee, and in 2013 acquired sponsorship from a Swiss insurance company called

Bâloise Bâloise Holding AG is a Swiss insurance holding company headquartered in Basel. The company employs approximately 9,000 employees across Europe and is the third-largest Swiss all-industry insurance service provider for individuals and businesses ...

, changing the name of the event to Baloise Session. Club seating at AVO SESSION Basel

History

The festival was set up as the Rheinknie Session in 1985, with the five concerts of the first instalment of the festival in May 1986, including performances by

Oscar Peterson Oscar Emmanuel Peterson (August 15, 1925 – December 23, 2007) was a Canadian virtuoso jazz pianist and composer. Considered one of the greatest jazz pianists of all time, Peterson released more than 200 recordings, won seven Grammy Awards ...

Albert Collins Albert Gene Drewery, known as Albert Collins and the Ice Man (October 1, 1932 – November 24, 1993),Skeely, Richard. "Albert Collins: Biography" Allmusic.com. was an American electric blues guitarist and singer with a distinctive guitar style. ...

and

Koko Taylor Koko Taylor (born Cora Anna Walton, September 28, 1928 – June 3, 2009) was an American singer whose style encompassed Chicago blues, electric blues, rhythm and blues and soul blues. Sometimes called "The Queen of the Blues", she was known f ...

. The second year's edition included shows by

Fats Domino Antoine Dominique Domino Jr. (February 26, 1928 – October 24, 2017), known as Fats Domino, was an American pianist, singer and songwriter. One of the pioneers of rock and roll music, Domino sold more than 65 million records. Born in New O ...

and

Buddy Guy George "Buddy" Guy (born July 30, 1936) is an American blues guitarist and singer. He is an exponent of Chicago blues who has influenced generations of guitarists including Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, Jimmy Page, Keith Richards, Stevie Ray Vaugh ...

Regional establishment

In 1988

Miles Davis Miles Dewey Davis III (May 26, 1926September 28, 1991) was an American trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th-century music. Davis adopted a variety of musi ...

agreed to perform at the festival. Subsequently the festival was first acknowledged outside of north-western Switzerland. Names such as Dizzy Gillespie,

Michel Petrucciani Michel Petrucciani (; ; 28 December 1962 – 6 January 1999) was a French jazz pianist. From birth he had osteogenesis imperfecta, a genetic disease that causes brittle bones and, in his case, short stature. He became one of the most accomplish ...

and Herbie Hancock followed and Claude Nobs from

Montreux Jazz Festival The Montreux Jazz Festival (formerly Festival de Jazz Montreux and Festival International de Jazz Montreux) is a music festival in Switzerland, held annually in early July in Montreux on the Lake Geneva shoreline. It is the second-largest annual ...

joined as a member of the patrons committee. In its first ten years the festival focussed on continuous growth. By gradually integrating musical styles such as world music,

soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun '' soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest atte ...

and funk after 1995, it proved possible to approach a younger audience.

National take-off

In 1997 the festival management decided to revamp the festival's content as well as its look and the festival's image was rejuvenated with greater importance attached to the attraction and driving power of international performers. The club style seating arrangement, the combination of acts and the opportunity to experience big names in an intimate atmosphere have become trademarks. Embracing this vision, presenting sponsor AVO Cigars, part of Oettinger

Davidoff Davidoff is a Swiss premium brand of cigars, cigarettes and smoker's accessories. The Davidoff cigarette brand has been owned by Imperial Brands after purchasing it in 2006. The non-cigarette portion of the Davidoff tobacco brand is owned by ...

, agreed to a growth-orientated sponsorship deal, with the festival becoming known as the AVO SESSION Basel. In 2013, the festival acquired sponsorship from a Swiss insurance company called

, changing the name of the event to Baloise Session, with sponsorship in place for the ten-night event till at least 2025.

Performances of note

The festival has presented headliner artists such as Bob Geldof (1998);

Ray Charles Ray Charles Robinson Sr. (September 23, 1930 – June 10, 2004) was an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. He is regarded as one of the most iconic and influential singers in history, and was often referred to by contemporaries as "The Ge ...

(1999); James Brown (2000); Chris de Burgh (2001);

Paolo Conte Paolo Conte (; born 6 January 1937) is an Italian singer, pianist, songwriter and lawyer known for his distinctly grainy, resonant voice. His compositions fuse Italian and Mediterranean sounds with jazz, boogie and elements of the French and L ...

(2002); Deep Purple, Solomon Burke (2003); Lionel Richie, Lucio Dalla (2004);

Simply Red Simply Red are a British soul and pop band formed in Manchester in 1985. The lead vocalist of the band is singer and songwriter Mick Hucknall, who, by the time the band initially disbanded in 2010, was the only original member left. Since th ...

Francesco De Gregori Francesco De Gregori OMRI (born 4 April 1951) is an Italian singer-songwriter. In Italy, he is popularly known as "Il Principe dei cantautori" ("The Prince of the singer-songwriters"), a nickname referring to the elegance of his lyrics. He is of ...

(2005); Elton John, Herbie Hancock (2006); Dolores O'Riordan, Patti Austin, Joe Cocker,

Mark Knopfler Mark Freuder Knopfler (born 12 August 1949) is a British singer-songwriter, guitarist, and record producer. Born in Scotland and raised in England, he was the lead guitarist, singer and songwriter of the rock band Dire Straits. He pursued a s ...

Katie Melua Ketevan Katie Melua (; ka, ქეთევან "ქეთი" მელუა, ; born 16 September 1984) is a Georgian and British singer and songwriter. She was born in Kutaisi and raised in Belfast and London. Under the management of com ...

Chuck Berry Charles Edward Anderson Berry (October 18, 1926 – March 18, 2017) was an American singer, songwriter and guitarist who pioneered rock and roll. Nicknamed the " Father of Rock and Roll", he refined and developed rhythm and blues into th ...

(2007); Jethro Tull,

Zucchero Adelmo Fornaciari (; born 25 September 1955), more commonly known by his stage name Zucchero Fornaciari or simply Zucchero (), is an Italian singer, musician and songwriter. His stage name is the Italian word for "sugar", as his elementary teach ...

, Amy Macdonald,

Michael Bolton Michael Bolotin
, The Jewish Historical Society of New Haven, 1998. (born February 26, 1953), known professio ...

Cyndi Lauper Cynthia Ann Stephanie Lauper Thornton (born June 22, 1953) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and activist. Her career has spanned over 40 years. Her album ''She's So Unusual'' (1983) was the first debut album by a female artist to achi ...

, Gary Moore (2008); Grace Jones, Tom Jones (2009);

Jamiroquai Jamiroquai () are an English funk and acid jazz band from London. Formed in 1992, they are fronted by vocalist Jay Kay, and were prominent in the London-based funk and acid jazz movement of the 1990s. They built on their acid jazz sound in th ...

Mary J. Blige Mary Jane Blige ( ; born January 11, 1971) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Often referred to as the " Queen of Hip-Hop Soul" and " Queen of R&B", Blige has won nine Grammy Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, four American Music Award ...

(2010);

John Hiatt John Robert Hiatt (born August 20, 1952) is an American singer-songwriter. He has played a variety of musical styles on his albums, including new wave, blues, and country. Hiatt has been nominated for nine Grammy Awards and has been awarded ...

and

Sonny Landreth Clide Vernon "Sonny" Landreth (born February 1, 1951) is an American blues musician from southwest Louisiana who is especially known as a slide guitar player. He was born in Canton, Mississippi, and settled in Lafayette, Louisiana. He lives in Bre ...

, Liza Minnelli,

Daniela Mercury Daniela Mercury (born Daniela Mercuri de Almeida on July 28, 1965) is a Brazilian singer, songwriter, dancer, producer, actress and television host. In her solo career, Mercury has sold over 20 million records worldwide and had 24 Top 10 single ...

Paul Anka Paul Albert Anka (born July 30, 1941) is a Canadian-American singer, songwriter and actor. He is best known for his signature hit songs including " Diana", " Lonely Boy", " Put Your Head on My Shoulder", and "(You're) Having My Baby". Anka also ...

(2011); Rod Stewart (2012); Eric Clapton (2013);

Bryan Ferry Bryan Ferry CBE (born 26 September 1945) is an English singer and songwriter. His voice has been described as an "elegant, seductive croon". He also established a distinctive image and sartorial style: according to ''The Independent'', Ferry an ...

(2014); Toto (2015); Candy Dulfer (2015);

(2015); Iggy Pop (2015),

Norah Jones Norah Jones (born Geethali Norah Jones Shankar; March 30, 1979) is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. She has won several awards for her music and as of 2012, has sold more than 50 million records worldwide. ''Billboard'' named her the ...

(2016);

Alicia Keys Alicia Augello Cook (born January 25, 1981), known professionally as Alicia Keys, is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. A classically trained pianist, Keys started composing songs when she was 12 and was signed at 15 years old by Col ...

, Madness, Imelda May (2017); Tribalistas (2018),

Ms. Lauryn Hill Lauryn Noelle Hill (born May 26, 1975) is an American singer, songwriter, rapper, and record producer. She is often regarded as one of the greatest rappers of all time, as well as being one of the most influential musicians of her generation. ...

(2018),

John Legend John Roger Stephens (born December 28, 1978), known professionally as John Legend, is an American singer, songwriter, pianist, and record producer. He began his musical career by working behind the scenes, playing piano on Lauryn Hill's " Eve ...

(2018), Beth Hart (2018),

Dido Dido ( ; , ), also known as Elissa ( , ), was the legendary founder and first queen of the Phoenician city-state of Carthage (located in modern Tunisia), in 814 BC. In most accounts, she was the queen of the Phoenician city-state of Tyre (t ...

(2019),

Michael Patrick Kelly Michael Patrick Kelly (Paddy Kelly) was born on December 5, 1977. He is an Irish-American singer, musician and composer. Kelly was born in Dublin. He came to fame as the third-youngest member of the pop and folk band The Kelly Family The Kel ...

(2019).

Elisa The enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) (, ) is a commonly used analytical biochemistry assay, first described by Eva Engvall and Peter Perlmann in 1971. The assay uses a solid-phase type of enzyme immunoassay (EIA) to detect the presen ...

(2022).

International recognition

All concerts are recorded and broadcast in up to forty countries, with a potential audience of 150 million viewers, on stations such as SRF (on Swiss television and on their

Radio SRF 1 Radio SRF 1 is a Swiss radio channel, one of six operated by Schweizer Radio und Fernsehen (SRF), with its headquarters in Zürich. It was launched in 1931 as Radio Beromünster (named after the Beromünster municipality on which its original ...

Radio SRF 3 Radio SRF 3 is the third radio station from Schweizer Radio und Fernsehen (SRF). The station was launched on 1 November 1983 at 00:01 hours (as DRS 3) in response to the licensing of private radio stations in Switzerland that was directed primari ...

services),

ARTE Arte (; (), sometimes stylized in lowercase or uppercase in its logo) is a European public service channel dedicated to culture. It is made up of three separate companies: the Strasbourg-based European Economic Interest Grouping ARTE, plu ...

, Telebasel, , and

3sat In logic and computer science, the Boolean satisfiability problem (sometimes called propositional satisfiability problem and abbreviated SATISFIABILITY, SAT or B-SAT) is the problem of determining if there exists an interpretation that satisfies ...

. Some concerts were worldwide streamed live from the Event Hall via ARTE Concert's website and YouTube channel. In 2006 the festival's first Eurovision broadcast took place with a show of Elton John, followed by

's Europe-wide live broadcast in 2007. Four performances, namely the concert featuring Solomon Burke (2003),

(2007), Jethro Tull (2008) and

(2011), were released in America and Europe on DVD. In 2022,

Sky Arts Sky Arts (originally launched as Artsworld) is a British free-to-air television channel offering 24 hours a day of programmes dedicated to highbrow arts, including theatrical performances, movies, documentaries and music (such as opera perfor ...

started broadcasting performances from the concert to British Freeview viewers, with

Kool & the Gang Kool & the Gang is an American R&B/soul/funk band formed in Jersey City, New Jersey, in 1964 by brothers Robert "Kool" Bell and Ronald Bell, with Dennis "Dee Tee" Thomas, Robert "Spike" Mickens, Charles Smith, George Brown, and Ricky West. ...

performance from 2017, Toto’s Baloise Session from 2015 and Brian Wilson in 2016 being some of the concerts screened by the broadcaster.

Awards

The Baloise Session has won the first prize in the cultural category of the International Sponsorships Awards presented by the German sponsorship association FASPO.

References

External links

The website of Baloise Session

The website of Avo Session Basel
{{Authority control Autumn events in Switzerland Blues festivals in Switzerland Music festivals in Switzerland