The German Moers Festival is no longer primarily a jazz festival, but a curated laboratory for free improvisation, sound art, compositional music, and political absurdism. At times it feels forced. Most of the time, it is liberating.

Air raid sirens, artillery, and everyday sounds have altered the city’s rhythm – and forced its residents to develop new ways of listening.

Warsaw Autumn is on its way to becoming a victim of its own success, James Black writes in his essay from the Polish capital.