Jazzthetik Cover Story: "BasH Is Love. Simply That." — Jowee Omicil on the Cover of Germany's Leading Jazz Magazine

Jowee Omicil
Jan 1, 2026
2 min read

Issue 01/02 2026 · Jazzthetik · Written by Jan Kobrzinowski

Jowee Omicil is the cover story of Jazzthetik's January/February 2026 issue — Germany's most respected jazz magazine, now in its 40th year. The six-page feature, titled "Sehr spirituell" ("Very Spiritual"), is a deep dive into the world of BasH!, sMiLes, and the artistic philosophy of one of jazz's most singular voices.

Writer Jan Kobrzinowski describes a conversation with Jowee as something between a show and a concert — it begins with sound, as Omicil reaches for his trumpet mid-Zoom call and pulls you straight into his world. That world is governed not by ego, but by BasH: Beauty ascending socially Honestly. As Omicil puts it simply: "BasH ist Liebe. Ganz einfach." BasH is love. That's all there is to it.

"BasH is another planet — but also a party. A big, spectacular one. The best way to understand BasH is to experience it in action. It's already here, in the person of Jowee Omicil." — Jazzthetik, Issue 01/02 2026

The article traces the full arc of sMiLes — from its origins on December 11, 2024, when Jowee launched the PoDBasH! podcast with a new track released on the 11th of each month, to its completion on 11.11.2025. Eleven tracks, eleven months, eleven windows into what Omicil calls "the documentary film of my existence." The feature touches on his relationships with Abbey Lincoln, Roy Hargrove, Wayne Shorter, and Miles Davis — not as name-drops, but as living conversations woven into the music. As Omicil says about sMiLes: "What would Miles do? Travel different countries, unite different musical styles on one album. That is Miles to me."

The feature also highlights the BasH!AkademY — Omicil's nomadic music education project — and his vision of performance as communion: surprising the audience and himself in equal measure. "Those surprises are your Grammys. Those are your Oscars."

Read the full article

jazzthetik.de — Issue 01/02 2026

More press coverage at joweeo.com/media