The Kaiju Project is a Japanese inspired jazz group formed by the half Japanese-Austrian pianist Aseo Friesacher. Their initial idea was to bring old folk songs into a new modern context, but in addition to their compositions, this group has found their very own musical direction: a perfect blend of traditional Japanese music and meditative-creative jazz.

Praised for it's versatility and keen interest in new music, the Eric Ericson Chamber Choir and it's chief conductor Fredrik Malmberg present a programme devoted to a cappella works in a modern yet accessible style by American or American-born composers. The album opens with a triptych based of adaptations of ancient Gaelic poems, Reincarnations by Samuel Barber, known for his opulent, post-romantic language as expressed in his famous Adagio for Strings. Jeff Beal, one of Hollywood's most prolific and respected composers, wrote The Salvage Men, based on texts by Oscar Wilde and contemporary Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Kay Ryan. This cycle, according to Beal, offers 'a wholly fresh, contemporary view on the themes of transformation and our chosen response to pain'. Daniel Nelson's The New Colossus, based on a text by the 19th-century writer Emma Lazarus inspired by the Statue of Liberty, aims to convey musically the majesty and beauty inherent in the idea of inclusion. Finally, two works by Eric Whitacre, a composer whose works have become popular with vocal ensembles across America: A Boy and a Girl, a delicate piece based on a poem by Octavio Paz, and Three Songs of Faith, on texts by E.E. Cummings, a cycle that presents Whitacre's personal faith and his reflections on the spiritual and the unknowable.

This album is all about Tadd Dameron (1917 - 65), one of the most important American jazz composer/musicians. The master baritone saxophonist and perennial pole winner Gary Smulyan conceived the brilliant idea of recording Dameron compositions with lyrics. The vocal part is phenomenally rendered by the young talent Anaïs Reno. Three songs including the lovely This Night Of Stars have hitherto never been recorded. “While Smulyan solos brilliantly throughout, Reno is the real treat here.” (Bill Milkowski – DownBeat on SCCD 31936). “Smulyan here brings to light Dameron’s heretofore unknown Library of Congress trove of standard-quality off-Broadway gems.” (Fred Bouchard – NYCJR on SCCD 31936) 180g Audiophile Vinyl

This is an album of first-rate contemporary American works for violin piano, with superb performances by Pia Liptak, violin, and Yi-Wen Chang, piano. Pia Liptak: Fantasy; Charles Ives: Second Sonata for Violin and Piano; Pia Liptak: Four Haiku; David Liptak: Sonata for Violin and Piano; Baljinder Sekhon: Three Little Lights

Floð og Fjara is Gulli Gudmundsson's new project. The Icelandic bassist has been a cornerstone of the Dutch jazz scene for many years. His new trio has a chamber music-inspired setup. With pianist Jeroen van Vliet and trumpeter Koen Smits, he has found two musicians who share his pursuit of similar sound ideals.

Bittersweet - Sophie Pacini's own collection of encouraging masterpieces that feels like a gentle embrace in the midst of crises and challenges. In a world often dominated by uncertainty and stress, the music on this album offers a powerful solace - a reminder that beauty, pain and hope are mysteriously intertwined. Inspired by an intimate, moving concert in a women's shelter in Munich, the ECHOKlassik Award winner was passionate about giving hope and light to many otherpeople in dark hours with a compilation of her personal heartfelt pieces. It is probably the most personal album project to date by the Munich-born artist, who -unintentionally dubbed a "wunderkind" - had to fight against discrimination, exclusion and resentment from an early age and always drew all her strength from her music. Each piece on "bittersweet" is a little encouragement, a reminder that even in themost bittersweet moments of life, the beauty of music can lead to new strength. Sophie Pacini's interpretation, between virtuosity and sensitivity, opens doors to aworld that provides encouragement in difficult times - and shows that true strengthlies especially in fragility.

Music without remembrance is not possible, affirms pianist Sophie Pacini, and "Rimembranza" is the title she has chosen for her 6th solo album. Here, the music deals with hope and doubt, pain and deliverance, bitter loss and - most of all - memory. At the album's core she has placed two works she finds strongly connected with pain, transience, and death: Mozart's Sonata in A minor K.310 and Schubert's Sonata in A minor D 784. Mozart's mother died in Paris shortly before he wrote his sonata. His twelve variations on the French folk song "Ah, vous dirai-je, Maman!" thus already bear the seed of the Sonata in A minor in themselves. "They are Mozart's rimembranza addressed to himself", she suggests. With their plaintive title harking back to the past, these variations open the curtain on Sophie Pacini's album. Before it falls again, we hear Schubert's two Impromptus Op. 90: sounding like excerpts from his sonatas, they "brush against our memory like two bittersweet rimembranzas from the past", she muses. The last act is introduced by Schubert's "Standchen" on a love poem by Ludwig Rellstab. The subject of love likewise closes the album; from the film "Cinema Paradiso", we hear the love theme composed by the recently departed Ennio Morricone and his son Andrea - a tribute track to Sophie Pacini's second homeland, Italy.

Apres ses debuts remarques dans le jazz, Alexandre Sacha Distel, neveu du celebre chef d'orchestre Ray Ventura, s'oriente vers la chanson. Son charme et sa voix seduisent rapidement le public. en 1958, son tube Scoubidou le propulse au sommet des charts. de 1959 a 1962, Distel enchaine les succes. Il remporte le Grand Prix de l'Academie Charles-Cros en 1959, chante avec Maurice Chevalier, compose pour le grand ecran et devient une icône de la chanson francaise, alliant talent musical et elegance naturelle. Patrick FReMEAUX After a stunning debut as a jazz guitarist, Alexandre "Sacha" Distel, the nephew of famous French bandleader Ray Ventura, turned to the world of songs, where his voice and good looks quickly attracted a large audience. In 1958 he had an enormous hit with the song "Scoubidou" that catapulted him to the top of the charts. In 1959 he won the "Grand Prix de l'Academie Charles-Cros", and for the next three years he enjoyed one hit after another. He would sing with Maurice Chevalier and compose songs for films before becoming an icon in popular music with a unique combination of musical talent and natural elegance. Patrick FReMEAUX CD1 (1957-1959) : Sacha Distel CHANTE : TOUT BAS (SPEAK LOW) - CHEVEUX DANS LE VENT - QUAND J'Y PENSE - LA FIN D'UN ROMAN D'AMOUR - MA CHeRIE SI JOLIE (TAMMY) - MALADIE D'AMOUR - INSENSIBLEMENT - FASCINATION - ROSE D'OR - LE TOUR DU MONDE (AROUND THE WORLD) - QUAND TU VIENS CHEZ MOI... MON COEUR - QUELQUE CHOSE EN TOI - L'eTANG - TIENS ! TIENS ! TIENS ! - UN AMOUR COMME LE NÔTRE - QUE RESTE-T-IL DE NOS AMOURS ? - PARLEZ-MOI D'AMOUR - SI PETITE O MON AMOUR - GARDE cA POUR TOI (CATCH A FALLING STAR) - LE MUR - La, PReS DE LA FENeTRE (IN THE WEE SMALL HOURS) - DORS MON AMOUR - BRIGITTE - a JAMAIS - BONJOUR CHeRIE. BANDE ORIGINALE DU FILM GIGI : C'EST LA BARBE (AVEC MAURICE CHEVALIER) - TOUT cA N'EST PAS POUR MOI - CEUX QUI INVENTeRENT LE CHAMPAGNE (AVEC MARIE FRANCE GIGI ET JANE MARKEN) - GIGI. CD2 (1959-1961) : Sacha Distel EN PERSONNE : SCOUBIDOU - POMMES ET POIRES - OH ! QUELLE NUIT (LONESOME ME) - QUAND ON S'EST CONNU - CE SERAIT DOMMAGE... (IMPATIENT LOVER) - OUI, OUI, OUI, OUI (GRAND PRIX DE LA CHANSON R.T.F. 1959) - DIS ! O DIS ! (EVERYBODY LOVES A LOVER) - ET QUE cA DURE - JE N'AVAIS PAS COMPRIS. COQ D'OR DE LA CHANSON 1959 : SOPHIE. Sacha Distel N°2 : MON BEAU CHAPEAU - La, PReS DE LA FENeTRE (IN THE WEE SMALL HOURS) - LES CeLIBATAIRES - OUAH ! OUAH ! OUAH ! OUAH ! - PERSONNALITeS - ELLE A LE... ELLE A LA... ELLE A LES... - DITES a L'ORCHESTRE (LA... LA... LA...) - MONSIEUR L'BARON - TOUT cA DEVAIT ARRIVER (EVERYTHING HAPPENS TO ME) - DRÔLE DE ReVE (THE PREACHER) - ALLEZ ! VA ! (MY HEART IS AN OPEN BOOK). Sacha Distel N°3 : 20 MADAM' MADAM' - CALIN CALINETTE - LES CARIOCAS, ELLES SONT SI BELLES LES CARIOCAS - OUI, DEVANT DIEU (LA NOVIA) - LE BOOGIE DU BeBe (BABY SITTIN' BOOGIE) - ON DIT, ON DIT, ON DIT - cA C'EST DU POULET - a CAUSE DE TOI (I DON't KNOW WHY) - BYE BYE BABY (BYE BYE BLACKBIRD) - TROIS FOIS LA FRANCE. CD3 (1961-1962) : OUI ET NON - C'EST TOUT, C'EST TOUT (THAT'S ALL) - CATERINA - C'eTAIT PLUS FORT QUE TOUT (I CAN't STOP LOVING YOU) - J'AI UN RENDEZ-VOUS (I WANNA THANK YOU) - SANS TOI - QUE C'EST BON (WELCOME HOME TO MY HEART) - CHANSON SUR UNE SEULE NOTE (SAMBA DE UMA NOTA SO) - GUITARE ET COPAINS (A STEEL GUITAR AND A GLASS OF WINE) - DIS-MOI BARMAN - LES FILLES... MOI J'AIME cA - BON VENT MA JOLIE - PAILLASSE - RIEN DANS LA NUIT. SACHA BOSSA NOVA : ESO BESO - DESAFINADO - VIENS DANSER LA BOSSA NOVA (TING TOUNG) - LOIN DE TOI (RECADO). EVERYBODY LOVES THE LOVER : LET ME LOVE YOU - WHY DON't WE DO THIS MORE OFTEN - MY HEART STOOD STILL - ONCE IN EVERY LIFETIME - I'm IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE - SPEAK TO ME OF LOVE - THE LOVER - IT'S BEEN A LONG, LONG TIME - EVERYBODY LOVES A LOVER - YOU DO SOMETHING TO ME - I CAN't GIVE YOU ANYTHING BUT LOVE - ALMOST LIKE BEING IN LOVE. DIRECTION ARTISTIQUE : OLIVIER JULIEN

Stuttgart-born mezzo-soprano Christina Baader has been a much sought-after musician for many years, not only as an opera singer and soloist, but is also an internationally successful visual artist. To mark the 100th anniversary of Gabriel Faure's death, Christina Baader and Gert Hecher, piano, are presenting an album by the title MONDE ET MYSTeRE with a selection of his songs as well as those by Henri Duparc, who also played a significant role in establishing an independent French art of song. The expressive songs are based on poems by famous French poets such as Paul Verlaine, Charles Baudelaire, Armand Silvestre, Theophile Gautier, Rene-François Sully-Prudhomme and Jean Lahor. Together with Gert Hecher, a specialist in the restoration of historical keyboard instruments, two grand pianos from 1868 and 1879, respectively, from the famous erard piano manufactory in Paris, which at the time had a similar status to Steinway & Sons today, were chosen to best emphasize the different tonal and stylistic elements of the works of the two composers.

« Je me souviens de l'epoque où Sacha Distel etait guitariste de jazz. » Georges PEREC, Je me souviens, Hachette, Paris, 1978. Alexandre "Sacha" Distel, neveu du celebre chef d'orchestre Ray Ventura, emerge comme une figure cle du jazz dans les annees 1950. Influence par son oncle et les musiciens qu'il cotoie, il apprend la guitare avec Henri Salvador. Considere comme l'un des meilleurs guitaristes francais des 1956, il collabore avec des geants du jazz tels que Dizzy Gillespie, Stan Getz et Lionel Hampton avant de connaitre le succes dans la chanson. Alexandre "Sacha" Distel, the nephew of famous French bandleader Ray Ventura, emerged as a key figure on the jazz scene in the early fifties. Under the influence of his uncle and the musicians alongside him, he learned to play the guitar with Henri Salvador and by 1956 he was considered one of the best guitarists in France. Before going on to become a successful singer, Sacha played with such jazz giants as Dizzy Gillespie, Stan Getz and Lionel Hampton.

Recorded on the same day after the quintet session (SCCD 31046 Duke’s Delight) in a New York studio in 1975 this attractive trio recording “comprises nearly 40 minutes of sheer unpretentious enjoyment.” (Mark Gardner - Jazz Journal UK) Duke Jordan’s long association with SteepleChase started with Jordan’s visit to Copenhagen in 1973. The collaboration yielded impressive hoard of highly acclaimed albums including SCCD 31011 Flight To Denmark). This session with the very best sidemen New York could offer - the veteran bassist Sam Jones and the great drummer Al Foster (who joined Miles Davis shortly after this session - enabled Jordan to display his attractive personal touch featuring Jordan’s own melodious compositions. 180g Audiophile Vinyl

It is safe to say that the latter half of Dexter Gordon’s European years (1961-1976) found him most inspired and productive. This album recorded in a Copenhagen studio in September of 1975 precedes to Gordon’s most publicised homecoming to the States. With his favourite rhythm section of Montoliu, NHØP and Billy Higgins Dexter is in his pinnacle. It is also noteworthy to know that this is the only studio recording Dexter Gordon and the formidable Catalonian pianist made together. “... Today, more than 30 years after he made his first dates for Savoy, he is playing better than ever... From the opener, Billie’s Bounce, the record settles into a beautiful groove and the interest never lets up...” (Mike Hennessey, Jazz Journal International) “…Almost all Nils Winther’s Danish SteepleChase label releases have been better than the CBS albums, and this is certainly no exception.” (Michigan State News) 180g Audiophile Vinyl

Head Space: Candlelight is the first EP in The King's Singers' Head Space series, aiming to connect choral music with calmness and reflection. Inspired by compline, the Catholic night service, it features plainchant, including "In manus tuas Domine" and "Salva nos Domine vigilantes," emphasizing breath-led pacing. The album also includes wordless Orlando Gibbons "Songs," contemporary pieces by Anna Thorvaldsdottir, Judith Bingham, and Arvo Part, and the experimental "4'33" by John Cage, concluding with Robert Parsons' "Ave Maria" and Edvard Grieg's "Ave Maris Stella," all designed to create a contemplative atmosphere.