When Brooklyn-born, NYC native Kenny Werner came on stage for his concert in Stuttgart in 1992, he had just begun experimenting with the possibilities of solo piano programs. Over time he grew into the role of a high-quality craftsman who drew his strength not from the struggle for innovation, but from the elegance and finesse with which he incorporated the pianistic possibilities of the keyboard tradition into his music. In artistic self-understanding he was one step ahead of his era.

Werner’s advanced position was also evident in the repertoire that he brought with him to the studio room of the SDR (Süddeutscher Rundfunk) in Stuttgart on 10 June 1992. Most of the compositions were standards associated with the “Great American Songbook”, which he took as a starting point for letting his own creativity play on familiar melodies and forms. It didn’t interest Werner to have the material fall apart in the postmodern fashion typical of the time. On the contrary, for him it was about the perfection of an interior design of the songs, which allowed him to savor the freedom within the set frame of classical jazz patterns. The evening in Stuttgart thus becomes a link in the canon of Werner’s style.

Born in Brooklyn, NY on November 19, 1951 and then growing up in Oceanside, Long Island, Kenny Werner began playing and performing at a young age, first recording on television at the age of 11. Although he studied classical piano as a child, he enjoyed playing anything he heard on the radio. In high school and his first years of college he attended the Manhattan School of Music as a classical piano major. His natural instinct for improvisation led Kenny to the Berklee School of Music in 1970. There he sought tutelage of the renowned piano teacher Madame Chaloff. Her gracious wisdom and inspiration became a driving force in Kenny’s conception: A music conscious of its spiritual intent and essence. From Boston, Kenny traveled to Brazil with the saxophonist Victor Assis Brasil. There he met Victor’s twin brother, Brazilian pianist Joao Assis Brasil. He studied with Joao, who provided another piece of the puzzle for Kenny’s conception that would lead to Effortless Mastery, his landmark opus on how to allow the master musician from within to manifest. Kenny Werner has been a world-class pianist and composer for over forty years. His prolific output of compositions, recordings and publications continue to impact audiences around the world.

Drummer Mark Guiliana is renowned for his work with Avishai Cohen for several years from 2002 to 2009. ‘Locked in a Basement’ is his debut album as band leader and producer. Hailed by The New York Times as “a drummer around whom a cult of admiration has formed,” Mark Guiliana brings the same adventurous spirit, eclectic palette and gift for spontaneous invention to a staggering range of styles. Equally virtuosic playing acoustic jazz, boundary-stretching electronic music, or next-level rock, he’s become a key collaborator with such original sonic thinkers as Brad Mehldau, Meshell Ndegeocello, Donny McCaslin, Matisyahu, and the late, great David Bowie.

‘Lyla’ is Avishai Cohen’s first release with Razdaz Recordz. Piano legend Chick Corea appears as a special guest performing a duet with the leader. Avishai Cohen is an Israeli jazz double bassist, composer, singer, and arranger. He began playing the piano at 9 years old but changed to the bass guitar at the age of 14, inspired by bassist Jaco Pastorius. In 2002, Cohen founded his record label, Razdaz Recordz. "I've always been interested in several genres of music, including jazz, rock, pop, Latin and funk," says Cohen. "I'm always packed with ideas. I decided to start my own label because I'm involved in so many different projects." Cohen's signature sound is a blend of Middle Eastern, eastern European, and African-American musical idioms.

On the occasion of his 50th anniversary, Avishaï Cohen offers a sumptuous present: 50 titles selected by his fans in a luxurious box set including 6 golden 180g vinyls. Deluxe edition limited and numbered to 2.000 copies worldwide! Each title has been commented by Avisaï Cohen in a beautiful 32-page hardcover book. Avishai Cohen, born in Kabri, Israel on April 20th, 1970, grew up in a multicultural family whose roots were found in Spain, Greece and Poland. At home, music was always in the air, with his mother Ora, an artistic influence, listening to both classical and traditional music. Avishais musical journey began when he was nine years old, when he began playing the piano. After moving to St. Louis, Missouri with his family at age fourteen, he continued to study the piano and began to play the bass guitar. The electric bass put a spell on him when his teacher introduced him to the music of luminary bassist Jaco Pastorius. Back in Israel, Avishai joined the Music and Arts Academy in Jerusalem to further explore the bass universe.

When pianist Carsten Dahl went into the studio with his perennial fellow musicians, the bassist Niels Bo Davidsen and the drummer Stefan Pasborg, it was with a special dogma: Not to say a word throughout the recording. The album was created in a continuous sequence of first takes and everything was improvised without previous agreements or ideas except 'Falling Down' and 'How I Hear Beauty' based on some chords Dahl scratched down on a piece of paper in the studio. There is a natural, fluent and electric feeling in the music. The trio creates a series of intense pieces most of them no longer than 3-4 minutes, but together they constitute a suite-like process with stimulating variation in form and expression. 'To me Mirrors Within is the picture of the collective and the universal', Dahl says. 'In the music we mirror ourselves in one another. But the mirror can also break and behind it is black'. Hereby he insinuate the both bright and dark sides of his own artist life. He has spoken in public about trauma, therapy and medicine. Music, painting and poetry are his creative responses. Mirrors Within points in the direction of the inner landscapes of music, those places in the mind where music can become 'sound that bleeds, infect and flourish', as written in the Brøndums Encyklopædi. Dahl, Davidsen & Pasborg have developed a special musical dialect together. We are way beyond instrumental skills, which are top class, but it is about much more than that. The best way perhaps to summarize the activities is with the word: empathy. Not as a feeling, but as an ability to participate in a mutual human action which otherwise could not be realized.