“You are so young and play so great. I hate you!” It does not do the journey of the artist justice to reduce classically trained pianist Jan Prax to this best known of quotes, uttered by saxophone player David Sanborn after a concert at the Leverkusener Jazztage. Prax has received numerous prizes, and after his debut album with a renowned German jazz label, his second album is now released on Challenge Records. This new release is the largest artistic vision of the artist to date in its entire spectrum, with influences from the Straight Ahead Jazz of the 1950s and 1960s, the avant-garde movement of the 1960s, Hip Hop, as well as Rhythm and Blues. As with the previous production Keepin a Style Alive, this recording focuses on the acoustic jazz quartet with outstanding partners such as Martin Soros, Tilman Oberbeck, and Michael Mischl, this time with a lineup extended by high profile guests Bodek Janke and Soweto Kinch. Ascending- like the ascendant in astrology revealing a person’s true potential… like a developing improvisation, fuelled by passion and driven by the collective, a quest for ways of expression without neglecting the roots.

Coherence Quartet is currently one of the best and most interesting bands playing improvised music which is based on jazz music complemented by the sounds of music coming from many cultures and musical traditions. The repertoire includes works copyrighted by the band musicians as well as originally arranged jazz standards. Coherence Quartet concerts are unique events during which pieces that have never previously been recorded are presented, arising at a given moment under the influence of time and place. Even the pieces that are solid within the group's repertoire change their form and tone depending on the mood of the moment and the audience response. Every concert of Coherence Quartet is a new experience created by four distinguished and experienced artists completely engaged in music- interactions that create new and exciting musical worlds. After months of struggling in the studio, the group finally recorded this album in one of the member's living rooms. Spontaneity at it's finest!

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Twelve first-class Korean jazz musicians have come together under the name of Jungsu Choi Tiny Orkester. This is their debut album. JTO is a big jazz ensemble consisting of five horns, cello, male voice, a four-piece rhythm section and composers with a unique, contemporary jazz interpretation and modern, original compositions. Band leader Jungsu Choi has had diverse rolls in all areas of music, be it orchestra, big band or electronic music. In his ten years of working in Europe, he has built a remarkable musical career and studied jazz composition, film music, as well as electro-acoustic music at Vienna Conservatory and Kingston University London. Choi writes: “In the three years it took to compose and arrange the five tracks on this album, I never had the chance to actually hear them. In the course of all those years, they only existed in the shape of ink on hundreds of pages of paper. Tiny Orkester’s great musicians made it possible to transform music that only existed as ink on paper into real music! I had sketched half of the picture and my genius musicians colored in the other half beautifully. That’s why this isn’t my, but OUR music.”

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

The Floris Kappeyne Trio was set up in 2015 by the pianist. In the past two years, the trio consisting of separate Prinses Christina Concours winners (2012) has made audiences smile with their witty arrangements of old jazz standards. During the last year, the trio has worked on achieving an authentic conception by combining the classic sound of the McCoy Tyner trio from the sixties with Senegalese sabar rhythms and abstract ideas from modern classical music. The result is presented on this debut album, consisting solely of original compositions.

Classical Music