Genzo Okabe: "In the 'Okabe Family' project, including this album, I have been creating music by relying only on my own sensibilities for about 10years, without being caught up in what is authentic or what is progress. Whether it's real jazz or not, it's not a problem at all from my personal point of view. Create something voluntarily and throw it into a global platform. Then, if someone somewhere in the world reacts in any way, a new movement will come out. I hope that localization will bring artists to make new communities in the sense of musical interest rather than national or geographic framework, and a variety of music as many dialects enrich our entire society."

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Bassist-composer Martijn Vanbuel is a 'global citizen' who lived in Paris, Shanghai and Taipei, and worked at high levels with notable figures in jazz, pop, and world music. With Orbit Folks, he combines all of these influences into his own whimsical universe, for which he borrows sounds, rhythms and colors from every corner of the musical world. Orbit Folks presents cinematic music, often longer compositions, but groove-based and with enough space for improvisation. Think intelligent and hypnotic world-jazz-rock, somewhere in the middle of Weather Report, Tortoise and Jaga Jazzist. This is Orbit Folks' debut release.

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Classical Music

Jazz journalist Bert Jansma writes: "Such nonsense, those discussions about jazz-then, jazz-now, jazz-in-the-future, and jazz-how! These were my first thoughts while listening to "Rise and Shine" by the Dutch Ruud Breuls/Simon Rigter Quintet. Because I heard pure jazz, jazz of all eras. Not pretentious, no affectation, no back-door agendas, but jazz by five musicians who got together 'just' to make beautiful music. Each of them is highly skilled, and always conscious of the emotional content of their sound. Tenor sax player Simon Rigter and trumpeter Ruud Breuls first got together in 1997 under the leadership of pianist and father of Dutch Jazz Cees Slinger, in the band Buddies in Soul. Slinger passed away in 2007, leaving the 'buddies' Breuls and Rigter on their own. Both are highly respected soloists in big bands, the former in the German WDR Big Band, the latter in the jazz Orchestra of the Concertgebouw. In their current quintet, they are joined by a rhythm section of the same high caliber: pianist Karel Boehlee, bass player Jos Machtel and the versatile drummer Marcel Serierse. Of the compositions they present here, only one is standard: "Let's Cool One" by Thelonious Monk. The remaining seven are their own work, emphasizing the musical personality of the band..."

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Classical Music

Sylwia Klara Zasempa writes of her new release: "For as long as I can remember, I have been very much into nature, perhaps because of where I was born and grew up. For me, among the most interesting aspects of nature are it's dynamics and volatility. I've explored this much more deeply in the numerous journeys I've made around the world. The album Vauna is a fusion of my inspirations from nature and free jazz music, which I feel in a very special way. When we were making this album we tried to blend traditional folk melodies and motives with jazz, although we weren't certain what the final outcome would be. For this project, I invited musicians whose originality, creativity and experience inspire me. I'm deeply grateful for the pleasure of playing with them."

Lithium is the brand new result of a collaboration of four talented musicians and composers, combining resolve, energy and years of experience. Lithium’s music lives from different genres, all of which are rendered by its members into a strong, unique sound. With many tours both as leader and with trumpet player and ECM artist Tomasz Stanko, pianist and composer Alexi Tuomarila has become a fixture in many European jazz projects. His fellow countryman, drummer Jonne Taavitsainen, is one of the jazz scene’s emerging talents. Joonas Tuuri plays double bass and electric bass. In his career as a bassist, he has played in many different formations. In his youth, Joonas studied music at the Central Karelia Music Institute in Eastern Finland and today studies at the Sibelius Academy’s Jazz Department. The lineup is completed by the youngest band member, the Portuguese guitarist Andre Fernandes, who already has worked with a number of top artists such as Lee Konitz, Mario Laginha, Chris Cheek, and others. Red confirms not one, but many things- that jazz is still very much alive and being played at the highest level, that this universal language unifies us, and that it is possible to renew and maintain tradition in 2018.

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The relentless Bluebeard now has a soundtrack thanks to Dutch saxophone pride Yuri Honing. Yuri Honing dedicated his new album to the gruesome heritage of Bluebeard, title character of the 17thcentury French fairytale. The duke with the seven wives symbolizes other historic European figures. For example, Pablo Picasso, who conquered women and loved them, but also destroyed them; all these phases inspired his art. A sonnet by the first female Pullitzer Prize winner, Edna Millay, a variation on the fairytale, forms the basis of the album Bluebeard. With his Acoustic Quartet, Yuri Honing has been celebrating international success for many years. As with his previous album Goldbrun, the release of Bluebeard will be followed by an exhibition at Museum de Fundatie in Zwolle, a 'Gesamtkunstwerk' of paintings, sculptures and music in collaboration with painter Mariecke van derLinden. Honing's awards include three Edisons and the Boy Edgar Prijs 2012, and he has worked with countless greats such as Pat Metheny, CharlieHaden, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Paul Bley and Craig Taborn.

Classical Music