We are memory and repetition. We repeat familiar sounds and communicate in this way, we call them language or music. We vary the repetition and create something new out of the old, shifting behavior and perception. Without a counterpart, our ego would be without borders - but our spirit also perforates the borders. Change occurs. Art, or in another word, communication. Tenor and soprano saxophonist Bruno Angeloni has worked with many fine musicians, including Reggie Workman, Andrew Cyrille and Michael Zerang. Although primarily regarded as a Free Jazz musician, his playing actually comprises virtually all types of music. The inner and outer struggle to find his way in the '80s music business, as a then young improvising saxophonist, without having to work in a commercial and adapted manner, eventually made him abdicate the market entirely and to earn a living on construction sites. Through perseverance he eventually travelled to Iran, South Africa and Russia, where he could rediscover his own sound, sharpen and strengthen it in such a way as to let music once again govern his life. After a short orientation phase in Rome at the beginning of the noughties, invitations to the Monterrey Jazz Festival took him two years in a row to Mexico, further broadening his musical pallet. Since 2016, back in Leipzig, he has had several rather coincidental meetings at public sessions with the 24 years younger drummer Steffen Roth. Henceforth, together they formed the duo 'Spirale' and have recorded this fascinating album.

This is the extraordinary recording debut of jazz phenomenon Anaïs Reno, who made it in 2020 at the age of 16. Reno has already won accolades for her dedication to the Great American Songbook. She recently received the Julie Wilson Award, and in 2019 won the Mabel Mercer Foundation competition for high school students. For this album she has chosen 12 tunes by two master writers: Duke Ellington (1899-1974) and Billy Strayhorn 1915-67), creators of some of the most challenging and sophisticated material in the Great American Songbook. Reno combines beloved hits such as "Mood Indigo," "Take the 'A' Train," "Lush Life" and "Caravan" with lesser-known but equally memorable tunes like "A Flower Is a Lovesome Thing" and "It's Kind of Lonesome Out Tonight," all backed by a stellar group of jazz musicians led by pianist Emmet Cohen, who also did the arrangements with Reno. "I have a very personal relationship with these songs," says Reno. "Somehow I believe that the music of Ellington & Strayhorn understands me. This is why I want to honor it." Acclaimed jazz historian Will Friedwald, who has written the liner notes for the 12-page booklet, comments that "At 16, Anaïs achieved what precious few adults ever accomplish: namely, to actually enhance our appreciation and enjoyment of the Ellington-Strayhorn canon. Whether working together or separately, the two of them were always on the same page, both metaphorically and literally. And now, so is Anaïs Reno."

A brand new recording by Supertramp saxophonist John Hellweill: Our selection of tunes is based on strong melodies from the fields of folk, jazz, rock, pop, and originals by Jasper and me. I suggested that we play three Supertramp tunes, as a lengthy part of my musical life has been centred around the music of Rick Davies and Roger Hodgson. I first heard Don’t Ever Leave Me played by Keith Jarrett. It’s such a beautiful, short and poignant melody that we decided to play four versions and have them act as “bookends” for our music. If you enjoy listening to this music half as much as we enjoyed playing it, our labours of love have succeeded!

Following the huge success of their recent album release 'Timelapse' (Jan 2021), Orchestra of the Swan presents Vivaldi Sleep, a project that was initiated by the orchestra during the first national lockdown of 2020. Eleven artists from a broad range of genres - including klezmer, folk, electronica and jazz - were invited to add a solo part in response to the orchestra's recording of the second movement of Autumn from Vivaldi's Four Seasons. Guest artists recorded their solo parts at home and were given free rein to start prior to the orchestra's recording and continue after it had finished if they wished. Manipulation of the source material was also allowed. Formed in 1995, Orchestra of the Swan is a British chamber orchestra which, under the artistic direction of David Le Page, is passionate about audience inclusivity and blurring the lines between genres through it's adventurous and accessible programming. This album demonstrates this ethos exactly.