SteepleChase originally released in 1984 this Shirley Horn's live tribute to songwriter Curtis Lewis (1918-1987), who was one of the first Black composers and lyricists to emerge on the Broadway scene in the early 1940s. Shirley Horn (1934-2005), long connected to Lewis's music, brings deeply personal readings of 'He's Gone Again,' 'Old Country,' and 'Roaming Lover,' before unfolding the dramatic, story-like suite The Garden of the Blues, quoting Lewis's own linking prose. Her trio-Charles Ables (bass) and Steve Williams (drums)-provides subtle, breathing support, leaving space for Horn's unhurried phrasing and emotional clarity. Newly remastered in 24-bit/96 kHz and pressed on 180g vinyl, this edition restores the concert's warmth, poise, and luminous detail. 'Shirley Horn has one of the most alluring voices in jazz - she let's the lyrics melt into a violet haze as she slowly unwraps the melody - and she's an exceptional pianista wonderful, moving combination of voice and song.' (Cash Box)
Containment - Jazz Thing Next Generation, Vol. 114
Double Moon Records
CD
$14.99Aug 28, 2026
The Debut Album of Simon Kuhn and his quartet is a culmination of the musicians first two years of shaping their sound together. Ania Badura on Violin, Jan Schrullkamp on Guitar, Kevin Hemkemeier on acoustic bass and Simon Kuhn on drums take on eight original compositions, which they worked on and shaped during their studies at Folkwang University. Then refined within concerts of the year before recording, these versions of the pieces, which inspirations range from chamber music to post-bop, are characterized by dense interplay and a coherent yet versatile sound. In the phase of rehearsels before the recording, we four met in an ensemble room and recorded the tunes for the album with a minimal mic setup, so we could listen and think about the specifics but also the overall feeling and pacing of the album. When I had a lesson with Leif Berger, I showed him some of the test recordings and I am very grateful for the suggestions for improvement he gave me.
Guitarist/Composer Matt Panayides makes a compelling SteepleChase debut with Present Echoes, a vibrant quartet session featuring tenor saxophonist Rich Perry, bassist Steve LaSpina, and drummer Mark Ferber. Written in the wake of drummer Anthony Pinciotti's passing, the album presents a full program of originals shaped by reflection, momentum and deep musical heritage. Panayides' writing blends modern harmonic motion with spacious grooves, while the band's interplay highlights each member's individuality-Perry's open, lyrical sound, LaSpina's agile virtuosity, and Ferber's dynamic palette. From the expansive 'Midwestern Skies' to the powerful suite like 'Resist' and a heartfelt reading of Wayne Shorter's 'House of Jade,' Present Echoes introduces a jazz' lead guitar with mature, distinctive voice and a quartet unified by purpose, sensitivity, and forward looking energy. 'With a look back to classic Jazz guitar and a look forward to what awaits Jazz guitar, Matt Panayides provides the prism through which we may look in wonder.' (Travis Rogers, Jr. - The Jazz Owl)
Thad Jones (1923 - 1986) was best known as the leader / composer / arranger of one of the best big jazz bands of the 1960s and 70s. But Thad was also a superb instrumentalist in smaller settings. This was Thad's first quartet recording in 30 years (recorded in Copenhagen, October 1984). The newly remastered 24 bit/96 kHz 180g vinyl edition draws a vivid, intimate portrait of Jones the storyteller: reflective, free, and full of tunes. The session finds Jones in inspired form-'the way his notes fall,' as Mel Lewis once said, is fully on display-mixing relaxed authority, sly humor, and a deeply personal sense of swing. Joined by pianist Ole Kock Hansen, bassist Jesper Lundgaard, and drummer Ed Thigpen, Jones moves effortlessly from buoyant blues to spacious ballads, stretching himself with the same curiosity that marked his early Mingus collaborations '... Jones' harmonically advanced style and crisp sharp sound... very much intact on this relaxed quartet date... His improvisations are thoughtful... easily recommended.' (Down Beat)
Recipient of Village Voice Obie Award tenor saxophonist Vito Dieterle makes a striking SteepleChase debut with Nerve Case, presenting a warm, full bodied sound shaped by years on the New York scene and deep roots in Chicago's tenor tradition. For those of you who do not know much about Vito, here's some interesting excerpts from his website: After attending the prestigious New School Jazz program and freelancing around NYC, Vito began to perform weekly with his band every Sunday at Little Branch starting in early 2005 and soon went on to curate a 5-day a week live music program for the venue, which immediately went on to critical acclaim and exists to this day. He has now gone onto curate festivals and venues in New York and abroad. His working band of guitarist Kris Kaiser, bassist Griffin Fink, and drummer Aaron Seeber shares a rare chemistry that drives the album's mix of standards, jazz gems, and two originals. Dieterle's tone bold and clear leads the group's interplay to a conversational flow. From the Tristano tinged opener 'Split' to the soulful ballads and the bluesy title track, Nerve Case introduces a mature, distinctive voice and a ensemble sound built on shared musical purpose.
A protege of legendary jazz master Dizzy Gillespie, Arturo Sandoval has been awarded 10 Grammy® Awards, and been nominated 19 times. He has also received 6 Billboard Awards as well as an Emmy Award for his composing of the entire underscore of the HBO movie based on his life, "For Love or Country", that starred Andy Garcia as Arturo. Considered one of the world's most acknowledged guardians of jazz trumpet and flugelhorn, he is also recognized worldwide as a renowned classical artist, pianist, and composer.
Frank Wingold describes his music as "entangled." Guitarist, composer and professor of jazz guitar in Osnabruck, Germany, he borrows the term from quantum mechanics. "On an artistic level it's a fascinating idea for musicians and artists," he explains. "Two or more particles can act on one another, apparently without communication and become an intertwined system." This principle runs through Frank Wingold's new album, in which he teams up with Robert Landfermann on bass and Jonas Burgwinkel on drums. The trio produces an energetic, lively polyphony in which the three instruments weave and interweave. "Each can be top, middle or bottom of the texture at the same time," says Frank. "It's always changing. That's an idea I like a lot." He is very concerned though not to make the descriptions too academic and off-putting. The listener is treated to an engrossing, highly original, multidimensional sound in this "parallel world of music." In this new album Frank Wingold together with Robert Landfermann and Jonas Burgwinkel bring together their eclectic influences and vast experience from tours, concerts and other musical formations. Their music is high density. The trio develops it's sound on different layers. The arrangements allow contrasting melodies to be played out at the same time. They are a masterpiece of composition and improvisation. Replete with textures and ornaments, the music tears apart the traditional allocation of instrumental roles. It amounts to a very personal, emotional expression of musical ideas.
Mussorgsky's classic "Pictures at an Exhibition," here gets a new and electrifying presentation. This jazz project with a dash of rock energy and electronics showcases the perfect alchemy between these three experienced musicians. Cécile Broché studied classical music, contemporary music, improvisation, and took jazz courses. As a violinist, Cécile Broché has been involved in many different projects, including contemporary music ensembles, free music, working with dancers, with actors, with jazz musicians featuring strings and solo performances. Percussionist Antoine Cirri has been reinventing the jazz scene for twenty years. He studied classical percussion at the Academie de Chenee before joining the improvisation class at the Conservatoire de Liege. The rest, as they say, is history. Born in Liege, Jacques Pirotton began playing guitar at age 14. First interested with rock and blues, he discovered jazz in the seventies. He has been touring as a professional musician for more than thirty years.
Pianist Michel Reis, bassist Marc Demuth and drummer Paul Wiltgen furnish resounding proof that something new can be created from something old at any time. The trio from Luxembourg wants to make it possible for their listeners to experience and celebrate the effect of music and do not want to abuse it for the purpose of self-promotion in any way. Each one slips into the respective topic, grows together with it and becomes a part of it. They are the fertilizers for their own works that let them grow and flourish through careful dosing of their outstanding instrumental skills. In this way, magically beautiful melodies are created from seemingly banal note sequences that go without detours into your ears and stay there for a long time. No cheesy, slushy songs mind you, but instead refined constructs full of emotionality, empathy, virtuosity, depth and hymnic radiance. Indeed, piano trios can achieve such things today. They can tell stories that captivate and touch without words. They can attract attention and yet completely do without effects, tricks and muscle-flexing. Simply nullify definition and style boundaries and still give a reflection of what jazz should be 2016 and maybe once was in the hands of the Esbjorn Svensson Trio: a musical adventure free of prejudice and stereotypes, which bears the individual trademark of the respective protagonists.
The cover art for Manu Katché’s excellent new disc is somewhat misleading. It depicts the drummer alone, thrashing away at his kit, but Unstatic is, at heart, an accomplished team effort, crafted by a cohesive ensemble. Katché takes the spotlight here not with flashy rhythm patterns but with his compositional acumen and outstanding leadership. He wrote all 11 tunes, most of which are quintet or sextet arrangements, with exemplary trombonist Nils Landgren playing on five tracks. Katché seems to have composed these songs with specific instrumentation in mind, as evidenced by the gentle, nuanced dialogs by pianist Jim Watson and saxophonist Tore Brunborg that open “Blossom” and “Daze Days.” Those two numbers illustrate Katché’s ability to create accessible material that will appeal to smooth-jazz fans and devotees of straightahead jazz. Indeed, he’s a skillful balladeer, but he’s just as accomplished as a groove merchant. The track “City” offers a hip-swaying groove with a touch of light funk, resulting in a head-bobber that’s peppered with a potent motif from trumpeter Luca Aquino. Katché is acutely sensitive to the narrative arc of this 51-minute program. He is also keenly aware of the ebb and flow of musical intensity, which he intentionally dials down at the album’s midpoint before building it back up with simmering flare on the eighth track, “Ride Me Up.” On the album’s final track, Katché offers a charming, spoken-word introduction of his bandmates. The French drummer has won tremendous respect as a sideman for Sting, Peter Gabriel and Joni Mitchell, but with Unstatic, Katché shows that a generosity of spirit can help a fine accompanist become a great leader. - DownBeat Magazine Editors' Pick
Polarity is an acoustic jazz project from Jan Gunnar Hoff and the Hoff Ensemble. Of the new release, Hoff writes: "My main goal is to create a specific identity for each album I make. This time I chose to involve Anders Jormin and Audun Kleive, two of Scandinavia's finest jazz artists. The result is Polarity, an album based on both new and older compositions of mine, recorded in a unique acoustic setting." Polarity has been conceived as a cohesive experience where the compositions themselves, the moments of spontaneous inspiration during performance and the natural sound world of the church acoustics all affect the final result. The compositions are inspired by actual experiences and particular states of mind. The album was recorded using state of the art technology called Immersive Audio. The listener is surrounded by music and can move about in the aural space and choose angles, vantage points and positions. Prepare to be fully enveloped in a cocoon of life-like audio.
Dayna Stephens, one of the most interesting saxophonists of his generation, stars on A Week Ago Today, together with bandmates André Sumelius, George Kontrafouris and Teemu Viinikainen.Drummer and producer André Sumelius, who befriended Stephens while doing concerts and recordings together in San Francisco and, later on, NYC, and wanted to bring Dayna to Finland to record, envisioned the project from the start. Dayna Stephens' melodic compositions make up the majority of the album's music, but a few of Sumelius' compositions and one from Kontrafouris round out the production.
Strangers is pianist Alexander Wienand's bold new statement - a celebration of curiosity, discovery, and the creative spark that emerges when artists step into the unknown together. The album's concept grew from a simple but powerful idea: that unfamiliarity can be one of the greatest sources of inspiration. Whether it's an untested rhythm, a new musical partner, or an idea outside of music entirely, these moments of uncertainty challenge musicians to respond - and it is within these reactions that true creativity is born. The title track Strangers embodies this philosophy. Two contrasting themes evolve through improvisation until they merge into a single, unified musical narrative - a metaphor for encounter, tension, and transformation.
Saxophonist, clarinettist, composer and visual artist Marcel Barta entered the Czech jazz and improvisation scene while still a student and has since become one of it's core members. He is a founding member of the electro-jazz quintet MUFF, the cult jazz sextet Vertigo and the duo DoMa Ensemble. Besides collaborating with many foremost artists from different genres on the home and international scene, he has been dedicating himself to composition, writing scenic music for the theatre company Farma v jeskyni (Farm in the Cave), among otherprojects. He is the recipient of multiple Czech Music Academy Awards in the jazz category, having also been nominated for the same award on a number of occasions. While Episodes from the Spinning Ball is the first recording to feature Barta's work exclusively, the eponymous composition is his first piece for a large ensemble. As composer and arranger he has taken part in dozens of projects and recordings, many of which were released by the label Animal Music. The new album brings a recording of a concert performance featuring the Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra, which took place as part of the jazz-symphonic crossover series New Horizons in February 2025 in the DOX+Multifunction Hall in Prague. Composed on a commission from the orchestra, the work formally resembles a suite in three parts. It is performed, however, as a continuous flow of music. In the author's own words, the piece "is an attempt to evoke a story that reflects my own planetary experience. The rotating ball in the title is a geoid, the shape of our own planet." Combining composed music with improvisation, the piece bears traces of Barta's original style, known for example from his work for Vertigo or Muff. It is rooted in jazz and contemporary classical music and unfolds like an elaborate story in which densely composed soundscapes interweave with delicate melodies and fine-grained instrumentation and whereorder coexists with improvisation and melancholy passages alternate with psychedelia and humour. The jazz band in the recording features, alongside Marcel Barta himself, trombonist stepan Janousek, keyboardist and synth player Vojtech Prochazka, double bassist Milos Klapsteand drummer Jan Chalupa. The whole jazz-symphonic ensemble is conducted by Bastien Stil who has had ample experience leading crossover projects.
In Good Company marks the powerful debut of Argentine alto saxophonist Tomás Martínez on SteepleChase in June 2026. At just 26 Martínez brings a rich tone, agile bebop phrasing, and a deep command of jazz tradition. The album features two standout groups: a New York quartet with Michael Weiss, David Wong, and Kenny Washington, recorded at the legendary Van Gelder Studio, and a vibrant trio session from Buenos Aires with Paul Sikivie and Teo Pérez. Mixing classics, bebop lines and originals, Martínez honors mentors like Charlie Parker, Barry Harris, and Charles McPherson while asserting a voice entirely his own. A fresh, swinging new presence on the international jazz scene.
Martínez has performed at major venues across Argentina and Europe, and was named a Distinguished Personality and Cultural Ambassador of his hometown. He is also an active educator, teaching jazz saxophone at the college level and leading workshops and masterclasses.
Currently based between Buenos Aires and New York, he continues to perform, record, and teach.
Composer and guitarist Marcus Klossek, long recognized as a distinctive voice on the Fender Telecaster, presents Blink 7, the latest chapter in a band whose sound has evolved steadily from his long-running Electric Trio. Rooted in clarity, dynamic contrast, and a deep sense of interaction, the project reflects more than fifteen years of close musical collaboration. At the core of the ensemble are Carsten Hein on bass and Derek Scherzer on drums, longtime partners with whom Klossek has refined a highly responsive and nuanced group language. With Blink 6, this foundation expanded into a sextet, joined by three prominent figures from Berlin's jazz scene: Nikolaus Neuser, Ignaz Dinne (tenor saxophone), and Anke Lucks. The enlarged group quickly developed a strong collective identity, equally at ease with precise structure and open improvisation. Blink 7 continues this collaboration and introduces a new and distinctive voice: Korean vocalist Chamin. Appearing on three tracks-Go Not, Another One Beyond, and Unexpected Return-she sings and partially speaks Korean lyrics written by herself. Her voice adds a new layer of texture and expression, expanding the ensemble's tonal range and interacting organically with the instrumental voices rather than standing apart from them. In contrast to Blink 6, which was composed before the musicians were chosen, all eight compositions on Blink 7 were written specifically for this lineup. Klossek shaped each piece around the individual strengths and musical personalities of the players. "I knew what everyone could bring to the music," he explains. "That allowed me to write more precisely for the sound of the band." The result is music that unites clear compositional intent with the intuitive understanding that comes from long-standing collaboration. The album opens with Violet Shift, a rhythmically intricate piece built from interlocking patterns that suggest mechanical precision while maintaining an organic flow. Go Not begins with Chamin's whispered voice, creating an atmosphere of quiet tension and ambiguity. Ephyra (Third Dance) unfolds with a restrained, melancholic beauty, while Half Past Never features one of Klossek's most unrestrained guitar solos-raw, spontaneous, and unpredictable. On Another One Beyond, Chamin's voice further broadens the ensemble's harmonic space, while Begin Again, Swift highlights the band's agility, moving fluidly between tightly woven rhythms and open, airy phrasing. Glass Bridges introduces otherworldly sounds from Carsten Hein, blending acoustic bass with electronic elements. The closing track, Unexpected Return, brings the album to an energetic conclusion, driven by rhythmic momentum as Chamin's voice merges seamlessly with the horn section. Blink 7 captures a band at a mature and confident stage, balancing detailed composition with freedom and collective improvisation-music shaped as much by individual voices as by the shared identity they have built together.
Armenian piano virtuoso Tigran Hamasyan returns with Manifeste, out February 6, 2025-a powerful fusion of jazz, progressive rock, and Armenian folk. Recorded across five countries, the album blends rhythmic complexity, cinematic depth, and spiritual intensity, featuring longtime collaborators and the Yerevan State Chamber Choir. Manifeste is a bold declaration where the human, digital, and sacred unite in sound. Following The Bird of a Thousand Voices, Hamasyan continues his artistic exploration with Manifeste (2025)-a bold, multi-dimensional statement recorded between 2023 and 2025 across studios in Yerevan, Athens, Moscow, Los Angeles, and beyond. Entirely composed and produced by Hamasyan, Manifeste fuses his signature rhythmic complexity and spiritual depth with a more cinematic soundscape, where Armenian folk roots, progressive rock intensity, and choral mysticism intertwine. The album unfolds like a ritual sequence-from the meditative "Prelude for All Seekers" to the powerful "National Repentance Anthem. " Collaborators include longtime partners Marc Karapetian (bass) and drummers Arthur Hnatek, Arman Mnatsakanyan, Matt Garstka, and Nate Wood, alongside contributions from cellist Artyom Manukyan, trumpeter Daniel Melkonyan, guitarist Nick Llerandi, and the Yerevan State Chamber Choir conducted by Kristina Voskanyan. Each piece radiates Hamasyan's fascination with transcendence and transformation, whether through the fiery rhythmic drive of "Dardahan" and "Ultradance, " the haunting choral layers of "One Body, One Blood, " or the intimate dedications "Years Passing (For Akram)" and "A Window from One Heart to Another (For Rumi). " In Manifeste, Hamasyan brings together the human, digital, and sacred-a declaration of unity through sound, where modern technology meets ancient resonance. In addition to awards and critical acclaim, Hamasyan has built a dedicated following worldwide, as well as praise from Herbie Hancock, Brad Mehldau, and the late Chick Corea. "With startling combinations of jazz, minimalist, electronic, folk, and songwriterly elements. Hamasyan and his collaborators travel musical expanses marked with heavy grooves, ethereal voices, pristine piano playing and ancient melodies. You'll hear nothing else like this. " (NPR)
Saxophonist, clarinettist, composer and visual artist Marcel Barta entered the Czech jazz and improvisation scene while still a student and has since become one of it's core members. He is a founding member of the electro-jazz quintet MUFF, the cult jazz sextet Vertigo and the duo DoMa Ensemble. Besides collaborating with many foremost artists from different genres on the home and international scene, he has been dedicating himself to composition, writing scenic music for the theatre company Farma v jeskyni (Farm in the Cave), among otherprojects. He is the recipient of multiple Czech Music Academy Awards in the jazz category, having also been nominated for the same award on a number of occasions. While Episodes from the Spinning Ball is the first recording to feature Barta's work exclusively, the eponymous composition is his first piece for a large ensemble. As composer and arranger he has taken part in dozens of projects and recordings, many of which were released by the label Animal Music. The new album brings a recording of a concert performance featuring the Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra, which took place as part of the jazz-symphonic crossover series New Horizons in February 2025 in the DOX+Multifunction Hall in Prague. Composed on a commission from the orchestra, the work formally resembles a suite in three parts. It is performed, however, as a continuous flow of music. In the author's own words, the piece "is an attempt to evoke a story that reflects my own planetary experience. The rotating ball in the title is a geoid, the shape of our own planet." Combining composed music with improvisation, the piece bears traces of Barta's original style, known for example from his work for Vertigo or Muff. It is rooted in jazz and contemporary classical music and unfolds like an elaborate story in which densely composed soundscapes interweave with delicate melodies and fine-grained instrumentation and whereorder coexists with improvisation and melancholy passages alternate with psychedelia and humour. The jazz band in the recording features, alongside Marcel Barta himself, trombonist stepan Janousek, keyboardist and synth player Vojtech Prochazka, double bassist Milos Klapsteand drummer Jan Chalupa. The whole jazz-symphonic ensemble is conducted by Bastien Stil who has had ample experience leading crossover projects.
Echoes of the Unknown - Jazz Thing Next Generation, Vol. 113
Double Moon Records
CD
$14.99Jul 03, 2026
Echoes of the Unknown is the debut album by German drummer and composer David Giesel-a modern jazz statement built on trust, attentive interplay, and the courage to let music unfold in real time. Recorded live as a band in one room at Jazzcampus Studio Basel (Jan 9-10, 2026) and co-produced with mentor Paulo Almeida, the album treats uncertainty as fuel: play first, understand later-an approach that turns instinct into form and risk into clarity. Leading an international quartet with Albin Ormegard, Moritz Langmaier (piano/keys) and Thomas Fuller, Giesel shapes a sound world where groove and modern harmony meet openness and space-drawing on contemporary jazz aesthetics while absorbing subtle rock/indie edges. Most pieces are Giesel originals, complemented by one composition each from Ormegard and Langmaier, reflecting the group's shared voice. At the album's center, "Moods" opens a reflective window that includes spoken word by Dae Bryant, anchoring the record's human, hopeful core. The result is a vibrant, deeply personal snapshot: four musicians listening hard, moving as one, and inviting the listener into the mystery-where familiarity meets discovery.
The formation of the The Chaining Loops team is the result of encounters that, for the most part, took place over several decades, within various third-party projects of extremely diverse aesthetics. Over the years, this gave Olivier and his associates many opportunities to share a wide range of experiences through different projects, during numerous concerts in France and abroad. This is how Olivier met vibraphonist David Patrois in 1991, when they were both members of harmonica player Olivier Ker Ourio's quartet, which-after winning First Prize at the Concours National de Jazz de la Defense in 1993-performed in several concerts throughout France. In 1998, Olivier met cornettist and vocalist Mederic Collignon during Paris jam sessions. Mederic went on to take part in many of the leader's projects (duo, trios, etc.), including a quartet project featuring pianist Andy Emle. As for guitarist Michael Felberbaum, Olivier first invited him to take part in the European tour New Gravitations, which took place in 2007-2008 following the release of the album Gravitations on Altrisuoni in 2007. In 2013, trombonist Gueorgui Kornazov was already part of the drummer's septet project Abstract, whose album was released in 2013 on Rewind Records. Double bassist Yoni Zelnik, for his part, has participated since 2015 in several one-off concerts in France and Germany as a member of the leader's Reciprocity project. Tenor and soprano saxophonist Frederic Borey is the newest addition to the ensemble. The name Pulse was inspired for Olivier Le Goas by the word pulsar. A pulsar is a neutron star that rotates very rapidly on it's axis. The first pulsar, known as the Cambridge pulsar 1919 (CP1919), was discovered in 1967 by Jocelyn Bell and Antony Hewish. The Pulse septet project was born during a creative residency in 2021, which benefited from support from DRAC Bretagne. This residency made it possible to develop most of the repertoire featured on the album, with the exception of the album's eponymous title track, The Chaining Loops, which is more recent and was composed in 2024. It was only in June 2024, after a session canceled in 2023, that Olivier Le Goas brought the Pulse Ensemble to Studios de la Seine in Paris to record The Chaining Loops. The album The Chaining Loops presents a special repertoire consisting of five pieces: The Chaining Loops, Direction, Friction, Fifteen Miles, and Light in the Sky. The Chaining Loops, composed largely in spring 2024, is a large-scale piece built on the interlocking of pattern blocks and the stretching of melodic lines, with song remaining the central axis. Direction, originally composed for Olivier Le Goas's group Reciprocity, presents music of a lyrical and energetic character that gradually gains in density, complexity, and unity. Friction is a suite formed by the aggregation of multiple themes, in which the main opening theme (2021) crystallizes the overall structure of the piece and is based on an interplay of blocks of forces. Fifteen Miles, dating back to 2016, is a composition that was reworked twice-first in 2021 and again a few months before the recording. It combines an initial theme imbued with a certain gravity, contrasting with a second, more light-hearted theme. Light in the Sky offers a form composed of multiple arrangements of different thematic and solo sections, in which unexpectedly emerge contours and masses of sound.
Seven Whites / Peter Ehwald, Stefan Schultze, Tom Rainey
Jazzwerkstatt
CD
$18.99Jan 06, 2023
On SEVEN WHITES the three musicians (Peter Ehwald - saxophone, Stefan Schultze - piano and Tom Rainey - drums) sketch out a complex musical structure, whose brilliance and depth lies precisely in the way they elaborate upon shades. Crucial are the shades and intricacies with which the musicians immerse themselves in a rhythm that is sometimes an energetic shared quest, and sometimes a contrapuntal pulsing, which dissolves into a frame of each other. The music on this album has a magnetism far beyond that of a black and white painting.
Common Ground plays music that pushes into new areas, preserving the commitment to expand feel, harmony and pulse. Matthias Akeo Nowak's new album ORIMUSIC features compositions of all four band members, inventing sound narratives with high intensity and a sovereign, calm fire.
1989: the wall falls – freedom at last! What could be more obvious than a German/ German jazz band. The musicians claim it as the first German/ German jazz band, as contact among them already existed before the wall came down. Not the form, but the musicians and their being are the quintessence - the form adapts. Every note, a statement. It's about creativity and improvisation. 1992 is the time. 30 years after the fall of the wall, much has changed in Germany. The mood is completely different. It is no longer a time of change and exploration, and now uncertainty and radicalization dominate. The music sounds different, but remains just as brilliant. Polyphonic melodies and rhythms characterize the sound. Jazz becomes even more of a home. The metamorphosis succeeds! The music fits into the new era.
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.
Jonas Holgersson, born in Furulund (Sweden), has established himself as one of Scandinavians most skilled and well-known drummer. After completed studies at Kungliga Musikhögskolan, Stockholm, he soon became a musician in great demand in various bands and projects.
Where We Belong (feat. Lars Jansson & Paul Svanberg)
Prophone
CD
$20.99Nov 13, 2015
A live recording featuring the trio of Thomas Fonnesbæk (bass); Lars Jansson (piano); and Paul Svanberg (drums) which mixes standards with improvisations illustrating the give and take that occurs in ensembles of comprised of players that truly listen to one another.
