Suspended is Urbexs third album, but also the first live recording of this adventurous group formed five years ago. The repertory is written by Antoine Pierre (TaxiWars, Philip Catherine, Joshua Redman, Jacky Terrasson etc.), the sextets leader, who has drawn his inspiration from the electronic period of Miles Davis, with the album Bitches Brew as its inspiration. The recording was made in the outstanding acoustics of the famous Studio 4 at Flagey (Brussels) during the first public presentation of this new creation. The result is imbued with a powerful groove that leads, by way of an eruption of sound and energy, to a kind of trance. Since its formation in 2015, Urbex has played in the most prestigious jazz venues and released two critically acclaimed albums that were awarded CHOC in Jazz Magazine, Indispensable in Jazz New, MUST TSF Jazz and an Octave de la Musique in 2018.

Swedish jazz has since the 50s had a unique sound. The fire of American, mixed with the melancholy of Swedish folk music, evolved into a genre of its own. The great baritone saxophonist Lars Gullin composed music in this way with ingredients from jazz, Swedish folk music and the classical repertoire. This record emphasizes these elements and gives new life, not only to his music, but also to Swedish jazz. A child prodigy on the accordion Lars Gullin became a professional musician first as a pianist in 1947. He planned on a classical career until in 1949 he filled the baritone chair in Seymour Osterwalls ban. In 1954 he won the best newcomer award in DownBeat magazine. Over the next two decades, he would go on to work with some of the biggest names in contemporary jazz, including Archie Shepp, and Chet Baker. He died in 1976.

Mingus's second Impulse! album, released in 1963, was another large-ensemble masterpiece featuring two of the bassist/bandleader's greatest compositions 'Celia' and 'Better Get Hit in Yo' Soul' - plus a famous version of Duke Ellington's 'Mood Indigo.'

Sahib Shihab's career started in the late 1930's where he would play for the likes of Luther Henderson and Roy Eldridge while studying at the Boston Conservatory. During the 1940's Shihab played with many of the greats from this period, including Thelonious Monk, Art Blakey, Miles Davis and many more. Especially his work with Monk proved to be important as it marked the switch from alto to baritone saxophone. The present release was recorded alongside Kenny Drew, Niels-Henning Orsted Pedersen, and Jimmy Hopps in Copenhagen in 1971, and features a programme of works mostly by Shihab. "Most of the compositions are by the leader, starting with the exotic blend of hard bop and African rhythm, featuring Shihab's dancing soprano sax and Pedersen's bass solo. Drew switches to organ and Pedersen makes a relatively rare appearance on electric bass on the funky "Sentiments". The leader switches to baritone sax for Drew's exuberant ballad "Extase". (Ken Dryden)

This album is made up of selected live and radio broadcasts with the Danish Radio Big Band and Swedish, British and Danish/American small groups during 1964-71. As the title indicates only ballads are included on the album, and, for the first time on a Ben Webster ballad album, there is no string-section accompaniment. Three of the ten numbers were previously unreleased before the original issue of this album. The art of ballad-playing was all-important to Ben Webster. He once said "Remember, there are only three tempi in jazz - slow, medium and slow!" While all the tunes are ballads, the wide variety and constellations give a wonderful, multi-faceted sound-picture of Ben Webster.