Some Other Time: 60 Years of Monica Zetterlund & Bill Evans
For Anna Greta, Waltz for Debby has always been more than just an album — it’s a masterpiece that never fades. The iconic collaboration between Bill Evans and Monica Zetterlund seamlessly blends American jazz with Nordic folk traditions, creating a timeless connection that has deeply influenced her own musical journey. ...
Genre: Jazz
Subgenre: Vocal
In their latest album, Safe Place, German jazz duo Roman and Julian Wasserfuhr craft an intimate refuge through music. This is not about a physical destination—it’s a state of mind, a sanctuary for reflection and focus amidst the noise of modern life. ...
Genre: Jazz
Subgenre: Crossover Jazz
The duo of pianist Johanna Summer and saxophonist Jakob Manz represents a rare stroke of luck for contemporary German jazz. Both are standout figures of their generation, blending supreme virtuosity with fearless creativity and unmistakable individuality. Rooted in jazz yet effortlessly blending influences from classical, pop, and beyond, they ...
Genre: Jazz
Subgenre: Instrumental
In Portraits, Polish violinist and composer Adam Bałdych crafts an extraordinary musical journey, blending lamentation, jubilation, and prayer to reflect on the fragility of life and a call for peace. Inspired by historical accounts and today’s conflicts, Bałdych’s virtuosic violin—both standard and Renaissance—leads his ...
Genre: Jazz
Subgenre: Contemporary Jazz
Whether it’s jazz, classical music, rock, Thelonious Monk or Nine Inch Nails: Vincent Peirani blends it all together. The French accordionist likes to venture into unexplored territories with Jokers. Like the joker, who can turn up in different roles and guises, each of these three virtuosos can become a soloist, a rhythmist, a colorist, and so on. ...
Genre: Jazz
Subgenre: Contemporary Jazz
This is the second edition of the collaboration between ACT and Château Palmer—one of the most legendary Grands Crus from Bordeaux’s Left Bank. This time, Château Palmer itself became the exclusive recording venue for an equally exceptional ensemble. TRIO features internationally acclaimed bassist, cellist, and composer Lars ...
Genre: Jazz
Subgenre: Contemporary Jazz
Kan Ya Makan (Once Upon a Time)
Franco-Algerian singer, cellist and songwriter Nesrine is a storyteller, a "Scheherazade", for our times. And her album "Kan Ya Makan" – the Arabic for "once upon a time" – has something of the aura of a modern "Tales from the Arabian Nights". The Times newspaper (UK) has called Nesrine "an incandescent, multilingual talent", ...
Genre: Jazz
Subgenre: Crossover Jazz
Bill Laurance and Michael League, longtime friends and collaborators, have released their second duo album “Keeping Company,” which contrasts with the larger scale of Snarky Puppy. The album showcases an intimate musical partnership, with Laurance focusing on acoustic piano and League on fretless bass and ...
Genre: Jazz
Subgenre: Contemporary Jazz
Al Jarreau always said he sang Al Jarreau music, and he truly was one of a kind: his six Grammy awards and nineteen nominations as ‘Best Vocalist’ cover no fewer than three categories – jazz, pop and R&B – in other words, musical genres didn’t really concern him. “Music may well fall into categories for other people, and I understand that,” he ...
Genre: Jazz
Subgenre: Vocal
"Highlife" takes listeners on a vibrant journey through the rich musical heritage of Peter Somuah’s Ghanaian roots and the innovative world of jazz. Drawing from his early years playing highlife music in Accra, and blending it with influences from legends like Miles Davis, Somuah creates a unique sound that bridges generations. The album showcases a rich tapestry ...
Genre: Jazz
Subgenre: Contemporary Jazz
Exactly when and how the long neck lute ‘bouzouki’ first landed in Greece remains a mystery. Its roots go back to the fourth century before Christ. Named after the “Βυζί“, the Greek word for female breast, the current form of the instrument is relatively young and has been all over Athens and the Peloponnese since around 1920. ...
Genre: Jazz
Subgenre: Contemporary Jazz
Each new band in Joachim Kühn's creative career has marked a new departure for him, a broadening of his horizons. Now, in double bassist Thibault Cellier and drummer Sylvain Darrifourcq, the pianist has found two musicians with whom he can achieve the things that are important to him at this stage of his life, around his 80th birthday: to take a path which allows him even more freedom. ...
Genre: Jazz
Subgenre: Contemporary Jazz
Magic Moments 17 "In The Spirit Of Jazz"
The annual albums in the ‘Magic Moments’ series, curated by ACT founder Siggi Loch, are among the most popular compilations in European jazz. The 17th edition, which will be released in 2024, is a particularly impressive demonstration of the unifying power of the idea of jazz: 18 pieces by four generations of musicians with strong influences from classical, pop and the music ...
Genre: Jazz
Subgenre: Compilations
Something very special indeed is happening in the Spanish jazz scene. For a long time, its lively centres of Madrid, Barcelona and Seville tended to stay somewhat detached from the international jazz world. But in recent years a whole generation of Spanish jazz musicians has been rising to international renown: it is more than a ...
Genre: Jazz
Subgenre: Contemporary Jazz
In the decade since it was founded, the German “Jazzrausch Bigband” has made a habit of combining things which are normally considered to be opposites: techno and jazz; classical and underground electronica; the concert hall and the club; the young and the old. A permanent awareness of dichotomy seems completely ...
Genre: Jazz
Subgenre: Big Band
Pianist Jan Lundgren from Ystad in Sweden and guitarist Yamandu Costa, from Brazil’s southernmost province Rio Grande del Sur might seem an unlikely pairing, and the combination of guitar and piano is well known to be fraught with difficulty. But the collaborative affinity of this duo, the chemistry which they have found through playing together, ...
Genre: Jazz
Subgenre: Contemporary Jazz
‘I keep thinking about how to lead a band from the drums in a way that gives the instrument a central role, but one which is more about shaping the music than displaying virtuosity,’ says Wolfgang Haffner. This way of working, a common thread throughout his career, is a key factor in ‘Life Rhythm’, his tenth album for ACT. Haffner may shun the virtuoso ...
Genre: Jazz
Subgenre: Contemporary Jazz
Now here’s a challenge: to take the fugue, possibly the most complex compositional procedure in Western classical music, and to transform it to reflect the modern age. The ‘New Piano Trio’ - violinist Florian Willeitner, cellist Ivan Turkalj and pianist Alexander Wienand – has taken this task to heart. Rather than being in any way daunted by the ...
Genre: Jazz
Subgenre: Crossover Jazz
Das Jahr 1994 war das Gründungsjahr der Nils Landgren Funk Unit. Als ich von Siggi Loch das Angebot bekam, Teil seines neuen Labels ACT werden, änderte er als erstes den ursprünglichen Bandnamen Unit zu Funk Unit. Als ich fragte, warum, antwortete er knapp: "Weil ihr Funk spielt" - und damit hatte er recht. Der Rest ist Geschichte. ...
Genre: Jazz
Subgenre: Mainstream Jazz
The Gallery Concerts III (Rag Bag)
„Mich faszinieren in der Musik, der Kunst und überhaupt im Leben die Widersprüche und Kontraste, die Synkopen, die Risse in der Zeit“, sagt der Pianist Bernd Lhotzky. Und so ist sein Soloalbum „Rag Bag“ eine Reise zwischen Zeiten und Welten, ein Flickenteppich aus unterschiedlichsten Motiven, Stilen und Assoziationen. Keimzelle der Musik des ...
Genre: Jazz
Subgenre: Contemporary Jazz
