Beauty & Truth

Celebrate the extraordinary musical life's work of Joachim Kühn - a unique songbook for piano On the occasion of his 80th birthday, the world-renowned jazz pianist Joachim Kühn is releasing a fascinating songbook that captures the essence of his career.25 original compositions selected by the artist Born on March 15, 1944 in Leipzig, Kühn has shaped the jazz scene since the 1960s and is considered one of the most outstanding musicians of contemporary jazz. In April, he was awarded the Federal Cross of Merit First Class - a recognition of his first-class music and his tireless pursuit of artistic freedom. Kühn, a master of improvisation, has always spoken out against social narrow-mindedness.His decision to become a professional jazz musician was made at the age of 14 and is the cornerstone of his extraordinary career. In this songbook, Kühn presents a careful selection of compositions that reflect his musical journey. From the lively sounds of “More Tuna” to the thoughtful harmonies of “Mein Bruder Rolf”, Joachim Kühn's tribute to his late brother, every note tells of his passion and deep understanding of jazz history. Many photos of the great artist round off the overall picture. Whether you are an experienced pianist or an enthusiastic beginner, this songbook offers you the opportunity to immerse yourself in the sound world of one of the greatest jazz pianists. Be inspired by Joachim Kühn's musical legacy and experience the magic of jazz through his own compositions. Get your copy and celebrate with us a remarkable career full of creativity and emotion!

Joachim Kühn French Trio - The WayCD / Vinyl / digital Joachim Kühn piano Thibault Cellier double bass Sylvain Darrifourcq drums 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. Joachim Kühn describes playing with these two musicians, much younger than him, as making music "the French way, with lightness, speed and elegance". The three do this intuitively, almost without any need for discussion, but with a real feeling of urgency. The backstory of the formation of the group is a matter of getting straight to the point. Joachim Kühn had been aware of Sylvain Darrifourcq’s playing for some time, notably from his years as the drummer in Émile Parisien's quartet, and also through some experiences of playing together. Kühn’s encounter with Thibault Cellier came about more by chance, in a hotel in Paris, but Joachim already had some familiarity with the bassist’s playing, notably from records by the group Novembre - Sylvain Darrifourcq the bassist plays alongside the bassist in their second album. Contacts were quickly set up, and within four months, the two Frenchmen were in the pianist's home studio in Ibiza, making music and recording as a trio, completely free of constraints. When Joachim Kühn heard the tapes a little later, he said: "That's how I want to sound now.” Or, quite simply, a band had been born. Playing in a piano trio runs right through the pianist's oeuvre. Alongside solo piano, it is and remains the ultimate proving-ground for a pianist. With his first trio, formed in 1964 in his home town of Leipzig, Kühn made his ambition to break new ground very clear. In the years since he moved to Paris at the end of the 1960s, he has frequently worked with French musicians. Formed in 1974 and highly successful for two and a half decades, the trio with bassist Jean-François Jenny-Clark and drummer Daniel Humair demonstrated an innovative and totally interactive style of music that had never been heard before. Joachim Kühn calls the band "the trio of my life". But there were astonishing developments and discoveries after that as well: the trio with Moroccan guembri player Majid Bekkas and Spanish percussionist Ramón López successfully bridged the gap between jazz, European, African and Arabic cultures. And the New Trio with Chris Jennings and Eric Schaefer developed a style of playing with clear contours and a wide-open approach which never failed to fascinate. In some ways, the new French Trio might seem to be a follow-on from the previous trio involving two musicians from the Francophone world, Jean-François Jenny-Clark and Daniel Humair. But history does not repeat itself. And free jazz, in Joachim Kühn’s sense of it, has long since outgrown its infancy. These days, the pianist says, it is just as much about freedom and the spontaneous creation of structures. And also, as with all of the very great role models, especially in their later creative phases – Bach, Coltrane, Ornette Coleman and Joachim's late elder brother Rolf Kühn – it is about finding the way that leads straight to the essential, to the heart of things. And into the open. Credits: Produced by Joachim Kühn The Art in Music: Cover Art von Stanley Whitney

The famous compliation "Magic Moments", curated by Siggi LochTracklist: 01 Elevation of Love // Album: e.s.t. 30 Magnus Öström, Dan Berglund, Magnus Lindgren, Joel Lyssarides, Verneri Pohjola, Ulf Wakenius 02 Second Nature // Album: Life Rhythm Wolfgang Haffner03 Raw // Album: raw Nils Landgren Funk Unit 04 The Answer // Album: The Answer Jakob Manz 05 Shots // Album: Bloom Bill Laurance 06 Das Handtuch // Album: Tough Stuff Iiro Rantala 07 She’ll Arrive Between 10 & 11 // Album: Guitar PoetryMikael Máni 08 Terrible Seeds // Album: While You Wait Little North 09 Se Telefonando // Album: Ennio Grégoire Maret, Romain Collin 10 Wonderland // Album: Wonderland Daniel García Trio 11 Fresu // Album: Inner Spirits Jan Lundgren, Yamandu Costa 12 Hands Off // Album: Stealing Moments Viktoria Tolstoy 13 Hidden Prelude // Album: What the Fugue Florian Willeitner 14 Pralin // Album: Let Them Cook Emile Parisien 15 My Brother Rolf // Album: Komeda Joachim Kühn 16 Passacaglia // Album: Passacaglia Adam Bałdych, Leszek Możdżer 17 Linden Tree Rag // Album: Rag Bag Bernd Lhotzky 18 Zafeirious Solo // Album: Arcs & Rivers Joel Lyssarides, Georgios Prokopiou

Joachim Kühn - EuropeanaCD / Vinyl / digital Joachim Kühn piano Jean-Francois Jenny Clark bass Jon Christensen drums Django Bates horn Douglas Boyd oboe Klaus Doldinger soprano saxophone Richard Galliano accordion Christof Lauer soprano saxophone Albert Mangelsdorff trombone Markus Stockhausen trumpet The jazz symphony "Europeana" is a central work in the ACT catalogue. It epitomises the power of jazz that spans regions, times, styles and personalities. And to mark the 80th birthday of its key figure Joachim Kühn, this milestone is now available on vinyl for the first time. Alongside Joachim Kühn, the album brings together the crème de la crème of contemporary European improvised music, including Albert Mangelsdorff, Django Bates, Klaus Doldinger and Richard Galliano, backed by the NDR Radio Philharmonic Orchestra Hanover. The album, released in 1995 and written by the English composer and arranger Michael Gibbs, combines the rich European musical tradition with the language of jazz. Symphonic music, swing, free jazz, blues and flamenco - all this merges into a unique, timeless music without borders.

Michael Wollny & Joachim Kühn - DUOCD / Vinyl / digital Michael Wollny piano Joachim Kühn  piano Joachim Kühn (b. 1944) and Michael Wollny (b. 1978) are two of the leading lights of the European jazz piano. The playing of each of them is unmistakable, their approaches to making music are completely individual, and in a whole multitude of ways. As outstanding virtuosos, they are both capable of finding stylistic pathways to connect the most diverse areas of contemporary music. They both have alert and enormously creative minds, together with a protean capacity to listen and respond with the right thing at the right moment, something which is going to surprise each other. Together, Kühn and Wollny cover a wide range of original compositions and a version of Ornette Coleman's "Somewhere". At the end, they come together for a joint requiem for Joachim's brother Rolf.These two improvising pianists have wordless ways of communicating and intuitive ways of finding consensus, whether they are dealing with very basic things or huge amounts of detail. They work on their combined music like two sculptors chiselling on the same sculpture. Sometimes everything is quite clear, sometimes it is impossible to distinguish who is in the foreground and who is in the background, who is playing on the left and who is on the right. This album is released in co-operation with Château Palmer. Credits: Produced by the artists

Joachim Kühn - Komeda - Jazz at Berlin Philharmonic XIVCD / digital Joachim Kühn piano Chris Jennings bass Eric Schaefer drums Atom String Quartet Dawid Lubowicz violin Mateusz Smoczyński violin, baritone violin Michał Zaborski  viola Krzysztof Lenczowski cello Krzysztof Komeda has legendary status in Polish jazz, and was also one of the pioneers of European jazz. His wider fame resides largely in his work as a film composer – he wrote the soundtracks for all of Roman Polanski’s early films, notably "Dance of the Vampires" and "Rosemary's Baby". Komeda died in 1969, tragically early, at the age of just 37, but left a hugely influential body of work. Joachim Kühn, now a jazz piano icon in his own right, is a great admirer of Komeda, whom he met in person in Warsaw in 1965. As part of the Jazz at Berlin Philharmonic concert series, curated by Siggi Loch, he performed a major tribute concert to him on 14 October 2022, at which he played in three formats: solo piano, with his New Trio, and alongside Poland’s Atom String Quartet. Komeda may not be particularly well-known outside Poland, but in his native country his renown is at a similar level to Chopin’s. He is seen as an integral part of the rise of Polish jazz from its first underground stirrings to becoming one of the beacons of Polish culture. This was a movement forged by composers whose work went most of the way to being seen as a new kind of national music. Komeda’s influence extended beyond his native country in that he became a key figure in the emancipation of European jazz from the American tradition. At the same time as Lars Gullin and Jan Johansson in Sweden were taking similar approaches, Komeda fused Polish folk music and its tradition of melismatic singing with the characteristics of jazz. He thus became one of the great lyrical and melodic voices of mid-twentieth century music. His early death in an accident made him a cult figure in his native country. In his latter years, Komeda concentrated mainly on film music; Roman Polanski brought him to Hollywood in 1967. A highlight of his jazz work was undoubtedly the album "Astigmatic", recorded in 1965 in one single overnight session with the trumpeter Tomasz Stanko, among others. To this day, it regularly receives the accolade of being the most important jazz recording in Poland; the magazine Jazzwise listed it as one of their "jazz albums that shook the world." For a tribute to Komeda, there could be no better guide than Joachim Kühn, the German pianist and jazz icon. The two men knew each other, indeed Kühn was in the studio and listened to the "Astigmatic" recording session in December 1965. The previous day, Komeda and Kühn had both played with their bands at the Warsaw Philharmonic: "For me, he was one of the great visionaries of European jazz, even then," Kühn recalls. Komeda's compositions have been part of the repertoire of the equally visionary Joachim Kühn ever since. Kühn leads the very small cohort of German jazz musicians who have achieved a genuinely international profile – something which has been the case for almost 60 years. The Jazz at Berlin Philharmonic concert begins with the three tracks of the legendary album "Astigmatic": the title track plus "Kattorna" and "Svantetic". The line-up for this celebration evening is phenomenal with Kühn as very much the first among equals. He plays as part of his "New Trio" with Eric Schaefer on drums and Chris Jennings on bass, and also with the Atom String Quartet, whom Jazzwise called a "world class quartet” with a “forceful mix of classical and jazz improvisation": violinists Dawid Lubowicz and Mateusz Smoczyński, Michał Zaborski on viola and cellist Krzysztof Lenczowski. The seven extraordinarily fine musicians on stage create a heady mix from Komeda’s era-defining work: compelling free improvisations and superb soloing alternate with Komeda’s powerful melodies. The composer always thinks pictorially, but here we are treated to individual music-making at the highest level, and yet with an astonishing sixth sense of anticipation. The results are compelling, modern and timelessly beautiful. Next follow a series of single arrangements from Komeda's other works, and these also draw the listener in with their seemingly perfect dramaturgy: Kühn's plays a quasi- romantic, wonderfully gentle solo on "After the Catastrophe"; next we hear his emotionally affecting duo with Mateusz Smoczyński on "Moja Ballada" from 1961; then, the Atom String Quartet version of "Crazy Girl" from Komeda's soundtrack to Polanski's "Knife in the Water"; thereafter comes a stunningly good trio arrangement of the well-known lullaby "Sleep Safe and Warm" from "Rosemary's Baby". After that, all the musicians re-assemble for an energetic finale, "Roman II". Several things are coming full circle here, not just musically but also in terms of Komeda’s and Kühn’s personal histories. What they have in common - almost tangibly so - is that jazz was quite literally the window which gave them their freedom. For a time, Krzysztof Trzciński (his real birth-name) was able to hide his musical identity behind his profession as an ear, nose and throat doctor, using the pseudonym Komeda for his music. But there came a point when the Polish state could no longer keep his popularity under wraps. Joachim Kühn’s story, on the other hand, is that he escaped from the paternalism of the GDR regime at the age of 22 when he fled to the West. Joachim’s brother Rolf gave him some initial help to establish his international career, and that led Joachim to work in the USA, France and Spain, but, most importantly, it was the escape through music which gave him his artistic freedom. Another, very personal circle closes at the end of the “Jazz at Berlin Philharmonic” Komeda concert. Joachim Kühn plays as an encore "My Brother Rolf" in memory of his brother who had died shortly before. Credits: Recorded live in concert by Thomas Schöttl at Jazz at Berlin Philharmonic, Kammermusiksaal, October 14, 2022 Mixed and mastered by Klaus Scheuermann Produced by Joachim Kühn Curated by Siggi Loch Cover art by Shoshu

Nils Landgren - 3 GenerationsCD / Vinyl / digital Nils Landgren with Joachim Kühn, Michael Wollny, Iiro Rantala, Lars Danielsson, Cæcilie Norby, Viktoria Tolstoy, Wolfgang Haffner, Ulf Wakenius, Jan Lundgren, Ida Sand, Youn Sun Nah, Vincent Peirani, Emile Parisien, David Helbock, Marius Neset, Nesrine, Julian & Roman Wasserfuhr, Anna Gréta, Johanna Summer, Jakob Manz, and many more We are Family – Celebrating 30 ACT Years Nils Landgren has been and remains the absolute linchpin of the ACT family. To date, the Swede has made forty albums on the label as leader, plus another twenty as producer or soloist. Michael Wollny, whose many many projects with Landgren give him a special connection, sums up a key ele-ment in his success: “With Nils everything becomes easy.” There is indeed a particular ease about Mr. Red Horn’s way of being; it is infectious and runs through everything he does. Which is all the more remarkable when one considers the sheer number of roles he takes on: trombonist, singer, band-leader, producer, festival director, professor, curator, talent scout and mentor.All of Landgren’s multiple roles and traits come to the fore on “3 Generations”. Working alongside producer and ACT founder Siggi Loch, Nils Landgren brings together three gene-rations of ACT artists’ in various line-ups to mark the label’s 30th anniversary. Landgren and Loch have a friendship and habits of working well together which go back almost as long as the existence of ACT itself. The two met for the first time at the 1994 Jazz Baltica Festival, just two years after the label was founded. Landgren became an exclusive ACT artist shortly thereafter. Since that time, it has been through Landgren’s network that artists such as Esbjörn Svensson, Rigmor Gustafsson, Viktoria Tolstoy, Ida Sand, Wolfgang Haffner and many more have joined the label. Nils Landgren continues in his trusted role as ACT’s leading connector and integrator. Finding and nurturing young talent has always been one of ACT’s strong suits. It was true for Nils Landgren, then later for Michael Wollny who joined the label in 2005 and is today one of the most significant pianists in Europe. With artists such as Johanna Summer and Jakob Manz - both born many years after ACT was founded - the label looks to the future with its younger generation of musicians bringing new ener-gy and impetus to the world of jazz.The Times (UK) has written: “Since 1992, ACT has been building its own European union of musicians, fostering a freedom of movement between nationalities and genres, and has given us an authentic impression of what the continent is about.” “3 Generations” demonstrates quite how true that assertion is. Around forty artists from the ACT Family make this anniversary album a celebration of the breadth, openness and inclusive power of jazz. The core of the album consists of recordings made at a summer 2022 studio session lasting several days. In reality, it is only Nils Landgren and Siggi Loch who could have brought this pano-rama of musical Europe into being. The influences here range from jazz, popular song and folk to classical and contempo-rary music, and much more. Thirty tracks from three generations of musicians marking thirty years of ACT, with Nils Landgren as driving force. Not just a retrospective, but above all an insight into the present and future of the discovery label “in the Spirit of Jazz”.Credits: Recorded by Thomas Schöttl at Jazzanova Studio, Berlin on June 7 - 9, 2022, assisted by José Victor Torell – except as otherwise indicated Mixed and mastered by Klaus Scheuermann Produced by Siggi Loch and Nils Landgren The Art in Music: Cover Art by Yinka Shonibare CBE: Detail from Creatures of the Mappa Mundi, Mandragora, 2018

Various Artists - Magic Moments 14 "In The Spirit Of Jazz"CD / digital"More than any other art form, music touches people directly," is ACT founder Siggi Loch's credo. For nearly 30 years, the core of what the label does has been to find and to promote the artists who can inspire the mind, reach the heart and touch the soul, and who do so in ways that have a lasting impact. Perhaps this has never been more important than now in the time of the pandemic, when culture has been silenced, when people have felt emotionally isolated and – far too often – the only “reality” has been virtual. With sixteen tracks from the current ACT release schedule, "Magic Moments 14" gathers together all of the power of "Music in the Spirit of Jazz", this world language beyond words which is understandable to everyone. It not only brings people together, it also moves and inspires them. ACT’s main mission is in the absolute foreground on this album: to be a discovery label. ACT’s main focus has always been on European jazz, to document this art form growing and developing, to show it reflecting on its own musical traditions, linking them back to jazz’s American roots and thereby opening up new paths. So, in that spirit, "Magic Moments 14" begins with a "Canzon del fuego fatuo" from the remarkable young Spanish pianist Daniel Garcia. Here is a fascinating new voice from Spanish jazz, taking up the music of his homeland in a refreshingly new way. We also mark here the ACT debut of mesmerising Austrian actor Birgit Minichmayr. Here is a voice and a personality with charismatic presence, delivering a Shakespeare Sonnet in the grand manner, together with Quadro Nuevo’s versatile world music team and the early jazz specialist Bernd Lhotzky. Other examples of new shining stars in the European musical firmament are the French-Algerian cellist and singer Nesrine and Austrian pianist David Helbock’s new trio. This focus on new and recent arrivals at the label does not mean neglecting the artists who have been with ACT since the beginning and who have made it the leading label for Swedish jazz: trombonist Nils Landgren contributes a new humdinger from his Funk Unit, a band which has been giving soul jazz a European face for over twenty-five years. Bassist/composer Lars Danielsson again celebrates the combination of classical music, jazz and Nordic sound with "Cloudland" from his new Liberetto album. Ida Sand conti-nues the tradition of Scandinavian singers who enrich the world's songbook with their pop "in the spirit of jazz". And for the final track, Jan Lundgren and Lars Danielsson, toge-ther with Emile Parisien, the French musician who has single-handedly redefined the soprano saxophone, show us Euro-pean art music with a Swedish accent at its most communicative and inspired. Last but not least, ACT was one of the first important labels to promote contemporary German jazz. There are more German artists on "Magic Moments 14" than ever before, demonstrating this important strand: violinist Florian Willeitner from Passau; guitarist Philipp Schiepek who has made a meteoric rise in the South German scene; the feisty attitude of KUU! led by singer Jelena Kuljic – like Minichmayr also primarily known for her acting and stagecraft; the Jazzrausch Bigband, whose techno jazz is attracting attention worldwide; and two rising stars who are currently harvesting all of the major awards, Johanna Summer and Vincent Meissner.Summer and Meissner - like Garcia, Lundgren and Helbock - also stand for the special place ACT has always found for the best pianists in Europe. Thus it is two German pianists of major international significance who complete the offering on "Magic Moments 14": 77-year-old Joachim Kühn is still utterly driven and a major force; his heir apparent Michael Wollny can also be heard here in his new all-star quartet with Emile Parisien, Tim Lefebvre and Christian Lillinger. The drummer was a multiple award-winner at the new German Jazz Prize, including one for KUU!. "Magic Moments 14" is a quintessence of the many directions which genre-crossing, innovative jazz is currently taking. These difficult times need remedies that are both energising and emotionally affecting: here are musicians who unfailingly show us the value and importance of trust and dialogue.Credits: Compilation by Siggi Loch Mastered by Klaus Scheuermann

Joachim Kühn - Touch the LightCD / Vinyl / digitalJoachim Kühn piano“Maybe when I’m ninety...?” When Siggi Loch first floated the idea that Joachim Kühn might like to make an album of ballads, the pianist’s response was typically jocular, even defiant. That initial resistance didn’t last long, however. Kühn, now in his mid-seventies, soon started to settle down at the fine Steinway in his home – he keeps it impeccably tuned – to switch on his DAT recorder, and set to work. “The advantage of being here at home in Ibiza is that I can simply make a re cording when I want to. When the feeling comes, I just re cord,” Kühn reflects. Over a period of about fifteen months he sent a total of some forty individual tracks to Siggi Loch. He would often take pieces, re-think them, and end up sending off sever al different versions to Berlin. So what emerges on this new solo piano album “Touch the Light” is a distillation from those individual takes, all made on the same piano and in the same space. It flows extremely well as a coherent and delightful programme. There are pieces here which re-visit im portant phases in a fascinating and varied career. “A Remark You Made” by Joe Zawinul has a special and deep personal resonance for Kühn. It takes him straight back to a pivotal moment: Zawinul was a juror at the 1966 Gulda competition in Vienna, the event which facilitated the 22-year-old pianist's escape from East Germany. Gato Barbieri’s theme from “Last Tango In Paris” recalls not just the fact that Barbieri enlisted Kühn in 1972 to play on the soundtrack, but it is also a tune he would play countless times later, in his trio with Daniel Humair and Jean Francois Jenny-Clark. And the Allegretto from Beethoven’s 7th Symphony not only brings to the fore a composer whose music has always made the deepest of impressions on Kühn, but also the fact that his physical resemblance to Beethoven often resul ted in fellow musicians – notably Gordon Beck, with whom he worked on the Piano Conclave project in the 1970’s – giving him the nickname Beethoven. The variety of Kühn’s pianism in this collection is quite rem arkable. The listener is first welcomed into the inviting, comforting and regular pulse of Mal Waldron’s “Warm Canto”. And yet later, by complete contrast, Kühn’s own composition “Sintra” gives a masterclass in freedom, delay, and the alche mical art of keeping the listener waiting on tenterhooks. Prince’s “Velvet Rain” is achingly soulful, whereas Kühn found the encouragement to re-visit Bill Evans’ “Peace Piece” from the dignity and restraint of classical pianist Igor Levit’s version of it. Joachim Kühn can show us ineffable lightness of touch in the Allegretto from Beethoven’s Seventh Symphony. But he can also be forceful, as he gives full and sonorous arm weight to Barbieri’s “Last Tango” theme. There are also homages to the melodic gifts of some reeds players: “Warm Canto” recalls the way Eric Dolphy on clarinet hovers over the melody on the album “The Quest”, and the spaciousness of Milton Nascimento’s composition “Ponta de Areia” clearly keeps in mind the airy, touchingly lyrical voice of the great Wayne Shorter. Above all, however, it is in the sim plicity and the sheer delight in m elody of his own com positions that Kühn both touches the heart and gives us the greatest surprises on this album. “Sintra” is a tune written down in a peaceful mo ment outside a cafe in the one-time sanctuary of the Portugue se kings. And the title track “Touch the Light” captures the beauty of the sunset over the sea that Kühn often contemplates from his terrace. Kühn’s remark about that tune is also true of the album as a whole: “There’s a lot of love here. And joy.”

Various Artists - Romantic Freedom - Blue in GreenCD / digitalACT is a label with a clear sense of its own identity, values and mission, and these virtues find strong expression in this new compilation. ACT has been a major force since 1992 in bringing to the fore Euro-pean jazz which transcends the old genre boundaries, and has played a major part in helping this music to become far better known in its many and varied forms. This is in fact the second compilation album from the label to bear the motto “Romantic Freedom”. Back in 2006, fourteen years after the label was founded, the first album with this title focused on performances by solo pianists, a particularly strong area for ACT. Now, another fourteen years on, "Romantic Freedom - Blue in Green" brings the story and the message up to date - and does so in several fascinating ways.The ACT family continues to grow with the addition of fascinating artists from all over Europe, so it is fitting that David Helbock, a pianist who has only recently risen to prominence beyond his native Austria, and whose association with ACT started in 2016, should be given the honour of starting the album with his Random Control Trio in a moodily, atmospheric version of the modal Miles Davis/Bill Evans ballad “Blue in Green”. Another pianist who has only recently made his album is Carsten Dahl from Denmark. Dahl's “Sailing with no Wind” has calm, balance and great beauty. And for contrast there is the catchy, rock-inspired immediacy of the Stockholm-based Jacob Karl-zon Trio in “Bubbles”. The nurturing of fruitful dialogue across national borders and styles of music is a real strength at ACT, and is a key feature of "Romantic Freedom - Blue in Green". As Chris Pearson of The Times of London reflected in early 2020: “Since 1992 Act, the German label, has been building its own European union of musicians, fostering a freedom of movement between nationalities and genres.” It is worth noting that, whereas almost half of the pianists on the 2006 album were from North America, all the musicians apart from three on the new album were born in Europe. A band which epitomizes civilized conversation across borders, indeed has it at its very core is Mare Nostrum, the trio of Sardinian trumpeter Paolo Fresu, French accordionist Richard Galliano und Swedish pianist Jan Lundgren. They play Michel Legrand’s “The Windmills of Your Mind” . Fresu’s appealing and warm flugelhorn sound is to also be heard irresistibly on Komeda’s “Sleep Safe and Warm” (also known as “Rosemary’s Lullaby”) in duo with Lars Danielsson. We also hear the very different heritages of Polish violinist Adam Bałdych and French/Israeli pianist Yaron Herman as the pair create and then release tension in “Riverendings”, the first of two tracks on this album featuring a violin.Musicians from Europe walk, quite literally, in the footsteps of the great classical composers. The young German pianist Johanna Summer, the youngest musician on this album and rapidly becoming a star of the label was born in Saxony very near Zwickau, the birthplace of Robert Schumann’s. She is heard here in her affecting “instant com-posing” version of Schumann’s “Of Foreign Lands And People” from “Scenes of Childhood”. David Helbock lived for some years in Vienna, and in “Beethoven #7, 2nd Movement”, we hear the Austrian in a delicate and thoughtful version on prepared piano. Norwegians pia-nist Bugge Wesseltoft and violinist Henning Kragerrud have a deep feeling for the melodic beauty of their compatriot Grieg’s “Våren” (Last Spring). ACT is home for pianists with a central role in European jazz in recent decades, such as Michael Wollny, Joachim Kühn, Leszek Możdżer. All three (and also Bugge Wesseltoft) were represented on the 2006 and the listener can reflect on the journey they have travelled over the decades with a label that above all help to ensure that their reputati-ons can build beyond their home countries. Michael Wollny’s “Little Person”, a cover of Jon Brion’s song from the film “Synecdoche, New York.” is quietly reflective with a gentle pulse and a deliciously open ending. We also hear Wollny on prepared piano accompanying another core member of the ACT artist family, Nils Landgren on both vocals and trombone), in Sting’s “Fragile”. We have the decisively carefree and rocky side of Joachim Kühn’s New Trio in “Sleep on it”. On this compilation we go back to the beginning and hear the very first track from “Pasodoble” Leszek_Możdżer’s 2007 debut on ACT: “Praying” in a duo with Lars Danielsson. Another massively influential figure in European jazz, and until his untimely death in 2008 a core member of the ACT label family was the late Esbjörn Svensson. He was also on the 2006 album. We hear an e.s.t. track which has become a classic, “Believe Beleft Below”, and also a homage to the Swedish visionary from another pianist who has revealed many sides of his character and his story on the ACT label, the Finn Iiro Rantala, who plays his heartfelt tribute “Tears For Esbjörn”. If we now know what European jazz is, that is at least in part because ACT has shaped an important part of its story. "Romantic Freedom - Blue in Green" shows how appealing, how approachable and how universal European jazz at its best can be. Credits: Curated by Siggi Loch Mastered by Klaus Scheuermann

Various Artists - Magic Moments 13CD / digitalBest Jazzinfotainment: 16 tracks, 75 minutes of music in the Spirit of Jazz, including Nils Landgren & Jan Lundgren, Wolfgang Haffner,Ulf Wakenius, Solveig Slettahjell, Grégoire Maret, Vincent Peirani & Emile Parisien, Kadri Voorand, Viktoria Tolstoy, Jazzrausch Bigband.Credits: Compilation by Siggi Loch Mastered by Klaus Scheuermann

Joachim Kühn - Speaking SoundCD / digital Joachim Kühn piano Mateusz Smoczyński violin & baritone violin There is serendipity about Joachim Kühn and Mateusz Smoczyński having combined as a duo. Their musical conversations tend to be sparked off by catchy little themes or motifs. Dialogues evolve freely, but also have a real sense of focus. Their pulse and their breathing seem to be as one. The pair have the courage to set off wherever their combined fantasy and imagination will take them, finding all kinds of moods and emotions along the way. On “Speaking Sound”, the sounds do indeed speak for themselves. Jazz has always been about what musicians have to say through their the instruments and about developing a personal sound. Joachim Kühn and Mateusz Smoczyński do this in a way that is not just congenial but also completely enthralling. Both have roots in classical music: the pianist grew up in Bach’s town of Leipzig, and the violinist, four decades younger than him, is a graduate of the Frédéric Chopin Music Academy in Warsaw. The principle that the European classical tradition can come alive through the expressive possibilities of jazz is part of the creative essence of both of these musicians. When he is playing in his New Trio with Chris Jennings and Eric Schaefer, Joachim Kühn lands naturally in a groove which has both a sense of urgency and velocity and a magical allure about it; by contrast, the prevalent mood in his duo with Mateusz Smoczyński is far more contemplative. Kühn explains that in their instrumental dia-logues, they have tended to settle into a feel that is both tranquil and essentially positive. Such warmth and generosity of spirit were hallmarks of Ornette Coleman, whom Joachim Kühn idolised early on, and with whom he also had the good fortune to work very closely. And whereas Joachim Kühn's current solo project "Melodic Ornette" allows the unique beauty of Coleman's melodies to shine through, in his duo with Mateusz Smoczyński, the focus is his own compositions plus pieces by musician friends such as the tune "Schubertauster" by Vincent Peirani. The core context remains European, but with Rabih Abou-Khalil's "I'm Better Off Without You" and also "No. 40" from Gurdjieff's "Asian Songs and Rhythms" there is a clear sense of an openness to the Orient. Piano and violin is a conventional combination in classical music and this duo knowingly maintains that legacy. Nevertheless, this chamber music with its boundless possibilities would not have been conceivable without the impulse of jazz. And Joachim Kühn and Mateusz Smoczyński share one reference point which is the work of the Polish jazz violinist Zbigniew Seifert. Unlike any of his predecessors, Seifert succeeded in transferring something of the sound and the spirit of Coltrane to the violin, while at the same time incorporating his own Slavic mindset. Joachim Kühn was a close friend of the violinist who died tragically early in 1979. Their work together was quite superb, as can be heard from Kühn's records "Cinemascope" and "Springfever", and also from Seifert's seminal 1976 recording "Man Of The Light". Joachim Kühn was also the pianist when Seifert's "Jazz Concerto for violin, symphony orchestra and rhythm section" received its premiere in Hanover in 1974 with the NDR Radio Orchestra. No one from Poland who plays jazz violin can possibly avoid the influence of Zbigniew Seifert. Mateusz Smoczyński has internalized the work of his forerunner, and yet he has found its own language and also developed a brilliant technique which is highly individual. His achievements led in 2016 to him being awarded First Prize at the International Competition for Jazz Violinists in Krakow, a competitition which bears Seifert’s name. Smoczyński is co-founder of the Atom String Quartet, a group well known far beyond the borders of Poland, and was first violin in the legendary Turtle Island String Quartet from 2012 to 2016. He works with his own quintet, with his New Trio, has made his mark as a composer, with the violin concerto "Adam's Apple" for example, and has also released a solo album.Kühn and Smoczyński appeared for the first time together on stage in 2009 at the Polish premiere of Zbigniew Seifert's Violin Concerto in Kraków with the Kraków Philharmonic Orchestra. Then followed another meeting at a concert in Katowice in 2018, this time with the National Symphony Orchestra of Polish Radio. Joachim Kühn was delighted to discover quite how far the violinist’s playing had developed in the interim. After duo improvisations in the dressing room of the Philharmonic Hall in Katowice, Kühn suggested they should do a recording together at his home on Ibiza. So, five months later, in April 2019, Mateusz Smoczyński stood with his violin alongside Joachim Kühn seated at the Steinway. Relaxed, and enjoying vistas of the salt flats at the southern tip of the island and of the sea beyond, they recorded music for 4 1/2 hours with virtually no retakes. This album captures some of the most impressive moments from that session. Their dialogues are somehow luminous. There is eloquence without ever being garrulous, beautiful sound but an avoidance of any descent into triviality. Two musicians who inspire and trust each other have found repose and clarity in a world that has lost its bearings.Credits: Recorded by Gerard Guse at Salinas Studio, Ibiza, Spain, 24. - 26.4. 2019 Mixed by Jan Smoczyński at Studio Tokarnia, Nieporęt (Poland) Mastered by Klaus Scheuermann Steinway C tuned by Antonio Perez de Olaguer Cover art by Wojciech Fangor, E 9, 1966, oil on canvas, 127 x 127 cm © courtesy of Fangor Foundation

Various Artists - Magic Moments 12CD / digitalOne World Of Music. The ACT label has jazz at its core, and an openness to all kinds of musical directions: pop, rock, the music of singer-songwriters and traditional folkloric forms such as flamenco and tango. These very different genres nonetheless never fail to find new and magical ways to work together. The twelfth Magic Moments compilation presents exciting music "in the Spirit of Jazz". All kinds of pleasure await the listener during its 71 minutes. And what can one expect to hear in this world so far away from a single predetermined style? There are surprises, obviously. Plus several chances to reconnect with established and familiar stars. And discoveries of some genuinely exciting newcomers. The opening track is from Iiro Rantala on solo piano. His portrait of the month of "August" is from "My Finnish Calendar", an album which sets to music the course of an entire year in his home country from a very personal point of view. Argentinian tango is a prime example of a musical tradition which is not just lively but is also constantly developing. The Javier Girotto Trio proves the point in "Deus Xango" from "Tango Nuevo Revisited", a contemporary reimagining of the Piazzolla/Mulligan classic album from 1975. "Four top-league jazz musicians who just enjoy playing". That description by the TV programme ZDF today Journal) defines exactly what "4WD" is all about. The four bandleaders involved are Nils Landgren, Mi-chael Wollny, Lars Danielsson and Wolfgang Haffner). Each of them is in equal control and they all set the direction of the group. "Flamenco and jazz are brothers," says Spanish piano newcomer Daniel García. In his energetic trio with special guest Jorge Pardo, he shows just how true that statement is with the fiery "Travesuras". French accordionist Vincent Peirani and his wife Serena Fisseau then create a familiar musical refuge: "What A Wonderful World" is a paean to silence. A duo of newcomers to the label, Grégoire Maret and Edmar Castaneda create new and exciting sound worlds. In "Harp vs. Harp" harmonica meets harp. This is indeed a special and rare pairing; "Blueserinho" absolutely needs to be heard. With his "Italian Songbook" trumpeter Luca Aquino has recorded a homage to the music of his homeland. Here is "Scalinatella" by film composer Giuseppe Cioffi in an affecting version for trio with the Italian piano star Danilo Rea and accordionist Natalino Marchetti. Singer Cæcilie Norby unites musicians from several generations and countries on "Sisters in Jazz". Her composition "Naked In The Dark" demonstrates that jazz is far from being only about men. "Klinken" comes from the debut album "Stax" by the 25-year-old drummer Max Stadtfeld, a release in the Young German Jazz series. Stadtfeld and his comrades-in-arms have no truck with intellectuality, they move in the rhythm-oriented mainstream and yet point beyond it. With freshness and astonishing maturity this quartet thrills and excites. For over 10 years the successful trio Mare Nostrum with Paolo Fresu, Richard Galliano and Jan Lundgren has been the epitome of the sound of Europe. All three musi-cians have a quite fabulous sense of the lyrical and poetic which is again very much to the fore in their third album; Magic Moments 12 has the Swedish "Ronneby". As the magazine Galore writes of German jazz icon Joachim Kühn. “He interprets Ornette Coleman's music in his very own way: lyrically, gently and introvertedly, but full of surprising details." Kühn relives the unique story of his work alongside one of the legends of jazz here with "Lost Thoughts", a piece never recorded before. On 6 February 2019, jazz baroness Pannonica (Nica) de Koenigswarter (1913-1988) received a posthumous tribute for her tireless commitment to jazz in a concert at the Philharmonie in Berlin. The focus was on pieces by musicians whom Pannonica had supported over so many years with money, accommodation, advice and friendship, and who often dedicated compositions to her in gratitude, "Little Butterly" by Thelonious Monk for example. The New York singer Charenée Wade is in the limelight here, accompanied by Iiro Rantala, Dan Berglund and Anton Eger, with the American saxophone titan Ernie Watts. "An Israeli power trio. Heavy Jazz," Rolling Stone wrote of Shalosh. And when you hear the frenzied "After The War" it is obvious why: rock and indie jazz combine to form a mix which is full of tension and excitement. Violinist Adam Baldych is a supremely talented virtuoso. Stereo Magazine has described him as "one of the most technically brilliant interpreters of improvised music". "Longing" from his album "Sacrum Profanum" is a searingly sad ballad, sensitively interpreted in a duo with pianist Krzysztof Dys. On "Painted Music" the pianist Carsten Dahl gives his own highly personal take on classics of the jazz repertoire. The traditional Danish folk song "Jeg gik mig ud en sommerdag" (I went out on a summer’s day) is the sound of summer. At the end of “Magic Moments 12”, Nguyên Lê's piece "Hippocampus" reminds us of "One World Of Music", the theme of the compilation. The French guitarist of Vietnamese ancestry is a musical wayfarer between cultures who combines the freedom of jazz with influences from rock and world music.Credits: Compilation by Siggi Loch Mastered by Klaus Scheuermann

Joachim Kühn - Melodic Ornette ColemanCD - Vinyl - digital Joachim Kühn piano Pianist Joachim Kühn is already a jazz legend within his own lifetime. But he is not one to rest on the laurels of his reputation or of his international success; he is still extraordinarily productive and active. Whether in his New Trio with Eric Schaefer and Chris Jennings, or in various other settings and guest appearances (with Archie Shepp, Pharoah Sanders, Michel Portal, Daniel Humair or his brother Rolf) or as a member of Emile Parisien’s Quintet, Kühn is still very much at the forefront of today’s jazz life. And considering the workload he takes on, it is hard to believe that he will soon be reaching the age of 75, on 15 March next year. As is to be expected, Kühn won’t be celebrating this occasion by putting his feet up on the sofa; he has a new project. And those who know him well will also not be surprised to hear that the centre of attention is not going to be Kühn himself. The spotlight will be on a much-missed colleague, friend, and his most important source of inspiration over the past few decades, Ornette Coleman. When Coleman and Kühn first met in Paris in the early nineties, it was the beginning of a remarkable artistic relationship. Following their first duo concert in the vast arena in Verona in Italy, Kühn, 14 years younger than Coleman, became the only pianist with whom the saxophonist, noteworthy for his critical attitude to piano accompanists, would perform regularly in this setting. Later on he also followed Gerri Allen as the pianist in his quartet. "Ornette flew me from Ibiza to New York several times a year," Kühn recalls. "He rented a Steinway grand piano and we would play for a whole week, fourteen hours a day." And the American jazz icon who died three years ago found a special way to single out the German for the very highest praise: "He doesn't come from jazz, he comes from music". What the two had in common above all was the fact that they understood the conventional harmonic systems (the well-tempered systems of classical music as well as jazz changes) to the point that they could see the limitations, and therefore went on to invent their own: Coleman had his "harmolodics", Kühn has his "diminished augmented system". So it was apposite that when Coleman met the Leipzig-raised Kühn, he should lead the German back to his very first formative musical influence, Johann Sebastian Bach. What happened was that Kühn performed one evening with Coleman and the next with his "Bach Now" project with the famous Thomanerchor Leipzig. It is very fitting that Kühn should link his significant birthday with the great inspirer Ornette Coleman – and at the same time that he should want to add such a personal chapter to the current series of releases of unknown works by jazz legends. And the reasons become clear when he explains the background to the new album "Melodic Ornette Coleman": "From 1995 to 2000 I was able to play 16 concerts with Ornette. Before each concert, he wrote ten new songs, which we had worked out and recorded in his Harmolodic studio in Harlem for a whole week. Since he wanted me to supply the, as he called it, cards (sounds) for his melodies, I was directly involved in the composition process. After the concert, these pieces were never played again. Now I am the only one who has all the recordings and the sheet music of the 170 pieces. So now, after about twenty years, I have reassembled and recorded them for solo piano. Apart from 'Lonely Woman', none of these pieces was ever released by Ornette Coleman."The Ornette Coleman whom we find in this recording is far more easily accessible than the free jazz firebrand of the early 1960s. Indeed, the jazz icon whose memory Kühn is serving here is the creator of colourful melodies with their roots in the blues. Of course, those colours are not exactly those that one might conventionally expect, and naturally also Kühn makes use of the material for his own purposes, for intuitive inspiration in the moment or to take us on his typically wild rides, but above all here are two soul-mates with a shared imperative to be creative in sound, and to use source material that is in its essence melodic. The melodies are sometimes earthy, almost traditional ("Lost Thoughts"), sometimes cheerfully playful ("Love Is Not Generous, Sex Belongs To Woman"), sometimes longing and melancholic ("Somewhere") or outraged ("The End Of The World"). Kühn rises to these challenges in the magnificent way that is usual for him, he brings that inimitable combination of the finest piano technique with a deep inner understanding of the structures of the pieces, plus the ability to bring shape to them in the moment. And it is evidently in the spirit of Coleman that Kühn should have chosen to record this album not in the studio, but in a haven where he could be unhurried and out of the fray, the music room at his home on Ibiza, and on his own Steinway grand piano. "In music, perfection is a killer," he likes to say, "I wanted the music to be pure, wanted to go deep into it." The result is jazz in progress. It an opportunity not just to celebrate the legacy of one of the most visionary instant composers, but also to honour one of the very greatest pianists.

Magic Moments 1167 minutes of pure listening pleasure: The eleventh edition of the popular Magic Moments offers a comprehensive insight into our latest ACT releases with newcomers, ACT stars and real insider tips at a special price. Among others with Michael Wollny, David Helbock, Vincent Peirani, Iiro Rantala, Joachim Kühn New Trio, Ida Sand, Lars Danielsson & Paolo Fresu and many more.Credits:Compilation by Siggi Loch Mastered by Klaus Scheuermann Manufacturer 

Emile Parisien Quintet - Sfumato live in MarciacCD / DVD / digital Emile Parisien soprano saxophone Joachim Kühn piano Manu Codjia guitar Simon Tailleu double bass Mário Costa drums Guests: Wynton Marsalis trumpet Vincent Peirani accordion Michel Portal clarinet French soprano saxophonist Emile Parisien is one of the most highly regarded European jazz musicians of our time. The three albums he made in just three years – “Belle Epoque” in 2014, “Spezial Snack” in 2015 and “Sfumato” in 2016 – have propelled him, at the age of just 35, to the top of the worldwide rankings on his instrument. One thing is abundantly clear: Europe has a new jazz star. 2017 was the year for Emile Parisien. No jazz artist received more prominent acclaim in his home country France, and beyond. Very few European jazz artists can have appeared at so many big jazz festivals and classical concert halls. Emile Parisien today is regarded the most important innovator on the soprano saxophone. Right at the beginning of 2017, Jazzthing magazine (DE) set the tone with their CD review: “It is amazing how quickly Emile Parisien has become one of France’s most influential musicians. “Sfumato” is the title of the new album from the 34-year-old soprano saxophonist, who has nothing to fear from the competition of anyone of his own generation anywhere in the world. And this album is going to amplify the buzz about him which is starting to echo around Europe.” And that was exactly what happened: not long after the release, the French “Jazz Magazine” and German music magazine “Stereo” both voted “Sfumato” as their album of the year. Shortly after that, Emile Parisien received the “Victoires Du Jazz”, the jazz prize for album of the year at the most important French music awards. In Germany Parisien also received the most important music award, the ECHO Jazz, for “best international saxophonist” of the year. Topping out an outstanding year, French “Jazz Magazine” chose Émile Parisien as its artist of the year for 2017.Deutschlandfunk Kultur (Germany) called Parisien a “superstar of the jazz scene in France”, Fono Forum (Germany) stated: “Emile Parisien is taking the magical sound of the soprano saxophone onwards – following in the footsteps of Sidney Bechet, Johnny Hodges, Steve Lacy, John Coltrane, Wayne Shorter and Evan Parker.” The Guardian in the UK gave “Sfumato” a rare 5-star rating and called it “an exhilarating genre-hop bubbling with captivating remakes of US and European jazz traditions. An exuberant album”. And the widely-read French magazine “Télérama” wrote: “Parisien’s inventiveness and energy are nothing short of breathtaking.” The year of 2017 also marked a new high-point for Emile Parisien’s career as a live performer. In that one year he played at festivals such as Jazz Sous Les Pommiers, Bergen Jazz Festival, Elbjazz, Jazz Baltica, Montreux Jazz Festival, Jazz à Vienne, Umbria Jazz, the London Jazz Festival and the Rheingau Musik Festival. He also appeared in the some of Europe’s finest classical concert halls: the Philharmonie in Essen, the Konzerthaus in Vienna, Hamburg’s new Elbphilharmonie and the Konzerthaus in Berlin. A special highlight was Parisien’s residency at Jazz in Marciac, the place where Parisien’s enthusiasm for jazz had been originally been awakened as a young audience-member, and where he was invited to be Artist in Residence for 2017. Parisien’s “Sfumato” concert on 8 August 2017 was unforgettable and has been captured for ever on both CD & DVD. His quintet was augmented at this concert by illustrious guests: US trumpet star Wynton Marsalis, French jazz legend Michel Portal and Parisien’s alter ego and long-established duo partner Vincent Peirani. Parisien’s “Sfumato” concert on 8 August 2017 was unforgettable and has been captured for ever on both CD & DVD. His quintet was augmented at this concert by illustrious guests: US trumpet star Wynton Marsalis, French jazz legend Michel Portal and Parisien’s alter ego and long-established duo partner Vincent Peirani. Multi-layered, innovative and experimental, “Sfumato live in Marciac” is packed full of tension, excitement and turbulence. And yet is firmly grounded in jazz, brimming over with playfulness and adventures of improvisation; it is a testament to the intensity and to the magic of live jazz. And yet is firmly grounded in jazz, brimming over with playfulness and adventures of improvisation; it is a testament to the intensity and to the magic of live jazz.Credits: Recorded live in concert by Nicolas Djemane at Jazz in Marciac on August 8th, 2017 Mixed by Boris Darley in April 2017 Mastering by Klaus Scheuermann Produced by Emile Parisien Video editing by Alice Fave & Nicolas Lecart Cameras: Florence Pradalier, Cedric Alliot, Ugo Gillino & Mathias Touzeris Audiovisual director: Jean Marc Birraux DVD authoring by Platin Media Productions Cover art by Chen Ruo Bing, untitled, 2016, ACT Art Collection

Joachim Kühn - Love & PeaceCD / digital Joachim Kühn piano Chris Jennings bass Eric Schaefer drums “The wisdom of old age meets the tempestuousness of youth” wrote Der Spiegel, describing the meeting of generations in Joachim Kühn’s trio with Chris Jennings and Eric Schaefer - both are around 30 years younger than he is. And it is also an apt way to describe how both tendencies co-exist in the 73-year old jazz pioneer’s own playing. His gaze is directed to the future, he has the history of jazz behind him, and he never kow-tows to convention. This piano genius loves freedom and fantasy, driven by the imperative to keep discovering the new. If the Joachim Kühn New Trio is his most recent adventure story, then “Love & Peace” is its second chapter.“I have found a new dream team, and they inspire me in a completely new way,” he says of this ensemble which formed in 2015. It signalled his return to the classic piano trio, in the wake of a thirty year association with Jean-Francois Jenny-Clark and Daniel Humair. “A new trio, a new Joachim Kühn” was how NDR praised the group’s debut CD “Beauty & Truth” which appeared in March 2016. Jazzthing magazine considered that the “most consistently innovative and the freeest piano player in Germany”, had “added another exciting, and above all unexpected chapter to his biography and his discography.” And to cap it all, the Joachim Kühn New Trio was awarded the best German Ensemble prize at the 2017 ECHO Jazz Awards.“At my age,” says Kühn, “you have to do more playing than you used to, to make sure you don’t get rusty.” That is a testament to the sheer determination which has made him the most significant and internationally successful pianist of his generation in Germany. On “Love & Peace” he is on top form: once again it's about “strong melodies that you can give a shape to,” as Kühn puts it. He’s a master of both free jazz and fusion but with a new game-changing approach: “I wanted melodic simplicity, an album with short concise pieces”.It is almost inevitable that the songs should deal with two things that the world simply, urgently needs more of: love and peace. “I didn’t choose this repertoire in a hurry, but rather in a very considered way. But I also I did let chance play its role.” That's how the short, almost ebullient melody of “Barcelona - Wien” came into being during a flight between those two cities. The image of agile horses was one which spontaneously occurred to him in the skittish, yet elegant theme of “Mustang”. With “The Crystal Ship”, Kühn has again taken a track by the Doors, the band which more than any other is synonymous with his generation of 1968, and the peace movement in an era overshadowed by the Vietnam War. Classical music is also represented, with a luxuriant and grooving version of Modest Mussorgski's “Le Vieux Chateau” from “Pictures from an Exhibition”. A piece (“Night Plans”) from his unique and formative collaboration with Ornette Coleman undergoes an almost tender, new reappraisal by the trio, as does the turbulent Kühn classic “Phrasen”.Kühn asked his two partners for one composition each: Chris Jennings has contributed the swinging, almost folk-song-like “Casbah Radio”, while Eric Schaefer has penned the elegiac “Lied ohne Worte No. 2”, which perhaps reminds one most of the “old” Joachim Kühn. Schaefer's dynamism, spontaneity and spirituality make him an ideal companion for Kühn. "I had invited him to Ibiza and we played together for three days. But I knew after just ten minutes that I wanted to work with him,” Kühn recalls. “I've had a similar experience with Chris Jennings, a fantastic bass player with great capacity for empathy.” “Only if you live freely can you really improvise freely,” says Kühn. For several years he has been putting everything in place to ensure his own personal and creative freedom at his finca on Ibiza . With “Love & Peace” his New Trio has once again succeeded in breaking into new territory. Joachim Kühn’s potent creative will, unbridled love for music and inner peace reside at the heart of this album. Credits: Produced by Joachim Kühn Recorded by Gérard de Haro at Studios La Buissonne, France. May 15 & 16, 2017 Assisted by Anaëlle Marsollier & Bastien Raute Mixed by Gérard de Haro. Mastered by Klaus Scheuermann Steinway D tuned and prepared by Alain Massonneau Arrangements by Joachim Kühn Cover art by Mary Heilmann, Mojave Mirage, 2012 by courtesy of the artist, 303 Gallery, New York, Hauser

Various Artists - The Jubilee ConcertsCD / digital Various Artists “We fly like birds of a feather,” runs the Sister Sledge lyric. And so the musicians did – thirty-four of them flocked to the Konzerthaus in Berlin, from several countries of Europe, each of them an artist who has found a nurturing home for his or her projects and talents on the ACT label. It was their way of expressing gratitude, and of giving their label a 25th birthday present. The musicians appeared on stage in a whole variety of combinations throughout the day, some of the bands formed for these concerts having never been put together before. It was in every sense a special occasion: a day of very fine concerts, a joyous celebration of the passing of an important milestone - the date marked exactly twenty-five years and one day since the ACT label put out its very first release in 1992 - and a happy gathering for the label-as-family. What this unique event brought to the fore was that precious common spirit and attitude among these musicians: an openness and respect for the individual and very different talents of the others, the courage to take risks, and an ever-present willingness to welcome in the unexpected and to discover the new. The musicians are also from several different generations, all bringing their combined energies to the event. For example, saxophonist Emile Parisien and pianist Joachim Kühn were born nearly forty years apart, and yet their mutual understanding, their common way of making music and generating excitement makes a detail like that an irrelevance. There were two other trans-national duos on the album. Whereas saxophonist Parisien and Kühn brought high-voltage excitement, and received a loud ovation, the two double basses of Lars Danielsson and Dieter Ilg channelled very different emotions. Two bassists playing together tends to be a recipe for pure joy, good humour, bonhomie and mischief, and that was exactly what these two master musicians offered. The third duo of Nils Landgren and Michael Wollny brought warmth, affection, and wistful poetry and beauty to Sondheim’s “Send in the Clowns,” which opens the album. These three intimate conversations were just part of the story of an unforgettable day. A quartet feature was led by violinist Adam Bałdych, whose ski-ing accident just a few days before had not deterred him from attending this joyous gathering - he was supported by crutches to get on and off the stage. Then there was a special one-off formation of Nils Landgren’s Funk Unit in “Walk Tall”, the band propelled by Wolfgang Haffner’s crisp, in-the-pocket drumming. One of the features of the ACT label is that founder Siggi Loch is a natural connector and helps the formation of new bands. A quintet around Nguyên Lê and the quartet led by Adam Bałdych were created especially for the evening. Lars Danielsson’s “Suffering” has as its first soloists two ACT cornerstone artists who have helped to define the many-sided identity of the label: Nguyên Lê and Nils Landgren. Another more established quartet which ACT has helped into existence is the supergroup of Andreas Schaerer, Emile Parisien, Vincent Peirani, and Michael Wollny. “B&H” shows these four stars of European jazz, all of a similar age, keeping each other and the audience on their toes. A celebration like this could run the risk of drifting into memory and nostalgia – this one didn’t. ACT has issued over 500 albums, so there is much to look back on with pride…but one moment found an inspired way to look to the future as well. The listener might wonder who the drummer and guitarist are, playing with such ease, flow and total assurance on “Dodge The Dodo.” They are Noa and Ruben Svensson, sons of the much-missed Esbjörn. The culmination of the day of celebration in Berlin was a Gala Concert by the “ACT Family Band.” The evening built naturally to a whole-band, whole-family finale in which the combined ensemble, led by Ida Sand, launched into “We Are Family”. As an expression of togetherness, of a shared joyful ethos it would be hard to beat. These Jubilee Concerts made it possible to experience at close quarters what ACT exists to achieve: it is a leading label where listeners can discover newly created music “in the Sprit of jazz.” The label’s range and its previously unimagined connections are a constant source of surprise from which it draws ever-new inspiration to connect the unexpected. Mike Flynn, Editor of Jazzwise wrote in his review of the concert that the ACT label has “a smile on its face and a swagger in its step”. And where might the best evidence for that statement be found? It’s all there on this album.Credits: Live at Konzerthaus Berlin, April 2, 2017 Recorded, mixed and mastered by Klaus Scheuermann Curated by Siggi Loch An ACT Music concert production in cooperation with Konzerthaus Berlin

"Sfumato" is the studio result of a dream lineup in contemporary European jazz, featuring piano legend Joachim Kühn, and as guests: Vincent Peirani and Michel Portal. This ensemble bridges generations and captures the pulse of the times, offering a sonic painting that hints rather than explains, abstracts instead of concretizes, and thereby reveals spaces for associations and inner worlds.

65 minutes of the best jazz-infotainment featuring the current ACT lineup at a special price. With e.s.t. Symphony, Fresu - Galliano - Lundgren, Nils Landgren, Michael Wollny & Vincent Peirani, Joachim Kühn New Trio, Iiro Rantala, Marius Neset, Lars Danielsson, Lou Tavano, and many more.

Old master, young and wild and a new trio: together with Eric Schaefer and Chris Jennings, we experience a completely different Joachim Kühn on “Beauty & Truth”: powerful, clear and to the point. Always firmly anchored in the groove. Full of unbridled joy of playing and with plenty of soul. Not ageist, but as up-to-date as ever.

Joachim Kühn revives jazz history with unreleased trio live recordings and the jazz symphony Europeana – a milestone of European music.

Joachim Kühn and Alexey Kruglov unite piano and alto saxophone in an innovative duo, blending free improvisation with virtuosic musical artistry.

With his desert jazz trio and saxophone legend Archie Shepp, Joachim Kühn goes in search of the Voodoo Sense in jazz. With the Coltrane classic "Kulu Se Mama" as the centrepiece.