Cathedral

Fiona Grond - PoesiasCD / Vinyl / digital Fiona Grond vocals Moritz Stahl tenor saxophone Philipp Schiepek guitar "It has always been really important for me," says Fiona Grond, “not just to be the singer with the melody while the other musicians are doing everything else." So, on her ACT debut album "Poesias", the Swiss-born vocalist's voice functions as one of three instruments acting as equal partners, her singing closely intermeshed with Moritz Stahl's tenor saxophone and Philipp Schiepek's guitar. The trio first met in Fiona Grond's adoptive city of Munich, where the local scene has been steadily gaining profile and visibility for a few years now; this trio counts as a significant new discovery on the Munich scene. Fiona Grond's music draws the listener in with its hushed tones, its awareness of the spaces between the notes, its contrasts and frictions, and the way it both defies expectations and breaks with convention. The charm of this music only really reveals itself when one lets it work its magic, when one listens carefully and most importantly of all, truly feels it. There is a saying that people from the coast tend to look into the distance whereas people from the forests and mountains turn their gaze inward. In this respect, Fiona Grond's Swiss origins seem to have been formative for the narrative perspective: "Poesias" - meaning ‘poems’ in Switzerland’s fourth national language, Romansh - is an inner search for thoughts and feelings, sometimes with, sometimes without words. "When something affects me, and I find the right words and phrases for it, then I write them down, says Fiona Grond. “But if the music doesn't want any lyrics, then it doesn't need any." Furthermore, she reflects, "I try, especially at the beginning of the composition process, to let myself drift and not to judge, but rather to let the music simply happen." This process of listening to the music and reflecting on it continues in the interplay with Philipp Schiepek and Moritz Stahl. It can be heard very clearly that here are three people playing together who are very close to each other both artistically and personally: guitarist Philipp Schiepek proves once again quite how versatile and stunningly musical he is, whereas saxophonist Moritz Stahl - otherwise to be found in rip-roaring jazz-with-electronica settings such as "Ark Noir" or the "Jazzrausch Bigband" - impresses with how subtle and delicate his sound can be, with a particularly fine feeling for colour and texture. Grond, Stahl and Schiepek form a trio which interacts naturally and organically. The depths of concentration which they find are as unusual and original as their voice-saxophone-guitar ensemble. The music which they explore also covers a wide musical field - from Fiona Grond's own compositions to a piece by the duo of Sidsel Endresen and Bugge Wesseltoft, which, she explains was especially influential for her, to arrangements of folklore from the Graubünden region, and the"Sarabande" from Johann Sebastian Bach's B minor Partita for solo violin. Hearing this group live in concert, one often has the impression of eavesdropping on their creative process as it happens. So, what producer Andreas Brandis wanted from the sessions at the renowned Artesuono Studio in Udine was to distil the experience, to capture a concentrated form of its essence. Although the trio, through the experience of performing the material live, know every twist and turn of the pieces on the album, there was practically no piece that was not re-evaluated and focused on its core during the production process. Fiona Grond remembers: "Andreas and I talked a lot beforehand and exchanged demos again and again. And also during the recording session we revisited everything and changed quite a lot, especially in the arrangements. In the end we had often gone quite far from the original versions, but all these changes felt organic and logical. Most of the tracks on the album are first takes of the new versions." This remarkable recording is particularly touching and affecting for its depth, warmth and transparency, and for its glorious sound. This is almost spiritual music, and listeners who allow themselves to enter this magical world will find that spaces open up that they will be keen to explore again and again. Credits: Produced by Andreas Brandis

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

Philipp Schiepek & Walter Lang - CathedralCD / digital Philipp Schiepek Nylon String Guitar Walter Lang Grand Piano “An insightful and versatile guitarist.” (All About Jazz). “He has found a sound that is his own - and it is always imbued with both beauty and excitement” (Süddeutsche Zeitung). The responses to Munich-based guitarist Philipp Schiepek’s 2019 debut album marked him out as a musician of real sensitivity and one to watch. Schiepek, now aged 26 – who first played piano and accordion before taking up the guitar at the age of twelve – definitely has that most important asset of a musician: his own indivi-dual style. During his time as a student of both classical and jazz guitar at the conservatoires in Würzburg and Munich, bookers in Southern Germany already had this accomplished, versatile, technically flawless guitarist firmly on their radar. From 2016-2018, he played in the BundesJazzorchester (BuJazzO). He has also appeared as concerto soloist with a classical orchestra, and in various bands in the Munich region, for example with Mulo Francel, and alongside players with an international profile such as Richie Beirach and Klaus Doldinger. He won several prizes, including the 2020 BMW Welt Young Artist Jazz Award, and he has also steered his first major project as leader, “Golem Dance”, involving no less a figure than stellar New York saxophonist Seamus Blake, to a highly successful conclusion.An important feature behind the rapid rise in Schiepek’s profile in Germany is that he is just as interested in classical music as he is in jazz. Schiepek sees the fact that he can oscillate between the two worlds as positive, enriching and complementary. And the miracle is how he manages to remain true to both: the classical acoustic guitar and the electric jazz guitar are essentially two very different instruments, whether seen from the perspective of playing techniques or timing or how musical interaction happens. Schiepek’s exceptional craft and his unique approach can now be enjoyed on his ACT debut “Cathedral”, in a duo with pianist Walter Lang, in which he plays just one instrument, the nylon-string acoustic guitar. His sound has a wonderful warmth to it; the setting may be intimate, but the playing is spellbinding. Walter Lang, now aged 59 and from the Stuttgart region, has been called “the poet”, “the romantic” among German jazz pianists. He grew up with classical music, folk music and the Beat-les, and it was essentially chance which led him to Berklee College of Music in Boston, and into jazz. The constants with Lang are a love of melody and a remarkable economy of expression – as his two albums with Lee Konitz testify. And the fact that he had developed accompanying vocalists into an important strand in his career is also fully consistent with this.And yet there are other sides to his artistry: he is a member of Trio Elf, successful pioneers in adapting electronic dancefloor sounds into the jazz arena. And he is also always looking for new challenges. Lang explains the genesis of “Cathedral” as follows: “The combination of piano with conventional jazz guitar can often be problematic. And that's why I've been having thoughts during the past three years about a duo with nylon-string guitar. During the Corona time I composed an enormous amount for it. I had been aware of Philipp for a while, so I just asked him.” They got together for a session: “We just played for four hours straight, and realised that it was all working absolutely perfectly,” says Schiepek. “We didn't have to talk much about the music at all.” The power of simple melodies brings their playing together in “Cathedral”, whether in unison, in alternation or as call-and-response – or indeed all of these together in "Estrela Cadente” (shooting star). The two players are an ideal complement for each other. Lang's delicate touch and the variety of his approaches to both single note and chordal playing are enhanced by Schiepek's refined technique and frequent ornamentation, evoking the world of the Spanish classical guitar. “Cathedral” is an album which lives up to its name: as an act of devotion, as sounds that rise into hallowed space. This is a touching and enchanting dialogue between piano and guitar, between young and old, classical and jazz, form and freedom. We eavesdrop on a musical conversation which through its depth and intimacy speaks directly to the times we live in. It can sometimes be sustained and calm, with hints of oriental meditation – as in the opener, “Sumniran” or in “Kamo”, evoking a time-honoured river which flows gently through the Japanese city of Kyoto. Or hymn-like as in the title track, or expressing the allure of a setting off on a long walk – as in “Pilgrimage”, composed by Schiepek. Or melancholic, as in “The World Is Upside Down”, which feels like an ode to the sorrow and sadness of the pande-mic. But we find comfort and consolation too, as in the final track “The Encourager”. “Cathedral” carries several messages of hope: that music will reawaken; that the universal language of jazz can and will both reach out into the future and, as ever, hold its many traditions to its heart; and - by no means least – one about the promise, the exciting prospect of all that young guitarist Philipp Schiepek still has to offer. Credits: Recorded and mixed by Uli Fiedler at Flip Top Studio, Wertingen, 13.11.2020 Mastered by Klaus Scheuermann Piano tuner: Helmut Troendle Produced by Philipp Schiepek and Walter Lang Cover art by Peter Krüll