Ennio

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

Grégoire Maret - EnnioCD / digital Grégoire Maret chromatic harmonica Romain Collin steinway piano & keyboards Marcus Gilmore drums Burniss Earl Travis II bass Marvin Sewell guitar Alexandra Sopp flute Special guests: Cassandra Wilson vocals Gregory Porter vocals How do you follow up a successful album like “Americana”? Released in April 2020, it not only received a Grammy nomination for Best Contemporary Instrumental Album, it has also registered streaming statistics approaching ten million. It brought together harmonica player Grégoire Maret and pianist Romain Collin, performing in a trio with Bill Frisell in which the three found happy common ground in their “shared love of jazz, song and pure melody” (Jazziz), and offered listeners a "gorgeous meditation on the American Dream." (Bill Milkowski).“Americana” and Maret and Collin's subsequent work together helped to cement a friendship between these two fine New York-based musicians with Francophone origins (Geneva and Antibes respectively). As Collin says: “There is something about the way we work together that feels very fluid and natural.” Maret and Collin established quickly that watching films featuring the music of Ennio Morricone had been an important part of family life for both of them, and a strong part of what had initially drawn them towards music. “Those movies, and the way they incorporated the music really stayed in my mind.” remembers Maret. And when the great man died in July 2020 at the age of 91, it affected them both deeply. Maret, for example, was to regret that a plan to include him in some of Morricone’s later concerts had sadly never come to fruition. But above all, the musicians felt a deep affinity for Morricone’s music: “We are both naturally drawn to the European sensitivities, the romantic language,” says Collin. Collin remembers experiencing a certain caution as they started to think about following this thread running so deeply through both their musical pasts, and making an album: “If we’re going to do it, it has to really add something,” he remembers thinking. So they both started to research Morricone’s oeuvre intensively and to immerse themselves in it. “We really wanted to find out what he was really like as a person and a musician,” Maret remembers. This led to them contacting Morricone’s official biographer Alessandro De Rosa. They had several conversations with him during the pandemic. De Rosa has written an illuminating sleeve note in praise of the album. “We wanted as many sounds and colours as we could possibly get, because this is such a part of Ennio Morricone’s music,” says Maret. The sheer range of Morricone’s work comes across vividly in “Ennio”.The unmistakably personal is certainly there: a track where strong emotions from the musicians’ childhoods come through vividly is“Chi Mai” from the film the film “Le Professionel”. Both recall watching the film as children. So, logically, it is performed as a duet for harmonica and piano, but a careful listen reveals another sound in the bass: the subliminal resonances of Collin playing an antique pedal harmonium.“Once Upon a Time in the West” - a film score which, unusually, was composed before the filming - and the other Sergio Leone “Spaghetti Westerns” are also there. And perhaps the least surprising thing about “Ennio” is quite how well the Italian’s music suits Maret’s “big-hearted sound” (Ottawa Citizen): Maret has been advised by countless people, and for longer than he can remember...that it would. And yet a careful listen to this collection reveals unexpected treats and gifts which never seem to stop. Surprises, for example, come from the stellar array of guest musicians. Maret says he felt truly blessed to hear from Cassandra Wilson that she liked the idea of writing new English words for Mina’s “Se Telefonando” a ‘labour of love’ – Maret has been in her band for a decade. And he was just as thrilled when Gregory Porter agreed to do the song as a duet with her. And the other instrumentalists bring magic too: drummer Marcus Gilmore “can do just about anything and he is an amazing person,” says Maret. Guitarist Marvin Sewell and bassist Burniss Earl Travis II are also Maret's colleagues from Cassandra Wilson's band and they make all kinds of intriguing sounds. And Collin has tricks up his sleeve as well: for example, he complements Maret’s sound on “Man with a Harmonica” with the eerieness of 1970s/80s rarities: a MoogCordovox White Elephant and a foot-operated analog synth, a Taurus. Alessandro De Rosa’s sleeve note for “Ennio” sums up the album very well: it “takes the listener through the complexity of Morricone’s multifaceted oeuvre and vividly portrays the emotional impact it has had on them. It is a journey that re-imagines and narrates this immensely significant contemporary composer in a way which is both new and authentic.”

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

Grégoire Maret - AmericanaCD / digitalGrégoire Maret harmonicaRomain Collin pianoMoog Taurus pump organ; additional effectsBill Frisell electric guitar, acoustic guitar; banjoClarence Penn drums Harmonica virtuoso Gregoire Maret and acclaimed pianist Romain Collin team up to paint an egalitarian vision of the American Dream, exploring the varied roots of American music alongside guitar visionary Bill Frisell. “Americana” represents an exciting collaboration between two prodigious musicians: harmonica great Gregoire Maret, and acclaimed pianist Romain Collin. Grégoire Maret is a phenomenon and a master musician. He is a virtuoso with a vivid imagination and a sublime way of giving shape to a melody. Collin, meanwhile, has been described by NPR as “a visionary composer, an extraordinary jazz pianist” and by the Boston Globe as being “among the leading lights of a new breed of players”. Upon meeting each other in New York, the two musicians bonded over a shared love of jazz, song and pure melody. Together they embarked on a project which would explore the musical depths of the American soul. They turned to the uniquely great Bill Frisell to help forge a connection between American songwriting and the high art of instrumental playing. In this musical world, vast soundscapes co-exist with epic stories. Born and raised in Switzerland, Maret has been a NYC resident for the past 20 years. "My mother is American, born in Harlem, and has bequeathed me the legacy of Afro-American culture. I see myself as a bridge between two cultures: European and Afro-American”. Maret has been a significant figure on the New York scene, playing alongside Pat Metheny and Herbie Hancock. “This new album is the result of personal cultural experiences.” Maret and Collin chose to call this project “Americana". They explain: “ ‘Americana’ is at the intersection of folk, country, blues, R&B, gospel and bluegrass. The essence of this project is to take an inclusive attitude to all of the roots of American music and culture." France native Collin has become an established presence in the US. Appreciated by the likes of Herbie Hancock and Wayne Shorter, Collin has evolved a distinctive aesthetic, integrating electronic sound design with lyrical piano improvisations. On guitars, the duo enlisted the services of one of the great creative minds of the instrument: Bill Frisell's singing, lyrical timbre on both the electric and acoustic guitar is unmistakable, always marked by his own personal metamorphoses of bluegrass, country and blues and by his profound knowledge of the philosophy of songwriting. Dummer Clarence Penn also makes a fine, incisive contribution. The Americana trio’s journey starts with a surprise: the composer of "Brothers In Arms" is not actually American at all. And yet Scottish-born Mark Knopfler proved with Dire Straits that his way of internalizing the myths of American history is not just skillful but also highly persuasive. Maret and Collin pare back his 1985 hit to its essence. It is simple, spacious and highly affecting. From his immense body of work, Bill Frisell has contributed two compositions, "Small Town" and "Rain, Rain": the first of the pair emerges as a bewitching folk song in miniature, with rustic-dry banjo and wistful mouth organ, and the second song hovers with a hymn-like poise over the melodic web of guitars, piano and harmonica. This ensemble also pays homage to one of the great songwriters, Jimmy Webb. His "Wichita Lineman" gains even more spatial depth in this slowed-down instrumental version, the soul of the railwayman almost sings in Maret's heart-rending improvisation. The group also honors Justin Vernon (alias Bon Iver), an Americana representative of the hipster generation, in "Re: Stacks". Here Maret gives encouragement to a broken heart for a new chapter in life, surrounded by a glistening array of textures sculpted by Frisell, and supported by Collin’s electronic loops and synth bass. Maret and Collin have also brought the essence of Americana in their own compositions: Romain Collin portrays the wine-growing region of California in "San Luis Obispo", a song from his 2015 ACT release Press Enter, beautifully revisited with Frisell and Maret stating the melody with total persuasiveness. Maret has succeeded in creating a slow 6/8 song named “Back Home”, which is as proud as it is heartfelt. A composition Clarence Penn underscores with his discreet brushwork and in which Maret soars to an almost exuberant triumph before bringing the track to a calm close. "The Sail", on the other hand, heralds a new departure: the piano alternates with the harmonica to create a sweeping dramaturgy, sometimes thoughtful, sometimes resolute. And in their joint final piece "Still", Maret and Collin have the opportunity to reflect and meditate on their American journey. “Wherever Gregoire Maret stands, whenever he lifts his instrument to his lips, the room and all its inhabitants are immediately transformed, we are transported with a sweet yet powerful intensity to a higher plane.” These are the words of high praise which Grégoire Maret once received from Cassandra Wilson, with whom he has worked for many years. This is also a particularly apt way to describe the soulful and life-affirming “Americana”.Credits: Recorded by Jeremy Loucas at Bunker Studios, NY Mixed by Jeremy Loucas at Sear Sound, NY Mastered by Alan Silverman at Arf Mastering Studios, NY Produced by Grégoire Maret; Romain Collin The Art in Music: Cover art by Anna Ley: Plus 1992 (2019) / ACT Art Collection

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

Grégoire Maret - Harp vs. HarpCD / digital Edmar Castaneda Llanera harp Grégoire Maret chromatic harmonica & chord harmonica Guests: Béla Fleck banjo Andrea Tierra vocals Harmonica player Grégoire Maret, born in Geneva in Switzerland and harpist Edmar Castañeda from Bogota in Colombia are two remarkable musicians. The strong musical affinity between them that comes across so vividly in “Harp vs. Harp” is no accident, not least because their backstories are so uncannily similar. Each of them came from his respective country as a callow teenager, and settled in New York. They have not merely survived, each individually, in the often unforgiving creative cauldron of New York’s musical life; each has established a reputation at the absolute top of the game, working on a regular, long-term basis with the best in the business.Each of them has rewritten the rulebook for his respective instrument, both of them unusual in jazz; Castañeda and Maret have re-defined what the harp and the harmonica are capable of. As Herbie Hancock has written of Grégoire Maret: “There's no one else out there that comes close on the harmonica and he rivals the best on any instrument.” Grégoire was a member of the Pat Metheny Group, receiving a Grammy for Best Contemporary Jazz Album, and has also played in the bands of Marcus Miller and Herbie Hancock. Maret has worked with Cassandra Wilson for most of a decade, and she notes that when he plays, audiences are invariably “transformed...transported with a sweet yet powerful intensity to a higher plane.” In the early stages of Edmar Castañeda’s career, Paquito D’Rivera was his mentor and his key advocate. D’Rivera says of the harpist: “He is an enormous talent,” with “the versatility and the enchanting charisma of a musician who has taken his harp out of the shadow to become one of the most original musicians from the Big Apple.” The harp Castañeda plays is the arpa llanera, and creates astonishing textural variety and rhythmic variety with it. The instrument with its 34 strings has a wide tonal range, and Castañeda brings huge energy to it. He has been involved in collaborations, for example with John Scofield, Gonzalo Rubalcaba, Marcus Miller and John Patitucci, Hamilton de Holanda, Ivan Lins… With this range of musical partners at the highest level, it is unsurprising that his attitude to collaboration is open and positive:”I like to take the risk on mixing harp with anything - usually it’s great what comes out!” Maret and Castañeda met for the first time at the Monte-Carlo Jazz Festival where they were both invited as guests on a project led by Marcus Miller. Grégoire Maret recalls the first time he heard the harpist: “I was mesmerized by what he did on the instrument. Musically it felt fresh and beautiful - it didn’t have the feel of novelty for its own sake at all. We knew that we had to do something together.” And Castañeda remembers thinking: “Wow! This guy is so passionate about his instrument.” So it was not long before Castañeda started to invite Maret to work on projects. They even went on one trip to Colombia, where Gregoire was a guest with my quartet in Teatro Mayor in Bogotá, and went up and stayed in the hills around Nocaima, where Castañeda had grown up. Noting that Maret is also from a mountainous region, Castañeda remarks: “We connected right away in the mountains.” By the time they decided to record, they had already done several performances as a duo, so the choices of repertoire fell into place easily. There are themes running through the album. Three of the eight tracks, “Blueserinho”, “Manha de Carnaval” and “Santa Morena” (with star guest Bela Fleck, another musician who has transformed his instrument), are inspired by Brazilian music. “I grew up with the blues and fell in love with Brazilian music,” says Maret. There are spiritual themes too: “Acts” with guest vocalist Andrea Tierra, and “No Fear” are a pair of tunes inspired respectively by strong religious faith and the need to conquer fear. There are two quiet, nostalgic numbers. Maret says of his composition “Hope”: “There was a lot of fire, I wanted to help us settle.” Another gentle song is Charlie Haden’s “Our Spanish Love Song”, with strong associations to both Gonzalo Rubalcaba and Pat Metheny, with whom, respectively, Castañeda and Maret have both worked a lot together. Castañeda describes the tango “Romance de Barrio” affectionately as “a song Andrea Tierra just loves to sing.” Castañeda says he thinks of Maret above all as a “Una persona segura”, and the total empathy, confidence, trust between the players is in evidence throughout this album. On every track, the ease with which tunes settle, the common sense of pacing, and that sixth sense of when and how to land and to end together are completely palpable. Two men from mountainous regions have made a remarkable ascent. Breathe in the clear air, take in the marvellous view, and just enjoy the irresistible sounds.Credits: Produced by the artists Recorded by Andy Taub in September 2018 at Brooklyn Recording Studios, New York Mixed by Jeremy Loucas in October 2018 at Sear Sound, New York Mastered by Alan Silverman in December 2018 at Arf Mastering Studios, New York Photos by Aline Muller