Living Ghosts (Live)

"A stroke of luck for modern jazz" - SÜDWESTPRESSE CD of the Month: PIANO NEWS and CHOC JAZZMAN (FR)

"Fast-paced and original, a new European jazz emerges here that doesn't rely too much on either domestic or US traditions, which makes it incredibly exciting." - STEREOPLAY

"The crashingly vital, interactive music of this group has arrived at the top of the world's most overpopulated jazz line-up at the moment." (U. Olshausen, FAZ) "... arguably the best jazz album of the last 25 years." (Stuart Nicholson, Jazzwise UK)

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

Landgren - Wollny - Danielsson - Haffner - 4 Wheel DriveCD / Vinyl / digital Nils Landgren trombone & vocals Michael Wollny piano Lars Danielsson bass & cello Wolfgang Haffner drums It scarcely feels necessary to mention the preeminent status of all four of these artists, because that is evident from hearing the music. When Nils Landgren brings such feeling to his own melody “Le chat sur le toit”, or when Michael Wollny dazzles with the blues-infused piano solo in “Lady Madonna”; when “Polygon” opens with a bass intro from Lars Danielsson, or when Wolfgang Haffner sets up the power groove to propel “4WD”, then it’s clear what’s happening: four leading figures in European jazz who know each other well and who have appreciated each other’s work for many years have now got together. True, their paths have crossed many times before, and in all kinds of configurations. The formidable duo of Landgren and Wollny comes to mind, for example, as does Haffner’s long-term role as an anchor in the Funk Unit, or Danielsson's vivid bass presence in Haffner's trio…but here for the very first time are the four friends as a quartet. They decided to record an album together at the Nilento Studio in Gothenburg: “4 Wheel Drive”. The title of the album reflects the equal role which each of the four musicians has had in setting the direction for the quartet. They take to the road together, both as superb soloists and as team players. In addition to one original composition from each of them, Landgren, Wollny, Danielsson and Haffner also decided that they would focus on four living creative forces from the recent history of music and interpret their tunes, Paul McCartney, Billy Joel, Phil Collins and Sting. "These tunes are timeless classics in their own right, but there was another idea behind the choices of the songs we’ve covered. They have strong associations with the instruments in our quartet," explains Wollny. So McCartney stands for bass, and for vocals. Singer Billy Joel is also a talented pianist, and Phil Collins first started off his career as the drummer in Genesis. The choices were also dictated by highly personal connections. Danielsson considers the Beatles musician as his favourite bass-player; McCartney is up there with Johann Sebastian Bach as the musician he reveres the most. Sting is an inescapable presence in Nils Landgren's repertoire, especially the trombonist’s interpretations of "Fragile". And finally Haffner, just like Phil Collins, feels completely at home as a drummer in both pop and jazz. The 4 Wheel Drive musicians have also used the classic songs they have chosen as starting-points for their own excursions; so McCartney’s “Maybe I’m Amazed” becomes a subtly-lit jazz ballad. Freed from everything extraneous, and transformed by Wollny’s prepared piano, Billy Joel’s “She’s Always A Woman” is a mysterious and enraptured love song. The musicians interpret Genesis’ song “That’s All” as a collage of instrumental sound. And for Sting’s song about letting go, “If You Love Somebody Set Them Free”, they find a fitting musical parallel: the freedom of jazz leads naturally to Landgren’s powerful trombone improvisation. The album is bookended with music from the fast lane: it opens with Wollny’s fast-paced showpiece “Polygon”, and closes with Danielsson’s “4WD”; he had Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit” in mind when he wrote this title track. 4 Wheel Drive as an ensemble is like a high-performance four-cylinder engine with all the gears meshing perfectly. And the fuel: jazz.Credits: Recorded October (9 - 11, 2018) , mixed and mastered by Lars Nilsson at Nilento studio, Gothenburg, Sweden Produced by Siggi Loch The Art in Music: Cover art by Peter Krüll

Wollny - Haffner - Landgren - Danielsson - 4 Wheel Drive IICD / Vinyl / digital Nils Landgren trombone & vocals Michael Wollny piano Lars Danielsson bass & cello Wolfgang Haffner drums Four is a winner: that was the unanimous opinion of critics and audiences alike on the first album from German-Swedish supergroup 4 Wheel Drive. The eponymous debut disc from this band of bandleaders went straight to the top spot as best-selling jazz album in Germany for2019. And the media didn’t hold back with their praise either: "Four first-league jazz musicians with pure joy of playing and a love of good pop music", said ZDF's “heute-journal” about this spirited and enjoyable group, which combines trombonist/singer Nils Landgren, pianist Michael Wollny, bassist/cellist Lars Danielsson and drummer Wolfgang Haffner. AllAboutJazz, a leading American jazz website, asked whether this album might be worth adding to a listener's collection, and answered the question succinctly:"4 sure".The same is manifestly true of the quartet's second studio album (there was also a live concert recording "4 Wheel Drive Live" in between, released in October 2019). In "4 Wheel Drive II", it is evident that things have shifted up a gear right from the start, with the rocky, pulsating opening track "Chapter II", straight from Wollny's compositional workbench. Landgren likes to let his trombone roar like a sports car engine. In similarly dynamic vein are pieces like Danielsson's final track of the album "The Wheelers", which, thanks to Haffner's nimble brushwork, makes you think you're on a high-speed train, or indeed Wollny's powerfully swinging "Spring Dance". Compared to the first album, there has been another change, an increase in the proportion of original compositions written by all of the participants, as Lars Danielsson, who has contributed a sensitive, poppy ballad to the new album "Just Another Hour", remarks. Interpretations of worldwide hit songs were a factor behind the huge success of the debut album, but the ratio to original compositions here is getting closer to 50:50. That said, the fuel powering 4 Wheel Drive has remained the same: this band is all about creating music from deep within, and with like-minded people whom you can absolutely and implicitly trust to be in the driving seat. "It just flows," enthuses drummer Haffner, "we're a group of close friends with nothing we need to prove, we can just go for it. I've had so many magic moments with this band, it really is incredible!"4 Wheel Drive was officially born at the end of 2017, at a special winter concert of the Jazz Baltica Festival, and Nils Landgren has described its entire history as having been blessed by "mutual respect and mutual love.". In the new album "4 Wheel Drive II", listeners are treated to several new moments of pure magic, continuing 4 Wheel drive’s illustrious story. For example, their new instrumental version of the Simon & Garfunkel classic "Sound of Silence", has something mysteriously Nordic about it. Or their newly-cast version of the surprisingly infrequently covered Genesis ballad "Hold On My Heart" putting it into a jazz context. If there's anyone who can sing a Phil Collins number without it being embarrassing, it's Nils Landgren. That idea also applies to Elton John's "Your Song" or Paul Simon's "Still Crazy After All These Years". The courage to approach pop tunes that have become so ingrained in many people's minds from a completely different perspective pays off in full. Because within 4 Wheel Drive are four originals at work, each of whom can be recognised from the very first note they play or sing.Michael Wollny doesn't see the playing of popular hits as a burden in any way, but rather as a freeing-up. "Songs that are so well-known give you the opportunity to be completely open to the moment," says the pianist. "In this band, the song selection allows us great freedom. It's like our concerts, where anything can happen. Drummer Haffner agrees: "There's nothing wrong with interpreting a great song in your own way. If you do it with deep conviction, you are always going to connect with people." Credits: Produced by Andreas Brandis with the artists Recorded by Joar Hallgren and Michael Dahlvid at Nilento Studio, Gothenburg, April 17 - 19, 2023 Additional recording by Lars Nilsson at Nilento Studio, June 2, 2023 Mixed and mastered by Arne Schumann The Art in Music: Cover art by Peter Krüll

Haffner - Wollny - Landgren - Danielsson - 4 Wheel Drive LiveCD / Vinyl / digital Nils Landgren trombone & vocals Michael Wollny piano Lars Danielsson bass & cello Wolfgang Haffner drums "Four top-league jazz musicians who just enjoy playing and who love good pop music," was how ZDF Heute Journal (German national TV news) introduced a feature about 4 Wheel Drive. “A jazz Olympics four," wrote the Neue Zürcher Zeitung. The group’s studio album spent four months at the top of the official German jazz charts, and now a new live album is being released. Nils Landgren, Michael Wollny, Wolfgang Haffner and Lars Danielsson – any one of these four with his own band could have filled a concert hall such as the Prinzregententheater in Munich, the Alte Oper in Frankfurt or the Philharmonie in Berlin as part of an ACT JazzNights tour organized by Karsten Jahnke. So the combination of the four into a supergroup raised the kind of eager expectations that such encounters do not always fulfil, because great live performance is anything but a theoretical strategy game. Essentially, nothing is proven until it has actually happened in practice. And the extent to which this group really did come into its own in the concert hall can now be heard on "4 Wheel Drive Live", a recording of the last concert of the group’s eleven tour dates, on 19 April 2019, in front of a packed house at the Theaterhaus in Stuttgart. Thomas Staiber of the Stuttgarter Zeitung was there and wrote: "In Stuttgart the supergroup exceeded all expectations. It was because the four were able to function so solidly with one another and to react with such instinctive understanding, that each of them had all the freedom he needed to stretch out fully as an improviser. [...] This musical four-cylinder engine with its four-wheel drive negotiated the rugged terrain of jazz and was equally at home in enjoyable pop music. They did both sensationally, and unleashed storms of genuine enthusiasm." "The band just got better and better as it toured," says producer Siggi Loch, explaining the background to the release of this live CD as a follow-up to the original studio album. The original compositions plus cover versions of songs by Sting and Phil Collins took on a whole new identity on stage. As Oliver Hochkeppel from the Süddeutsche Zeitung stated enthusiastically after the Munich concert: "In the live context, the songs from their album gave these top-calibre jazz musicians just the right blank canvas to paint stunning pictures. […] And to witness how each musician picks up ideas from the others in a split second and creates new ones is to reach an understanding of why music is the most beautiful of all languages. Come to a concert like this feeling tired, and you will be enlivened by episodes when ferocity and sheer pace and power take over. And the special flair of these four is really evident in the rests, in the thoughts that are quietly interspersed, in filigree pianissimo tones and the gentlest of contact with the instruments." When all of this coalesces, one experiences one of those very special concert evenings. And thanks to the live recording now issued as "4 Wheel Drive Live" this fleeting and precious moment will not be forgotten.Credits: Recorded live in concert at Theaterhaus Jazztage Stuttgart by Adrian von Ripka, April 19, 2019 Mixed and mastered by Adrian von Ripka at Bauer Studios Ludwigsburg, Germany Produced by the artists Executive Producer: Siggi Loch

The ultimate compilation "celebrates highlights from 15 years of high-quality label history from ACT." AUDIOPHILE HIGHLIGHT - STEREO

Michael Wollny, Eva Kruse, and Eric Schaefer redefine German jazz with a mix of tension, humor, and exceptional artistry.

"Certain Beauty" is simply a masterpiece. Jazz CD of the Year 2006 - "CHOC de l'année 2006," JAZZMAN, F.

Michael Wollny - Michael Wollny'sWunderkammerCD / digital Michael Wollny piano, celesta, harpsichord, harmonium, fender rhodes Tamar Halperin harpsichord, celesta Michael Wollny is a musical adventurer, someone who always seeks out new sounds and sends his audience on exciting journeys of sonic discovery. Consequently, the critical response to his music has been appropriately enthusiastic. In 2009 he won both the jury and the audience prizes of the prestigious inaugural BMW Jazz Award in Munich, with his trio [em]. The industry’s critics have also been raving about his music for years, whether solo or performing with other musicians. The French publication Jazz Magazine described Wollny as, “the spearhead of a new generation of European jazz musicians”; Fono Forum described his “magical sounds”, and Jazzthing magazine wrote: “Piano music which has probably never been heard before in this form.” It is as if the critics all already knew Wollny’s lastest CD, Wunderkammer. Together with harpsichordist Tamar Halperin, and producer Guy Sternberg, Wollny again searches for that which hasn’t been heard before. This CD is a sound trip into the wonderful worlds which are created when all the historic and modern keyboard instruments of an entire museum are combined. Keyboard instruments which for a long time didn’t appear to go hand in hand: here you have it all on one CD. Harpsichord, celesta, harmonium, rhodes piano, concert grand: a kaleidoscope of palpable possibilities - the hard, “quill” sound of the harpsichord, the heavenly sound of the ringing celesta and the warm, sacral musical air of the harmonium sit beautifully next to the captivating, oscillating, metal reed sound of a Rhodes E piano and the dependable brilliance of a concert grand. The title Wunderkammer (“chamber of curiosities”) is therefore spot on. These Wunderkammer were the secret rooms in castles and monasteries in which rulers and bishops stored all their curious treasures in Late Renaissance and Baroque times. These may have included anything from a narwhal’s tusk to porcelain from Eastern Asia, obscure gaming machines, globes and surgical instruments – many bizarre and wonderful things that would amaze onlookers. It is these chambers of curiosities which fascinate Michael Wollny; “They should also always be a miniature portrayal of the world, a microcosm. Many moments come together to form the whole.” Just like on this CD; the music of the twelve tracks unfolds itself to be both exotic and beautiful. In the first piece, for example, different key tones approach each other from sparse motifs – it sounds as if there is a ticking clock over which time strides leisurely through different moods. In other pieces, nervous sounds whirr over hard harpsichord tones, soft rhythms pulsate under clanging chords, swirling tremolos diffuse under thunderous bass and cyclical motifs race manically along whilst heavy strokes on the piano and jazzy phrases drive the piece forward, captivating the ear whilst the continually changing melodies get caught up in each other in a enchanting rhythmic maelstrom. In contrast, there are mild piano chords which sound so ostensibly ‘normal’ that they have something almost exotic about them in-between the other pieces. This music possesses a quality which really sharpens the perception: the sounds are unsettling, hypnotic, minimalistic, disquieting, dazzling, and certainly not of the everyday. And that is how they are meant – this can in part be deduced from the titles. The tracks entitled “Kabinett” are simply “rooms in which different things happen,” says Wollny. “Chur” is a homage to the writer Thomas Bernhard and a place in the novel “Der Untergeher”, which tells the story of the piano virtuoso Glenn Gould. “Mesmer” is dedicated to Franz Anton Mesmer, a doctor and pioneer of hypnosis – similar mesmeric qualities can clearly be heard in the music. “Sagée” is inspired by Emilie Sagée, a teacher and famous doppelgänger figure of the 19th century. Witnesses reported seeing this person in two places at the same time whereby the doppelgänger imitated the movements of the other exactly. In this piece the harpsichord imitates the melody of the piano and is, so to speak, the shadow of the piano. This CD is a sensual and intellectual adventure, and it is most certainly Wollny was fascinated by recording a CD which was only possible as a studio production – not least because he can be personally heard playing simultaneously on different channels. The result is a Wunderkammer which, after a few minutes of becoming accustomed to the sounds, offers a highly captivating portrayal of the acoustic worlds of the present and the past. It is also a voyage to the inner worlds of the music that the listener, guided on in amazement, can explore from one association to the next.Credits: All music composed by Michael WollnyProduced by Guy SternbergExecutive Producer: Siegfried Loch Recorded in May 2009 by Guy Sternberg at FWL Studios, Leipzig Mixed in May/June 2009 by Guy Sternberg at LowSwing Studio, Berlin Mastered in July 2009 by Klaus Scheuermann at 4Ohm, Munich

Michael Wollny - The Wollny AlphabetbookMichael Wollny is considered one of the most important European jazz musicians of his generation. The "consummate piano master" according to the FAZ also has a lot to say, as he proves in the first book published about him. A list of five terms was compiled for each of the 26 letters of the German alphabet, on which Michael Wollny commented in detail. As in 2018 with the "Landgren Alphabet", photographer Oliver Krato also sensitively accompanied this encounter with his camera. In the Wollny Alphabet, the reader not only learns a lot about Michael Wollny as a person, but also about the seemingly inexhaustible sources of his inspiration.

Heinz Sauer tenor saxophoneMichael Wollny piano "The most important tenor saxophonist in German jazz history". (FAZ) "A duo without equal". (Der Tagesspiegel)"What a pair!" (Die Zeit) Credits:Produced by Siggi Loch Live recording by Walter Quintus in 2. September 2012 in Stadtkirche Darmstadt Mixed and mastered by Walter Quintus 

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

Various Artists - Duo Art: Creating MagicCD / digitalDuo Art – it is the most reduced form of making music together, while no less rewarding. When it succeeds it is the smallest big-band in the world. Two people all alone, in harmony and competition. Complementing each other, scrutinising, and telling each other their opinion – a fascinating ear-to-ear dialogue. Spontaneous and intense, call and response – jazz in its purest form. A musical tight-rope act without a safety net. Ideally, wonderful art results. The duet can be found all through the history of jazz. The oeuvre of every great jazz musician simply cannot be without its duet recording. The duet has also always been a source of fascination for ACT: "How will two musicians react to one another? Will they find a common ground and will it lead them to new heights?" To this day, ACT continues to seek new answers to these questions, and it dares to experiment with the most diverse of musician constellations. "Creating Magic" is a presentation of more than 20 years of ACT Duo Art and the musical trailer for the new ACT Duo Art series that documents magical dialogues. As early as in the initial ACT program in 1992, Jasper van‘t Hof, Bob Malach and Wayne Krantz joined forces in various duos. The Swedish pianist Jan Johansson is considered a pioneer of Scandinavian jazz. With "Jazz på svenska" (Jazz in Swedish) he paved jazz a road into folk music, significantly in a duet with Georg Riedel on the bass. Siggi Loch experienced the two musicians in 1964 in Hamburg at the NDR Jazzworkshop, and 30 years later he wrote further pages in the story of "Swedish Folk - Modern" together with Nils Landgren and Esbjörn Svensson. Together with the Polish piano high-flyer Leszek Możdżer, Swedish master bassist Lars Danielsson also achieves a harmonious symbiosis on "Pasodoble" that is rare to behold. Together they attain an unheard-of level of interaction and esprit. Iiro Rantala and Michael Wollny created an ethereal musical moment in their dialogue on two grand pianos on "Jazz at the Berlin Philharmonic" in December 2012: "Tears For Esbjörn" is a poignant homage to the piano visionary Esbjörn Svensson, who died in 2008. Wollny can also be heard in duet on "Creating Magic": the unreleased "Polygon", recorded at Schloss Elmau, with the Norwegian saxophone shooting star Marius Neset, is the first ever meeting of these two, perhaps most important young European jazz musicians of our time, and it shows in no uncertain terms that the future is bright. The sampler ends with a track that has, in its own tragic way, gained a place in jazz history: "You Stole My Heart" is the last recording that Eddie Harris made, briefly before his passing. After the concert recordings with the WDR Big Band, which can also be heard on "The Last Concert", he asked pianist Gil Goldstein to stay for an extra night session. One last time he exposed his soul in the song he dedicated to his wife. Back in Los Angeles he was hospitalised and died on 5 November 1996.Credits: Compilation produced by Siggi Loch and mastered by Klaus Scheuermann The Art in Music: Cover art (Detail) by Philip Taaffe / ACT Art Collection

Nils Landgren - Eternal BeautyCD / Vinyl / digital Nils Landgren trombone & vocals Michael Wollny piano Johan Norberg guitars Lars Danielsson upright bass & cello on 03 Rasmus Kihlberg drums Lisa Nilsson vocals on For Your Love Not only the trombonist Nils Landgren has built up an enormous fan base over the decades – with his Funk Unit, with big bands and alongside the greats of jazz music – so has the vocalist Nils Landgren. His clear, throaty and yet mellow voice is very distinctive, and perfect for ballads. Apart from on his Christmas anthology "Christmas With My friends," it could also be admired on "The Moon, The Stars And You" that came out two years ago. The moonstruck nature of jazz was the theme on that record, and both the choice of songs and the list of guests, from Joe Sample and Steve Gadd to Joao Bosco and Richard Galliano, were colourful. What is more, Landgren put together a rhythm section here that understood each other intuitively. Alongside his companion of many years Lars Danielsson on the bass and cello, and the Viktoria Tolstoy drummer Rasmus Kihlberg, he also added Michael Wollny as a consummate sensitive piano accompanist to the mix. "Never change a winning team" they say, and so it was that for his new vocal and ballad project, Landgren once again reverted to this select band of brothers – with the further addition of guitarist Johan Norberg, with whom Landgren has performed on and off for decades. "It is my dream team, and one that I hope will play together for a long time," says Landgren of this group. It is also ideal for the approach that Landgren pursued on "Eternal Beauty": "I wanted to make a really homogenous record – just us playing the simple and beautiful melodies simply and beautifully." The album title indicates the direction that the songs chosen by Landgren, Wollny, Norberg and producer Siggi Loch took: "The music and lyrics had to fit us, and they had to be songs that are eternal for me, personally." It is a criterion that most of the songs on "Eternal Beauty" will certainly also meet for many listeners, from George Harrison's "Isn't It A Pity" to Mr. Mister's "Broken Wings" on through to "We don't Need Another Hero", made popular by Tina Turner. And not just the hits adapted from pop, no, also intelligent jazz ballads the likes of "One More Angel" from the jazz bassist John Patitucci and "Another Kind Of Blue" by the New York-based German guitarist Torsten de Winkel. Michael Wollny wrote the title track together with Eva Svensson, Esbjörn Svensson's widow. So it is no coincidence that "Eternal Beauty" is also an homage to Esbjörn, without that being said explicitly anywhere on the record," says Landgren. "For me, Esbjörn is one of the greatest musicians of our age. And although he isn't around anymore, we still kind of communicate. I think of him a lot, and fortunately I'm really close to Eva and the kids. Our families are very close. That's why I wanted to record some numbers from him to. Johan's track "One Frozen Moment" also alludes to the moment when we heard of his passing." It only makes sense that the album ends with Svensson's "Love Is Real," the song that will without the shadow of a doubt be one of the first and most important when and if a Great European Songbook is ever compiled. But one thing is important to Landgren: "Even if our thoughts went out to Esbjörn, Eternal Beauty is anything but a gloomy album. He wouldn't want that either. All the lyrics revolve around love and relationships, but they aren't one-dimensional. Like James Taylor's "Don't Let Me Be Alone Tonight," which I played once in Salzau with Michael Brecker, Pat Metheny and Esbjörn. I love that song. And the age-old folk number Green Fields. You can even interpret that as an environmental song if you are that way inclined." So, much is left up to this talented team that Landgren trusts without reservation: "We did have an idea of how we could play each of the songs, but we didn't prescribe much and we arranged them very sparingly, because with these guys the musical concept arises when we meet. When we start to play, the magic begins." Credits: Produced by Siggi Loch with Nils Landgren & Johan Norberg Strings on * arranged and performed by Örjan Högberg Recorded by Arne Schumann, August 26 – 28, 2013 at Hansa Studios Berlin Additional recordings by Johan Norberg at Krubaston Studio Stockholm Mixed by Arne Schumann and mastered by Klaus Scheuermann Coverphoto by Siggi Loch, Biennale de Venezia, „British Magic“

Various Artists - Fahrt ins Blaue Nguyên Lê &Paolo Fresu, Lars Danielsson feat. Jan Bang, Wolfgang Haffner, Bugge Wesseltoft, Jacob Karlzon 3, e.s.t. Esbjörn Svensson Trio, Cæcilie Norby, Oddjob, Frank Woeste, Viktoria Tolstoy feat. Nils Landgren, Ida Sand feat. Jan Lundgren, Nils Landgren Funk Unit, McJazz [directed by Annette Humpe & Anselm Kluge], Roberto Di Gioia's Marsmobil feat. Johannes Enders, Tonbruket, Michael Wollny Trio On Fahrt ins Blaue, atmospheric soundscapes pass by: organic, dynamic, virtuosic, and smooth. The compilation floats effortlessly between electronic textures and acoustic jazz. The journey begins. Time seems to stand still at first: A breeze from Sardinia drifts through a mysterious Asian world (“Lacrima Christi”). The sound cosmos of trumpeter Paolo Fresu and guitarist Nguyên Lê is hypnotic and directionless. A groove sets in — a simple piano melody floats on the surface (“Ironside”): chill-out jazz with blue notes by the master of atmosphere, Lars Danielsson. The Fahrt ins Blaue continues with “Germany’s coolest drummer” (ARD ttt), Wolfgang Haffner, and his drum & bass-inspired ambient jazz (“Shapes”). Pianist and sound tinkerer Bugge Wesseltoft offers insight into his “New Conception of Jazz” (“Existence”). Things become weightless with Jacob Karlzon’s electro-acoustic piano trio jazz (“Bubbles”). The Esbjörn Svensson Trio takes us on a summery, joyful joyride with their virtuoso fun-hit “Spam-Boo-Limbo.” Things take a quirky turn when Clint Eastwood rides across the soundscape in “Ecstasy of Gold”, from the Western classic The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, in a jazzed-up version by Swedish jazz cowboys Oddjob. That feeling of cool summer rain on your skin is evoked by Ida Sand with her haunting cover of the Eurythmics’ “Here Comes The Rain Again.” And Nils Landgren’s Funk Unit meets us with a funked-out, laid-back take on an ABBA classic (“Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!”). We make a relaxed stop with Annette Humpe’s McJazz. With charm and a wink, she serves up “Coffee & Tea.” Nu jazz, minimal electro, and lounge pop intertwine in a unique blend crafted by keyboardist and multi-instrumentalist Roberto Di Gioia. On “Yelloworange,” he’s joined by saxophonist Johannes Enders. In a moving and elegiac homage, Dan Berglund’s Tonbruket remembers the late Esbjörn Svensson — the shining star of European jazz who passed away in 2008 — with “Song For E,” before the Fahrt ins Blaue ends with the Michael Wollny Trio: “Questions In A World Of Blue.”Credits:Compilation produced by Marco Ostrowski Mastered by Klaus Scheuermann

Michael Wollny Trio - GhostsCD / Vinyl / digital Michael Wollny piano Tim Lefebvre bass Eric Schaefer drums “All the songs are living ghosts and long for a living voice“ Brendan Kennelly "As an improviser, you often find that it‘s not the compositions themselves you‘re playing, but your own memories of them. And as these memories come back to you in the moment, they assert their continuing existence in the here and now," says pianist/composer Michael Wollny. In other words, songs are like ghosts. Wollny‘s new album "Ghosts" is a gathering of some of the ghosts that regularly haunt him. Typically for Wollny, they range from classics like Franz Schubert's "Erlkönig" to jazz standards, film music, songs with a certain fragility by Nick Cave, say, or the band Timber Timbre, and also include his own darkly evocative original compositions. In addition to Michael Wollny‘s leanings towards scary fantasy, the idea of "hauntology" is an important one for him. This term, which has been a looming presence in debates about pop music for some time, awakens memories of a distant past: forgotten, ghostly and spectral sounds. Wollny: "This perspective, these sounds and not least the term itself have preoccupied me in the past few months – and those reflections have led to the idea of producing a piano trio album dealing with the subject." A ghost album, then, that ventures into the depths of conscious and unconscious memory, sifts through stories originating in the past and which cast shadows on the present. This is a story of the friendly ghosts which surround us...but also of some evil spirits which we thought would never return. The line-up to be heard on "Ghosts" is a direct follow-up from "Weltentraum", an album which now clearly stands as a cornerstone in Wollny's discography, since it established his reputation as an artist "who can turn every conceivable piece of music into an experience to take your breath away" (Die Zeit). American bassist Tim Lefebvre‘s very particular sound and vibe are to be heard on albums by David Bowie, Wayne Krantz and Elvis Costello. Wollny‘s most recent adventure alongside him was the internationally acclaimed project "XXXX". Wollny says: "When you work with Tim, you're not just working with one of the world's top bass players - Tim always has a foot in the world of sound processing, and is constantly expanding his electronic tool-kit. In addition to that, he creates phenomenal clarity in music and in overall sound, which has an unbelievable effect: it gives a shape and an organisation to the music without ever restricting you." Wollny has been playing with drummer Eric Schaefer for almost 20 years. Like Lefebvre, he is also a complete original, a musician with an almost orchestral approach to sound, an unmistakable sense of groove and impressive individuality. "The three of us are aligned in a special , inexplicable way. It‘s hard to describe but the effect is massive," says Wollny. "Last but not least, we are connected by the long time we have spent together. As a trio we have a specific sound, and we are now developing that in a wholly new direction." On "Ghosts", the trio has created a sound in the specific tradition of "Southern Gothic": deep, earthy, full of vibrating, rattling low-tuned strings and drumheads, evoking memories of clapped-out guitar amps, distorted cones of speakers cones. The atmosphere here is oppressively hot, the air heavy with dust. Before "Ghosts" was actually recorded, another trio - Michael Wollny and the two co-producers Andreas Brandis and Guy Sternberg- convened. Brandis, who had already been heavily involved in the concept of "XXXX", brought to the table the concept of an album of songs, with the right people involved. Sternberg - he, as sound engineer, and Wollny had created the sound world of "Wunderkammer", which was to serve as the point of departure for this new album. Wollny says: "Even before the setlist for the album was fixed, I had a very clear sound in mind, which we discussed extensively with Guy and Andreas beforehand." The trio inhabits an acoustic space where nothing is superfluous or goes to waste: the long-dying resonance from a cymbal, drum or plucked string, or a sound from a reverberant surface, all are somehow there in the air. And sometimes all that remains is an acoustic or an electronic echo, a sound that hovers and acquires its own mysterious and spectral existence. All the tracks on the album have one thing in common: each is a snapshot in the life of an individual song. Wollny: "Especially in jazz, there is never one definitive version of a piece. The standards repertoire always haunts you in the best sense of the word, these songs are never finished, they always resurface." And so, when it comes to classics such as "I Loves You Porgy" and "In a Sentimental Mood", Wollny, Lefebvre and Schaefer‘s primary point of reference is not the original compositions, but versions by Nina Simone and John Coltrane / Duke Ellington. And from a time before jazz standards, there are the spirits that inhabit folk songs and which reappear whenever these songs are sung. As, for example, in the traditional Irish folk song "She Moved Through the Fair", which is almost a prototype for the idea that ghost stories are to a large extent also love stories. As is also the case for "Willow's Song" - a seductive and dangerous love song from the legendary soundtrack for the cinema thriller "Wicker Man", a classic of the Nordic horror genre, as strange as it is frightening. Also related to "grand guignol" and nature: a startlingly vivid arrangement of Franz Schubert's "Erlkönig". In addition, in reference to the sultry "Southern Gothic": "Hand of God" by Nick Cave & Warren Ellis, audibly dedicated to Wollny's great mentor, whom he describes as the "Hand of God", Joachim Kühn. And furthermore, "Beat the drum slowly" by the band Timber Timbre, a perennial favourite of Wollny's, and "Ghosts" by David Sylvian - perhaps the clearest representation of the themes that characterise "Ghosts": here we find that melodies and sounds can haunt memories that stay either hidden or repressed, and in a way that is at the same time seductive, touching, mysterious and profound. Two original compositions by Wollny find their place naturally in this cleverly selected programme, which is as heterogeneous as it is coherent: first is Wollny's eponymous contribution to "Hauntology", for him "a ‘song without words‘ which comes from another, past or strange, parallel pop world" and then "Monsters never breathe" with its melody that stretches into infinity and could only ever be sung if it were possible to sing without needing to pause for breath. "All the songs are living ghosts and long for a living voice" wrote the Irish poet Brendan Kennelly (1936 - 2021) in one of his most famous poems. For Michael Wollny, this line is a cryptic and yet profound insight. It adds an eerie beauty and serves as a motto for his fascination for the magic of songs which this recording represents. When we talk about ghosts, we look into what seems to be the past, and bring back memories from it into our lives. We as listeners can all believe in the "Ghosts" that the Michael Wollny Trio hear. Because we can all hear them and recognise them.Credits: Recorded by Guy Sternberg at Clouds Hill Studio Hamburg, June 17 & 18, 2022 Assistant: Sebastian Muxfeldt Mixed and sound design by Guy Sternberg Additional sound processing & synths by Tim Lefebvre Mastered by Darius van Helfteren Produced by Michael Wollny Co-producers: Guy Sternberg and Andreas Brandis

"Perhaps a groundbreaking project" - (SÜDDEUTSCHE ZEITUNG)

Christian Brückner & Michael Wollny - Heinrich Heine: TraumbilderCD / Vinyl / digital Michael Wollny Klavier Christian Brückner Sprecher „Ich habe sie begriffen, weil ich gescheit und weil ich ein guter Tambour bin!“ Heinrich Heine aus „Doktrin“ Neue Gedichte / Zeitgedichte, Nr. 1 Lyrik & freie Improvisation: Heinrich Heine bereitet die Bühne, setzt den Ton - der entlaufene Romantiker, bekannt für seine elegante Leichtigkeit und den zeit- und gesellschaftskritischen Scharfsinn in seinen Gedichten. Seinen Worten wohnt Musik inne. Deshalb gehört er zu den meist-vertonten deutschen Lyrikern. Nun kosten Christian Brückner und Michael Wollny die fruchtbare Beziehung von Text und Musik aus. Beides führende Künstler in ihrem Metier. Brückner, be-kannt als Synchronstimme von Robert De Niro und aus unzähligen Hörbüchern und Filmen, gilt gegenwärtig als erfolgreichster Sprecher Deutschlands. Und Wollny, „der vielseitigste und innovativste deut-sche Jazzpianist seiner Generation“ (Der Tagesspiegel), schafft es wie wenige andere, aus den verschiedensten Einflüssen heraus immer wieder neue, atemberaubende musikalische Erlebnisse zu kreieren.Die Verbindung aus Lyrik und Jazz hat eine lange Geschichte: Anfang der 1960er Jahre wurde sie in Deutschland populär, nachdem zuvor Autoren der US-amerikanischen Beat-Generation, wie Jack Kerouac, diese Welle ausgelöst hatten. Jazzpapst Joachim-Ernst Berendt brachte diese Gattungsmelange in den Hörfunk des SWR und etablierte unter dem Titel „Lyrik & Jazz“ auch eine ganze Schalplattenserie für das Label Philips in Kooperation mit dem legendären Magazin „twen“. Eine Produktion stach dabei besonders heraus und ist bis heute als CD und digital erfolgreich: Heinrich Heine. Siggi Loch, der damals die Serie betreute, machte Berendt den Vorschlag, diese Ausgabe von „Lyrik & Jazz“ Iive im Studio mit Sprechern und Musikern aufzunehmen. Die Protagonisten der Aufnahme aus dem Jahr 1964 waren der „König der Vorleser“ Gert Westphal, sowie der Jazz-Gitarrist Attila Zoller und weitere hochkarätige Musiker wie Emil Mangelsdorff oder Peter Trunk. „Dieses Hörbuch ist eine Kostbarkeit“, befand seinerzeit „Die Welt“.Nun, 57 Jahre nach der Erstaufnahme, ist Loch erneut und zusammen mit Christian Brückner und Michael Wollny ins Studio gegangen, um eine zeitgenössische Interpretation dieser Idee zu realisieren. Brück-ner und Wollny erweisen sich als perfektes Paar, um Heine neu er-klingen zu lassen. Die beiden kennen sich schon lange und standen schon mehrfach gemeinsam auf der Bühne - vor allem für Vertonungen von Texten des Wort- und Collagen-Künstlers Ror Wolf, zusam-men mit Saxofonist Heinz Sauer oder Wollnys aktuellem Trio. Aber auch mit Texten aus dem Jazz-Erzählband „But beautiful“ von Geoff Dyer. Die Aufnahmen für „Heinrich Heine: Traumbilder“ profitieren sehr von der aus vielen Auftritten entstandenen Vertrautheit und Chemie zwischen Brückner und Wollny. Im Studio entstanden 24 musikalische Kurzgeschichten, voller Witz, Ironie, Charme und Eindringlichkeit, genau wie auf der Bühne: Als echte Improvisationen. Wollny vertont Brückners Vortrag frei und aus dem Moment heraus, dieser reagiert wiederum so spontan wie virtuos in Ton, Stimmung und Charakter. Bei vier Stücken bilden, auf Impuls von Produzent Siggi Loch, verschiedene Fragmente aus bereits existierenden Stücken den musikalischen Rahmen für die folgende Improvisation: Wollnys „Polygon“ (auf „Ich habe gerochen alle Gerüche“) und „Der Wanderer“ (auf „Ich hab im Traum geweinet“), sowie die Volkslieder „Die Loreley“ (nach dem gleichnamigen Heine-Gedicht) „Es sungen drei Engel“ (auf „Im traurigen Monat November war’s“). Das Resultat der Zu-sammenarbeit ist eine Verbindung aus Musik und Wort, die einen immer wieder aufhorchen, schmunzeln, nachdenken und bei jedem Hören neue Nuancen entdecken lässt. Ein echtes, einmaliges Hörerlebnis eben.Credits:Produced by Siggi Loch

Heinz Sauer tenor saxophone Michael Wollny piano (on 1/7/9/10/11/13/16), fender rhodes (#04) Joachim Kühn piano (on 2/3/5/6/8/12/14/15)   "Heinz Sauer's playing is of incomparable density, wisdom, vitality, beauty and unpredictability. A giant." (FAZ)Credits: Recorded on 22nd - 24th August and mastered on 01 October by Adrian von Ripka at Bauer Studios Ludwigsburg, 2009 Produced by Siegfried Loch

Michael Wollny - Michael Wollny Trio in concert: KlangspurenCD / DVD / digital Michael Wollny piano Christian Weber bass Eric Schaefer drums Live concerts by the Michael Wollny Trio are always experiences to be treasured. These three ideally matched musicians never fail to find fascinating new directions for the music, or to take the listener by surprise. At the end of October 2015, when Wollny, Weber und Schaefer were setting off on a Karsten Jahnke JazzNights tour, taking in fourteen German cities, the respected German broadsheet the Süddeutsche Zeitung gleefully quipped: “Wollny's off on tour. Just get yourselves there. Awesome!” These hopes and expectations were duly fulfilled. After the tour was over, the critic of the same newspaper wrote: “Wollny has the audience in the palm of his hand, he's testing the boundaries of virtuosity, you start wishing that the buzz of the concert will never end.” These heartfelt words will have resonated with more than 10,000 people who attended the concerts of this much-lauded tour. “Klangspuren” captures the sight and the sound of two quite exceptional performances by Wollny's new trio. This set also serves to demonstrate the leaps and bounds by which the group has progressed artistically in the past two years. The DVD uses the live video/audio feed from WDR of a concert during the 35. Leverkusener Jazztage, and the programme consisted of the music from “Weltentraum. ”The music is imbued with the spirit romanticism, but there is a fully conscious desire to do something far more ambitious and complex, which is to allow very diverse yet internally coherent and complementary musical materials to work their way through. We encounter Alban Berg and Paul Hindemith. There are quotes from Gustav Mahler, and also a highly imaginative re-hearing of the 14th century “ars nova” innovator Guillaume de Machaut. These composers are all in effect “guests” or “sitters-in” with the trio, and their tunes are so completely absorbed and internalized, they become part of the trio's musical DNA. The German nationwide flagship news program “ZDF heute journal” simply hailed “Weltentraum” as “a masterpiece.” This was album which put the seal on Wollny's international breakthrough. It was named Album of the Year in 2014 by both Jazzwise in the UK and Jazzthing in Germany. In France it led to Wollny being crowned as European Jazz Musician of the Year by the Académie du Jazz. In Germany it didn't just pick up three ECHO Jazz Awards, it even made its way into the Top 50 of the official pop charts. There is astonishing internal coherence in the trio. The concert in Leverkusen was one of the very first in the new format with Christian Weber, and yet the bassist sounds as if he's been around in the band for ever. On the other hand. the trio, recorded live [eleven months later] on the 13th November 2015 is at the peak of its powers. This was the final concert and the culmination of the barnstorming “Nachtfahrten” JazzNights Tour. The emphasis here is on the band's lyrical side and their wonderful capacity to float a ballad. The tunes inspired by the night come across in a refined and condensed form, and vivid pictures emerge in the imagination. It is as if Wollny is directing a film, and has selected not just his own compositions, but also selected works by other people with whom he feels a particularly strong and close affinity. There is film music from the David Lynch series “Twin Peaks, ” but also a composition by Wollny's teacher from an early phase of his development Chris Beier, and once again Guillaume de Machaut. The trio were playing for a sold out Laeiszhalle in Hamburg, and reached an unprecedented level of intensity, raising their game to completely new levels. The Hamburger Albumblatt found the right superlatives to describe this concert: “Michael Wollny has definitively arrived as a musician of world class.” These two snapshots of the Michael Wollny Trio in live situations show the trio's infinite capacity to “morph in mood and dart this way and that” (Financial Times), to cross styles and epochs, to play at very different levels of intensity. This is timeless music rooted in the here and now. Credits: CD: the final concert of the Karsten Jahnke Jazznights tour at Laeiszhalle Hamburg, 13.11.2015 Sound engineer: Jan Ugand Recorded by Alex Bruch and Moncef Dellandrea (Profi Musik Lüneburg) Edited, mixed and mastered by Klaus Scheuermann Curator and Executive Producer: Siggi Loch DVD: filmed and recorded live at Forum Leverkusen, 11.11.2014 35. Leverkusener Jazztage Director: Elmar Herkrath-Rundholz Sound Engineers: Thomas Sehringer and Achim Kolz Executive Producer: Ulrike Gulden-Sanders Producer: Peter Sommer © WDR Köln, 2014. Agentur: WDR Mediagroup GmbH DVD authoring by Platin Media Productions Audio mix by Klaus Scheuermann

Jazz At Berlin Philharmonic - Jazz At Berlin Philharmonic ICD / digitaliiro rantala, michael wollny & leszek możdżer / piano & Fender Rhodes (on 06 & 08)The return of a legend:In 1944, the notorious American jazz impresario Norman Grantz (1918 – 2001) had a vision: He wanted to anchor the uniqueness and virtuosity of improvised music deep in society, enable the musicians to garner the rank and recognition that they deserved, and create something entirely new by spontaneously combining different styles and approaches in unexpected ensembles. There could only be one place to make this plan a reality – a classical concert hall: "Jazz at the Philharmonic" was born. Grantz' concerts, which later also went on tour, enjoyed fantastic success for 20 years. He presented the most famous jazz musicians of the era, including the likes of Ella Fitzgerald, Dizzy Gillespie, Oscar Peterson and Lester Young. Jazz got sophisticated. Jazz at Berlin Philharmonic: The new concert series in the Chamber Music Hall of the Berlin Philharmonic picks up on Norman Grantz' ground-breaking idea. The Berlin Philharmonic Foundation was of the opinion that jazz deserved more attention, and when ACT-owner Siggi Loch remembered the "Jazz at the Philharmonic" concert series, he proposed such a concept for Berlin. It became immediately apparent on 11 December 2012, at the opening night of "Jazz at Berlin Philharmonic", that jazz is a welcome guest. For the first time in its 25-year history, the Kammermusiksaal was completely sold out for a jazz concert, with an audience of 1200. 3 pianists - Iiro Rantala, Leszek Możdżer and Michael Wollny proved – as soloists, in duos and as a trio – that jazz can break down the rigid old borders between "serious" and "entertaining" music. They showed an audience of largely classical fans that, in no uncertain terms, classical and jazz are anything but opposites. The Tagesspiegel newspaper wrote that it was an event "with rarity value for Berlin" and the public broadcaster ZDF said: "That was fantastic, if not to say world class". The live recording "Jazz at Berlin Philharmonic I" provides the proof of what can happen when musicians that have never played together before join forces in unusual situations. Rantala, Wollny and Możdżer succeed in creating a defining moment in music, in which "jazz and classical meet as equals" (Tagesspiegel), little wonder really, with all three of them being such crossover fans. Michael Wollny, the still only 34 year-old flagship of young German jazz, gets his inspiration just as much from Schubert or Mahler as from Björk or Kraftwerk, which culminates into powerful masterpieces like "Hexentanz", Wollny's solo title on the album of the same name, a chromatically undulating, harmonically sparkling and rhythmically rousing cornucopia of his unrivalled personal expressiveness. The Pole Leszek Możdżer enjoyed a classical music education. An exchange between the main musical directions is entirely natural for him, as his impressionist solo "Incognitor" shows. The Finn Iiro Rantala is a kindred spirit in this respect, as can be heard in the duet "Suffering". Iiro Rantala, the recent Echo Jazz award winner in the field of international piano stands at the peak of the innovative eclectics aligning themselves with the old jazz tradition to study and revere great inventors of piano music and use them for their own ideas. It only makes sense then that the recording begins with him. Rantala's version of Johann Sebastian Bach’s Aria and the Goldberg Variations, the starting and endpoint of all swinging and improvised music, here transported with exemplary care into the present. Nor is it any more a coincidence that he and Wollny follow it up with "Tears For Esbjörn", the poignant homage to one of the most influential jazz pianists of the last 20 years: Esbjörn Svensson, who died in 2008. Indeed, it is the overwhelming duets that make it clear that all three musicians have the same quality playing together as they do as soloists. After all, they all started their careers in bands: Wollny with his trio [em], Rantala with the trio Töykeät and Możdżer in various groups, for example with Lars Danielsson. Then, when they all join together for Chick Corea's "Armando's Rumba" at the end of "Jazz At Berlin Philharmonic", it is the expected highlight that casts a spell on the listener. And all the while, even beneath this raging, masterly Latin party, there is a classical foundation to be heard. At the latest after the "powerful start" (Tagesspiegel) of the first "Jazz At Berlin Philharmonic" edition there was no doubt that more had to follow. On 25 March, the pianists Joachim Kühn and Yaron Herman meet with Michel Portal on the bass clarinet and violinist Adam Baldych to go on an adventure of free improvisation; a musical dialogue without a net. Norman Grantz would have loved it. Credits: Recorded live in concert at the Berlin Philharmonic (Kammermusiksaal), December 11, 2012 Recorded, mixed and mastered by Walter Quintus Presented by Stiftung Berliner Philharmoniker in cooperation with ACT Produced by Siggi Loch ACT would like to thank: Sir Simon Rattle, Martin Hoffmann and Alfred Brendel.

Jazz at Berlin Philharmonic VII - Piano NightCD / Vinyl / digital Leszek Możdżer piano, Fender Rhodes on Summertime Iiro Rantala piano Michael Wollny piano All three play Fender Rhodes, in turn, on La Fiesta “Three men, three pianos, one emotion – jazz”. These were the words with which German national TV news succinctly summed up the piano summit on 31st May 2016 in a sold-out main hall of the Berlin Philharmonie – a concert which can now be experienced exclusively on vinyl. And the TV news reporter continued: “Iiro Rantala, Leszek Możdżer, Michael Wollny. Each in a class of his own. Together, they’re a miracle”. Is there perhaps an element of déjà vu in this story? Yes, certainly. Because these were the same three jazz piano greats who had performed at the very first ‘Jazz at Berlin Philharmonic’ in December 2012, the event which triumphantly set in motion the concert series curated by Siggi Loch at the German capital city’s classical music shrine.Making this second appearance together were three of the most outstanding and established representatives of European jazz, each with a host of awards to their name. Możdżer, Rantala and Wollny are from a generation which mostly went through the rigours of classical study and therefore have a knowledge of that canon and tradition. Each of them has ventured from there into the freedom of jazz, and have not just loved it, but also thrived on it. They also grew up, almost inevitably, living and breathing rock and pop music. In other words, these are musicians who have garnered experiences in all genres and style, and who simply ‘make music’ that transcends technical barriers, and do it “in the spirit of jazz”, which puts them at one with the basic tenet of the ACT label. After more than a dozen ‘Jazz at Berlin Philharmonic‘ concerts – all of them completely sold out, with all three pianists returning, individually, from other formations – it was exciting to listen out for how the three had developed in the interim since that first concert together. Finnish pianist Iiro Rantala has been integrating completely new colours into his playing – “melodies full of clarity and beauty”, as the Stern, one of Germany’s leading magazines, described them, have become a focus for his artistry. The two solo albums ‘Lost Heroes’ (from 2011) and ‘My Working Class Hero’ (a tribute for what would have been the 75th birthday of John Lennon in 2015) finally gave him a major international profile. Artistic integrity, a respect for the power of melody and the freedom he has when soloing – Rantala brings all of these elements to the fore with total conviction in his composition ‘Freedom’.Michael Wollny has also found his artistic freedom – something he has worked towards for ten years. It was with ‘Weltentraum’ (2014) and ‘Nachtfahrten’ (2015), however, that word really started to get round that there was a quite exceptional pianist in Germany, a “complete master of the piano” (Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, FAZ), a musician who seems to be able to find his own surprising solution to every kind of musical or aesthetic proposition. He certainly does that on this album in a duo with Iiro Rantala – ‘White Moon’, a composition by his most important early teacher Chris Beier, who was also the first to spot Wollny’s potential. There remains the Polish “phenomenon” (Süddeutsche Zeitung) Leszek Możdżer, who is the great romantic among European jazz pianists. His “filigree virtuosity with its light and shade is fascinating, hugely entertaining and nobody gets even close to what he can do as a craftsman of the contemporary piano” was the verdict of the German broadsheet FAZ. Możdżer’s ability to combine the simple with the difficult is something he demonstrates incomparably in the pictorial, almost filmic composition ‘She Said She Was A Painter’. The piano summit concert has its shape, its dramaturgy, building inexorably towards a grand finale with all three pianists on the stage together. First there is the soulful heat of Gershwin's ‘Summertime’, and then a wild ride through Chick Corea’s ‘La Fiesta’. It is in moments like these, as the pianists play their multi-dimensional games of pursuit and avoidance, that the true spirit of this concert series emerges. The thrill, the tingle and the danger of these exceptional live encounters are part of the jazz tradition, but have been updated to send a buzz of excitement around today’s technology-fixated audience. Iiro Rantala’s ‘Olé!’ at the end of this concert didn’t just resonate in the hall in Berlin at the moment of triumph. It is a powerful and durable expression of the effect of live music at its absolute best.Credits: Recorded live in concert at the Berlin Philharmonie May 31, 2016 Curated and produced by Siggi Loch Recorded and mastered by Klaus Scheuermann Mixed by Klaus Scheuermann & Bartek Kapłoński