Follow The White Rabbit

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

Various Artists - Magic Moments 7 - Sounds of SurpriseCD / digitalMagic Moments: 16 tracks, over 50 contributors, 70 minutes of top-tier jazz infotainment from the current ACT lineup. Continuity. Trust and vision. Sustainability and unity. Discovering and nurturing talent. Supporting the next generation. These are key components and central pillars of the ACT philosophy, guiding our work for over 22 years: This year, we celebrate 20 years of successful partnership with Nils Landgren. We congratulate rising stars like Vincent Peirani and Emile Parisien, each awarded "Artist of the Year" in France at the Victoires du Jazz. We are delighted by Michael Wollny’s remarkable development into Germany’s leading jazz musician, emerging from our Young German Jazz series — a program that continues to serve as a breeding ground for promising artists such as vocalist Tobias Christl. The fact that even established jazz greats like Manu Katché — whom we warmly welcome as a new member of the ACT family — are now taking notice of our work is a great honor. Nevertheless, we remain true to our mission: above all, to discover the stars of tomorrow.Credits: Compilation by Siggi Loch Mastered by Klaus Scheuermann

Adam Baldych & Yaron Herman - The New TraditionCD / digital Adam Bałdych violin Yaron Herman piano "Without doubt the greatest jazz violinist alive today. We can expect everything from him," is what the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung newspaper wrote about Adam Bałdych's ACT debut "Imaginary Room". The young Pole is causing quite a stir on the European jazz scene with his music. In Germany he won the ECHO Jazz in 2013. In his homeland he is treading in the massive footsteps of Leszek Możdżer, and the top echelons of European jazz, the likes of Iiro Rantala, appreciate his skills, currently in his string trio. Musikmarkt calls Bałdych a "diabolically divine violinist" and the Süddeutsche Zeitung considers him "one of the biggest discoveries of contemporary European jazz". The Paris-based Israeli pianist Yaron Herman has long been at the spearhead of European jazz, and he is "one of the most creative minds in the jazz world" (Kulturnews). Bałdych came across this pianist "who can quite simply play everything – and everything always differently" (Süddeutsche Zeitung) quite by chance: Siggi Loch put them on the stage together for the first time at the "Jazz at the Berlin Philharmonic II" concert in March 2013. The chemistry was right from the outset. Two big musician personalities had found each other, and they simply had to continue on the same path from that moment on, a path called "The New Tradition": an expedition that cuts a new trail leading off from the beaten track. With total mutual trust, Bałdych and Herman set new standards in contemporary jazz. Seldom has a more intense and natural collaboration been heard. Not in a struggle for supremacy, but instead masterfully and highly emotional, full of depth and soul, Bałdych and Herman simply make music. And in doing so they prove that you don't need big ensembles to create magic moments. Making music has always been a way for me to fulfill my dreams, to challenge myself and to travel through uncharted lands. The stories of those lands, filtered through my personality, is what I share in a musical form with my listeners. After the release of my previous album, “Imaginary Room”, I had the opportunity to share the stage of the Berlin Philharmonic with Yaron Herman. It was an extraordinary, magical moment for me. I felt as if I have taken a deep breath and have found new impulses. A very classic duo of violin and piano turned out to be astonishingly fresh and opened up new creative possibilities for me. By scaling back and using only two instruments I was able to showcase my music in a very detailed view, to focus on the music's structure, its' colour, the vibrations of the strings, the whisper of the bow. The theme of “The New Tradition” album is a very important one. Tradition is my point of reference. Who am I? Where do I come from? Where do I go? Classical European music, Polish folk-music, Polish jazz – this is my tradition, this is what surrounded me in my formative years and this is what my music refers to. This album is another dream fulfilled, one that I would like to share with you.Enjoy listening, Adam Bałdych Credits: Produced by Siggi Loch with the artists Recorded at RecPublica Studios, Lubrza (Poland) by Łukasz Olejarczyk, September 9 - 11, 2013 and **Emil Berliner Studios, Berlin (Germany) by Klaus Scheuermann, November 26, 2013 Mixed and mastered by Klaus Scheuermann Cover Art (Detail) by Philip Taaffe / ACT Art Collection

Yaron Herman pianoEmile Parisien tenor & soprano saxophoneLogan Richardson alto saxophoneStephane Kerecki bassZiv Ravitz drums  "A pianist who can simply play everything - and everything always differently." (Süddeutsche Zeitung) Yaron Herman draws his audience deep into his musical cosmos. "Alter Ego" is a kaleidoscope of memories, a surprising, intimate album, a journey inside together with a new band of close musical friends. Credits: Music composed by Yaron Herman, unless otherwise notedProduced by Yaron Herman; Christophe DegheltRecorded by Philippe Gaillot at Recall Studio, Pompignan, France, February 25 - 28, 2012Mixed and mastered by Philippe Gaillot at Recall Studio in April; May 2012Assistant: Renaud van Welden 

For the 20th birthday of ACT-Music, the Jubilee Album presents 20 highlights from the moving history of the Munich label. A real treat for connoisseurs, explorers, researchers and the curious, as well as for anyone seeking the Spirit of Jazz.

Yaron Herman Trio blends supreme musicianship with innovative jazz piano—an artist shaping the future of contemporary jazz.