Kalle Kalima

Andreas Schaerer - EvolutionCD / Vinyl / digital Andreas Schaerer voice, mouth percussion Kalle Kalima electric & acoustic guitar Tim Lefebvre electric & acoustic bass (except 01 & 08) Swiss vocal acrobat Andreas Schaerer and Finnish guitarist Kalle Kalima have some things in common. As artists, each is essentially in a category completely of his own. Both are musicians who can always conjure something special from their chosen instruments. Both are known on the international jazz scene for the completely distinctive and original ways their music constantly crosses genres. Both have played together for several years in the quartet 'A Novel Of Anomaly'. And now they have recorded a first album together in which the focus is on the two of them. However, for this “evolution” (as the album title has it), they have also involved – and drawn inspiration from – a musician whom they both admire, Tim Lefebvre. The American bassist has worked with many pop and jazz stars, notably Sting, Elvis Costello, David Bowie, Mark Guiliana, Wayne Krantz...Lefebvre's involvement in the Michael Wollny Trio’s breakthrough was, incidentally, anything but tangential. In other words, his playing is at home in practically every context.Listeners familiar with Schaerer’s and Kalima’s previous work may find "Evolution" somewhat surprising. "An album is such a different platform from playing live on stage,” explains Schaerer. “Over the course of our many recordings, we have become increasingly aware quite how differently one has to play." That awareness has also resulted in a particularly careful focus on the post-production phase of “Evolution".Schaerer is describing a way of working much more familiar to the world of pop. And with its concentration on songs and lyrics, one might call "Evolution" a singer/songwriter project. "We've both been going in this direction for quite some time now. Kalle has his work with ‘KUU!’, and for me there has been ‘Hildegard lernt fliegen’ for quite a few years now.” In fact, Schaerer is more of the ‘singer’ here than we are used to. His typical vocal escapades are still there – clicking and popping sounds, beatboxing, polyphonically layered vocalise, and even the imitation of wind instruments... – but by his own standards he has been particularly frugal in his use of them here. Schaerer emphasises that “we’ve not created this album from any kind of blueprint. "We didn't say, 'we're just going to do songs now', the pieces came about very naturally. 'Pristine Dawn' is a good example: in the first instance it had a song structure and some lyrics, but no melody. The moment when it was composed was at the studio session, and the recording is the 'first take', it just flowed perfectly, so you don't even notice the 11-bar structure, which is actually very weird." There is a similar way of working on all of the tracks: taking turns, Schaerer and Kalima each contributed both an idea and a song text (three of these are in fact by Kalima's wife Essi) before developing these versions in the studio together. Each piece therefore bears an unmistakable and very personal signature, not just musically, but also in the lyrics. "Kalle and I are also processing some deeply personal and intimate thoughts and experiences in some of the lyrics. And, of course, it's also about things that are currently bothering us in the world, from artificial intelligence to the question implicit in the album title, as to whether evolution is stagnating."The track "Rapid Eye Movement'' shows Kalima's penchant for the colours of folk music; Schaerer's psychedelic "Trigger" takes him into the falsetto (high) register at the beginning and at the end. On the title track, things get pretty wild, before the piece comes to an end in free improvisation – as is consistent with its title. The fast "Multitasking" with its humorous plays on words, a "mouth trumpet” solo and a philosophical theme is just as typical of Schaerer and the breadth of his imagination as the very quiet and lyrical – and wordless – "So Far". On "Song Yet Untitled”, reminiscent of film music, and on the melancholic "Sphere", Kalima again lets his guitar sing out, as only he can. As Schaerer notes with enthusiasm, there is always "more than just the sum of the parts" when these two fine musicians and creative individuals work together. And then there is also Tim Lefebvre, whose playing, sometimes on electric bass, sometimes on double bass (with a beautiful solo intro on "Piercing Love") has been such an inspiration for both Schaerer and Kalima. "We played with Tim for the first time at the big Jubilee concert celebrating 30 years of ACT. The chemistry was so good, we decided we would keep in touch. When I called him about 'Evolution', he didn't hesitate for a second", Schaerer remembers. "It was then really impressive how quickly he could connect emotionally with the music. It's crazy how he grooves on a track like 'SloMo', and how we were able to play ourselves into a frenzy over Kalle's guitar track."In "Evolution", Schaerer, Kalima and Lefebvre have re-drawn the roadmap for the production of a jazz album. New avenues are constantly opening up in these complex but also catchy songs which are just made for repeated listening...and, of course, listening to the album is also a reminder that it will all sound completely different again when heard live. Credits: Produced by Andreas Schaerer &Kalle Kalima Executive Producer: Andreas Brandis

KUU! - Arificial SheepCD / digital Jelena vocals Kalle Kalima guitar & bass Frank Möbus guitar Christian Lillinger drums The widespread positive response to “Lampedusa Lullaby”, KUU!’s 2018 label debut on ACT also gave rise to enthusiastic, imaginative and telling descriptions of the band’s music: “An alchemically complex jazz punk alloy. […] Really rather wonderful.”( PROG magazine). “A raw, thorny mixture of punk attitude, electro- dance elements, eccentric fusion, and free jazz outbursts.” (All About Jazz). These plaudits drew attention to perhaps the most remarkable, unexpected, maybe even paradoxical thing about KUU! (it means ‘moon’ in Finnish): that this unique quartet of singer Jelena Kuljić, two guitarists Kalle Kalima and Frank Möbus, and drums/percussion Christian Lillinger always find ways to combine powerful attitude, in-your-face political engagement, and even occasional white-hot rage, with astonishingly and consistently high levels of musicality, musical interest and a kind of creativity which is capable of taking the band off in many different directions. This is indeed a group of superb musicians who have been honing their craft on stage together for most of a decade. And while all four of them – understatement! – have multiple commitments to all kinds of other activities, KUU! is something which they want to commit themselves and their time to, and which they all palpably enjoy: "Basically, we just want to play,” says says Kalle Kalima, “good concerts with this band are complete bliss." And Jelena Kuljić adds: "When we play, it's pure heaven." And now Corona. The pandemic has faced this band - and its four members who put so much of their energy and considerable craft into it - with a problem: how to keep KUU! progressing, how not to stand still, but to achieve it without having the normal context of live performance. In essence their work was moved into their home studios in Munich and Berlin. And what is remarkable about the album “Artificial Sheep” is how successfully they have managed to relearn everything and to make it instinctive: the communication between them, their processes, the way in which thematic material flows into the lyrics, beats, rhythmic interweaving, the sounds and the energy-producing friction of their strong personalities. And above all their ability to create and to hold the atmosphere. The world of “Artificial Sheep” is haunting and unsettling. A dystopian future is very present and very real here. And rather than imagining the future, there is a particular immediacy because the world of Blade Runner has suddenly become much more like the everyday in 2021: paranoia, control, power and mistrust, the wholesale deceit of the world, environmental destruction, humans versus robots ...Here we are in the world of the 1982 cult film with Harrison Ford, which was based on the 1968 Philip K. Dick sci-fi novel "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?”; the album title “Artificial Sheep” is derived directly from that book. Challenging questions of what is reality and what is just perception or fake are there, right from the very first line of the first song: “It’s easier to believe fiction than real life.” And in the song “Officer kd 6-3.7”, this develops into riddles about who or what is human and what is cyber: “I am not a program. I don’t know if I can feel it.” In this dark, claustrophobic world where conspiracy theories and manipulation prevail, human relationships are tense. Jelena Kuljić launches herself particularly powerfully into the domain of gender politics in a compelling tour de force in “Miss Stress”. If Kuljić in the past has been compared to Nina Hagen, then the focus, intent and sheer force of personality she finds here are such as to leave those memories and comparisons way behind. There are also cover versions of songs by Arcade Fire (“My Body is a Cage”) and the Beastie Boys (“Sabotage”, underpinned by some magnificent powerhouse drumming). And in the powerful final song, “Book of Nihil”, with a lyric co-written by the members of the band, there is a particularly menacing juxtaposition of the threats from Darwinian natural selection combined with the sinister commandments to conform to social norms from ‘Jante's Law’ by the Danish novelist Aksel Sandemose. We find ourselves in a strange world of harmonic uncertainty and anonymity, and the album ends eerily as if its life support has suddenly been cut off. Musicians tend to know when they’ve done something that is genuinely out of the ordinary. Kalle Kalima describes “Artifical Sheep as "one of the most awesome things I've ever done". The strange worlds of the imagination which this album inhabits, and the persuasi-veness of the musical language which KUU! have found to take us there are unforgettable. Far from having their senses dulled by the pandemic, these musicians have seen them reinvigorated and reanimated. And that is the most unexpected and engaging paradox of “Artificial Sheep”.Credits: Recorded at Hansa Studios Berlin 19.02. - 21.02. & 17.08. - 18.08.2020 Engineers: Nanni Johansson & Klaus Scheuermann Assistants: Frida Claeson Johansson & Yun Chu Liang Mixed and mastered by Klaus Scheuermann Produced by KUU! The Art in Music: Cover art by Gabriel Orozco, Untitled, 2018 - 2019, courtesy Gallery Kurimanzutto, New York /Mexico City

Kalle Kalima - Flying Like EaglesCD / digital Kalle Kalima electric guitar Knut Reiersrud resonator, electric & lap steel guitar, harmonica Phil Donkin bass Jim Black drums As you listen to "Flying Like Eagles", an episode from Jack Kerouac's novel "On the Road" might flicker across your mind, or perhaps a scene from the movie "Easy Rider". And that is because the point of departure for this album is traditional roots music from America, inspired in part by American-Indian heritage, plus three classic songs that are also imbued with that same spirit of unspoilt authenticity and freedom. The origins of the main protagonists on this album might come as a surprise, however: these two guitarists are not actually from the southern states of the US but from Scandinavia. And yet there isn’t any contradiction: Kalle Kalima, who is Finnish, had already developed a passion for traditional American folk music as a teenager, and a year spent as an exchange student in Chicago immersed in the local scene deepened that interest further. Indeed, this music has remained an abiding inspiration and presence in Kalima’s music, most recently in his Americana jazz project "High Noon". Knut Reiersrud has been demonstrating all his life that Norwegians have the blues too. After Buddy Guy and Otis Rush discovered him at the age of 18, the US became his musical home. He played with greats of American music such as Dr John, Stevie Ray Vaughan, the Blind Boys of Alabama and soul singer Mighty Sam McClain.Guitarists Kalima and Reiersrud complement each other perfectly – one comes from jazz and rock, the other from blues and world music. Kalima explains: " It was Siggi Loch who had the idea for this album and who brought us together. We only knew each of other before then from having listened to one another. But in the studio, a natural flow developed quickly. I mostly took the melody line with my electric guitar, whereas Knut on his various different guitars tended to concentrate on colours, sounds and sound layers. It was important to us that the music should sound very genuine, so we didn't fix much in advance, and preferred to put our trust in what would happen as we played. The album should sound like we're jamming." And so "Flying Like Eagles" has become a proper guitar album, in which Kalima and Reiersrud explore the manifold possibilities of their instruments. The fact that it sounds so fresh, intuitive and authentic is also due to the first-class rhythm section: Phil Donkin on bass and drummer Jim Black are both first-call players who have made their mark on the New York scene. The challenge here was to take pieces with ancient melodies whose shape is often determined by their vocal line and to give them new life. The opening and closing tracks both have their origins in the American-Indian tradition, but each one develops in completely the oppo-site direction from the other. "Strong Wind, Deep Water, Tall Trees, Warm Fire" has a way of hovering hypnotically, whereas "Little One" with its constantly repeated melodic line has a restrained opening from which it moves into an ecstatic rock-inflected improvisation by Kalima. Buffalo Springfield's protest song "For What It's Worth" lays down a strong groove and perhaps best defines the quintessence of "Flying Like Eagles". It demonstrates not just the superb artistry of both the guitarists as individual instrumentalists but also shows the way they instinctively dovetail with each other. With its stomping rhythm and a haunting melodic hook, "Kiowa Lullaby" seems reminiscent of a war dance. The Eagles classic "Hotel Cali-fornia" is given a particular and unexpected twist by merging the origi-nal with a West African melody that Reiersrud once encountered on one of his many musical travels around the world. "Wayfaring Stranger" pours out the loneliness of a wandering musician. This folk/gospel ballad is given an exotic tinge with the introduction of a Hawaiian lap steel guitar. And finally, the quartet give "Hurt", a song best known in Johnny Cash's desolate interpretation, gets a hard-driven remake which would not be out of place in a film by Quentin Tarantino. "Many of the songs on this disc come from populations and minorities who have lived harmoniously and in a connected way with nature, so the album is a tribute to them," Knut Reiersrud underlines. And it is a message which is now more topical than ever. May eagles continue to fly high, and for a long time yet... "Flying Like Eagles" was created by curator/producer Siggi Loch for the concert series "Jazz at Berlin Philharmonic". It will receive its live premiere on 24 September 2019 at a concert in the Kammermusiksaal (chamber music hall) of the Berliner Philharmonie.Credits: Recorded by Klaus Scheuermann at Hansa Studios Berlin, April 23 & 24, 2019 Mixed and mastered by Klaus Scheuermann Curated and produced by Siggi Loch

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

KUU! - Lampedusa LullabyCD/ vinyl / digitalJelena Kuljić vocals Kalle Kalima guitar Frank Möbus guitar Christian Lillinger drums KUU!’s songs are so well honed, they have a way of emotionally hitting the spot, and also staying lodged in the mind. The reason why this band has been making such waves in Germany is the special chemistry between the artists, combined with a sixth sense and an urgency about the way they communicate. The band members – Kalle Kalima, Frank Möbus (both on guitars) with drummer Christian Lillinger – are never short of creative ideas, and they form a strong yet supple understructure for the phenomenally expressive singer Jelena Kuljić. Kuljić was born in 1976 in Serbia, and left her home country after the civil war. She had started out as a young impetuous punk, then studied jazz singing in Berlin, where she became an established presence and built a reputation on the scene. She has a parallel career as an actress, and is now a member of the ensemble at the Münchner Kammerspiele. As a vocalist, she has unbelievable energy. To call her a force of nature is certainly no overstatement. She can focus with the directness of a beam of light, and she knows how to hover in the space close to the core of what really matters. As a performer she has authenticity, and makes the messages she conveys not just comprehensible and believable but also unavoidable. The lyrics are thematically diverse, tending to be based on powerful commentaries on the times we live in. The surreal, the utopian and on occasion the comic characterize her poetry, but Jelena Kuljić does not just colour or sketch things in. She communicates the inescapable truths of a song like “We Watch Them Fall” with an unbelievable alertness and expressiveness. Sometimes she does this with a punk attitude, sometimes in psychedelic indulgence, sometimes she's pseudo-naive. She knows how to provoke and spread mischief. She can feign and evade, but when she declaims words like “It’s a simple gravity. We watch them fall. They are food of the next revolution,” she makes her point with telling precision.  In the title track “Lampedusa Lullaby” KUU! present a dark dystopian vision of human cargo on the move: “Endless journey through the night, over black-eyed sea.” Kuljić can dwell on the feeling of being in unfamiliar places, of uncertain dawn, of strangers and of past events – her songs can become slide shows from other people's lives. Lampedusa is no longer just a Mediterranean island between Tunisia and Sicily. As a real place with its traffickers and migrants, where cross-border death, unscrupulousness and illegality are all too commonplace, it has become a metaphor for a large-scale criminal business where the fates of individuals count for far too little, and where there is evidence everywhere of the failure of traditional politics to meet new challenges. These are the things that Jelena Kuljić has such a strong imperative and a need to sing about.  KUU! is a band of superlatives. It is an outstanding representation of new European jazz at its most innovative, but also shows on “Lampedusa Lullaby” with razor-sharp precision a way that rock music can function in 2018. That way is neither about grandstanding nor competing, it is about collective expression. Without faffing or fiddling, they find a place to go – and they go there together. In the centre, the drums turn up the pressure, while to the left and right the two guitars merge into a gigantic and sensitive meta-instrument. And what emerges quite naturally is good, forceful and evocative music beyond category. It is unnecessary to mention either Zappa or Nina Hagen as reference points, just listen with the volume turned up, and forget all preconceptions. It speaks to us because it has something to say.  The music on "Lampedusa Lullaby" packs an incredible power. It disturbs, connects, it has a way of getting through to the feet, the head and the soul – and all the same time. Sometimes three conspiratorial individualists with their instruments might lay out a comfortable rug for their singer – and sometimes it might be a bed of nails. Heard live, and with Jelena Kuljić's theatrical art coming into play, this music grows ingeniously, inventively – and irresistibly.

Andreas Schaerer - A Novel Of AnomalyCD / digital Andreas Schaerer vocals & mouth percussion Luciano Biondini accordion Kalle Kalima guitar Lucas Niggli drums Music involves so many levels of communication: verbal, audiovisual, emotional, even body language. In jazz, the spontaneity of improvisation ramps up the suspense and the excitement. And yet in the best situations, instant osmosis and mutual trust can inexplicably kick in. And that was what happened in 2013 with the meeting of Andreas Schaerer, the Berne-based vocal acrobat and multi-genre composer, with Zurich drummer Lucas Niggli. “We went on stage,” Schaerer remembers, “without any rehearsal beforehand, or even a discussion about what we would play - and yet it felt as if we had known each other for ages.” They then continued playing regularly as a voice-and-drums duo. Sometimes what resulted was quiet acoustic dialogues; at other times they would seek out the untrammelled, bombastic and loud. And they decided quite soon that they really wanted to do was to shed light on these two extremes. So, for the purposes of a tour, they decided to use guests to develop their duo into two different trios: there would be a first trio with the Italian accordionist Luciano Biondini, which would concentrate on the lyrical, the poetic and what simply felt good; and a second with the Berlin-based Finnish guitarist Kalle Kalima, in which they would enjoy amplified sounds and electronics. “Rehearsals were planned so that we could work with Luciano in the morning and then with Kalle in the afternoon,” recalls Schaerer. “But a flight delay brought all four of us to the rehearsal room at the same time, and our sound-check simply morphed into a wild two-hour session of collective improvisation.” Niggli adds: “the two of them got on so well with each other, it was clear to us that we wouldn’t want to pull them apart again.” And that is how, instead of two trios, this one-of-a-kind quartet with guitar, accordion, drums and voice was born. Because all of its members are so popular, the band was highly regarded from the very start, and was invited by several festivals. In the course of these performances the group gelled, and what evolved was a quartet in which all of the co-conspirators would have an equal role. They started with old pieces which each took from his own repertoire, and then gradually expanded the scope with new numbers written especially for the quartet. All four were able to contribute compositions reflecting their respective musical origins and preferences. Thus the new album "A Novel Of Anomaly” opens all kind of colourful vistas, and yet at the same time reveals the harmonic inclinations and instantly recognizable character of the band. In “Aritmia”, an ideal opener with its driving swing, as in the melancholy ballad “Stagione”, the central focus is on the Mediterranean element, Biondini’s ‘Italianità’. Kalle Kalima’s “Dive” is influenced by Finnish tango, and in “Planet Zumo” the guitarist brings to the fore memories of his collaboration with Nigerian drummer Tony Allen through propulsive rhythms and the distinctive rumble of highlife guitar. Niggli also turns his gaze towards Africa. He lived in Cameroon until he was six years old. The African poet Chenjerai Hove was the creative fountainhead for his ethereal track “Flood”. In the accordion/vocal duet “Causa Danzante”, Schaerer finally makes room for some classical reminiscences, and then in “Getalateria” he lays down a brilliant rocky alpine yodel-blues. In the hymnic “Signor Giudice” all the elements - the filigree and powerful drums of Niggli, Schaerer’s multiphonics and beatboxing solos, Kalima’s expressive guitar, and the almost orchestral accordion of Biondini - find an ideal way to combine together. “For me it was important to accommodate the mother tongue of each of the musicians in this album,” Schaerer emphasizes. Thus “Fiore Salino”, composed by the members of quartet, is a story told in Italian about spiritual affinities and friendships. In “Swie Embri” Schaerer sings in the dialect of the German part of Valais about the eternal flow of things. Finally, the Finnish text of “Laulu Jatkuu”, inspired by a mountaineering drama which occurred during the band's performance at Mont Blanc, reflects upon the concurrence of creation and destruction. A “Novel Of Anomaly”, then, is a dazzling testimony to the way contemporary European jazz is growing and converging. After his gargantuan orchestral work “The Big Wig” and the improvisational fireworks of “Out of Land” (with Emile Parisien, Vincent Peirani and Michael Wollny) Andreas Schaerer has now immersed himself in a new sound-world. “A Novel Of Anomaly” presents eleven short stories, offering opportunities do delve into more intimate and pared-down vocal textures. It is an unusual, surprising and compelling album.Credits: Produced by Andreas Brandis with the artists

Kalle Kalima - High NoonCD / digital Kalle Kalima guitar Greg Cohen double bass Max Andrzejewski drums Kalle Kalima puts the Western back into country and western. High Noon: Wind scrapes across the empty streets... timorous townsfolk peek through closed shutters… as three figures head into town: a guitar-toting Finn from Berlin, Kalle Kalima, a veteran American bassist, Greg Cohen from way out west in Los Angeles, and a young gun from Germany, drummer Max Andrzejewski… Kalle Kalima's music is mean, moody, magnificent, and is also adventurous and full of surprises. Whether he is off exploring the badlands on the borders of rock, putting his hand on his heart to salute his Finnish homeland, or inspiring jazz lawlessness in the band Kuu!, this forty-one year old is first and foremost a free spirit. Kalle Kalima's new project takes him back to one of his first loves. “As a teenager, I had guitar lessons with a teacher who introduced me to country and western. I really got into it, and have played it ever since, mostly for my own pleasure.” Playing for enjoyment, however, is only part of the story. A few years ago he was in Austrian drummer Alfred Vogel's band “Die Glorreichen Sieben” (The Magnificent Seven), which put together two country-jazz projects, a new version of hits from westerns, and also issued a tribute to Neil Young. Whereas those two projects were quite impulsive and carefree, “High Noon” takes a different tack. “This time it's about getting to the heart of the matter,” says Kalima. “This album is in the form of a road trip which passes through various landscapes. There's not too much to-ing and fro-ing, I've stuck to a tight unifying concept here: it's in the mould of ‘Kind of Blue’, but with country-jazz.” The thirteen tracks of the album display huge variety, but when taken together almost form a suite. As its central episode, there are four hits from films scored by the distinguished Hollywood film composer Dimitri Tiomkin, including (naturally) “High Noon”, the title theme of the classic western from 1952 starring Gary Cooper. The remaining tracks range from classic Western tunes like “South of the Border”, or the mid-19th century sea shanty “Santy Anno,” to the campfire classic “Ghost Riders In The Sky”. There are also evergreen songs such as The Shadows' “Man of Mystery” and Leonard Cohen's “Hallelujah”. Kalle Kalima also includes popular tunes from his native Finland: “Jääkärimarssi” (the march of the hunters) and Hiski Salomaas' early ballad about a logger who travels the world, “Lännen Lokari”. Nevertheless, even with extremely rapid switchbacks of tempo, and all manner of sound experimentation, there is an underlying and consistent vibe to the album. With its relaxed and slyly humorous character, it develops a sense of flow all of its own, which carries the listener along in the undertow. That strong sense of continuity also has its roots in the empathy, and the exemplary sense of shared responsibilty that Kalima and his two colleagues have. “We're a proper band,” says Kalima, ”which means that everybody has a hand in everything.”Greg Cohen in particular was the one to give the lead here. He has played with John Zorn, Ornette Coleman, but is also known for his work with pop eccentrics such as Tom Waits, Lou Reed and Laurie Anderson. Kalima remembers how the project got going: “We started with pieces that Greg had heard in his childhood. The atmosphere of the road songs immediately resonated with me as a Tom Waits fan and set us off in the direction of my Finnish songs. The Finnish mentality fits well with country music and with tango. Sentimental, even kitsch music is extraordinarily potent, and that is something which fascinates me,” Kalima explains. “High Noon” also has as its story the opportunities and possibilities that are opened up by the blending of cultures. While not exactly a new theme, it is certainly current and relevant. “You only have to listen to Tiomkin's music,” explains Kalima. “He was a Russian who made his way to Hollywood, added some authentic American ingredients, and by the early 1950s he had established himself as the most successful composer in Hollywood. That story affected our approach, because ours is emigrant music too. I am a Finn in Berlin, Greg is an American, Max is German but he has his Polish roots. The challenge here was to give our individual take on country music the feel of some real variety. We wanted to tease everything that we could out of it, but needed to do it without disturbing the foundations.” They have succeeded in that task, and quite brilliantly.Credits: Produced by Siggi Loch Recorded by Klaus Scheuermann at Hansa Studios, Berlin, 14. & 15.12.2014 Mixed and mastered by Klaus Scheuermann

Various Artists - Magic Moments 8 "Sing Hallelujah"CD / digitalThe eighth edition of the popular series Magic Moments is a 71-minute musical joyride through the current ACT release schedule, and features not just the stars of the label but also its newcomers and discoveries. The ACT label's proprietor and producer-in-chief Siggi Loch has put together a programme of sixteen tracks, under the title “Sing Hallelujah.” Encompassing jazz, soul, gospel and Afro-American roots music, it is yet another example of the Munich-based label defining itself by the will to be different, and by steering well clear of predictable and well-trodden paths. This is music “in the spirit of jazz,” which slips effortlessly between genres. It is fresh and up-to-date, and refuses to be a slave to any pre-ordained style. Magic Moments 8, “Sing Hallelujah” places the vocal artists of ACT in the spotlight. The collection opens with soul-blues legend Mighty Sam McClain, who died very recently. He is heard here with Knut Reiersrud, the Norwegian guitarist. Reiersrud himself is also heard later on another track with singer Solveig Slettahjell and the trio In The Country. They perform “Borrowed Time” from the album "Trail of Souls,” a CD which marries the American gospel and spiritual traditions with a Norwegian sound aesthetic. The title track “Sing Hallelujah,” a song by Mike Settle, is sung by Torsten Goods. He is surrounded by an all-star band of Roberto Di Gioa, Tim Lefebvre and Wolfgang Haffner, and delivers the song with his characteristic cool and nonchalance. Ida Sand has one track "Hey Hey, My My,” in which she honours Neil Young. The voice of Natalia Mateo "has a story all of its own to tell,” in the words of Die Zeit. Mateo gives “I Put a Spell on You,” - sung in the fifties by American blues singer Screamin' Jay Hawkins, and later a huge hit for Nina Simone – a treatment which is bound to take people by surprise. Norwegian singer-songwriter Randi Tytingvåg shows her genuine class on “Steady Going,” a song with its roots in American folk and country music. Drummer Wolfgang Haffner in “Piano Man” brings vocals to his “Kind of Cool” group with the powerful soul singer Max Mutzke. The final tracks of Magic Moments 8 are all instrumentals, but they could not be more varied and contrasted. Bassist Dieter Ilg with his regular trio interpret Beethoven; Iiro Rantala plays John Lennon's “Imagine” alone at the piano; saxophonist Rudresh Mahanthappa, a 3-time Downbeat winner in 2015, honours the great Charlie Parker with “Bird Calls. The old cowhand shout of Yippee Ki Yay….in Berlin? Kalle Kallema the Finnish guitarist now makes his home in the German capital and his trio's take on the western classic “Ghost Riders In the Sky,” by Stan Jones and the Death Valley Rangers really does bring High Noon to the mean streets of Kreuzberg. Pianist Frank Woeste, born in Hannover, is a new face on the ACT Label. He has been a major and consistent success in France where he now lives, and where he frequently performs with Ibrahim Maalouf and Youn Sun Nah. Here the singer brings her unique and inimitable voice to “Star Gazer.” “If music be the food of love, play on,” begins Shakespeare's comedy Twelfth Night. Add the words “... and of life,” and what results is an artistic credo, the philosophy which underlies all that the ACT label does. Siggi Loch and his team have been producing nourishing music for the past 23 years with an unstinting passion and an instinct for quality. This is music which goes straight the hearts and minds of people whose ears are open to the unexpected, and who love good music. “Magic Moments 8” is 100% true to that vision.Credits: Compilation by Siggi Loch Mastered by Klaus Scheuermann