Roberto Di Gioia

Jakob Manz - Groove ConnectionCD / Vinyl / digital Jakob Manz alto saxophone & flute Roberto Di Gioia keyboards Karin Hammar trombone Bruno Müller guitar Tim Lefebvre electric bass Per Lindvall drums Guests: Paolo Fresu trumpet (on 01) Nguyên Lê guitar (on 04) Mark Harrington spoken words (on 01) "Jakob Manz will always surprise you," says pianist /keyboardist Roberto Di Gioia, who produced the young saxophonist´s new album alongside Siggi Loch. "It is widely known that Jakob can play the saxophone unbelievably well, and also that he can take it in just about every conceivable direction in modern jazz. What is less appreciated is how authentic he sounds when he plays soul, funk and rhythm'n'blues. And just when you think you've heard everything from him, he will play you a blues solo so deep and soulful, it’s incredible." The release of Manz’s jazz-rock debut "Natural Energy" in 2020 gave a good pointer to his potential. That album was followed by headline appearances at important festivals: the Leverkusener Jazztage, Jazz Baltica, and also in the Porsche Arena in Stuttgart where he was a guest soloist at the "70 Years of the SWR Big Band" concert, and then at the ACT30 anniversary concerts in the Berlin Philharmonie. 2022 saw the release of the exquisitely crafted acoustic duo album "The Gallery Concerts I" with pianist Johanna Summer.This showed a different side of Jakob Manz, as an improviser of great depth and sensitivity. Whereas Jakob Manz's debut album gave us a cross-section of his musical spectrum in all its breadth, "Groove Connection" offers a close-up of what are probably his greatest strengths: the ability to enthral and delight an audience with soulful melody, his incisive soloing and his infallible sense of rhythm. This very rare combination of qualities was the starting point for producers Roberto Di Gioia and Siggi Loch, to which they added a top international top line-up...so the sparks could really fly. Loch comments: "Jakob Manz is an unbelievable talent. For me he stands in the tradition of great saxophonists such as Lou Donaldson, David Sanborn (his hero) and also Klaus Doldinger and his band “Passport”. All of these are musicians who found their characteristic sound on a foundation of jazz, which they combined with soul and blues, and became successful worldwide with it." The bar was deliberately set high for "Groove Connection", and right from the start. It should be an album of international standard, with musicians like Jakob Manz who penetrate the vocabulary of soul, jazz and rhythm'n'blues deeply and make them their own. Roberto Di Gioia, on keys and also a songwriter, was a shoo-in from the beginning – partly because of his history with Klaus Doldingers Passport and his current groove-jazz band "Web Web", and also because of his pop and soul sensibility as a producer of German Motown artist Joy Denalane and hugely popular rapper / singer Max Herre. First choice to underpin the band from the bass was American Tim Lefebvre, another hero of Jakob Manz’s, an authority on his instrument and collaborator with artists as diverse as David Bowie, Wayne Krantz, Tedeschi Trucks Band and Michael Wollny. A stylish groove comes from the drums, and from the Swede Per Lindvall in particular. His range of credits includes membership of the first Nils Landgren Funk Unit, and also having been drummer for ABBA. Bruno Müller, one of the most sought-after German session guitarists, adds flavoursome funk. The Swedish trombonist Karin Hammar creates a gentler counterpart to Manz's brilliant alto saxophone. There are also guest appearances from guitarist Nguyên Lê, trumpeter Paolo Fresu and speaker Mark Harrington.As soon as the members of Groove Connection met in the studio, everything clicked instantly. Roberto Di Gioia remembers: "We had everything perfectly prepared, including top-level bass equipment for Tim...who arrives, plugs his €500 no-label touring bass into the amp, starts to play a bit, then Per Lindvall joins in and immediately there’s something happening. That's when I had to shout into the control room that they should start recording immediately." The vibe of those first few minutes continues over the duration of the recording. Everything just flows, everyone seems to grasp subconsciously exactly what the music really needs, which notes to play - and which ones not to. In the end, one or two takes are sufficient for most of the tracks on the album. The fact that it all succeeds so seemingly effortlessly, and that the result sounds so light and unencumbered, but at the same time so rousing, is proof of the fabulous quality of all those involved in the recording. Everyone is at the top of his or her game, and, even more importantly, everyone has deeply internalised the vocabulary and the feeling of this music, there is real communication going on, and a lot of joy in the room. And that joy is audible to listeners from the very first bar - with a mixture of originals and groove-jazz versions of Adele, Billie Eilish, Whitney Houston, Lionel Richie...and many more. There are very few young jazz musicians who master their instrument with such complete and daunting virtuosity as Jakob Manz, and yet his playing always sounds so unpretentious, clear, soulful and at the service of the tune - all at the same time. His success in doing this is due on the one hand to his talent and the determination with which he works on his musical expression. On the other hand, it is also due to his will to inspire and touch the emotions of the audience with his music. He says it is important to him that he should play his particular instrument, the alto saxophone, in a way that fills the room, but at the same time reaches each individual listener with directness and immediacy. And there is no doubt: he succeeds in this with flying colours, whether it's in a club, a large concert hall, a festival stage... or indeed wherever the listener might hear his new album. Credits: Recorded by Arne Schumann at Soundfabrik Berlin, 20. - 22.11.2022 Mixed by Arne Schumann Mastered by Klaus Scheuermann Produced by Roberto Di Gioia & Siggi Loch

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

Torsten Goods - Thank You Baby!CD / digital Torsten Goods vocals & guitar Roberto Di Gioia Fender Rhodes & piano Tim Lefebvre Fender Jazz Bass & double bass Wolfgang Haffner drums Since the release of his last album “Love Comes To Town“, word has it that Torsten Goods “is a master of groove“ (Süddeutsche Zeitung), “pop jazz hasn't felt this good since George Benson“ (Kulturnews), because he “plays the guitar like George Benson, sings like Frank Sinatra and composes like Joe Sample“ (Süddeutsche Zeitung). However this 34- year -old is not one to rest on his laurels. Following an early breakthrough in his mid - twenties, he set himself new goals: a move from Nuremberg to Berlin was followed by performances with great jazz musicians like Till Brönner and further establishing his musical identity, among other things by working with pop stars such as Sarah Connor. Spirituals, blues and roots music form the creative foundation for “Thank You Baby!“ “This kind of music was familiar to me as a young lad. My Irish mum loved listening to spirituals, soul and jazz, and my dad's a blues musician, so when Siggi Loch suggested devoting my new album to this music, boyhood memories resurfaced and I was really keen. It wasn't about wallowing in nostalgia, though, but about expressing myself.“ says Goods, referring to the preparations for the new album. If special guests and horn arrangements were a distinctive feature of “Love Comes To Town“, here a compact 4-piece line-up is a more powerful statement, since, as Torsten says “Siggi Loch put my dream band together“. That is: on drums, Wolfgang Haffner, who also produced the album. Goods observes “ With his feel for groove and musical reduction, we're definitely on the same wavelength“. Then, on Fender Rhodes and piano, Roberto Di Gioia, an old friend of Haffner's, with whom he created his legendary, funky NuJazz project Zappelbude. Goods remembers being a teenage fan of that group. “Roberto isn't only an incredible jazz pianist, one of the best in that style, but is, like Wolfgang, always open to fresh ideas and now also plays with well-known pop stars like Max Herre“. The fourth band member is none other than Timothy Lefebvre, the American bass player who reputedly so impressed and inspired Michael Wollny and Eric Schaefer that the result was the award-winning album “Weltentraum“, the most successful German jazz album in 2014. The fact that Lefebvre plays bass on supergroup Toto's new studio album and is a permanent member of the Tedeschi Trucks Band illustrates how broad his spectrum is, and how ideally suited he is for Goods' purposes. Interestingly, it was a reunion with an old acquaintance: “I met Tim during my studies in the USA in the early 2000s.“ With the band having so many things in common, it was no wonder that, as Goods mentions, “a kind of magic“ set in. “We simply tried the tunes out till we reached the point where we thought we'd got it. Then we recorded them three times, each recording being slightly different. Then we had the take. The idea was to make the music sound pure and just like a live studio perfomance, without any overdubs, exactly as they would have done it in the sixties.“ “Thank You Baby!“ convinces on that score across the board: whether it be the irresistibly rolling, archaic “Work Song“ by Nat Adderly, Ray Charles' “Hallelujah I Love Her So“, steeped in sixties charm,or the reharmonized, deeply melancholic and reduced-to-its-essence “Where Did You Sleep Last Night?“ by Lead Belly, the fully improvised standard “Afro Blue“, composed by Mongo Santamaria, or the killer swing of “How Sweet It Is“, the Motown classic made famous by Marvin Gaye. This song and its lyrics were the inspiration for the album title: “With sweet love and devotion, deeply touching my emotion. I want to stop and thank you baby“. When Siggi Loch heard this line on the master tape he knew at once that that was the theme for the whole album. For Torsten Goods and his fellow musicians have embraced the repertoire with love and devotion, to deeply touch the listener's emotion. Please don't stop....Thank you, Torsten!Credits: Produced by Wolfgang Haffner & Torsten Goods Executive Producer: Siggi Loch Recorded by Arne Schumann, April 8-10, 2015 at Hansa Studios, Berlin Additional editing by Stephan Ernst Mixed by Arne Schumann in May and June, 2015 at Schumann & Bach Studios, Berlin 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

ACT, Germany's "Jazz Label of the Year" (ECHO Jazz 2010), impresses with cool show of work.

"13 fine distillates from Doldinger's film music, from 'Das Boot' to 'Tatort'. Dol(le) Dinger, enchanting - it's like magic!" - KULTURNEWS

"A fantastic record" - STEREO

Roberto Di Gioia blends jazz, funk & retro vibes with guests like Till Brönner, Nils Landgren & Klaus Doldinger – creative, groovy & unique.