Romain Collin

The famous compliation "Magic Moments", curated by Siggi LochTracklist: 01 Elevation of Love // Album: e.s.t. 30 Magnus Öström, Dan Berglund, Magnus Lindgren, Joel Lyssarides, Verneri Pohjola, Ulf Wakenius 02 Second Nature // Album: Life Rhythm Wolfgang Haffner03 Raw // Album: raw Nils Landgren Funk Unit 04 The Answer // Album: The Answer Jakob Manz 05 Shots // Album: Bloom Bill Laurance 06 Das Handtuch // Album: Tough Stuff Iiro Rantala 07 She’ll Arrive Between 10 & 11 // Album: Guitar PoetryMikael Máni 08 Terrible Seeds // Album: While You Wait Little North 09 Se Telefonando // Album: Ennio Grégoire Maret, Romain Collin 10 Wonderland // Album: Wonderland Daniel García Trio 11 Fresu // Album: Inner Spirits Jan Lundgren, Yamandu Costa 12 Hands Off // Album: Stealing Moments Viktoria Tolstoy 13 Hidden Prelude // Album: What the Fugue Florian Willeitner 14 Pralin // Album: Let Them Cook Emile Parisien 15 My Brother Rolf // Album: Komeda Joachim Kühn 16 Passacaglia // Album: Passacaglia Adam Bałdych, Leszek Możdżer 17 Linden Tree Rag // Album: Rag Bag Bernd Lhotzky 18 Zafeirious Solo // Album: Arcs & Rivers Joel Lyssarides, Georgios Prokopiou

Various Artists - Magic Moments 13CD / digitalBest Jazzinfotainment: 16 tracks, 75 minutes of music in the Spirit of Jazz, including Nils Landgren & Jan Lundgren, Wolfgang Haffner,Ulf Wakenius, Solveig Slettahjell, Grégoire Maret, Vincent Peirani & Emile Parisien, Kadri Voorand, Viktoria Tolstoy, Jazzrausch Bigband.Credits: Compilation by Siggi Loch Mastered by Klaus Scheuermann

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

Various Artists - Magic Moments 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

Romain Collin - Press EnterCD / digital Romain Collin piano, sound design & programming Luques Curtis double bass Kendrick Scott drums Mino Cinelu percussion (09) Megan Rose vocals (01 & 08) Jean-Michel Pilc whistles (05) Grey McMurray guitar (04) Laura Metcalf cello "I always associate visuals with music - and music with visuals," says New York based, french-born pianist and composer, Romain Collin. From the very first note on his ACT debut, Press Enter, his music creates evocative moving pictures which cast a spell on the listener. Vivid musical storytelling is at the core of Collin's vision. His compositions, built around powerful melodic themes, fascinate with their far-reaching dynamic and emotional range. Alongside drummer Kendrick Scott and bassist Luques Curtis, Collin's music moves seamlessly between dramatic crescendos and subtle ensemble interplay, whilst all at once creating striking imagery for the listeners. Romain Collin first came to the piano at an early age through classical music. Shortly thereafter, he discovered Oscar Peterson, Erroll Garner and Herbie Hancock, which unearthed a passion for jazz. After visiting New York for the first time at the age of fifteen, Collin made a vow to someday call this place his home. In 2001 - soon after his 20th Birthday - Collin took a major step towards his goal when he took up a scholarship to attend Boston's renowned Berklee College of Music. Romain was then accepted the highly coveted Masters Program at the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz in LA, after auditioning in front of his musical heroes, Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter and Ron Carter. Soon after, Collin got the chance to tour Vietnam and India with his mentors, of which recalls: "It was a unique opportunity not only to get to know them first hand as musicians, but also as human beings. We would all spend a lot of time together, go sightseeing before playing big shows where I would trade fours with Herbie! He's one of the reasons I became a pianist in the first place, so that was an unforgettable and incredibly formative experience." After graduating from the Monk Institute, Collin fulfilled the dream of his youth and moved to New York City. On life as a NY musician, Collin says “...what makes New York special is its sheer intensity. There are so many amazing musicians on the NY scene that I am lucky to call my friends, and who are constantly inspiring me. Nothing really ever sits still here - it's all growth and discovery.” Since moving to New York, Collin has rapidly made a name for himself, recording alongside the likes of Mike Stern, John McLaughlin, and Christian McBride, whilst also releasing two critically acclaimed albums as leader: The Rise and Fall of Pipokuhn (2009) and The Calling (2012). NPR (National Public Radio) calls him "a visionary composer, an extraordinary jazz pianist and a very bright young rising star in the jazz world", while The Boston Globe named him as being "among the leading lights of a new breed of jazz players". Meanwhile, Collin's flair for creating music with a strong visual element was given further expression over the course of several award-winning movie scores. Press Enter merges Collin's influences into one cohesive and unique artistic vision; blending contemporary and traditional American jazz with European classical music and film scoring, framed within a modern production sensibility. The album title is indicative of Romain Collin's singularity of vision and uncompromised dedication to his path, qualities exemplified by the great Wayne Shorter. Collin remembers "While I was in India with Wayne, we had a discussion about having big plans - in life, or in music - but oftentimes not really acting upon them. Wayne then paused, and said to me "PRESS ENTER!". Then he left...but that stayed with me." Credits: Recorded October 7 - 9, 2013 at the Clubhouse, Rhinebeck (NY) Tracking, mixing and additional programming by Jeremy Lucas Mastered by Mark Wilder at Battery Studios (NY) Produced by Romain Collin and Matt Pierson Music composed & arranged by Romain Collin except otherwise noted