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Wolfgang Haffner - Life Rhythm Live

2-CD / 2-LP / digital

Wolfgang Haffner drums  
Sebastian Studnitzky trumpet
Arto Mäkelä guitar
Simon Oslender keyboards
Thomas Stieger bass

Wolfgang Haffner is one of the most in-demand musicians in European jazz and certainly its most successful drummer-bandleader. He has the kind of full-on schedule in which a series of concerts in Japan can segue straight into an extensive European tour... followed by a short stop-off for a meeting in Ingolstadt – where he’s now in his second year in charge of the programming of the Ingolstädter Jazztage festival – and then off again. Wolfgang Haffner has brought about a remarkable transformation in his career. He has emerged from being a figure in the background in bands led by artists such as Al Jarreau, Jan Garbarek and Nils Landgren, into the kind of bandleader who really sets the tone; it is a role to which he is particularly well attuned and suited. Furthermore, whereas his studio albums such as the most recent, ‘Life Rhythm’, put a focus on high production values and the careful creation of deeply relaxed flow, the new album ‘Life Rhythm - Live’ has not only captured all that finesse and deep craft, it also conveys the kicking energy and dynamic buzz of Haffner's live concerts. The album also demonstrates why – uniquely – concerts by Wolfgang Haffner consisting solely of his own music in the largest concert halls are always sold out in advance. 

For the ‘Life Rhythm’ album recording and tour, Wolfgang Haffner put together a dream team. ‘Both keyboard player Simon Oslender and bassist Thomas Stieger have been in virtually all my musical ventures in recent years,’ he notes. ‘Trumpeter Sebastian Studnitzky was already part of some of my earlier bands. And when I met guitarist Arto Mäkelä about two years ago, his empathetic playing immediately left a very strong impression on me. With him, the band was fully in place as a complete unit, I had put my dream team together’. Haffner wrote the songs for the album “Life Rhythm” with the personalities of these musicians in mind, and the disc was released in the summer of 2024. In the autumn of the same year, the band went on tour, playing many of Germany's finest concert halls. And here, too, Haffner fulfilled a dream: ‘It was a pretty elaborate production, including a five-person crew, sophisticated lighting and sound, a real dramaturgy from start to finish, without any need to compromise or save on costs.’

Plans fell into place immediately. As Haffner remembers: ‘The band gelled perfectly from the first second, and just grew day by day. What we did together night after night really was quite an accomplishment. And it was clear to me from the start that we should capture the show on a live album.’ Wolfgang Haffner loves the live situation, all that alchemy of what can happen between the notes. He manages to strike a balance between pre-planning and freedom. Gentle acoustic passages are contrasted with more emphatic moments which are precisely planned, and for which sound and light are in synch. His fellow musicians, all of them experienced in both jazz and pop, follow their leader with an instinctive ease and precision into an in-between world where fusion, electric jazz and rock meet and coalesce. And the audience is with them every step of the way. Standing ovations follow. Everywhere. Naturally.

In addition to some tracks from the last studio album, ‘Life Rhythm Live’ also delves into Haffner’s back-catalogue. The bandleader has rearranged some earlier songs: ‘Leo’, ‘Nacho’, ‘Simple Life’, ‘Homerun’ and the frequently requested ‘Keep Going’ for the current line-up. There is a seamless fit with newer, more obviously dramatic repertoire. On the one hand, the album is a statement of where he is now, but it is also a summation, already turning new pages and hinting as to what might happen next. And that is because Wolfgang Haffner – who this year celebrates 50 years since first appearing on stage – still has plenty of plans for the future: ‘I am very grateful to be able to make a living from music. More than ever, I have tremendous fun playing the drums, writing new music and performing new musical ideas with wonderful people on stages all over the world for an audience that I love.’ This simple and candid expression of joy happens to sum up the recipe for Wolfgang Haffner’s remarkable success, for why it has endured so well, and why it will continue. 

Credits
Album produced, arranged & mixed by Wolfgang Haffner
Mastered by Marko Schneider at Skywalk Mastering
Recorded live by Jochen Etzel during the Life Rhythm tour in Germany, November 2024
Tour organized by Karsten Jahnke Konzertdirektion

Artists: Wolfgang Haffner
Format: CD, Vinyl
Instrumentation: Driven by Drums
Land: Deutschland
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Manufacturer information

ACT Music + Vision GmbH & Co.KG
Hardenbergstr. 9
D-10623 Berlin

Phone: + 49 - (0) 30 310 180 10
E-Mail: info@actmusic.com

Wolfgang Haffner

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€17.50*
Heart Of The Matter
"Heart of the Matter" is the logical continuation of the path Haffner has taken with the previous albums "Shapes", "Acoustic Shapes" and "Round Silence": organic, self-contained music with a sovereign groove, substantial melodies, full of colour and space. With special guests: Götz Alsmann, Till Brönner, Thomas Quasthoff and Sting guitarist Dominic Miller.

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Kind of Cool
Wolfgang Haffner - Kind of CoolCD / Vinyl / digital Wolfgang Haffner drums Christopher Dell vibraphone Jan Lundgren piano Dan Berglund bass Dusko Goykovich trumpet Jukka Perko alto saxophone Guests: Max Mutzke vocals Frank Chastenier piano Christian von Kaphengst bass Nils Landgren trombone James Dean and Marlon Brando were the glamorous heroes of the silver screen in the 50s. Character actors, sex symbols, blasé eccentrics with a penchant for extravagance. Role models for the rebellious youth: the embodiment of cool. A new attitude towards life was spreading around the USA. "The Birth of the Cool" also happened at the same time in the field of jazz, leading it to become the soundtrack of a generation. Miles Davis, John Lewis and the Modern Jazz Quartet, Dave Brubeck and Chet Baker (the "James Dean of jazz") gave jazz a whole new direction: the search for a special "cool" atmosphere based on tone and space in jazz, on substantial melodies with a laid-back approach designed for the collective. But this music was never cold-cool, it was merely played and conceived with what one might call a cool head. It is exactly this feeling and understanding of music that speaks from the heart of Wolfgang Haffner and drives his music forwards. So producer Siggi Loch didn't have any problem at all in convincing him to reinterpret an old understanding of the attitude with "Kind of Cool" in a way that was reminiscent of the origins of coolness in jazz: "The first jazz record I ever had was a gift: "Dave Brubeck live in Carnegie Hall". Immediately after that I went out and bought the Jazz Messengers and the Modern Jazz Quartet. That is how I began to occupy myself with jazz," Haffner recalls. So even if this ECHO Jazz-winning drummer, who is one of Germany's most successful jazz-band leaders, has played with the crème de la crème of the international music scene since then, in nearly all styles all the way through to rock and pop, and even if he has been involved in a good 400 albums, the source of it all were the heroes of modern jazz between 1950 and 1960. "I wouldn't call myself a cool, swing or bebop drummer," says Haffner. "I try to find the essence of the music. But the timing, melody and compositional structure of the cool jazz, that is in the nature of my music. The sound is the focus, and I think that is the important thing." Three main pillars define "Kind of Cool": First of all, "cool“ jazz tunes had to be on it. "So What" for example, the opener of "Kind of Blue", and "Django", the perhaps best-known composition by John Lewis, from the first album of his Modern Jazz Quartet. Secondly, standards were chosen from different styles that lent themselves to a "cool" interpretation. The most logical choice was "Autumn Leaves", made famous by the versions crafted by Cannonball Adderley with Miles Davis in 1958 and by Bill Evans in 1959. The Broadway ballad "My Funny Valentine" from 1937 also became a modern jazz standard thanks to the recordings made by Chet Baker and Miles Davis. And Billy Eckstine's "Piano Man" can be considered one of the "coolest" numbers made with the Kansas City sound of Count Basie; the two recorded it in 1959. Finally, Wolfgang Haffner contributed three of his own compositions that fit into the programme. "If you try to copy what they played back then, you can only lose," Haffner explains. "Nobody needs a second "Kind of Blue". What makes "Kind of Cool" so special is confronting the disparate fathers of the "cool“ tradition with the other feature, and to take the resulting number down to a common denominator: Davis' "So What", for instance, is dipped in the Modern Jazz Quartet sound by means of the vibraphone, while contrastingly the strict quartet piece "Django" gains the dynamic and ethereal splendour of the brass. Haffner's normally opulent compositions, that work with the dynamics and various sounds and rhythms, appear here in a sober, classic light. "Kind of Cool" is permeated by the typical Haffner feel that flows organically and naturally through the music. Haffner has a veritable all-star band at his side for "Kind of Cool". No other could have met the requirements better than Dusko Goykovich. The 83 year-old trumpeter with an ECHO Jazz for his life's work actually played together with the fathers of cool and modern jazz like Miles Davis, Art Blakey and Chet Baker. Pianist Jan Lundgren could also be considered as being ideal for the project, thanks in part to his profound mastery of the Great American Songbook and classical music; but also to his clear touch, intelligent phrasing and extraordinary timing. The vibraphone has a very special role on "Kind of Cool", having been one of the characteristic sounds of the Modern Jazz Quartet under the mallets of Milt Jackson. Christopher Dell, the virtuoso, avant-garde all-rounder among vibraphonists meets the challenge with aplomb. Finnish saxophonist Jukka Perko takes on the role of Paul Desmond, while e.s.t. bassist Dan Berglund helps Haffner provide the relaxed groove. Max Mutzke, a true soul man, takes over the vocal part on "Piano Man": "He'd never even heard of the piece, but in the end we used the very first take – it was perfect right off the bat," Haffner recalls. Jazz is just as "cool" today as it was then. Credits: Recorded by Arne Schumann on August 14 & 15, 2014 at Hansa Studio, Berlin. Recording Assistant: Jonas Zadow “Piano Man“ recorded by Philip Krause on July 15, 2014 at Emil-Berliner-Studio, Berlin Mixed by Arne Schumann @ Schumann & Bach Mastered by Peter Heider at Purecuts Cover art (detail) by Gert & Uwe Tobias, by permission of the artists

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Kind Of Spain
Wolfgang Haffner - Kind Of SpainCD / Vinyl / digital Wolfgang Haffner drums Jan Lundgren piano Sebastian Studnitzky trumpet Daniel Stelter guitar Christopher Dell vibraphone Lars Danielsson bass The “Sound of Europe,” captured and documented on CD and vinyl. For over 25 years, the ACT label has had a consistent mission to support and promote European jazz, and had substantial impact through doing it. All shades, all hues…but with an emphasis on specific countries and regions, among which maybe the best examples are Sweden and France. Of these two countries, ACT’s connection to Spain is perhaps the less well-known, and yet the very first production by the label was a venture involving Spain, Germany and the USA. In July 1992 label founder Siggi Loch brought the WDR Big Band together in Cologne with a few of the finest flamenco specialists from the Iberian peninsula, as well as heavyweights from American jazz such as Al Di Meola. The result was “Jazzpaña” (ACT 9212-2) which garnered two Grammy nominations, a major success for the fledgling record label. The arrangements on the album were by the (then unknown) composer/ arranger Vince Mendoza and by the Turkish-born star US producer Arif Mardin. 25 years later, and award-winning German drummer Wolfgang Haffner is doffing the cap to both Mendoza and to Mardin – the latter died in 2006. On “Kind of Spain” Haffner and an acoustic sextet have combined the music of the Iberian peninsula and jazz. The first track “For Vince & Arif” is a tribute to both of the great arrangers – the drummer worked several times with both of them. “During the session,” remembers Haffner, “Siggi played us one of the tracks from “Jazzpaña”. It had those typical flamenco hand-claps. We spontaneously decided to sample the claps, and jammed over them.” Following on from the successful 1950’s cool jazz and bop excursions in “Kind of Cool”, “Kind of Spain” is again with an 100% acoustic band. Traditional Spanish music meets jazz. A cultural heritage which is more than 500 years old encounters the blue notes of the New World; flamenco and folklore meet new compositions by the bandleader. The vibe created by this sextet is introvert, warm and atmospheric, and the listener’s mind might easily drift off… to a roof terrace somewhere in Granada by night, perhaps. “My original wish was to record as a quintet,” says the ECHO Jazz prize-winner for drums from 2010. “A band with bass, guitar, piano and trumpet was already in existence. But then I decided that I absolutely wanted Christopher Dell to be part of the group as well, because he has had such an important role in my live band for years.” Vibraphonist Dell, who like pianist Jan Lundgren was on “Kind of Cool”, gives a particular tonal colour to this endeavour. Lars Danielsson has been a fixed presence in Haffner's groups right from the beginning; the bassist (who also plays cello) was on Haffner's ACT debut album “Shapes” in 2006, has been a member of his acoustic trio, and has been a musical close colleague for several years. Sebastian Studnitzky, who brings in his velvety trumpet sound, is another musician who has a long playing history with the drummer, not least the time when both of them were members of the Nils Landgren Funk Unit. And then there is the youngest member of this team: guitarist Daniel Stelter. “That melody is so strong that the softer you play it, the stronger it gets,” said Miles Davis of Joaquín Rodrigo's “Concierto de Aranjuez,” which he recorded for his 1960 album “Sketches of Spain.” Here Daniel Stelter plays the unforgettable tune – very much in the idiom of the trumpet legend. Stelter, whom Haffner got to know during Al Jarreau's final concert tour, demonstrates tremendous concentration - and also tenderness. "Space in music is essential to me," says Haffner. “Just a few notes, played in ballad tempo, that really appeals to me." Understatement is the order of the day on "Kind of Spain", with no one adding a note more than is necessary, and a bandleader whose drumming never has a scintilla of attention-seeking about it. "I like strong melodies and beautiful harmonies," Haffner emphasizes. "The very last thing I think about is how I am going to accompany the songs on the drums." Both "Tàpies" and "Salinas", composed in Haffner's adoptive home, Ibiza, show evidence of his elegant restraint. The traditional Andalusian 16th century piece "El Vito," and Lars Danielsson's exciting "Pasodoble," which is reminiscent of Spanish folk dance, are both invigorating popular songs. On these tracks Dell and Lundgren both shine with fine solos. So who knew? Spanish music...played by German and Swedish jazz musicians. Who would have guessed that so much Mediterranean passion and sensitivity can exist north of the Alps? And the answer is: everyone who knows Wolfgang Haffner. Credits: Produced by Lars Danielsson with Wolfgang Haffner Executive Producer & Curator: Siggi Loch Recorded by Arne Schumann at Hansa Studios Berlin, January 21 & 22, 2017 Mixed by Arne Schumann@Schumann&Bach Mastered by Peter Heider at Purecuts

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Kind of Tango
Wolfgang Haffner - Kind of TangoCD / Vinyl / digital Wolfgang Haffner drums Lars Danielsson bass & cello Christopher Dell vibraphone Simon Oslender piano Vincent Peirani accordion Ulf Wakenius guitar Alma Naidu vocals Sebastian Studnitzky trumpet Bill Evans saxophone (07 & 09) Lars Nilsson flugelhorn (03) “This isn’t about reproducing an original, it’s much more like a translation. When I absorb and adapt influences and when I write, I follow my own path – and that allows me to be myself. It’s a process from which something new and contemporary can emerge.” This is how Wolfgang Haffner describes the artistic approach in his “Kind of...” album trilogy, all of which have the unmistakable Haffner sound running right through them. After a first adventure in cool jazz, and then a search for musical traditions in Spain, his new destination is Buenos Aires: “From the moment Siggi Loch suggested tango as my third point of departure, I didn’t need any more convincing. Rhythm is the essence of tango, plus catchy melodies which can then be developed – and there’s so much emotion in it too.” “Kind of Tango” is indeed a kaleidoscope of shifting emotions. Haffner’s conception of tango has drama and propulsion in it, but also melancholy and longing, with room for frenetic outbursts too. All this is unified by his inimitable groove and feel that commentators have called “an absolute dream”, “magical” and “profoundly relaxed”. Alongside trusted co-protagonists Christopher Dell and Lars Danielsson, he has two guests with him who defy all the clichés associated with tango: guitarist Ulf Wakenius cut his teeth musically in Oscar Peterson’s band, and his Swedish heritage always shines through in his playing. Vincent Peirani is one of the leading innovators on the accordion, and he finds new ways to define the instrument’s role in the tango. Young pianist Simon Oslender is making a first appearance with the band. Jazz and tango find a natural yet constantly shifting equilibrium – to be heard particularly effectively on “Close Your Eyes And Listen” by Astor Piazzolla. In addition to compositions by Haffner himself and by his band members, pieces by the celebrated Argentinian bandoneon player and composer are the focal point of the album. Piazzolla’s innovations with the tango, such as bringing jazz into it, date from around 1955. Haffner and the tango seem perfectly matched to each other. Tango is no longer a fixed style nowadays, it is above all an attitude to playing and an attitude to life. Wolfgang Haffner’s approach to tango is both authentic and new. It is his and his alone. And it is irresistible.Credits: Cover art (detail) by Gert & Uwe Tobias

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Licence To Funk
Experience fiery jazz-rock with Nils Landgren, Ray Parker Jr. & top musicians. A dynamic blend of vocals and instruments.

€17.50*
Life Rhythm
Wolfgang Haffner - Life RhythmCD / Vinyl / digital Wolfgang Haffner drums Simon Oslender piano & keyboards Thomas Stieger bass, sitar guitar (#07) Sebastian Studnitzky trumpet Arto Mäkelä guitar Nils Landgren trombone (#01) Thomas Konstantinou oud (#05) Shantel additional production, electronics & mix (#05) Dominic Miller acoustic guitar (#06) Bruno Müller rhythm guitar (#06) Nicolas Fiszman bass (#06) Bill Evans soprano saxophone (#08) ‘I keep thinking about how to lead a band from the drums in a way that gives the instrument a central role, but one which is more about shaping the music than displaying virtuosity,’ says Wolfgang Haffner. This way of working, a common thread throughout his career, is a key factor in ‘Life Rhythm’, his tenth album for ACT. Haffner may shun the virtuoso drummer/bandleader stereotype – and do so intentionally – but ‘Life Rhythm’ nonetheless has the drums at its very heart. Back in 2022, it was Wolfgang Haffner's very first solo concert at Schloss Elmau in the Bavarian Alps which set the process in motion that has led to this album. He remembers: ‘That was an insane challenge. I had a decision to make: was I really going to play a drum solo … for a full hour? Of course not! So what I did was to add a lot of percussion instruments that I could use melodically, looped passages played live, I worked with reverb and delays – basically it was as if I was in the studio, but on stage.’ This has led to Haffner taking the drum kit, the instrument which has been his close companion throughout his life… and re-thinking his relationship with it: whereas Haffner’s tunes normally originate from the piano, all of the tracks on ‘Life Rhythm’ have the drums as their source.The consequences of this approach can be experienced right from the start of ‘Life Rhythm’: the title track has a driving groove in which drums rather than cymbals set the pulse. It is no coincidence that this groove has a clear echo of Phil Collins and his track ‘Take Me Home’. Collins, and the way he turns a drum part into a building block for his songwriting has always been one of Haffner's greatest inspirations. Each of the eleven highly concentrated, song-like pieces on ‘Life Rhythm’ opens up its own world of particularly musical drumming: ‘Balance’ has some gentle brushwork, in ‘Joy of Life’ it is a cymbal groove, for ‘Eternity’ there is the subtle use of electronics, and in ‘Silence and Sound’ less is definitely more. There is a reason why Haffner is able to transform this wide range of styles into a coherent whole, and that is because of quite how much of his career has been spent playing directly alongside the shapers of the music, Al Jarreau, Chaka Khan, Pat Metheny, Jan Garbarek, Esbjörn Svensson, Albert Mangelsdorff...and many, many more. All of these collaborations have shaped Wolfgang Haffner's vocabulary on the instrument and his personality and individuality as a composer.A versatile approach and the highest level of musicianship are also factors which Wolfgang Haffner has in common with his fellow musicians on ‘Life Rhythm’. At the core is his regular, completely ‘played-in’ trio with keyboard player Simon Oslender, also a drummer and a band leader in his own right, and Thomas Stieger, one of the most sought-after bassists on the German pop and jazz scenes. They are joined by trumpeter Sebastian Studnitzky, Haffner's regular collaborator since his ACT debut ‘Shapes’, and Finnish guitarist Arto Mikälä, a real discovery with remarkable variety in his sound.Haffner also welcomes some unique musical personalities to bring their own highly individual colours to the band: Nils Landgren has been a good friend and touring colleague for more than 20 years. Also appearing are saxophone icon Bill Evans, Sting’s guitarist Dominic Miller, Balkan beat star Shantel, the refined bassist Nicolas Fiszman, oud virtuoso Thomas Konstantinou and Bruno Müller, one of the finest of German jazz guitarists. ‘Life Rhythm’, says Wolfgang Haffner, ‘is not a repetition for me, but a continuation.’ With its warmth, power and clarity, the music has the distinctive hallmark which makes Haffner probably the most popular drummer/bandleader in Europe, known from his albums and from thousands of concerts in more than 100 countries. And at the same time it marks an evolution in his music. Indeed, perhaps one of the key factors behind Haffner's success is that his music will always contain elements of the familiar alongside the new, and that Haffner always brings the audience along with him to participate in the flow of his ideas – and also in the ‘life rhythm’ which he communicates so brilliantly, and instils in everyone around him. Credits: All music composed, produced and arranged by Wolfgang Haffner Cover art created by Peter Krüll

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New
Life Rhythm Live
Wolfgang Haffner - Life Rhythm Live2-CD / 2-LP / digitalWolfgang Haffner drums  Sebastian Studnitzky trumpetArto Mäkelä guitarSimon Oslender keyboardsThomas Stieger bassWolfgang Haffner is one of the most in-demand musicians in European jazz and certainly its most successful drummer-bandleader. He has the kind of full-on schedule in which a series of concerts in Japan can segue straight into an extensive European tour... followed by a short stop-off for a meeting in Ingolstadt – where he’s now in his second year in charge of the programming of the Ingolstädter Jazztage festival – and then off again. Wolfgang Haffner has brought about a remarkable transformation in his career. He has emerged from being a figure in the background in bands led by artists such as Al Jarreau, Jan Garbarek and Nils Landgren, into the kind of bandleader who really sets the tone; it is a role to which he is particularly well attuned and suited. Furthermore, whereas his studio albums such as the most recent, ‘Life Rhythm’, put a focus on high production values and the careful creation of deeply relaxed flow, the new album ‘Life Rhythm - Live’ has not only captured all that finesse and deep craft, it also conveys the kicking energy and dynamic buzz of Haffner's live concerts. The album also demonstrates why – uniquely – concerts by Wolfgang Haffner consisting solely of his own music in the largest concert halls are always sold out in advance. For the ‘Life Rhythm’ album recording and tour, Wolfgang Haffner put together a dream team. ‘Both keyboard player Simon Oslender and bassist Thomas Stieger have been in virtually all my musical ventures in recent years,’ he notes. ‘Trumpeter Sebastian Studnitzky was already part of some of my earlier bands. And when I met guitarist Arto Mäkelä about two years ago, his empathetic playing immediately left a very strong impression on me. With him, the band was fully in place as a complete unit, I had put my dream team together’. Haffner wrote the songs for the album “Life Rhythm” with the personalities of these musicians in mind, and the disc was released in the summer of 2024. In the autumn of the same year, the band went on tour, playing many of Germany's finest concert halls. And here, too, Haffner fulfilled a dream: ‘It was a pretty elaborate production, including a five-person crew, sophisticated lighting and sound, a real dramaturgy from start to finish, without any need to compromise or save on costs.’Plans fell into place immediately. As Haffner remembers: ‘The band gelled perfectly from the first second, and just grew day by day. What we did together night after night really was quite an accomplishment. And it was clear to me from the start that we should capture the show on a live album.’ Wolfgang Haffner loves the live situation, all that alchemy of what can happen between the notes. He manages to strike a balance between pre-planning and freedom. Gentle acoustic passages are contrasted with more emphatic moments which are precisely planned, and for which sound and light are in synch. His fellow musicians, all of them experienced in both jazz and pop, follow their leader with an instinctive ease and precision into an in-between world where fusion, electric jazz and rock meet and coalesce. And the audience is with them every step of the way. Standing ovations follow. Everywhere. Naturally.In addition to some tracks from the last studio album, ‘Life Rhythm Live’ also delves into Haffner’s back-catalogue. The bandleader has rearranged some earlier songs: ‘Leo’, ‘Nacho’, ‘Simple Life’, ‘Homerun’ and the frequently requested ‘Keep Going’ for the current line-up. There is a seamless fit with newer, more obviously dramatic repertoire. On the one hand, the album is a statement of where he is now, but it is also a summation, already turning new pages and hinting as to what might happen next. And that is because Wolfgang Haffner – who this year celebrates 50 years since first appearing on stage – still has plenty of plans for the future: ‘I am very grateful to be able to make a living from music. More than ever, I have tremendous fun playing the drums, writing new music and performing new musical ideas with wonderful people on stages all over the world for an audience that I love.’ This simple and candid expression of joy happens to sum up the recipe for Wolfgang Haffner’s remarkable success, for why it has endured so well, and why it will continue. CreditsAlbum produced, arranged & mixed by Wolfgang HaffnerMastered by Marko Schneider at Skywalk MasteringRecorded live by Jochen Etzel during the Life Rhythm tour in Germany, November 2024Tour organized by Karsten Jahnke Konzertdirektion

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Magic Moments 10 "In The Spirit of Jazz"
Various Artists - Magig Moments 10 "In The Spirit of Jazz"CD / digitalThe anniversary sampler Magic Moments 10 gives an insight into the current album releases from the ACT catalogue. 14 tracks, over 1 hour of the best jazz infotainment "in the spirit of jazz".Credits: Compilation by Siggi Loch Mastered by Klaus Scheuermann

€4.90*
Magic Moments 12
Various Artists - Magic Moments 12CD / digitalOne World Of Music. The ACT label has jazz at its core, and an openness to all kinds of musical directions: pop, rock, the music of singer-songwriters and traditional folkloric forms such as flamenco and tango. These very different genres nonetheless never fail to find new and magical ways to work together. The twelfth Magic Moments compilation presents exciting music "in the Spirit of Jazz". All kinds of pleasure await the listener during its 71 minutes. And what can one expect to hear in this world so far away from a single predetermined style? There are surprises, obviously. Plus several chances to reconnect with established and familiar stars. And discoveries of some genuinely exciting newcomers. The opening track is from Iiro Rantala on solo piano. His portrait of the month of "August" is from "My Finnish Calendar", an album which sets to music the course of an entire year in his home country from a very personal point of view. Argentinian tango is a prime example of a musical tradition which is not just lively but is also constantly developing. The Javier Girotto Trio proves the point in "Deus Xango" from "Tango Nuevo Revisited", a contemporary reimagining of the Piazzolla/Mulligan classic album from 1975. "Four top-league jazz musicians who just enjoy playing". That description by the TV programme ZDF today Journal) defines exactly what "4WD" is all about. The four bandleaders involved are Nils Landgren, Mi-chael Wollny, Lars Danielsson and Wolfgang Haffner). Each of them is in equal control and they all set the direction of the group. "Flamenco and jazz are brothers," says Spanish piano newcomer Daniel García. In his energetic trio with special guest Jorge Pardo, he shows just how true that statement is with the fiery "Travesuras". French accordionist Vincent Peirani and his wife Serena Fisseau then create a familiar musical refuge: "What A Wonderful World" is a paean to silence. A duo of newcomers to the label, Grégoire Maret and Edmar Castaneda create new and exciting sound worlds. In "Harp vs. Harp" harmonica meets harp. This is indeed a special and rare pairing; "Blueserinho" absolutely needs to be heard. With his "Italian Songbook" trumpeter Luca Aquino has recorded a homage to the music of his homeland. Here is "Scalinatella" by film composer Giuseppe Cioffi in an affecting version for trio with the Italian piano star Danilo Rea and accordionist Natalino Marchetti. Singer Cæcilie Norby unites musicians from several generations and countries on "Sisters in Jazz". Her composition "Naked In The Dark" demonstrates that jazz is far from being only about men. "Klinken" comes from the debut album "Stax" by the 25-year-old drummer Max Stadtfeld, a release in the Young German Jazz series. Stadtfeld and his comrades-in-arms have no truck with intellectuality, they move in the rhythm-oriented mainstream and yet point beyond it. With freshness and astonishing maturity this quartet thrills and excites. For over 10 years the successful trio Mare Nostrum with Paolo Fresu, Richard Galliano and Jan Lundgren has been the epitome of the sound of Europe. All three musi-cians have a quite fabulous sense of the lyrical and poetic which is again very much to the fore in their third album; Magic Moments 12 has the Swedish "Ronneby". As the magazine Galore writes of German jazz icon Joachim Kühn. “He interprets Ornette Coleman's music in his very own way: lyrically, gently and introvertedly, but full of surprising details." Kühn relives the unique story of his work alongside one of the legends of jazz here with "Lost Thoughts", a piece never recorded before. On 6 February 2019, jazz baroness Pannonica (Nica) de Koenigswarter (1913-1988) received a posthumous tribute for her tireless commitment to jazz in a concert at the Philharmonie in Berlin. The focus was on pieces by musicians whom Pannonica had supported over so many years with money, accommodation, advice and friendship, and who often dedicated compositions to her in gratitude, "Little Butterly" by Thelonious Monk for example. The New York singer Charenée Wade is in the limelight here, accompanied by Iiro Rantala, Dan Berglund and Anton Eger, with the American saxophone titan Ernie Watts. "An Israeli power trio. Heavy Jazz," Rolling Stone wrote of Shalosh. And when you hear the frenzied "After The War" it is obvious why: rock and indie jazz combine to form a mix which is full of tension and excitement. Violinist Adam Baldych is a supremely talented virtuoso. Stereo Magazine has described him as "one of the most technically brilliant interpreters of improvised music". "Longing" from his album "Sacrum Profanum" is a searingly sad ballad, sensitively interpreted in a duo with pianist Krzysztof Dys. On "Painted Music" the pianist Carsten Dahl gives his own highly personal take on classics of the jazz repertoire. The traditional Danish folk song "Jeg gik mig ud en sommerdag" (I went out on a summer’s day) is the sound of summer. At the end of “Magic Moments 12”, Nguyên Lê's piece "Hippocampus" reminds us of "One World Of Music", the theme of the compilation. The French guitarist of Vietnamese ancestry is a musical wayfarer between cultures who combines the freedom of jazz with influences from rock and world music.Credits: Compilation by Siggi Loch Mastered by Klaus Scheuermann

€4.90*
Magic Moments 13
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

€4.90*