Passacaglia

With "Anyone With A Heart", Iiro Rantala, definitively showing himself to be a great Neo Romantic, beyond all stylistic limitations: "Now it's simply about my melodies." And he conceived all of them from the outset for the classical form of the piano trio: piano, violin and cello. It is a form that is quite unique in jazz. The trio is completed by the consummately virtuoso all-rounder Adam Baldych (violin) and Asja Valcic (cello), who also has her background in classical music. "I have always loved melodies," says Rantala and that's it, what "Anyone With A Heart" shows!

Adam Bałdych's "Bridges" creates a virtuosic jazz-folk fusion with Helge Lien Trio.

Adam Baldych - Brothers CD / Vinyl / digital Adam Bałdych violin, renaissance violin Helge Lien piano Frode Berg bass Per Oddvar Johansen drums Tore Brunborg saxophone The title of Adam Bałdych’s previous album from 2015 was “Bridges”. And indeed, the Polish violinist is one of the leading builders of bridges between genres in current European jazz. Only 31 years old, he already has a whole sheaf of distinguished awards to his name, notably an ECHO Jazz Prize. His music combines Polish folk, classical music and many different kinds of jazz. He plays with an astonishing technical range, in which classical finesse is combined with swirling improvisation - and the defiant energy and power of rock music. Since 2015, Bałdych has been building these kinds of bridges in the company of the Norwegian Helge Lien Trio. “With Helge, Frode and Per Oddvar we have clocked up thousands of kilometres together; these musicians are way more than just a backing band,” says the violinist. Adam Bałdych’s new album is called “Brothers,” and is dedicated to the memory of his brother who passed away. So, for Bałdych and his band colleagues, it is about far more than either mere virtuosity or entertainment. “I would like my music,” says Bałdych, “to ingrain itself into the present time, and also to reflect it. It should take on board the cares and the yearnings of now. What I really wish for my music is that it should convey a message about love and beauty; more than ever we ought to feel that we are brothers and sisters, in order to understand each other better.” This lofty goal is reflected in track titles such as “Faith”, “Love”, “One” and “Shadows”. And through all that shared experience of playing with Helge Lien on piano, Frode Berg on bass and Per Oddvar Johansen on drums, Bałdych has the ideal means to express many different aspects of brotherliness through music. The group is also joined on some tracks by Norwegian saxophonist Tore Brunborg, known for his work with artists such as Tord Gustavsen and Manu Katchè. That deep sense of brotherliness between musicians is the starting-point for this band: “Only with complete trust and understanding can we achieve the objective of musical unity,” says Bałdych. “What we want is to embark on musical journeys without compromises, and to have the courage to discover the unknown.” This unity in their way of making music shines through in all nine tracks on this CD, of which eight are original compositions by Bałdych. The album also hangs together convincingly as a whole – to some extent it has become a concept album. Bałdych draws an extended arc which runs from the heavy and rocky anthem “Elegy”, through the ballad “Faith” which carefully draws the listener into its confidence and modulates from major to minor. It then takes in a lyrical pledge of unity (”One”) and the title track “Brothers” which agitatedly circles around its theme, and arrives at a point where “Hallelujah” by Leonard Cohen seems to emerge from nothingness, and quietly to disappear back into it. “Compared to our last album “Bridges”, says Bałdych, “the music in "Brothers" is ‘dirtier’ and more uninhibited. It is as if we can exist on that knife-edge between what Lacan called “the cry” and silence. And that is how the world is now: joy and tragedy can co-exist right next to each other.” The violinist is able truly to portray the entire gamut of emotions through music. In the pianissimo moments it is replete with feeling and also clarity, and on the other hand Bałdych can take it to a point where it is so strong and loud it feels almost ready to burst. The interaction of Polish and Scandinavian sounds, of the American and European traditions of improvising, and the ways in which styles and genres unite and complement each other...everything happens a way which carries that spirit of brotherliness. And so listeners are also inevitably drawn in - as spiritual brothers or sisters. Credits: Music composed and arranged by Adam Bałdych except 07 composed by Leonard Cohen and arranged by Adam Bałdych & Helge Lien Recorded by Klaus Scheuermann at Hansa Studios, Berlin, November 12 & 13, 2016 Produced by Siggi Loch with the artist The Art in Music :Cover art by Alf Lechner (1925 - 2017): Anlehnung Steel, 420 x 120 x 310 cm, ACT Art Collection

Various Artists - Christmas in the Spirit of JazzCD / digitalJust as there are a multitude of different ways to celebrate Christmas, there is also a vast and appetising array of Christmas music. And whereas Nils Landgren's "Christmas With My Friends" series has been an integral part of the run-up to the holiday season for the past 15 years, it is far from being all that ACT has to offer: a host of other artists from the label have created their own distinctive Christmas sounds. These range from the quiet contemplations of pianist Bugge Wesseltoft or the hymn-inspired "Nordic Christmas" from saxophonist Tore Brunborg, to music from Cana-dian singer Laila Biali or “a touch of class” (The Observer) from Echoes of Swing... and even the coruscating and youth-ful energy of the Jazzrausch Bigband. All these and many more are to be found on "Christmas in the Spirit of Jazz". This is the ACT Christmas soundtrack for 2021. Tracks from all eight of the "Christmas With My Friends" albums are the thread running through this Christmas com-pilation. Nils Landgren sets the celebrations in motion with "Coming' Home for Christmas", the album opener. In the course of the album’s eighteen tracks, we hear a roster of other soloists: Jessica Pilnäs, Johan Norberg and Jonas Knut-son bring seasonal joy to Leroy Anderson’s swinging classic "Sleigh Ride"; Sharon Dyall with her blues-infused voice jingles us through the lively "Just Another Christmas Song"; Ida Sand and Jeanette Köhn sing John Rutter’s "Angel's Carol" in a gently-paced duet. As German magazine Stern has remarked of "Christmas With My Friends”, this is music which "sparkles like the starry sky of a Nordic winter night". We cross the border from Sweden into Norway for another Christmas classic: Bugge Wesseltoft recorded one of the best-selling Christmas albums in Norway with his piano solo CD "It's Snowing On My Piano": the plaintive sounds of Wes-seltoft playing "In Dulce Jubilo" have an irresistible simplicity and directness. And then on to Denmark for Janne Mark: she sings about "Vinter", a delightful hymn which brings light and warmth to Scandinavia's season of darkness. Christmas with the Jazzrausch Bigband is lively and sassy. Sometimes loud, sometimes quiet, the stylish sound of this big band has been superbly caught: "Fröhliche Weihnacht überall" (Merry Christmas everywhere) takes us a long way from the quieter and more contemplative vibe to be heard elsewhere on "Christmas in the Spirit of Jazz". Echoes of Swing with Rebecca Kilgore treat us to a superb "Winter Wonderland": it’s swinging and American - but with a knowing, five-four smile.A song which was not originally written with Christmas in mind, but which has nonetheless found its way into the canon is "A Child is Born" by Thad Jones: Laila Biali's version of it is released here on CD for the first time. Another which has also become a Christmas evergreen is Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah". Polish violinist Adam Bałdych interprets it here. And with "Happy Xmas, War is Over" from 1971, we hear Iiro Rantala paying homage to John Lennon. His solo piano interpretation is virtuosic yet has depth, and the song’s message of peace could not be more topical or important than it is today. Caecilie Norby and Lars Danielsson have made a new recording of "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" especially for "Christmas in the Spirit of Jazz". We hear just the duo of voice and bass, the mood carefree yet festive. "Christmas Song" is heard in a calmly uplifting version from Viktoria Tolstoy, with Ida Sand, Ulf Wakenius and Nils Landgren. And finally Mr. Redhorn brings "Christmas in the Spirit of Jazz" to an atmospheric conclusion on solo trombone: "Der Mond ist aufgegangen" (the moon is risen) is from his recently released solo album "Nature Boy". Landgren’s trombone sound echoes weightlessly through space and time: the final mood is one of contemplation and peace.

Adam Bałdych  - CloudsCD / Vinyl / digital Adam Bałdych violin & renaissance violin Vincent Courtois cello Rogier Telderman piano “Europe is different, every country is different,” says violinist Adam Bałdych, “but music is a language which can bring us together, to one place.” He, Dutch pianist Rogier Telderman and French cellist Vincent Courtois combine and juxtapose their different sounds and heritages. That is the central concept behind the trio of equals that they formed two years ago. “We have three very different personalities, we each bring very different colours,” says Bałdych. The group gave its inaugural concert at a festival which carries a strong European mission in its name: the artistic director of the ‘Sounds of Europe Festival’ which had it very first edition in Breda in Holland in February 2018 gave Dutch pianist Rogier Telderman carte blanche to form a new ensemble, and the pianist chose to invite Bałdych and Courtois. They rehearsed for a day before their festival debut. “It was enjoyable right from the start,” remembers Rogier Telderman. Following their first concert, it was clear that all three members, each of whom normally leads ensembles in his own right, was thinking ‘we should do this more often’. And then, as they proceeded to play concerts together, the mutual respect, the mutual listening, the willingness to experiment grew: “We have brought those differences to the point where we all feel comfortable sharing, writing - and each of us writes very differently,” says Telderman, who also enjoys the challenge of working in an ensemble with such strong characters: “These are personalities who are always pushing you, following their intuition, taking you in new directions.” This trio project, and this album, recorded over two days at La Buissonne studios in the South of France, have allowed Adam Bałdych to accentuate a particular aspect of his playing. Whereas virtuoso violinists of the past were almost condemned to play a lot of notes, the instrument makes very different demands on the modern virtuoso: “to inhabit different moods – to make each note have its own story,” explains Bałdych. On this album I wanted to play less than ever before.” That tendency towards economy of expression is clear from the very opening of the album. Bałdych’s composition “Clouds” is reflective, personal and intimate. It is a delicate sound world recalling the chamber music of Polish composers who were also violinists such as Karol Szymanowski and Grazyna Bacewicz. There is deep melancholy, but within it is a particular kind of hopefulness and optimism, a desire to move forwards and create flow. And that is an aspect of the group’s work that has appealed to critics who have heard the band live: “The music unfolded completely instinctively, over and over again,” wrote Jazznu after a concert in Tilburg. One particular sound colour from Bałdych is prominent in this recording, the renaissance violin, most notably on the short track “Interlude” and in Courtois’ tune “In Love In Hanoï” which follows it. It is a modern instrument with gut strings, tuned a seventh below the normal violin and a third below the viola. What enchants Bałdych about this instrument? “The bigger sustain. When you play it pizzicato, the sound lasts forever!” For Vincent Courtois the instrumental combination of violin, cello and piano has very positive associations. He remembers a formative experience which opened him up as a musician. In his late twenties he was invited to play at the New Jazz Meeting at Baden-Baden with violinist Dominique Pifarély and pianist Joachim Kühn, he has said of that encounter: “I suddenly started to play improvised music and real cello music with a big sound like in the classical music. It changed my point of view. I started to mix everything and to be a complete cello player and not just a jazz cellist.” Two decades later, his playing on this album has true authority and a wonderful lyrical sense. Rogier Telderman, who also produced the album, is a pianist of outstanding capabilities whose clear ideas and clean articulation marry classical training to jazz attack and blue note-laden expression. And, as a reviewer from Jazzenzo noted after a performance by the group in Utrecht, this trio has been transformational for him: “He is a true keyboard wizard who has come on by leaps and bounds with his piano trio […] he has found a new form with Bałdych and Courtois.” Telderman is well known in Holland, and this venture will bring him to a wider audience. Bałdych, Courtois and Telderman have found together a range of expression that is both measured and exuberant. In ‘Clouds’ they create magic with the ultimate quality of all great music: the ability to call the listener back to enjoy its enfolding glories again and again.Credits: Recorded at La Buissonne Studios by Gérard de Haro, Pernes-les-Fontaines (France), December 9 & 10, 2019 Mixed by Gérard de Haro and Rogier Telderman Mastered by Wessel Oltheten Piano tuning by Sylvain Charles Produced by the artists

On "Imaginary Room" you forget every violin stereotype and witness Bałdych's impressive virtuosity, expressivity and variability. Not for nothing did Ulrich Olshausen finally write in the FAZ that Bałdych is "undoubtedly the greatest living violin technician in jazz. You can expect everything from him." - And what you can expect from him is impressively demonstrated on his ACT debut!

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

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

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

Various Artists - Magic Moments 15: In the Spirit of JazzCD / digitalBest jazz infotainment for the 30th anniversary of ACT: 16 tracks, 65 minutes of music in the spirit of jazz, featuring artists like Nils Landgren, Emile Parisien & Theo Croker, Iiro Rantala, Vincent Peirani Trio, Michael Wollny Trio, Joel Lyssarides, Jakob Manz & Johanna Summer, and more.Credits: Compilation by Siggi Loch Mastered by Klaus Scheuermann

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

70 minutes of the best jazz infotainment through the current ACT line-up at a special price.

16 tracks, over 50 contributors, 70 minutes of the best jazz-infotainment featuring the current ACT lineup at a special price.

A unique mixture, entirely focused on melodies, full of different moods: With Bach as a parenthesis, Iiro Rantala takes his very own look at jazz history on "my history of jazz" with his typical combination of wit, intelligence and "almost limitless technique" (hr 2).

Adam Bałdych & Leszek Możdżer - Passacaglia CD / Vinyl / digital Adam Bałdych violin, renaissance violin Leszek Możdżer piano Passacaglia is a multi-colored musical dialogue between two unique characters who are leading figures in European jazz and contemporary music, Adam Bałdych and Leszek Możdżer. The repertoire ranges from free improvisations over works co-written by the musicians themselves to their very personal interpretations of themes by Erik Satie, Josquin des Prez and others.The album features a highly unusual combination of instruments: a Renaissance violin, two grand pianos - one tuned to 442 Hz and the other 432 Hz - and a prepared upright piano. This setup allows an infinitely varied palette of musical expression, which defies styles, genres and even tonal and harmonic convention. The world that Bałdych and Możdżer create is one of well-balanced beauty, expressed in the noble form of chamber music, but it is also one of turbulent and intensely emotional improvisation. Like all great art, it draws you in and leaves you intrigued at the same time – and also makes you want to come back and explore it all over again.Credits: Produced by the artists

Adam Bałdych - PoetryCD / Vinyl / digital Adam Bałdych violin, renaissance violin Paolo Fresu trumpet, flugelhorn Marek Konarski tenor saxophone Krzysztof Dys piano Michał Barański double bass Dawid Fortuna drums Chance remarks can have far-reaching consequences. When Adam Bałdych was in the early stages of working on the composi-tions for this new album, among the first feedback he received from a friend was the phrase “you are a poet of the violin.” That remark didn’t just give him the title of the album. It also set him thinking about the effect that music has on him and that, by extension, it can hopefully have on other people... Bałdych, described by Jazzwise’s Stuart Nicholson as “probably the greatest violinist in jazz today,” explains that impulse quite simply: "I want to communicate." He has a strong desire, as he explains, to “create music which will come into people’s lives and stay with them.” Such beliefs have been reinforced and seemingly made more urgent by the detachment of the pandemic. He started asking himself the question: “What is there in my life story that I can share?” And that in turn led him to search for other lyrical and poetic voices, kindred spirits to place alongside his own. Thus we find one of the great lyrical voices of European jazz, Sardinian trumpeter Paolo Fresu, of whom Bałdych says: “This soul connection is the basic and most important thing, which can then be expressed in the music.” Fresu is on five tunes, most notably on the title track “Poetry”, a true gem at the heart of this programme. We also hear a saxophonist with whom Baldych feels a particularly strong affinity, Marek Konarski. Both musicians grew up in the same town, Gorzów, roughly ten years apart.Their paths diverged in the years Konarski made his home in Denmark, where he is still involved in several projects. Bałdych says: “He is younger than me, but we have so much in common I sometimes feel we must have known each other in a past life.” That sense that this group is producing music which is rooted in a past reality is there right from the opening track, “I Remember”. The decision to place his own solo voice alongside others in “Poetry” marks a further step in Baldych’s musical journey, away from virtuosity towards the kind of authentic individual expression that feels most natural to him. “I stopped trying to be a virtuoso producing huge numbers of notes. I want to tell a story, and to shape and balance simplicity with the innovative language of the violin.” He has also - literally - deepened his musical voice, through the use of the renaissance violin, tuned a seventh below the normal violin. That sonorous voice has become more confident, and is to be heard at its most yearning and soulful on the deeply touching short tune "Grace". “Poetry” is also a landmark album for Bałdych in another sense. It is about to be ten years since his appearance at a late night show at the Quasimodo club as part of JazzFest Berlin in 2011. That performance, which also included pianist Krzysztof Dys, now part of Bałdych’s regular band, led to Siggi Loch signing the violinist the very next day to the ACT label, This is the Pole's sixth album for the label. There have been other changes in Bałdych’s life in the past year. The album is dedicated to the violinist’s wife Karina, and to his young son Teodor who was born in 2020. Time not spent on the road has clearly had its compensations, and when Baldych talks, his deeply positive spirit shines through: “Troubles give the opportunity to do things you wouldn’t normally do. I have an improviser’s soul.” Adam Bałdych also feels a very strong connection to the regular quartet he has worked with for the past three years. Krzysztof Dys on piano, Michał Barański on bass, Dawid Fortuna on drums and Bałdych himself worked successfully together on “Sacrum Profanum”. Over the past three years the trust and the teamwork have deepened, and the way they dovetail together on “Poetry” shows that they are a working band in the truest sense of that phrase. “We really explore together, we work on the music like a string quartet does,” he says. And the listener can hear in tracks such as “I Remember” and “Open Sky” with their folk music energy, just how eager this band is to stretch out on these tunes in the live context. And audiences are responding too: the quartet scooped up the audience prize at the July 2021 BMW Jazz Welt Competition. Adam Bałdych has marked the tenth anniversary of his arrival at ACT with an important album. “Poetry” is not just instantly appealing, it also has depth, honesty and soul.Credits: Music written, arranged & produced by Adam Bałdych, except Hyperballad, composed by Björk Recorded by Ignacy Gruszecki at Monochrom Studio, June 18 & 19, 2021 Mixed and mastered by Piotr Taraszkiewicz Piano tuned by Zbigniew Wajdzik

Adam Bałdych - PortraitsCD / digital Adam Bałdych violin, renaissance violin Sebastian Zawadzki piano, upright piano Marek Konarski tenor saxophone Andrzej Święs double bass Dawid Fortuna drums There is an urgency and an intensity about Polish violinist/composer Adam Bałdych; both traits run deep in his work. A total commitment to what he does is clear from the music that he makes and the emotions he conveys. But in “Portraits” such imperatives have been strengthened: the music carries astonishing pathos and weightiness of expression, as are natural for an artist reflecting on these troubled times. Bałdych explains: ‘When I was working on the pieces, reports from people who survived the Second World War were a source of inspiration for me. The topic feels very important to me in view of the growing conflicts in Europe and the world. I read eyewitness accounts from that time and I wanted to take a stand against what thousands have to suffer again today. A call for peace in the world. A variety of very emotional pieces has been created, which attempt to portray people and living conditions and the times in which we live. It is about worries, but also about the indescribable beauty of the world which I try to capture in my sounds and in the music’. There is a spiritual side to this music too. “Portraits” combines lament, prayer, jubilation and exuberance. After all, for an artist to want to contribute to the discussion is only human - even if as an instrumental musician he doesn’t have words at his disposal. And yet speechless is not a word you could ever use to describe Adam Bałdych, quite the opposite. His music opens up a realm of experience that extends beyond the boundaries of the spoken word. He is a virtuoso, educated in Katowice and at Berklee College, with many awards to his name, and also the experience of having played in venues all over the world. And yet he is also a team player who knows how important it is to let ideas take form, to come to life by first affecting those around him: ‘When I brought the music to the band rehearsal, we first spent a lot of time working out the instrumentation and arrangements. It was a bit like classical music, we listened to the registers of the instruments and looked for the appropriate space for them to really speak at their most powerful. The process was a meticulous, almost surgical. Although we are all improvisers, and each of us wanted to put as much of our individual voice into the music as possible, we also wanted to plan precisely the execution with great precision, as the best way to maintain that freedom and not lose any of our personalities. It was a very inspiring process.’ This creative tension between the inward- and the outward-facing, between personality and community is at the heart of this programme of 15 pieces. Adam Bałdych's violins lead the music, both his normal instrument and his splendidly sonorous Renaissance violin (a unique replica by an Austrian luthier), which opens up lower registers with its woody tones. There is a vigorous and lively energy in his longstanding Polish quintet: ‘We have a very honest relationship with each other, based on an understanding of the culture and tradition we grew up in. And we understand each other intuitively, giving each other the space to develop narratives. It's like a polyphonic composition, made up of many voices, each one letting one fellow player into the foreground, with the others then acting as a counterpoint. Each of us is an independent personality, we respect each other and at the same time we all respect the music as a whole, and develop it together.’ “Portraits” has emerged into life as a force field. There is a reason why “Portraits” is not just thought-provoking but also uplifting. And that is because the Adam Bałdych Quintet has an incredibly powerful story to tell. Even without the use of words.Credits: Music produced by Adam Bałdych & Mateusz Banasiuk Music composed by Adam Bałdych, except “Prelude” – composed by Sebastian Zawadzki Recorded between October 15th – 17th, 2023, at Boogie Town Studio, Poland Sound engineer, mixing and mastering: Mateusz Banasiuk

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

Adam Bałdych - Sacrum ProfanumCD / digital Adam Bałdych violin & renaissance violin Krzysztof Dys piano, prepared upright piano & toy piano Michał Barański double bass Dawid Fortuna drums, crotales & gran cassa "Sacrum Profanum" represents a new beginning for Polish violinist Adam Bałdych – but also a look back into his past. He was once a sixteen-year-old firebrand who set out to conquer the jazz world. And when his ACT debut album "Imaginary Room" came out in 2011, he was hailed by the respected German broadsheet the FAZ as having "the finest technique among all living violinists in jazz". The audacity of Bałdych’s lines was so breathtaking, he could almost have been playing a wind instrument; his multi-voiced motifs were more like chord-playing by pianists, and over and above these aspects was the ever-present desire to experiment and to transcend genre boundaries. And yet all of this, right up to and including two recent albums with the Helge Lien Trio, can now be seen as just a starting-point for the voyage of self-discovery that Bałdych has documented on "Sacrum Profanum". Like many other people in these manic, frenetic times, he found that he was searching more than ever for harmony, certainty, timeless values and indeed some truths about himself. I decided to reach out for sacred music, from the medieval mystic Hildegard of Bingen and the renaissance composer Thomas Tallis to the contemporary Russian avant-gardist Sofia Gubaidulina," Bałdych explains. "My goal was to capture the timeless beauty of the mystical music of these exceptional composers and interpret their work through contemporary musical language." Alongside five pieces from this heritage (in addition to those already mentioned, there is one by Gregorio Allegri and the "Bogurodzica" – composer unknown) there are five new compositions by Bałdych himself. What unites all of them is a combination of the spirit of improvisational freedom and an inclination towards a classical sound. "As a young violinist, I was expelled from music school for playing jazz, for improvising and for rebelling against classical music in an attempt to redefine the sound of the violin. Now, once again, I felt the imperative to connect with my greatest inspiration at the moment – classical music," is how Bałdych explains the back-story of "Sacrum Profanum". Together with his outstanding Polish band of Krzysztof Dys on piano, Michal Baranski on bass and David Fortuna on drums, he has been intent on exploring the possibilities in sound offered by New Music. Orchestral instruments such as the Gran Cassa, cymbals or gongs were added, and the piano was prepared for some of the pieces. And Bałdych himself drew inspiration from the unique sound qualities of the Renaissance violin. Just in case there might be any misunderstanding: "Sacrum Profanum" is not a classical album, and certainly not a new-age album. Bałdych’s esthetic has no boundaries, blends the depth and language of new classical music and yearning to convey personalities through self-expression of jazz. His music is deeply rooted in rich European tradition, with Polish and Eastern European spices. And quiet it is not. Yes, there are meditative passages, where the sound is shaped in a classical, form-conscious way; but these episodes stand in contrast with fast, furious and rocky outbursts (especially in “Repetition") and rhythm playing that is generally pretty forceful. Even Hildegard of Bingen's "O Virga ac diadema" acquires a fast, driving feel as it sways back and forth. And Gubaidulina's "Concerto For Viola And Orchestra" becomes a roisterous suite, somewhere between a film soundtrack and free jazz. Bałdych’s concluding solo on "Jardin" almost sounds like a pop song. He plays it without using the bow, just plucking and striking the violin strings. He has taken all the elements that have made his music so distinctive and put them into the mix on this album. Or, as he puts it: "For me, contemporary virtuosity is based on the most sophisticated and varied of sounds, full of new colours and different techniques, which I discover by experimenting on my instrument. It gives me an infinite sea of possibilities.” Adam Bałdych went in search of his own new form of expressiveness. And on "Sacrum Profanum", he has found it. Credits: Recorded by Klaus Scheuermann at Clouds Hill Recordings Studio Hamburg, November 20 & 21, 2018 Mixed and mastered by Klaus Scheuermann at 4ohm Studio Berlin, December 4, 2018 Produced by Adam Bałdych

Various Artists - The Jubilee ConcertsCD / digital Various Artists “We fly like birds of a feather,” runs the Sister Sledge lyric. And so the musicians did – thirty-four of them flocked to the Konzerthaus in Berlin, from several countries of Europe, each of them an artist who has found a nurturing home for his or her projects and talents on the ACT label. It was their way of expressing gratitude, and of giving their label a 25th birthday present. The musicians appeared on stage in a whole variety of combinations throughout the day, some of the bands formed for these concerts having never been put together before. It was in every sense a special occasion: a day of very fine concerts, a joyous celebration of the passing of an important milestone - the date marked exactly twenty-five years and one day since the ACT label put out its very first release in 1992 - and a happy gathering for the label-as-family. What this unique event brought to the fore was that precious common spirit and attitude among these musicians: an openness and respect for the individual and very different talents of the others, the courage to take risks, and an ever-present willingness to welcome in the unexpected and to discover the new. The musicians are also from several different generations, all bringing their combined energies to the event. For example, saxophonist Emile Parisien and pianist Joachim Kühn were born nearly forty years apart, and yet their mutual understanding, their common way of making music and generating excitement makes a detail like that an irrelevance. There were two other trans-national duos on the album. Whereas saxophonist Parisien and Kühn brought high-voltage excitement, and received a loud ovation, the two double basses of Lars Danielsson and Dieter Ilg channelled very different emotions. Two bassists playing together tends to be a recipe for pure joy, good humour, bonhomie and mischief, and that was exactly what these two master musicians offered. The third duo of Nils Landgren and Michael Wollny brought warmth, affection, and wistful poetry and beauty to Sondheim’s “Send in the Clowns,” which opens the album. These three intimate conversations were just part of the story of an unforgettable day. A quartet feature was led by violinist Adam Bałdych, whose ski-ing accident just a few days before had not deterred him from attending this joyous gathering - he was supported by crutches to get on and off the stage. Then there was a special one-off formation of Nils Landgren’s Funk Unit in “Walk Tall”, the band propelled by Wolfgang Haffner’s crisp, in-the-pocket drumming. One of the features of the ACT label is that founder Siggi Loch is a natural connector and helps the formation of new bands. A quintet around Nguyên Lê and the quartet led by Adam Bałdych were created especially for the evening. Lars Danielsson’s “Suffering” has as its first soloists two ACT cornerstone artists who have helped to define the many-sided identity of the label: Nguyên Lê and Nils Landgren. Another more established quartet which ACT has helped into existence is the supergroup of Andreas Schaerer, Emile Parisien, Vincent Peirani, and Michael Wollny. “B&H” shows these four stars of European jazz, all of a similar age, keeping each other and the audience on their toes. A celebration like this could run the risk of drifting into memory and nostalgia – this one didn’t. ACT has issued over 500 albums, so there is much to look back on with pride…but one moment found an inspired way to look to the future as well. The listener might wonder who the drummer and guitarist are, playing with such ease, flow and total assurance on “Dodge The Dodo.” They are Noa and Ruben Svensson, sons of the much-missed Esbjörn. The culmination of the day of celebration in Berlin was a Gala Concert by the “ACT Family Band.” The evening built naturally to a whole-band, whole-family finale in which the combined ensemble, led by Ida Sand, launched into “We Are Family”. As an expression of togetherness, of a shared joyful ethos it would be hard to beat. These Jubilee Concerts made it possible to experience at close quarters what ACT exists to achieve: it is a leading label where listeners can discover newly created music “in the Sprit of jazz.” The label’s range and its previously unimagined connections are a constant source of surprise from which it draws ever-new inspiration to connect the unexpected. Mike Flynn, Editor of Jazzwise wrote in his review of the concert that the ACT label has “a smile on its face and a swagger in its step”. And where might the best evidence for that statement be found? It’s all there on this album.Credits: Live at Konzerthaus Berlin, April 2, 2017 Recorded, mixed and mastered by Klaus Scheuermann Curated by Siggi Loch An ACT Music concert production in cooperation with Konzerthaus Berlin

After his celebrated ACT debut, for which he was awarded the Jazz Echo as best instrumentalist internationally, the "divine devil violinist" (Musikmarkt) Adam Baldych returns as a duo accompanied by pianist Yaron Herman. Together, the two lose themselves in virtuoso melodiousness, which builds up again and again in freedom. The result is an unbelievably gripping energy that immediately goes through the body.

Even for the "Jubilee Album" celebrating this proud anniversary, ACT does not settle for the expected. Except for three pieces that can be considered "Signature Songs" of the ACT philosophy, all tracks are previously unreleased, and some were recorded specifically for this occasion with a changing "Allstar lineup" at the Hansa Studios in Berlin.