Potsdam

Jazz at Berlin Philharmonic XVI: Piano Night IICD / Double vinyl / digitalLeszek Możdżer pianoGrégory Privat pianoiiro Rantala pianoMichael Wollny pianoFour unique top-flight European jazz pianists, each with limitless freedom of expression. Limitless joy too for the audience in the completely full main hall of the Philharmonie Berlin. But perhaps there is also something even more im-portant here: music’s unique power to unite people. It was this intense magic that brought the Jazz at Berlin Philharmonic series into being. At the first concert in 2012, there were three pianists: Iiro Rantala, Michael Wollny, and Leszek Możdżer. It all started as a one-off experiment, a spe-cially curated jazz concert at the classical music temple, the Philharmonie Berlin. But that was just the start: this unique series of concerts and recordings has gone from strength to strength. More than a decade later, Rantala, Wollny, and Możdżer meet again at this special hall, which was always intend-ed to have ‘music at the center.’ This time, the original three are joined by Grégory Privat, another unique pianistic talent. The principle is the same as in 2012, and yet the out-side world has changed immeasurably, so the repertoire choices and interpretations reflect the many contradictions of our time. There is more seriousness now, and thoughtfulness and introspection – but also hope, joy, and curiosity. And, as if to defy all the uncertainties of the world, we hear outbursts of fun – childlike, playful, unrestrained.Perhaps what Rantala, Wollny, Możdżer and Privat achieve above all is to let us experience the essence of what music as an art form truly is: a reflection of our times, but also a means of expressing pure emotion... and a uniquely powerful form of communication with the power to affect people to their very core.Credits:Produced by Siggi Loch Recorded live at Philharmonie Berlin on December 3, 2024 Recorded, mixed and mastered by Klaus ScheuermannCover art by Stanley Whitney © 2024, “Song”, ACT Art Collection, Cover design by Siggi Loch

Stefano Bollani & iiro Rantala - Jazz at Berlin Philharmonic XVCD / Vinyl / digitalStefano Bollani pianoiiro Rantala pianoSome people are naturally, genuinely funny. They make us smile, and sometimes laugh. It might sound simple to do, but it’s a demanding art, and people who can do it this well are to be admired. For musicians operating at the level of Stefano Bollani or Iiro Rantala, humour has nothing to do with getting cheap laughs through failing, it is rather about how they spring sudden surprises on us – and on each other – by showing us something incongruous or wacky in the music. We’re never laughing at them, always with them. They might be showing us a new perspective, a clever detail that has hardly been spotted before, illuminating some unexpected connection or angle. Out of nowhere, an aria might suddenly be accessorized with a stride piano accompaniment, or the pianists might take a motif and transpose it into some way-out key signature, or use their sparkly, fleet-fingered pianism to comment and illuminate a theme. These two musicians venerate the original, but choose to give it to us in a different guise. It might sometimes turn into a game of hide and seek, but these are humourists who respect their sources and make great use of them. For them to do otherwise would not just leave a bad taste, it would also be completely out of character.Humourists like Stefano Bollani from Milan and Iiro Rantala from Helsinki are masters when it comes to appreciating, valuing, and above all loving the music they play. Each of them also, clearly, holds the artistry of the other in high esteem, venerates the melodic invention of the composers they interpret, and is completely alive to all the possibilities which the instrument can offer. These are musicians with a straightforward love of playing, and, since both are virtuosos, a duo concert by them is an experience of shared creative inspiration. Iiro Rantala says he is happy to celebrate Italian music ‘with the best possible duo partner, il Maestro Bollani.’ And the Italian responds: ‘During a musical career, you meet musicians who are different from you. But how much more fun to share the stage with a guy with a very similar musical taste and approach.’These are two artists, then, who visibly and audibly chime well with each other. They met on the stage of the Berlin Philharmonie on 1 February 2023 to celebrate a shared passion. The basic idea might seem a surprise, but the fact is that both of them have a reverence for Italian opera. ‘I'll go so far as to say that some of the best melodies in the world come from Italy, and in this particular case, from Italian opera,’ Iiro Rantala explains. ‘There is nothing better in music than a good, simple and catchy melody. You can't teach that stuff; there is no melody class in any music school. Verdi, Donizetti, Rossini and Puccini had a talent, a gift for melody! And how magnificently they used it!’During the lifetimes of these composers, this way of making music also went hand in hand with having respect for the audience. The opera composers of the 19th century wanted to offer something to listeners. They wanted to tell stories and entertain, sometimes with a message, but always with a feel for the level of enthusiasm and engagement in the hall. Composers who wrote anthemic and catchy tunes could be sure of being played and sung – and also heard. The concept still works today. ‘La Bohème’ and ‘Nabucco’ are fixtures in the programmes of opera houses, even if the plots and libretti might sometimes seem past their sell-by date. These works are full of melodies that have become ingrained in the collective memory of the cultural world, to the extent that all Stefano Bollani and Iiro Rantala have to do is to suggest the first few notes from Musetta’s waltz (from La Bohème) or hum the Prisoner's Chorus (from Nabucco) and the audience in the Philharmonie is already swaying along.Both players bring a finely-tuned sensitivity to this celebration of Italian opera. And both have such long and deep experience as improvisers, it becomes abundantly clear in this recital that they don’t need to question their first instincts. Their shared enjoyment is palpable: the default mode of communication between them is a smile. They are quite clearly having fun, because on the one hand they are playing repertoire from outside jazz, and yet on the other, there is nothing more 'jazz' than borrowing or stealing a good song. It’s a particularly appealing paradox. Through Italian opera, Bollani and Rantala locate each other's funny-bones. The melodies of Italian opera, may be old, they are certainly important to both musicians, but this album also shows how new and how fresh they can be. Credits:Recorded at the Berlin Philharmonie, Germany on 1st February 2023 Recorded, mixed and mastered by Klaus Scheuermann Cover art by Peter Krüll

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

Iiro Rantala - Tough StuffCD / Vinyl / digital Iiro Rantala piano Conor Chaplin acoustic bass Anton Eger drums Mathias Heise harmonica (guest on Liberty City) Saturday 11 November 2006 was a particularly emotional evening. After almost 20 years together and thousands of concerts all over the world, the Finnish band Trio Töykeät with pianist Iiro Rantala at the helm gave their very last performance. But endings are also new beginnings, and even though it cannot have been easy to disband what was probably the most influential – and was certainly the most humorous – piano trio in Finnish jazz, the decision to bring Trio Töykeät to an end did give Rantala the op- portunity to try out a wide variety of different line-ups in both jazz and classical music, with occasional excursions into rock and pop. It was, notably, Rantala's ACT debut album Lost Heroes in 2011 which kickstarted his second international career. This was follo- wed by further solo and duo albums, spectacular piano summits with Michael Wollny and Leszek Możdżer, among others, as well as orchestral recordings with the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen and members of the Berliner Philharmoniker. More re-cently, Rantala has written a complete Christmas oratorio for the choir Cantores Minores and an opera Die Zaubermelodika for the Komische Oper in Berlin. He has also made several musical pro- grammes for Finnish television and delivers a fortnightly podcast in English, Algoyrtmi, about European jazz. But Rantala has never let go of the idea of playing in a trio again, and now, almost 20 years after the end of Trio Töykeät, the time has come for a new group, the Iiro Rantala HEL Trio. Rantala says: "I'm very happy that I was able to try so many different things out after Trio Töykeät. But just before the pandemic, I had a few gigs with bassist Dan Berglund and drummer Anton Eger, and ever since then I've been dreaming of finally having a regular trio again. However, Dan Berglund was far too busy, and so Anton Eger suggested the UK bassist Conor Chaplin, with whom he had already played for a long time in Marius Neset's band. It's always good when the working relationship between bassist and drummer is already established. The band worked perfectly from the outset, everyone had a lot of fun on and off stage. Anton and Conor are on the road a lot, so I'm very happy that this has worked out for us together." The Iiro Rantala HEL Trio is named after the code for Helsinki airport, from where Rantala's musical ventures tend to start. It sounds both new and familiar. And if there is a hint of nostalgia in the air, it is not coming from the bandleader: "Here's a little story," says Rantala."Anton Eger and Marius Neset, as children, had both heard Trio Töykeät at the Molde Festival. It was one of their first jazz concerts and they became real fans. When we started the HEL Trio, Anton, who knows an enormous amount of repertoire, really wanted to play the Töykeät pieces ‘Gadd A Tee’ and ‘Met By Chance’. My thought was that after nearly two de- cades, it was fine. We changed them a bit, one is now called ‘Tee Four Three’, the other ‘Cabaret Perdu’." ‘Liberty City’, a little- played but much-appreciated track by Jaco Pastorius, reflects Rantala's love of American funk and soul. The piece sits naturally alongside original compositions such as ‘Stockholm Syndrome’, in which Rantala plays with the typical melancholy of Scandinavian jazz...but does it in a way – his way – which manages to be both tongue-in-cheek and deeply felt. The Iiro Rantala HEL Trio is capable of incredible contrasts, and therein lies its appeal. As a pianist, Rantala can take the breath away both with his lightness of touch and the grace of his melodic lines. But then he can transform himself into other, very different characters: there is one who inspires laughter with his rummaging in the piano, another whose pathos, openness and honesty touch every heart. He has a baroque demeanour, his playing is full of relish, so that it only takes a few notes and he already has the audience on his side. At the same time, Anton Eger, with his irresistibly delicate playing fuelled by a wide variety of styles, and Conor Chaplin, with his weighty yet agile grooves on the bass, brings astonishing clarity and sense of form to the music. The HEL Trio should not be mistaken for a nostalgic back-to-the-roots project: "For me, music should always be going forwards," says Rantala. Iiro Rantala's restless, almost hyperactive approach, his urge to try things out and surprise his audience time and again, and his ability to play a wide variety of genres and styles authenti- cally while always sounding like himself make him an exceptional figure among European pianists. Iiro Rantala’s musical journey has been full of twists and turns. Iiro Rantala HEL Trio's album Tough Stuff is another milestone on that journey. And an important one.

Iiro Rantala - VenezianaCD / digital Iiro Rantala piano & conductor Mitglieder der Berliner Philharmoniker: Marlene Ito, Eva Tomasi violin Martin Stegner viola Dávid Adorján cello Esko Laine double bass Jelka Weber flute Sofia Zamora Meseguer oboe Matic Kuder clarinet Selim Aykal bassoon Johannes Lamotke horn “When I seek another word for ‘music’, I never find any other word than ‘Venice’.” Friedrich Nietzsche The Italian city built in the water, a metropolis of art and music, a place of myths and yearnings, where renowned artists have created amazing work: Venice. How could its beauty and mystery, its architecture and its centuries of art history not be an abiding inspiration? First and foremost among those who left their musical mark on the city was Venetian-born Antonio Vivaldi, but Gustav Mahler’s connection also runs deep: ever since Luchino Visconti's film of Thomas Mann's “Death in Venice”, the Adagietto from his Fifth Symphony has tended to be the first piece of music which comes to people’s minds when they think about Venice. For 500 years, the crème de la crème of the European music world played and composed here. Venice was where opera blossomed, with countless world premieres from Cavalli to Donizetti, and also works by foreign luminaries such as Prokofiev or Stravinsky. The latter requested that he be buried on Venice’s cemetery island of San Michele, near his friend, the art critic and impresario Sergei Diaghilev.Siggi Loch, who curates the Jazz at Berlin Philharmonic series, also has an enduring fascination for Venice. And it was this which led him to commission Finnish pianist Iiro Rantala to compose music for a night “alla Veneziana". Rantala’s new work for piano and a ten-piece chamber ensemble was premiered on 1 February 2023 with members of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra in the Great Hall of the Berlin Philharmonie. It might sound at first like a strange move to entrust the creation of a musical homage to Venice to a Scandinavian, but Finnish pianist/composer Iiro Rantala has his own remarkable way of being open to the world and to different styles and genres, and since he also brings astonishing resources of humour and levity, this celebration of Venetian “leggerezza” was always going to have a special charm. Trained to an equally high level in both jazz (at the Sibelius Academy) and in classical music (at the Manhattan School of Music), Rantala brings his playfulness to bear as he moves seamlessly between genres, doing what he does best: his own, unique thing. He performs with greats of Finnish classical music such as the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra and the Finnish violinist Pekka Kuusisto and works as soloist with international orchestras, above all with the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, with whom he has recorded two albums. In 2017, Rantala's first piano concerto "Concerto for Piano and Concerto in G#majAb " was premiered in Helsinki in an orchestration by the Finnish violinist/composer/conductor, the late Jaakko Kuusisto. In 2018, the opera "Sanatorio Express" followed, premiered at Finnish National Opera. Then, in October 2021, Rantala delighted a young audience with the children's opera "The Magic Melodica", commissioned by Komische Oper Berlin.Rantala's musical take on Venice tells stories that could have taken place in this city of myths and legends. He says. “I did a lot of research on the city's music and art history, but from there I just had to let my imagination run wild." So the eight fictional tales which constitute Rantala’s "Veneziana" could only have happened because of the particular circumstances of its composition: necessity can sometimes be turned into a virtue. These are stories full of compositional ingenuity, instrumental virtuosity and, as usual for Rantala, humour. In the opening piece, "Gondola Ride to St. Mark's Square", he imagines a Swedish family coming to Venice for the first time and boarding a gondola - while squabbling and scrapping about mundane family matters. Rantala also brings Mozart, Prokofiev and his great compatriot Sibelius to Venice through this route, and reminds us of Monteverdi and his ideas...with a knowing smile. In "Vivaldi's ADHD", the creator of the "Four Seasons" (and eighteenth century rock star) ponders what Scandinavian winters might sound like. The last track on the album "Morte a Venezia" is a funeral march in homage to the multitude of great artists who lived and died in Venice. Iiro Rantala takes us through a kaleidoscope of different sound worlds, bringing a virtuoso sense of flow, melodic richness, drama and wide-screen technicolor emotion: "Veneziana" is an enlivening and highly distinctive portrait of a city. One might call it programme music, but it is of a kind that only Iiro Rantala can write...where the listener, as in the winding streets of Venice, will find a new surprise behind every musical corner: Viva Venezia!!! Credits: Produced by the artist, curated by Siggi Loch

Nils Landgren - 3 GenerationsCD / Vinyl / digital Nils Landgren with Joachim Kühn, Michael Wollny, Iiro Rantala, Lars Danielsson, Cæcilie Norby, Viktoria Tolstoy, Wolfgang Haffner, Ulf Wakenius, Jan Lundgren, Ida Sand, Youn Sun Nah, Vincent Peirani, Emile Parisien, David Helbock, Marius Neset, Nesrine, Julian & Roman Wasserfuhr, Anna Gréta, Johanna Summer, Jakob Manz, and many more We are Family – Celebrating 30 ACT Years Nils Landgren has been and remains the absolute linchpin of the ACT family. To date, the Swede has made forty albums on the label as leader, plus another twenty as producer or soloist. Michael Wollny, whose many many projects with Landgren give him a special connection, sums up a key ele-ment in his success: “With Nils everything becomes easy.” There is indeed a particular ease about Mr. Red Horn’s way of being; it is infectious and runs through everything he does. Which is all the more remarkable when one considers the sheer number of roles he takes on: trombonist, singer, band-leader, producer, festival director, professor, curator, talent scout and mentor.All of Landgren’s multiple roles and traits come to the fore on “3 Generations”. Working alongside producer and ACT founder Siggi Loch, Nils Landgren brings together three gene-rations of ACT artists’ in various line-ups to mark the label’s 30th anniversary. Landgren and Loch have a friendship and habits of working well together which go back almost as long as the existence of ACT itself. The two met for the first time at the 1994 Jazz Baltica Festival, just two years after the label was founded. Landgren became an exclusive ACT artist shortly thereafter. Since that time, it has been through Landgren’s network that artists such as Esbjörn Svensson, Rigmor Gustafsson, Viktoria Tolstoy, Ida Sand, Wolfgang Haffner and many more have joined the label. Nils Landgren continues in his trusted role as ACT’s leading connector and integrator. Finding and nurturing young talent has always been one of ACT’s strong suits. It was true for Nils Landgren, then later for Michael Wollny who joined the label in 2005 and is today one of the most significant pianists in Europe. With artists such as Johanna Summer and Jakob Manz - both born many years after ACT was founded - the label looks to the future with its younger generation of musicians bringing new ener-gy and impetus to the world of jazz.The Times (UK) has written: “Since 1992, ACT has been building its own European union of musicians, fostering a freedom of movement between nationalities and genres, and has given us an authentic impression of what the continent is about.” “3 Generations” demonstrates quite how true that assertion is. Around forty artists from the ACT Family make this anniversary album a celebration of the breadth, openness and inclusive power of jazz. The core of the album consists of recordings made at a summer 2022 studio session lasting several days. In reality, it is only Nils Landgren and Siggi Loch who could have brought this pano-rama of musical Europe into being. The influences here range from jazz, popular song and folk to classical and contempo-rary music, and much more. Thirty tracks from three generations of musicians marking thirty years of ACT, with Nils Landgren as driving force. Not just a retrospective, but above all an insight into the present and future of the discovery label “in the Spirit of Jazz”.Credits: Recorded by Thomas Schöttl at Jazzanova Studio, Berlin on June 7 - 9, 2022, assisted by José Victor Torell – except as otherwise indicated Mixed and mastered by Klaus Scheuermann Produced by Siggi Loch and Nils Landgren The Art in Music: Cover Art by Yinka Shonibare CBE: Detail from Creatures of the Mappa Mundi, Mandragora, 2018

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

Iiro Rantala - PotsdamCD / Vinyl / digitalIiro Rantala pianoiiro Rantala plays the piano with “emotional magnetism and musical intelligence”; he has a “virtuosic prowess as an improviser capable of enormous idiomatic and emotional range.” (Downbeat) This praise from the American magazine’s review of the Finnish pianist’s third and recent studio-recorded solo album for ACT, “My Finnish Calendar” (2019) sums up the astonishing variety which people who know his playing well might almost start to take for granted. The citation for the 2016 JTI Jazz Prize in Trier also does well to define the way audiences take him to their heart: “Rantala can sweep listeners off their feet, he can be clown and magician, charmer and virtuoso, maverick and humorist.” This is the emotional and stylistic versatility which Rantala brings to the live solo recital. It is a form he is drawn to strongly; there can be very few pianists who have explored the art of solo playing quite as as intensively and consistently as Rantala. A typical recital will contain, among other things, pieces from his previous solo albums for ACT “Lost Heroes”, “My Working Class Hero” and “My Finnish Calendar”. As he explains, “I like the form of the solo recital because of the freedom and responsibility I have. Freedom comes from the fact of being alone on stage and responsibility from the fact that I can’t really rely on anything, except myself.” “Potsdam”, recorded live in concert at Nikolaisaal in Potsdam on 27 November 2021 is, however, the first time that one of Rantala’s many live solo recitals has been released as an album by ACT. It is a very fine exposition indeed of the contrast and the continuity of which he is capable, not just in the shape of the recital as a whole, but also within individual tunes. After a beautiful and welcoming “Twentytwentyone”, Rantala launches into “Time for Rag” which sounds like the accompaniment for a madcap Buster Keaton film. The central section of John Lennon’s “Woman” is quite clearly inspired by the driving R&B style of Richard Tee, a pianist whom Rantala particularly admires, but this leads masterfully into an ending which is at first wistful and calm, but then troubled by the Finn leaning into the piano and creating a dark and discomforting mood by plucking a low string. Rantala is eminently capable of Nordic “noir”, then, but he is also naturally, irrepressibly humorous, and his humour has wide appeal. This side of his artistic persona was very much to the fore in a huge recent achievement (in every sense), the composition of his second opera, for children, “ die Zaubermelodika”. Commenta tors noted how the Komische Oper’s stage had been completely taken over by a vast wooden sauna. Humour is also a feature of Rantala’s recent liner notes: such short texts don’t come funnier than his descriptions of the idiosyncratic ways in which Finns respond to the seasons in “My Finnish Calendar”. And, again here, Rantala has painted an extraordinary scene for the liner note to “Potsdam”. Something which could only ever have happened in an imagination as vivid and as genuinely funny as Rantala’s. There also are jokes in his song titles. Just as “Bob Hardy” on the album “My History of Jazz” was a play on the idea of hard bop tunes, so “Can You Be Bob?” on "Potsdam" has all the fast-fingered wizardry of a tricksy bebop tune. And the joke is again in the title. Two of the tunes from “Potsdam” are now available as sheet music, but for one of them the pianist will need to have some additional equipment to hand... The sensitive seasonal evocation of “November” is published as one of the twelve pieces representing the months in Rantala’s popular “Finnish Calendar”. “Freedom”, on the other hand, is one of the twenty tunes in the “Iiro Rantala Songbook” - which also includes evergreens such as “Tears for Esbjörn”. The pizzicato “harpsichord”-ish sound in “Freedom” is achieved by placing a towel over the strings, and the other-worldly broken sound for the jazz solo requires paper to be placed between the dampers and the strings. There is a beautiful inevitability about the final two tunes on the album. The exuberance and brashness which inflect Bernstein’s “Candide” overture right from the first fanfare are irresistible. Rantala follows this, by way of complete contrast, with “Somewhere” from “West Side Story”. Potsdam was recorded the day after the passing of Stephen Sondheim. Rantala explains how deeply this affected him: “Sondheim was magical. As a writer and composer. “West Side Story” is one of the greatest achievements of mankind. And he was so young, when he wrote all those lines: ‘Say it loud and there’s music playing. Say it soft and its almost like praying, Maria’.” Sondheim was one of the greats of the theatre, and there is perhaps some kind of serendipity that his spirit should be recalled so vividly here: Sondheim once wrote: “the whole idea of getting across to an audience and making them laugh, making them cry - just making them feel - is paramount to me.” It sums up admirably and exactly what this very great pianist achieved – one evening in “Potsdam”. Credits: Live in concert at Nikolaisaal Potsdam, 27.11.2021 Recorded, mixed and mastered by Martin Ruch Cover art by Karl Horst Hödicke: Rotes Eck, 1979 © Deutsche Bank Collection (The World on Paper)

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.

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

Iiro Rantala - playing GershwinCD / Vinyl / digital Iiro Rantala piano The Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen Jonathan Bloxham conductor Antti Tikkanen solo violin & concert master The time of rigid demarcations between musical genres is over. For those who see music, indeed who love music as a universal language offering unlimited scope for human expression, this can only be a positive development. When one considers the jazz pianists of our time, they have just about all received their grounding in classical music, and yet these are musicians who don’t just traverse many different jazz styles, they can also roam at will into other genres. And looking among them, it would be hard to find a pianist as quintessentially complete as Iiro Rantala from Finland. The 49-year-old, who first studied jazz piano at Finland`s reknown Sibelius Academy in Helsinki, and then classical piano at the Manhattan School of Music in New York, has always shown a tendency to regard the entire history of music as a treasure trove which can supply material for his own very personal creations. Right from his first solo album "Lost Heroes" he was paying tribute not only to jazz legends but also to opera singer Luciano Pavarotti. His album "My History Of Jazz", released shortly thereafter in 2012, begins with Johann Sebastian Bach, and with every justification. One aspect of Rantala's activity which has been consistent, alongside his succession of wide-ranging and surprising projects – such as his John Lennon homage, or his cycle of the seasons, "My Finnish Calendar", or his first opera "Sanatorio Express" premiered in 2018 – is his regular work with classical orchestras. Since 2017, Rantala has had a particularly fruitful cooperation with The Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, one of the world's leading chamber orchestras, a group which inspires audiences all over the world with its unique way of making music. The award-winning ensemble's preference for crossover projects is also one of its distinguishing traits, which means that Rantala and Deutsche Kammerphil-harmonie Bremen are definitely on the same musical wavelength. Their first performance together was at the Gala Concert for Jazzahead in Bremen. "From the very first note, I fell in love with their sound, their energy and their musicality," says Rantala. They played Mozart’s C major Piano Concerto K. 467. The audience of industry specialists from all over the world loved it, and the result was the album "Mozart, Bernstein, Lennon", which was promptly nominated for an International Classical Music Award. This successful collaborati-on has led to a further album which is now available, "Playing Gershwin". It is a logical continuation, since with George Gershwin it takes us to the composer whose work represents a confluence of modern classical music and jazz. And at the same time it leads us into the period of the 1920s and 1930s, when, in Gerswin’s hands at least, genre boundaries were as fluid as they are today. Further proof of this fluidity between genres is that the audience for the the world premiere of "Rhapsody in Blue" in 1924 by Gershwin and the Paul Whiteman Band at New York's Aeolian Hall included violin virtuosi Heifetz and Kreisler, classical composers Rachmaninov and Stravinsky, and the conductor Leopold Stokowski. The album begins with "Rhapsody in Blue". This is a performance with a particular freshness about it, not least because Rantala takes the fully through-composed piece and allows himself a few freedoms with it. For example, he inserts an improvisation based on a Cuban montuno into the final cadenza. Equally thrilling are the 16 minutes in which Rantala and The Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen conducted by Jonathan Bloxham take us through the story of Gers-win's "Porgy and Bess" – with Heifetz's five-part suite for piano and violin derived from the opera as their point of departure. The fascinating interplay of keyboard and stringed instrument has also shaped Oliver Groenewald's orchestral arrangement in which we hear Gershwin’s fabulous tunes, from "Summertime" to "It Ain't Necessarily So". And there’s more. Strictly speaking, the album should be called "Playing Gershwin and Rantala", because there are also five shorter pieces by the Finnish pianist himself. These are tunes from earlier albums by the pianist, in which he references classical musicians or styles. "What Comes Up, Must Come Down", for example, is a take on Franz Liszt’s romantic piano virtuosity, and this orchestral version brings glorious technicolor to it. "Anyone With A Heart" is Rantala’s personal bow to Mozart. "Hard Score" is like a movie theme, drawing inspiration from Arabic and world music. And, of course, the tango - which is also heard in the previous pieces – is unavoidable. In his youth in Tango-mad Finland, Rantala was more or less inhaling it every day, and playing it on countless gigs: "A Concert Tango" is not so reminiscent of Argentinian tango, but rather the more robust classical tango that is incredibly popular in Finland. As it does in the Gershwin works, the complex interplay which Rantala sets up with the orchestra also works very well here. "I think like a classical musician. I want to play good pieces, good tunes. Not just riffs," he says. Of course, he always does this in the jazz spirit, in the spirit of musical freedom. Which, as ever, is what makes Iiro Rantala such a “natural phenomenon at the piano” (Jazzthing). Credits: Recorded by Adrian von Ripka at Die Kammer-Philharmonie, Bremen, 2-6 January 2019 Assistant engineer: Harald Schmidt-Reinthaler Mixed and mastered by Adrian von Ripka Technical support: Bauer Studios, Ludwigsburg Executive Producer: The Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen

Iiro Rantala - My Finnish CalendarCD / Vinyl / digital Iiro Rantala piano Iiro Rantala is a jazz chameleon who loves to appear in many guises. The Finnish pianist invariably springs a surprise with the concepts for his albums, particularly those of his solo piano projects. For "My Finnish Calendar", he has turned a new page: this is improvised music but with an extra-musical narrative: from a very personal and Finnish point of view, he has set to music the passing of a complete year in his home country, and he has done it with his typical mixture of melodic inventiveness, melancholy and humour. His well-known technical finesse and mastery, acquired over the years, have been applied here with an unerring instinct for bringing the essential to the fore. Each piece on this album represents a month of the year, and each also exists as an independent artistic statement. And if the storyline might not always be directly apparent from the music, Rantala has provided explanations and hilarious anecdotes in his liner notes. The sheer strength with which all this inspiration has been bubbling up becomes clear right at the beginning of the year: "January" sets the sequence in motion with a mighty hymn in a minor key, true to Rantala's description of this "month of regret." As he explains, "Finns regret that they spent too much money on Christmas, ate too much and definitely drank too much on Christmas and New Year. Many Finns are cleaning their system and have an alcohol-free month of January. That doesn’t make them happier people." The exact opposite is then heard in February: a cheerful, lively whirl of staccato sweeps over the listener, as the Finns are now “at their best. All kinds of snow activities make them happy.” But by March it has been cold and dark for long enough. The Finns are bored of winter, so Rantala's "March" is a sparkling, slightly melancholic chanson: “the Finns are dreaming of a trip to Paris, where spring is already happening." Rantala finds a fitting way to explain the significance of each month through music. From the “summer-planning month” of May, piano strings muffled, and becoming ever more dynamic, to the “Kesäkuu” (meaning summer month) of June (which is in reality “very cold and uber rainy”) and for which he finds a melody which sounds almost cabaret-inspired, to the travel month of July and then on to August which is the best weather-wise, but when everyone is obliged to go back to school or work – which Rantala captures in a strict, almost classical fugue. Into autumn, there is a stately build-up from the sentimental romanticism of September and a stormy October to the darkness of November, which Rantala interprets as a comforting ballad deftly aligned to the Finnish character. And finally on to December, which is full of work, until the Finns are totally exhausted. As Rantala explains playfully: "Everything that makes January the month of regret is built up to in December." With that, the whole sequence can start afresh – indeed, this Finnish calendar is such appealing music, one wants to hear right through again – and straight away."My Finnish Calendar" is Iiro Rantala's third solo album. He has remained true and consistent to the artistic beliefs that shaped both of his previous recordings: "Jazz needs melodies,” he says. “It needs things that people can latch on to." On his ACT debut "Lost Heroes" (2011) Rantala proved his outstanding ability to venerate great predecessors and role models, from Bill Evans, Erroll Garner and Art Tatum to Esbjörn Svensson, Michel Petrucciani and even Luciano Pavarotti. He didn’t copy them, what shone through was his own identity. Then, in 2015 he captivated his audience with his interpretation of John Lennon's music. In "My Working Class Hero", Rantala succeeded in creating an anthem to the great revolutionary of pop, in an incredibly subtle way and in a true jazz spirit. And he has now reinvented himself again, as a researcher observing the Finnish seasons through jazz...Credits: Recorded by Klaus Scheuermann at the ACT Art Collection Berlin, November 30, 2018 Mixed and mastered by Klaus Scheuermann Iiro Rantala played on the “Alfred Brendel” Steinway D-524780, tuned by Thomas Hübsch Music composed by Iiro Rantala Produced by Siggi Loch Cover art by Mimmo Paladino

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

Jazz at Berlin Philharmonic IX - PannonicaCD / digital Iiro Rantala piano & leader Dan Berglund bass Anton Eger drums Angelika Niescier alto saxophone Ernie Watts tenor saxophone Charenée Wade vocals A single moment can change a life forever. That happened to the Jewish baroness and heiress Pannonica (Nica) de Koenigswarter (1913-1988), née Rothschild. On hearing Thelonious Monk’s ‘Round Midnight’ on a trip to New York at the beginning of the 1950s, she was so totally captivated by the music, she turned her back on her native Europe and on all the glamour of her previous existence, and became one of the great supporters of American jazz. Siggi Loch experienced a similarly decisive moment in his life when, at the age of just 15, he heard a concert by Sidney Bechet and decided that his life from then on would be dedicated to jazz. This decision had a profound effect not just on him, but also on the way this music has developed in Europe, most notably in the years since he founded ACT in 1992. So it was above all a feeling of affinity with Pannonica which inspired Siggi Loch to dedicate an entire evening to her in the “Jazz at Berlin Philharmonic” concert series which he has curated since 2012. The concert, on 6 February 2019, thirty years after her death, focused on pieces by the musicians whom the “Jazz Baroness” supported over many years with money, accommodation, advice and friendship, and who often dedicated compositions to her to express their gratitude: Thelonious Monk, Horace Silver, Bud Powell and Sonny Rollins. Musicians from five countries took part in the concert: Finnish pianist Iiro Rantala, a habitual unifier of the traditional and the modern, was directing. Alongside Swedish bassist Dan Berglund and Norwegian-born drummer Anton Eger, he formed the musical foundation. In addition, there were three outstanding soloists: American saxophonist Ernie Watts, who shared the stage with Thelonious Monk back in the pianist’s lifetime, German saxophonist Angelika Niescier and New York singer Charenée Wade. Together they do not only demonstrate magnificently that a single moment can indeed transform an individual life story, but also that such occurrences have the power to shine beyond the confines of continents, cultures and epochs.Credits: Recorded live in concert by Klaus Scheuermann, at the Berlin Philharmonie (KMS), February 6, 2019 Mixed and mastered by Klaus Scheuermann Curated and produced by Siggi Loch Produced by Siggi Loch

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

Long before he had heard the whole of Mozart’s C Major Piano Concerto, Finnish jazz pianist Iiro Rantala had known the andante. “The second movement,” he explains, “is on the soundtrack to the James Bond Film ‘The Spy Who Loved Me’. It’s the scene where they show you the underwater city – and it’s my absolute favourite Bond film.” It was not until several years later that Rantala heard the whole concerto, KV 467, at a concert. When he did, he instantly fell in love with the piece. “The opening movement has something magical about it, it’s just a fantastic melody – and the music evolves as naturally as breathing.” His enthusiasm is evident: “All the themes, harmonies and rhythms of the work are composed with such perfection, it is almost preternatural.” The pianist, who is also classically trained, had always dreamed of performing this concerto, so it was no surprise that when the opportunity came, he seized it with enthusiasm. It happened in 2017 at jazzahead! in Bremen in Germany. As a prominent representative of jazzahead!’s partner country Finland, Rantala was invited to devise the programme for the gala concert. And that much-lauded event is now available as a live recording. His choice of the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen (DKPB) had less to do with the ensemble's local roots in Bremen than the fact that Rantala has been aware of the orchestra for 35 years. Various DKPB recordings adorn his CD collection at home. He makes no secret of the esteem in which he holds them: “The Bremen Orchestra is the top chamber ensemble in Germany.” And it doesn't matter in the slightest to him that “the musicians didn't know me at all before...” Orchestra and soloist worked in a spirit of curiosity and openness, and the result is a luminous and remarkably clear performance of the Mozart. Rantala and the Bremen musicians are well aware of the contrasts and tensions in their dialogue, such as when the pianist takes up the theme in the march-like allegro maestoso, and then progressively shapes and hones it, and takes it through to the broad sweep of the development section and the cadenza. Both of the protagonists do justice to the profundity and concentrated energy of the finale, they ensure that the friction and harmonic adventures come to the fore – and yet at the same time find the calmness and lyricism of his beloved “Bond Andante”. It is a balance which is difficult to strike; but they do. As a jazz pianist Rantala provided his own spontaneous improvisation for the cadenza. The decision not to use one of the existing classical versions of the cadenza came as no surprise to DKPB orchestra leader Florian Donderer. According to Donderer, the way it turned out demonstrated that “Iiro Rantala improvises in his own style, but there are also classical elements in his cadenza.” Rantala was pleased to received this compliment for his performance at this concert and on this recording, but the Finn points to something of more long-term significance going on: “I would really like to rip down the barriers which continue to keep jazz and classical music apart - and I am convinced that we are on the right track with a common project like this.” Rantala predicts that any separation of the genres will have ceased to exist in a few decades' time - and the other pieces on this recording apart from the Mozart piano concerto follow that principle: there are, for example, solo interpretations of Leonard Bernstein's “Candide Overture” and John Lennon's “Imagine”, as well as arrangements of Rantala's own compositions with orchestral accompaniment. So... what is it? Some kind of smörgåsbord? The pianist, who is known for his quick wit and his playful sense of irony, smiles: “This is the kind of mixture I like to present in my concerts – and it certainly works well in those.” And not only there, as this bridge established between the two worlds of music clearly demonstrates. In pieces such as “Freedom” or “Tears For Esbjörn”, Rantala maintains a melody-oriented jazz style that is his and his alone. As Donderer observes: “classical music always shines through in his compositions.” Rantala’s musical travels take in the whole world, and he knows the kind of companions he likes to be with: artists who also have his level of open-mindedness. And the inevitable result is that new and unexpected musical horizons come into view.

Various Artists - Hendrix in the Spirit of JazzCD / digital Various Artists “When I die, I want people to play my music, go wild and freak out and do anything they want to do.” Jimi Hendrix’s wish has been posthumously fulfilled. Although he had such misfortune in life, and died in 1970 at a mere 27 years of age, his immortal music has continued to be played ever since his death - very much in the spirit of that quote. Countless musicians in rock, pop and jazz have been influenced by Hendrix, and many have overtly based their own music on his. Among the ACT family of artists, several have been inspired by his music, and have found their own individual ways to play it. In November of this year this icon of the 1968 protest movement, this pioneer of rock would have been 75. A good reason, then, for ACT musicians to gather together for a retrospective called “Hendrix in the Spirit of Jazz”, to let the unique spirit of this genius of the electric guitar soar again.Pride of place here goes to Nguyên Lê. 25 years ago, he was the first artist to have an exclusive contract with ACT, in its first year of existence. As a self-taught guitarist, the Vietnamese-French musician is stylistically close to Hendrix, and the American has discernably influenced Lê’s instantly recognizable world music, which innovatively blends elements from Europe, Asia and America. Indeed, one of Lê’s very greatest successes was the 2002 CD “Purple – Celebrating Jimi Hendrix”. His versions of “1983…(A Merman I Should Turn To Be)” and “If 6 Was 9” form the centre of “Hendrix in the Spirit of Jazz”. Lê is immaculate in the way he lives up to the challenge of the title, taking all the freedom and danger of Hendrix’s rock music, and using the subtle craft of the jazz improviser to enhance it. Alongside Lê, Terri Lyne Carrington is a pivotal figure in this recording. Hendrix's themes are sometimes furiously rocky, sometimes soulful or atmospherically dream-like, and she not only propels them from the drums, she uses her voice to express his lyrics, which she also expands with thoughts of her own. And the other ACT stars on this album demonstrate what a kaleidoscope of colours, a diversity of styles and and lively cosmos Hendrix's pieces can become: whether it is Bugge Wesseltoft transforming “Angel” into a tender solo piano ballad, or his Finnish pianist colleague Iiro Rantala in a trio with Lars Danielsson on bass and Peter Erskine on drums on “Little Wing”. Or it can be the unique Youn Sun Nah’s “Drifting”, intoning an irresistible call of longing, or her soulful Swedish sister-in-jazz Ida Sand, wonderfully expressive in “Manic Depression”. From the NDR Bigband rocking out on “Voodoo Chile” to the ACT Family Band - Cæcilie Norby, Céline Bonacina, Wolfgang Haffner, Lars Danielsson with Nguyên Lê again – performing the most famous Hendrix anthem “Purple Haze” in front of an ecstatic audience celebrating the 20th birthday of ACT.“Hendrix in the Spirit of Jazz” is an anthology which shows that Hendrix’s music is as alive as it ever was – maybe even more so. And what it does - musically at least - is to encourage listeners to ‘go wild and freak out and do anything they want to do’.Credits: Music composed by Jimi Hendrix Compiled by Marco Ostrowski Mastered by Klaus Scheuermann

Jazz at Berlin Philharmonic VII - Piano NightCD / Vinyl / digital Leszek Możdżer piano, Fender Rhodes on Summertime Iiro Rantala piano Michael Wollny piano All three play Fender Rhodes, in turn, on La Fiesta “Three men, three pianos, one emotion – jazz”. These were the words with which German national TV news succinctly summed up the piano summit on 31st May 2016 in a sold-out main hall of the Berlin Philharmonie – a concert which can now be experienced exclusively on vinyl. And the TV news reporter continued: “Iiro Rantala, Leszek Możdżer, Michael Wollny. Each in a class of his own. Together, they’re a miracle”. Is there perhaps an element of déjà vu in this story? Yes, certainly. Because these were the same three jazz piano greats who had performed at the very first ‘Jazz at Berlin Philharmonic’ in December 2012, the event which triumphantly set in motion the concert series curated by Siggi Loch at the German capital city’s classical music shrine.Making this second appearance together were three of the most outstanding and established representatives of European jazz, each with a host of awards to their name. Możdżer, Rantala and Wollny are from a generation which mostly went through the rigours of classical study and therefore have a knowledge of that canon and tradition. Each of them has ventured from there into the freedom of jazz, and have not just loved it, but also thrived on it. They also grew up, almost inevitably, living and breathing rock and pop music. In other words, these are musicians who have garnered experiences in all genres and style, and who simply ‘make music’ that transcends technical barriers, and do it “in the spirit of jazz”, which puts them at one with the basic tenet of the ACT label. After more than a dozen ‘Jazz at Berlin Philharmonic‘ concerts – all of them completely sold out, with all three pianists returning, individually, from other formations – it was exciting to listen out for how the three had developed in the interim since that first concert together. Finnish pianist Iiro Rantala has been integrating completely new colours into his playing – “melodies full of clarity and beauty”, as the Stern, one of Germany’s leading magazines, described them, have become a focus for his artistry. The two solo albums ‘Lost Heroes’ (from 2011) and ‘My Working Class Hero’ (a tribute for what would have been the 75th birthday of John Lennon in 2015) finally gave him a major international profile. Artistic integrity, a respect for the power of melody and the freedom he has when soloing – Rantala brings all of these elements to the fore with total conviction in his composition ‘Freedom’.Michael Wollny has also found his artistic freedom – something he has worked towards for ten years. It was with ‘Weltentraum’ (2014) and ‘Nachtfahrten’ (2015), however, that word really started to get round that there was a quite exceptional pianist in Germany, a “complete master of the piano” (Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, FAZ), a musician who seems to be able to find his own surprising solution to every kind of musical or aesthetic proposition. He certainly does that on this album in a duo with Iiro Rantala – ‘White Moon’, a composition by his most important early teacher Chris Beier, who was also the first to spot Wollny’s potential. There remains the Polish “phenomenon” (Süddeutsche Zeitung) Leszek Możdżer, who is the great romantic among European jazz pianists. His “filigree virtuosity with its light and shade is fascinating, hugely entertaining and nobody gets even close to what he can do as a craftsman of the contemporary piano” was the verdict of the German broadsheet FAZ. Możdżer’s ability to combine the simple with the difficult is something he demonstrates incomparably in the pictorial, almost filmic composition ‘She Said She Was A Painter’. The piano summit concert has its shape, its dramaturgy, building inexorably towards a grand finale with all three pianists on the stage together. First there is the soulful heat of Gershwin's ‘Summertime’, and then a wild ride through Chick Corea’s ‘La Fiesta’. It is in moments like these, as the pianists play their multi-dimensional games of pursuit and avoidance, that the true spirit of this concert series emerges. The thrill, the tingle and the danger of these exceptional live encounters are part of the jazz tradition, but have been updated to send a buzz of excitement around today’s technology-fixated audience. Iiro Rantala’s ‘Olé!’ at the end of this concert didn’t just resonate in the hall in Berlin at the moment of triumph. It is a powerful and durable expression of the effect of live music at its absolute best.Credits: Recorded live in concert at the Berlin Philharmonie May 31, 2016 Curated and produced by Siggi Loch Recorded and mastered by Klaus Scheuermann Mixed by Klaus Scheuermann & Bartek Kapłoński

Iiro Rantala - Good StuffCD / Vinyl / digital iiro rantala piano ulf wakenius guitarVienna, Rome, Seoul... Iiro Rantala and Ulf Wakenius are musicians who travel the world, always on tour as leaders of their own projects. So it was something of a fluke that this duo was able to come into existence at all. The idea first emerged in October 2015, when Rantala and Wakenius stopped off at the Philharmonie in Berlin. Siggi Loch, curator of the “Jazz at Berlin Philharmonic” concert series, had brought them together on stage for the “Tears for Esbjörn” concert. “We were part of a larger ensemble on that occasion”, Rantala remembers, “but it was clear to both of us straight away that we would want to form a duo.” This has to be seen as a very smart move, given the rarity of the piano-guitar duo in jazz – a fine exception being that of Brad Mehldau with Pat Metheny. Thereafter, whenever gaps could be found in both of their crammed diaries, they would meet to do concerts together. “Each of us would bring some pieces to play”, says Wakenius, “but because we always had so little time in the run-up, we were more or less rehearsing live on stage.” It is precisely this way of approaching the music – with spontaneity, inquisitiveness and a complete lack of preconceived ideas – that gives the duo its fabulous energy. It is worth noting that almost all of the tracks on this album are first takes. After a much-acclaimed concert at Jazz Baltica in summer 2016, it was evident that this music needed to be recorded. Siggi Loch invited the pair to his gallery in Berlin, where the now famous Alfred Brendel Steinway “D” was awaiting Rantala’s arrival. Each track of the album captures the mood of a different city. These are places which the musicians visit regularly, where they often play, and to which they feel a special connection: “Vienna” sounds as if Mozart could have written it – if he were a jazz musician living now. “Seoul” combines traditional Korean music with the 21st century urban metropolis. “Helsinki”, says Rantala of his home town, “is a relaxed, groovy place.” That’s also where the Finnish artist Jiri Geller is living, who has done the CD artwork. He is just as much at home as the musicians themselves when it comes to reconciling the contradictions between seriousness or concentration and playfulness, flippancy – or just going for an effect. Puccini's aria “Nessun Dorma” references Milan as an important centre of Italian opera, whereas Georges Bizet’s “Carmen” takes place in Seville, and the Don José -Micaëla duet from it has been arranged by Rantala as gently swaying jazz ballad, in which both piano and guitar sing from the heart. “Berlin”, as portrayed by Ulf Wakenius, is in a state of flux. The city that never sleeps is propelled here by an unrelenting pulse from the guitar; the melody over it is catchy yet elusive. In John Coltrane’s “Giant Steps” both instrumentalists show their dazzling virtuosity. “What A Wonderful World” that was made famous by Louis Armstrong is a summarization of this musical tour of cities: “Every place is lifted by its music and is therefore unique. We've hunted down these specific sounds.” Rantala and Wakenius always play Stevie Wonder’s “Sir Duke” as the encore at their concerts, and audiences love it. That track was a must for the album, as was “Love The Stuff/Ain‘t No Mountain High Enough” from Stuff, the 70's and 80's jazz-funk band with Richard Tee, Cornell Dupree and Steve Gadd, a group which both men revere. That legendary band also inspired the choice of album title: “Good Stuff”. “The tracks bring together influences and composers that have left their mark on us,” says Wakenius. He and Rantala have indeed brought together great things, but what they go on to make of these materials and inspirations: that’s the real good stuff. Credits: Produced by Siggi Loch Recorded by Nanni Johansson at the ACT Art Collection Berlin, May 30 & 31, 2017 Mixed and mastered by Klaus Scheuermann Iiro Rantala played on the “Alfred Brendel” Steinway D-524780, tuned by Thomas Hübsch

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 - 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

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.

Viktoria Tolstoy: "Meet Me At The Movies" – A jazzy journey through film classics from "Casablanca" to "Dancer in the Dark." Featuring Nils Landgren & Iiro Rantala.