Theo Croker & Sullivan FortnerCD / Vinyl / Limited Green Vinyl / digital Theo Croker trumpetSullivan Fortner piano Forget the boxes.Forget the compositions.Forget the market.Forget if people will get it.Forget everything. Let's just PLAY. The album PLAY unites for the first time two of the most important American musicians of the current generation charting new paths in jazz & way beyond: trumpeter Theo Croker and pianist Sullivan Fortner. The two have known each other for more than 20 years, but PLAY is their first recording as joint leaders. Their original idea was to record a collection of modern jazz standards, perhaps including a few versions of popular songs. So Croker and Fortner went into the studio, made a recording… but then discarded it. In its entirety. Theo Croker remembers: ‘As we were playing it, it felt very stale. Not in the sense that the songs weren't any good. But it felt like we were just kind of playing things that had already been recorded many times.’ Sullivan Fortner agrees: ‘We felt it wasn't really us, it felt more like being in school. We had both played a lot of music from the great American songbook in the past. Those are great songs, they were our vehicle for studying. But it wasn't necessarily the music we gravitated towards on gigs. We are always rooted in something that is beyond just jazz. The music we create always tends to reflect the entire diaspora of black American music, as opposed to just one solid genre.”So Croker and Fortner went back into the studio... the very next day. The plan this time: no plan. No compositions (except for the opener A Prayer for Peace). Let’s just PLAY. Theo Croker takes up the story: “We would just come up with spontaneous little ideas: This song we’ll play fast. For this song we pick four notes we were NOT gonna play. This song I play long notes, you play fast notes. I'm gonna come up with a melody and we just see where it goes. In just one hour, we were done.” The process might sound simple in theory, but in reality it has captured the essence of two lifetimes of learning and improvisation. Sullivan Fortner says: “It just felt right, it felt like: this is really us. It pulled inspirationally and spiritually and pulled out a lot of the things we have learned together and in common.” This extraordinary recording, now being released on ACT has an interesting backstory: Theo Croker has already appeared on ACT as the mainstay of quite a few previous releases: first was Jazz at Berlin Philharmonic XII – Sketches of Miles (recorded in 2021) and then Emile Parisien’s transatlantic project Louise (2022), first in the studio and then live. As a result, ACT CEO Andreas Brandis proposed to the trumpeter that he might release a more acoustic, chamber music-influenced album – something very different from his work as a leader, which tends to inhabit the borderlands between jazz, hip hop and pop. Croker’s first instinctive reaction to the suggestion was positive, and to offer a duo recording with Sullivan Fortner. It was an idea which the two musicians had already been considering for a long time. PLAY is one of those unusual occasions when everything has fallen into place. In today’s music business, that’s not just rare, it’s a miracle. No rulebook, no questions about genres, no aiming at target groups...or singles...or suitability for streaming. Just the music. Even though a wide variety of influences have coalesced here, the album has a particularly emblematic and vivid statement to make about what the spirit of jazz is: freedom, interaction, the opportunity to express oneself without restriction and to communicate with one another. Or, as Sullivan Fortner puts it: ‘This is just two brothers playing.’ Credits#1 composed by Theo Croker, all other tracks are improvisationsRecorded June 6, 2023 at The Bunker Studio, Brooklyn, NYRecorded by Todd CarterMixed by Todd CarderMastered by Klaus ScheuermannProduced by Theo Croker & Sullivan FortnerPhoto by @ogata_photoSpiral motif used under license from Giorgio Morara Alamy (vector graphic)Cover design by Siggi Loch

Nils Landgren - Christmas with my Friends IXCD / Purple Vinyl / digital Nils Landgren trombone & vocalsSharon Dyall vocalsJeanette Köhn vocals Jessica Pilnäs vocals Ida Sand vocals & piano Jonas Knutsson saxophones Johan Norberg guitars Clas Lassbo bassTrombones from the Swedish Radio Symphony OrchestraHåkan Björkman, Mikael Oscarsson, James Kent, Martha Eikemo Andersen What would Christmas be without songs? And without friends and family? Trombonist, singer, and producer Nils Landgren had long dreamed of celebrating a musical Christmas with good friends. In 2006, this dream became reality: Christmas With My Friends was released and quickly became one of the most popular and successful Christmas albums in European jazz — and a beloved tradition. Since then, the series has appeared every two years, accompanied by regular tours. Now, with Christmas With My Friends IX, the series enters its ninth round.“Someone once asked me: is there not an end to Christmas songs?” recalls Nils Landgren. His answer is simple: “The answer is simple: no, there is not. As long as we celebrate Christmas, there will be songs celebrating the occasion in one way or the other.” For Landgren and his fellow musicians, both the recordings and the concerts are a special joy: “There is no way I can describe the feeling when another recording session is finished. We all put our heart and soul into each and every Christmas album we make, and over the years we have become a very tight bunch of people, and we know each other quite well by now — after 8 albums and 10 long tours over the past decades.” As in every edition, Landgren & Friends also gathered over coffee and cinnamon buns for the ninth installment of Christmas to discuss and try out a selection of classic European and American Christmas songs across styles and eras, as well as new compositions. The lineup once again features Jonas Knutsson (saxophone), Johan Norberg (guitar), Clas Lassbo (bass), and Ida Sand (piano, vocals), along with vocalists Sharon Dyall, Jessica Pilnäs, and Jeanette Köhn. Traditionally, the recordings took place at the renowned Atlantis Studios in Stockholm – under the direction of Nils Landgren and co-producer Johan Norberg. As a special treat this time, Landgren invited the trombone section of the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra to perform on some particularly moving chorales. The variety of voices, the close familiarity among all the musicians, and the warm, acoustic character – both festive and intimate – shape the unmistakable charm of this music. Christmas With My Friends IX is a celebration of friendship, peace, and joy – a musical Christmas story that Nils Landgren and his friends share with their audience. Credits Recorded March 3–4, 2025, at Atlantis Studios, Stockholm Recorded by Niclas Lindström Trombones on #1 recorded by Hans Gardemar at KMH Kungasalen Stockholm Mixed by Johan Norberg Mastered by Klaus ScheuermannProduced by Nils Landgren & Johan Norberg

Bugge Wesseltoft - It's still snowing on my pianoLiveCD / Vinyl / Limited Sky Blue Vinyl / digital Bugge Wesseltoft pianoBugge Wesseltoft’s solo piano album It's Snowing On My Piano (1997) is one of the most successful albums that the ACT label has ever released. For many people – especially in Germany and Norway – this music, made with such care and love by the affable and generous-spirited Norwegian, has become an essential part of their holiday season. And yet, for a Christmas album, it is anything but typical. From the very first note, the meditative strength of the music is palpable. Wesseltoft creates a locus of peace and tranquillity – a state of being which seems even more precious today than it did when the album first appeared. In the intervening years, Bugge Wesseltoft has played the music from the album many times in concert. Each time, he reinterprets the music afresh, with the compositions and melodies serving as points of departure for musical meditations shaped in the moment. After almost 20 years of these performances, the time is now right to document and indeed to celebrate this aspect of Wesseltoft’s patient but continuing creative evolution through the release of It's still snowing on my piano. This new, live version of the much-loved album was recorded at five concerts in cultural centres and churches in Norway. When Bugge Wesseltoft played the music from Snowing live for the very first time almost 20 years ago at Kalkmølla, an intimate hall in a cultural centre outside Oslo, he had strong doubts as to whether it would be possible to recreate the magical atmosphere of the studio recording. He recalls: “There were about a hundred people seated in a small acoustic space. I started playing quietly and slowly, just like on the album. After a few songs, I started to hear deep breathing coming from somewhere in the audience. ‘Oh God, this must be so boring for them,’ I thought... I was sure they would all leave during the interval.” Of course, his fears were unfounded – not a single person left. In fact, quite the opposite: “After the concert, everyone told me what a great experience it had been. Since then, I have been playing this music every December in Norway in front of large audiences. It's incredible to feel the collective energy that this music and the presence of an audience in a concert hall can create together.” When Siggi Loch, the founder of ACT, originally suggested that Wesseltoft might record a Christmas album in 1997, the pianist was initially less than enthusiastic. He can still remember why: “I'm not a big fan of the frenzy of Christmas shopping, all that enforced happiness...In the early nineties I worked in a psychiatric clinic and was shocked to discover that Christmas was a peak season for depression, nervous breakdowns and family problems. I counted myself lucky, because I grew up in a family where Christmas Eve was a heart-warming, peaceful evening spent with my closest family." This eventually inspired Wesseltoft to record a Christmas album in this spirit — one that his then two-and-a-half-year-old daughter Maren might one day come to love: "Calm, slow, with an emphasis on fond childhood memories, on the songs we sang while holding hands around the Christmas tree," as he describes it. There was no particular reason to expect that the recording would do well when it was released before Christmas 1997. And at first, not much happened at all. But in the following year, word spread about this very special Christmas music, people took the album to their hearts, recommended it and gave it as a gift again and again, something which continues right up to the present day. The live recording It's still snowing on my piano feels familiar – but at the same time it is new. The melodies of the compositions, originals but in traditional vein, remain intact. Wesseltoft's approach to the songs is neither of deconstruction nor of recomposition, but rather one of gently wandering and exploring the spaces between the notes. And yet it is precisely in this way that completely new music emerges within the songs. It seems as if each preceding note is paving the way for the next, as if each new twist and turn leads on to another. It can often seem that Wesseltoft himself is both player and listener. During the recording of the original album, his daughter Maren sat on his lap – not a typical artist-audience relationship, but rather one of listening and feeling being shared. And that is the spirit which pervades Snowing whether it is heard in concert or at home. It is the ever-present feeling of connection between musician and listener that makes this evergreen music so completely magical. CreditsMusic arranged and produced by Bugge Wesseltoft Mixed and mastered by Klaus ScheuermannCover art by Ardy Strüwer

Bill Laurance - LumenCD / Vinyl / Limited turquoise Vinyl / digitalBill Laurance Yamaha CFX2 grand pianoYamaha UX3 upright piano with feltFor a couple of days and nights, Bill Laurance went into hiding. He locked himself away in a place where he could be alone at the piano, lost in music, could allow himself to drift, sometimes guided by existing compositions, sometimes less so. Around him the solid brick walls of St Faith's Church in Dulwich in South London provided a buffer from the outside world, creating a spiritual backdrop for the music. ‘I'm not a very religious person,’ recalls Laurance as he thinks back to the recording situation in early April of this year. ‘But it was special to play there while everyday life was on hold. And it's different when you're in that kind of setting, just communicating with yourself. I wanted to capture the freedom in music that arises at moments like that.’With his latest solo recording, Bill Laurance, who often experiments with acoustic and electric sounds, is passionate about exploring the full sonic and musical spectrum of an accoustic concert grand piano - and to inhabit the realm between composition and freedom: "When you play solo, you have a unique opportunity to explore that. Recording in a church was the perfect setting and let me fully surrenders to the music. The superb guitarist Isaiah Sharkey once said to me that it’s the music itself which tells him what to play. That idea really left its mark on me. We are usually trained to control everything, to practice until it’s perfect. But I think I've got to a point where I just want to let it flow. Do the opposite, let the music take the lead." It would be wrong, however, to infer that Bill Laurance has suddenly thrown away the rulebook completely. Whereas many pieces on ‘Lumen’ have a strong improvisational component, others are composed and have clearly defined structures. The 44-year-old pianist, composer and bandleader is not interested in heading in the direction of resolution and completion, but rather in the power that arises from contrast. He has several projects in which he communicates extensively with musical partners. For example, in the duo with Michael League, in his own trio, with Snarky Puppy, or his orchestral collaborations such as “Bloom” with The Untold Orchestra. These are situations in which one becomes part of a greater entity, and can be carried forwards by the flow, the teamwork. Solo piano, on the other hand, works very differently. You see yourself in the mirror, set the rules – but can also break away from them: "I really immersed myself in the moment. For me, it felt like a solo pilgrimage. Something happened, I recorded about three hours of music in total and then had to decide which bits to leave out. At its core, however, it was a spiritual experience for me, a process of arriving, a question of trust. A bit like Indiana Jones in “The Last Crusade” when he takes that jump into the abyss – a leap into the unknown. I couldn't have exposed more of who I am than I did with this music. I used to be surrounded by a load of synthesizers, drum machines, all kinds of things, even when I was playing solo. But as an artist, I now feel ready to leave all that behind me, the idea here is to be more organic, pure, direct." As well as the conventional grand piano, Bill Laurance also used a piano with felt dampers, at the opposite end of the scale from the big resonance of the grand piano. With the felt dampeners, the attack of the piano is reduced allowing for a more inviting and intimate tone. The “felted piano” is tonal, melodic percussion and a contrast with the large, more public space which the church offered. He used it discreetly to give the ten pieces of ‘Lumen’ additional colour, for example as the melodically bold and dramatic intro to ‘Mantra,’ which gradually and almost imperceptibly transitions from a tiny motif into the full opulent sound of the grand piano. The title track, on the other hand, has an impressionistic character and seems like a newly discovered prelude, while ‘Dove’ becomes a version of modern stride piano with lots of cheerful interplay, but also a bluesy nonchalance. The album ‘Lumen’ opens doors into a vast world of imagination. It feels like just the captivating beginning, in which the chance to explore and to dig into his heritage and into himself has led Bill Laurance to create music which is grounded in melody, but also lives and breathes the allure of freedom. And it makes you want to accompany Bill Laurance on the next stages of his solo piano journey. CreditsAll music composed by Bill Laurance Published by Flint Music, administered by BMG PublishingRecorded at St Faith’s Church, Dulwich, London on the 3rd and 4th April 2025 Recorded by Camilo SalazarMixed by Steve Poppleton and Bill LauranceProduced by Bill LauranceMastered by Christoph Stickel @csmastering.com Bill Laurance is managed by Mike Chadwick for Mike Chadwick Management Cover art by Michael Kidner, Butterfly Wings, 1966 Oil on canvas, 168 x 183 cm (Image has been adjusted for print) © Estate of Michael Kidner, courtesy of Flowers Gallery

Vincent Peirani - Living Being IVCD / Vinyl / limited red transparent Vinyl / digital Vincent Peirani accordion, accordina Emile Parisien soprano saxophone  Julien Herne bass Tony Paeleman piano, keyboards, Fender Rhodes Yoann Serra drums Yesterday, 2011: Vincent, Yoann, Tony, Julien... and one more. A group of pals, each one having left Nice independently and ended up in Paris. They adopt Émile, also from Southern France, but from further west. Today: natural affinities, a leader who calls the shots, and they use jazz to embrace a wide musical spectrum, from Baroque music to teen pop, from traditions of the Balkans to sounds of Africa. Tomorrow: with their flair for narrative, for creating a scenario, and their mastery of dynamics, every concert is and will be a celebration of excellence.    Listening to “Living Being IV: Time Reflections”, we are immediately struck by the range of dynamics, the intimacy and extroversion at play in every detail, the rich textures, and the arrangements that allow for riveting moments of surprise. It’s worth remembering that, from the outset with Living Being, Vincent Peirani brought to the fore the concept of chamber music: a small number of performers, with each one playing a unique part, but with the emphasis on the collective rather than the individual.From the start, with Le Cabinet des énigmes, the melodic intelligibility is impressive. A sort of children’s song sublimated by the art of superimposing transparencies. Everything is played out in a myriad of details that create a perpetual motion. Further on, in Better Days, the motif heard – it came to Vincent Peirani while improvising during one of the COVID-19 lockdowns – conveys the fragility of a slow waltz emerging from the darkness to provide a glimpse of a radiant future. Three of the tracks, Clessidra, Inner Pulse and Bremain Suite, are much longer than any of the pieces on Living Being’s previous albums. The narrative and the distribution of the parts made this inevitable. We can feel here the trust that has been built up over the years, so natural, and without the slightest tension. With different colours, they all tell the same story.This album represents perhaps Vincent Peirani’s most faithful self-portrait to date. It has as its centrepiece Time Reflections, a suite in three movements, Clessidra, Better Days and Inner Pulse, each of which is also a suite (in 3, 3, and 4 parts, respectively). This nested construction is totally in keeping with Vincent’s true nature: he is an architect, constantly mindful of even the smallest details. Back to the future for Phantom Resonanz. An unlikely encounter between the sixteenth-century polyphony of the Franco-Flemish composer Cipriano de Rore and the contemporary approach of German pianist Michael Wollny. The result is disarming in its simplicity, and all the more convincing since the accordion plays a pivotal role. In both L.L. and Bremain Suite, variations in tempo play a major role. L.L., a tribute to Lionel Loueke, presents a Cubist portrait of the Beninese guitarist. The first half of the piece focuses on his tenderness and sensitivity, the second on his dazzling rhythms. With Bremain Suite Vincent Peirani returns to his love for putting his own spin on pop and rock songs written and recorded by other artists. After hesitating between Under Pressure by Queen and David Bowie, Portishead’s Glory Box and The Beatles’ I Want You (She’s So Heavy), he decided in the end to bring all three together, shaking up their tempos and bringing out a family resemblance already spotted as a teenager. Note Émile Parisien’s bravura piece on I Want You.Vincent Peirani’s spreads his antennae so far and wide that his four companions have to be prepared for anything when he comes up with new pieces for the repertoire. A dub with an irresistible beat, such as Physical Attraction, inspired by voguing. And Nach e Vlado, reflecting a soft spot for the traditional melodies of the Balkans, especially Macedonia. In both cases, tradition is propelled into a form of expression that is infused with a fantastic appetite for every type of music.Living Being? Five living beings, together forming one vibrant entity.    Credits: All tracks composed by Vincent Peirani except #8 – medley from Under Pressure, Glory Box & I Want You Under Pressure composed by Freddie Mercury, David Bowie Glory Box composed by Isaac Lee Hayes, Geoff Barrow, Adrian Utley, Beth Gibbons I Want You composed by John Lennon, Paul McCartney L.L is dedicated to Lionel Loueke Phantom Resonanz is dedicated to Céline Foucaut Recorded by Boris Darley at Studio des Bruères, France Produced by Amélie Salembier & Vincent Peirani / Yes les Guy’zz Mixed by Nic Hard Mastered by Dave McNair Artwork by Jérôme Witz Band photo by Elisa Ramirez Cover photo by Frank Siemers With the support of SCPP, CNM

daoud - okCD / colored Vinyl (pink) / digital daoud trumpet, flugelhorn, synthesizers, ondes MartenotSilvan Strauss drums, percussionsLouis Navarro double bassLeo Colman synthesizers, piano, Fender RhodesJules Minck synthesizers, electric bass, electric guitarQuentin Braine additional percussionsKuz additional keyboards, sound design, additional production Special guests: corto.alto trombone, Mehdi Nassouli guembri, Charlie Burg tenor saxophone, Teis Semey electric guitar, Kuba Więcek alto saxophone, Julien Fillion tenor saxophone, Ludivine Issambourg flutes, Rosie Frater-Taylor vocals / electric guitar With “ok”, his new album and ACT debut, French trumpeter ‘daoud’ offers a quiet manifesto - a record shaped by contrast and contradiction, by collapse and the stubborn act of beginning again. Built around the idea of accepting what cannot be changed. He explains: “The whole record is built around the concept of reluctant acceptance of things that you can’t control. All right, fuck it, fine, I guess.” The album explores failure, loss, repetition, and the soft absurdity of pretending everything’s fine. Across 14 tracks, daoud weaves tragedy and humor, chaos and tenderness, melody and noise into a rich and emotionally charged soundscape.At its core, “ok” is a jazz record treated like anything but a jazz record. The foundation of the music was created live in the studio, together with keyboardist Leo Colman, double bassist Louis Navarro, drummer Silvan Strauss, electric bassist/guitarist/keyboardist Jules Minck and keyboardist Kuz. The editing of these recordings was more akin to a pop production, yet the sounds, pads and textures added afterwards are subtle and refined. The elaborate production is topped by a striking line-up of international musical guests who lend the music even more facets and emotions: corto.alto (trombone / GB), Rosie Frater-Taylor (guitar & vocals / UK), Mehdi Nassouli (guembri / MOR), Ludivine Issambourg (flute / FR), Teis Semey (guitar / NL), Kuba Więcek (alto saxophone / PL) and Julien Fillion (tenor saxophone / CA). The result sounds organic and immediate, as if you feel the production more than hear it. The album blends jazz, hip-hop, rock, disco, Afrobeat and drum’n’bass - not as genres to explore, but as emotional textures in a broader narrative.What emerges is a tone both satirical and melancholic, where humor masks deeper sadness, and childish playfulness veils inner tension. “ok” is an album of contradictions: lightness built on weight, sincerity laced with irony, warmth streaked with anxiety. There’s a deep sense of emotional dissonance — exposing what hides behind the act of saying “ok” when you’re not. It’s the sound of things breaking quietly, of resilience masked by routine. This duality runs through everything daoud creates - including the visual world of “ok”. The album cover features a childhood photo of him, capturing the vulnerability and raw innocence that echo throughout the music, the covers of the digital singles are illustrated with simple, childlike black marker drawings. The aesthetic draws on fragility, impermanence, and the bittersweet tension between playfulness and pain.And behind it all stands daoud. “I've been obsessed with the idea of being a circus clown since I was like 3 years old”, he recalls the starting point of his life as a musician. “I must have seen a clown on TV or somewhere else playing the trumpet and thought that this was the instrument that a clown had to play. So that's how I picked the trumpet - not out of classical ambition, but for its absurd theatricality.” That tension in the figure of the clown - between the comic and the tragic, the graceful and the ridiculous - has defined daoud’s relationship with music ever since.After a few early attempts at classical and jazz training, he dropped out. He wandered across Europe and the U.S., lived in backrooms, delivered pizzas, worked at a funeral home, played football and boxed obsessively. He quit music altogether more than once. “I think I gave up playing music because it meant so much to me that I needed to prove I could still exist without it.” Eventually, he returned to music — on his own terms. Trumpeter, producer, beatmaker, composer, engineer — he taught himself everything. “I’m so grateful I’m alive during the Internet era. If you want to learn something, you just can.” He works 18 hours a day, seven days a week. His self-produced 2024 debut “GOOD BOY”, recorded in just three days, drew immediate attention for its emotional force and genre-defying clarity. Since then, daoud has produced and written for other artists in pop and hip-hop, while continuing to refine his own singular voice.“ok” is the distilled essence of that journey — sonically, emotionally, and spiritually. ‘’Contrasts and contradictions shove us and rattle us and make us feel things in the way that homogeneous environments don't.” says daoud. “For me, this is where human emotions live.“ It is the scope and depth of emotions that make the album so extraordinary. It doesn’t offer clarity. It doesn’t pretend things are fine. It asks what it means to carry on anyway. Credits:All tracks composed by daoud Produced and arranged by daoud & Jules Minck, additional production by Kuz Recorded by Julien Couralet at Studio Capitole, mixed by Olivier Cussac, mastered by Alexis Bardinet at Globe Audio Mastering Cover art by daoud

Nils Kugelmann - Life ScoreCD / Vinyl / digitalNils Kugelmann double bassLuca Zambito pianoSebastian Wolfgruber drumsNils Kugelmann likes telling stories. That much is clear from the titles of his compositions...from the way he talks when he introduces them at concerts...and – naturally – from the music itself. ‘For me, making the connection between music and stories, feelings and situations is so important,’ says the bassist/ composer/ bandleader, now based in Berlin. ‘At concerts I consciously talk to the audience and go into the background of each piece in some detail. It’s something I enjoy. I can hardly imagine presenting music on stage without having this kind of communication.’ Above all, however, the music which Nils Kugelmann plays and composes has real urgency, strong energy and hypnotic power. As an artist he has broken through in a way that no other double bassist of the under-30 generation in Germany has done, in particular his way of making his instrument the central feature of his music. Immediately after completing his master's degree in 2022, Kugelmann launched his debut album ‘Stormy Beauty’ on ACT. German media called him a ‘bass berserker’ and a ‘mega-talent.’ Awards, sold-out concerts duly followed. Kugelmann has a core trio, but beyond that he is free to play in the contexts and styles he likes – first and foremost in a duo and quartet with pianist and composer Shuteen Erdenebaatar.There are so many dimensions to Kugelmann’s musical personality, something which the trio he leads with pianist Luca Zambito and drummer Sebastian Wolfgruber gives him the freedom to express. ‘Life Score’ is in many ways a further development and concentration of the qualities of the band and its leader. ‘Our first album was still from the Corona period. We hardly had a chance to play live and the studio recordings were the first real opportunity to try out the pieces,’ Kugelmann recalls. ‘With ”Life Score’ it's completely different. We have now played a lot of concerts and as a trio we have grown together and got closer. The pieces seem much more compact and concrete.’ ACT CEO and producer Andreas Brandis has played a significant role in this. The trio did try-outs of the new repertoire written by Nils Kugelmann over the course of several live concerts. This was followed by intensive, collective discussions about the selection of pieces, arrangements, sound and dynamics. This meant that the trio was able to go into the studio perfectly prepared and, together with their producer, concentrate on the finer details and find the ideal versions of the pieces for the album. Andreas Brandis says: ‘Nils Kugelmann is not only an incredible bassist, but above all a great songwriter. And precisely because his music is so concise and catchy, it was important to reduce the pieces to their essence.’ All the compositions on the album have a cinematic quality, they are like short films about the lives of their protagonists. These ‘life scores’ draw inspiration from experiences on tour, such as a visit to the Galapagos Islands, but also from moods inspired by balmy summer evenings, the scent of the night, or the incomparable experience of love. These stories are there compositions, in clear, present melodies, in the groovy, flowing rhythm of a homogenous-sounding trio and also in the naturalness of melodic music. Because Nils Kugelmann not only wants to tell stories. He also wants to be heard and understood – by a broad audience and also by listeners of his own generation. ‘Life Score’ is a complex and captivating blueprint, showing us a new kind of film-like Gen Z jazz.CreditsRecorded by Klaus Scheuermann, on September 24–25, 2024, at Soundfabrik in Berlin, Germany Mixed and mastered by Klaus ScheuermannCover art by Bernd Zimmer, “Cosmos”, 2003

Nils Landgren Funk Unit - rawCD / Vinyl / digital Nils Landgren trombone, vocals Magnum Coltrane Price bass, vocals Andy Pfeiler guitar, vocals Jonas Wall tenor saxophone, bg vocals Petter Bergander keyboards, bg vocals Robert Ikiz drums, bg vocals The year 1994 marks the birth of the Funk Unit. When I got the offer from Siggi Loch to join his new label ACT, the first thing he did was to change the original band name Unit to Funk Unit. When I asked why, he answered: ”because you play funk” – and right he was. The rest is history. After 30 years of albums, touring and everything connected to it, I thought it would be great to go somewhere special for our 30th anniversary recording session. I happen to have a dear friend, Johan Lundgren, who used to be my trombone student lightyears ago, and he, together with another friend, Fredrik Thomander, built a fantastic Recording Studio in Palma on the island of Mallorca. Wouldn’t it be a great opportunity for us all, after all these years together, to record the album in a relaxed setting, being able to fully concentrate on our task? To make an album celebrating our 30-year history as a funk band from Sweden. I presented the idea to my fellow band members, and they all loved it. So did Andreas Brandis, head of the ACT label, my musical home where all my albums have been released since 1994 – twelve of them with Funk Unit, this one included. So now all I had to do was to book the flights, the studio, find accommodation for us all and figure out a way to finance the stay. Oh, there was one more little thing. We all had to write songs for the album. As we met for rehearsals before leaving for the island of Mallorca, no one knew what was written and by whom. I had worked hard in my spare time though, coming in with five songs. So anyway, we started from scratch, listening to each others’ demos and then went on making them sound like us. All of us contributed and it was really great to hear our own compositions come to life. On landing in Palma on my birthday February 15th at 2 pm, we went straight to the studio to set up and get the sound ready for the recordings to start. We just could not wait. Much of the setup had already been done by the studio crew and a few devoted volunteers and sooner than anyone thought possible, we could start to record, with the amazing sound engineer Shades leading the whole operation. From that moment on, we all knew that this was going to be a special album. Everything fell into place. The vibe in the studio, the sound, how the guys in the band played, the food being served in the breaks, how the coffee on the rooftop tasted and the generous dinners after finishing up for the day. To finance the recordings, we had decided to give in-house concerts the last two evenings after recording. Although it meant even longer days for everyone, it was a wonderful feeling to get the chance to test some of the music we had recorded in front of a live audience sitting almost in our laps. It was so rewarding to get feedback from the people that came to our shows. On top of that, we had a film team lead by our dear friend Dan Sermand documenting the whole thing. We all left the island February 20th with a sense of deep satisfaction, knowing that we had done our very best and that our best might be more than just good enough. Only one man stayed behind in Palma: Magnum. Aside from being a badass bass player and singer, he is also the one person at my side, who has experienced the whole Funk Unit journey from Live in Stockholm till today. We had decided to mix the album in the same studio and Shades was not available until a week later. I believe Magnum had a good time, both hangin’ and working with master Shades. The result is this album Raw. Our honest and simple way to create handmade music and to make it enjoyable for both body and soul. We are not just a band. We are Nils Landgren Funk Unit.

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

Esbjörn Svensson Trio e.s.t. - e.s.t. Plays MonkCD / Vinyl / digital Esbjörn Svensson piano Dan Berglund bass Magnus Öström drums Thelonius Monk was one of the truly great piano geniuses on the international jazz scene. Esbjörn Svensson is one of the truly great piano talents on the Scandinavian jazz scene. In EST, who previously has released some critically acclaimed albums – „From Gagarin´s Point Of View „(ACT 9005-2), „Winter In Venice“ (ACT 9007-2) and lately „Good Morning Susie Soho“ (ACT 9009-2) – we have Magnus Öström on drums, Dan Berglund on double-bass and, of course, Esbjörn Svensson himself, who was an infant when he practically learnt to walk to the sound of „In Walked Bud“. „My father was and is a great jazz lover. So I was very young when I first came in touch with Monk´s music. He is the kind of composer that cannot be avoided“, says Esbjörn Svensson. „Plays Monk“ is the telling title of the CD from 1996 by Esbjörn Svensson Trio (EST), now released on ACT. Ten of the most beloved songs by Monk, from nocturnal, lovingly caressing „`Round Midnight“ to the gay and sprightly „Rhythm-A-Ning“, gets here a becomingly shining new colour. The music of Thelonius Monk is a peculiar mixture of simplicity and and complexity; of larguorous ballads and rhythms turned inside out. The music is a challenge. „You can always give it your personal touch“, explains Esbjörn. On „Plays Monk“you notice this over and over again. Credits: Recorded by Åke Linton and Johan Ekelund at Swedish Radio, Studio 9, January 1996 Mixed by Johan Ekelund and Bernard Löhr Produced by Johan Ekelund

Esbjörn Svensson - HOME.SCD / Vinyl / digitalEsbjörn Svensson pianoThere are only a few figures in music whose work influences and shapes a genre as a whole. This is undoubtedly true of the Swede Esbjörn Svensson. With his trio e.s.t., the pianist and composer wowed audiences beyond age and genre affiliations. And his influence on jazz as a whole reverberates to this day and already within the second and third generation of musicians worldwide. HOME.S. is Esbjörn Svensson's only solo album and the sheer existence of such a recording and its completely unexpected discovery over a decade after its creation are nothing less than a sensation: Since the early 1990s, Svensson focused almost his entire creative energy and recording activities on his work with e.s.t.. Thus, these new recordings are not only the first, but practically the only ones that show Svensson in a setting other than that of the trio: Intimate, concentrated and completely one with himself. The recordings for HOME.S. were made only a few weeks before Esbjörn Svensson's sudden death on June 14, 2008. Svensson recorded the music in his Swedish home. For almost ten years afterwards, the album rested untouched in his wife Eva's personal archive. In this interview, she tells the story behind the discovery of the album and the music: How exactly did you find this music? After Esbjörn’s passing, I made sure all the contents of his computer were saved to backup hard drives. And then I basically left them untouched for the next ten years. At the point where I eventually felt ready to look into the material, I soon realised that there was something I wanted to look into. I took the hard drive and went to Gothenburg to meet with Åke Linton, the sound engineer who had worked on all e.s.t. albums as well as on their live shows. He was also the one who had helped me to save the material from Esbjörn’s computer in the first place. So he probably already knew that there was something hidden in there. But nobody had listened to it. We went to his studio. And we pressed the start button. Then there was a total silence and we couldn't speak for the entire time the music was playing. After it finished, at first we were not able to say anything, because we were both so touched and surprised that it was all there, and that it was so beautiful. The tracks seemed to follow one another like pearls on a string. After we just had sat there for a while we agreed: This is really good. Musically, but also from a sound perspective. At first Åke wasn't sure if Esbjörn had recorded everything at home and just by himself. So he called different studios in Stockholm that he knew Esbjörn was in contact with and asked them whether he had been there, recording anything. But no, he hadn't been anywhere. I know he had bought some very nice microphones and in the course of touring had learned from Åke how to use them. So it became clear that this music had to have been played and recorded in the basement of our house. So there was nobody with him? He was all alone doing that? He was all alone. In retrospect I have been thinking about it because the few people who know that this exists were asking me if I knew about it. What I did know was that Esbjörn was constantly working, as he always did. He was in the basement, and I could hear him play. But to me, this didn’t raise any questions. Is he doing something? Yes, of course he's doing something. That's what he always did. Rehearsing, practicing, composing. But for me it wasn’t clear that something new was happening. I did know that he was longing to have time to compose and play in different kinds of constellations, but I had no idea that it might be piano solo. Just weeks after making these solo recordings, Esbjörn died. Everything suddenly took on another perspective. There was no way for me to focus on music. All I could do at that time was to make sure all the material he was working on was kept safe.When did you hear the music for the first time? I think it was in 2017 or 18, maybe. This was really the first time? Yes, the first time. After almost ten years. And you kept everything safe and untouched until then? Technically, yes… Well, I don’t know about safety, because it was in the cupboard. *laughs* But safe enough to be released now anyway. Life changed so dramatically after Esbjörn’s passing. For me and for us, it was not just Esbjörn, the musician, it was my husband and the children's father who was gone. That was what we had to deal with and find a way to live without. What made you choose that the time was right to share this with the public? It was really not about choosing the right time. At the time when I heard the music, I simply understood that it was important for me that it happened. To be able to hear it and to have it physically in my hands. And when I realized this, I also wanted to share it with more people. By making an album and having it released, but also, just as importantly, by creating some spaces for myself and for others, to meet and to listen together and to hear the voice of Esbjörn.Do you know where the repertoire of the record comes from? Has any of this been previously written or do you think it’s fully improvised? I think individual tracks and compositions were prepared. At least I am sure there were some kind of sketches. I don't think Esbjörn was just sitting down improvising from start to end. It was not how I remember that he worked. There is actually a lot of sheet music around and I am sure some of it is connected with this recording, but I wasn’t able to go through all of it. Yet. You decided to have the tracks to be named after the letters of the Greek alphabet, and one reason to do so is Esbjörn’s passion for astronomy. Something that also inspired one of e.s.t.’s most popular pieces “From Gagarin’s Point of View”. There is this feeling of being far away from everything, in zero-g with a totally different perspective. And at the same time at great risk. Yes, I could imagine that Gagarin’s adventure and his urge to go to new places must have been so much more thrilling to him than his fear of death. To take that leap out into the universe and taking as opposed to just staying home. I don't think that was an option. In a musical way, Esbjörn was just like that. This is probably why the stars and space were such a big deal for him and what fascinated him about astronomy. At the same time I remember that he said that he in some way regretted that he learned more about it because then some amount of the mystery was gone. He was always keen to look into things that he didn't know that much about. And then in a way try to find out how they work and how they’re connected to other things. In life and in music. He heard something, but he didn't know how to connect it. And then he, and also Dan and Magnus of e.s.t. would explore things together, without any outside guidance. From their childhood days they would just meet at Esbjörn’s house, play around, explore and to find things out. Esbjörn knew the Greek alphabet by heart and also all of the Greek Zodiac signs. So along with this being a metaphor for the desire to explore and discover new spaces, by naming the pieces on the album just by Greek letters, we are not explaining something that we don't want to explain, and we leave space for the listeners to find their own associations with the music. Any closing thoughts? When the solo piano recordings were found at our home it felt like “getting a message smuggled over the border. This music is like having Esbjörn’s voice in the room. It couldn't be anybody else that played. Never. It is his voice. And he still has something to say. And I'm having the chance to let people hear that. My feeling is that we’re doing this together. …Thank you Esbjörn. This is beautiful. Credits: Music composed, recorded, mixed and produced by Esbjörn Svensson in spring 2008 Executive Producer: Eva Svensson Mastered by Åke Linton, Eva Svensson and Classe Persson at CRP Recording AB

Peter Somuah - Letter to the UniverseCD / Vinyl / digital Peter Somuah trumpet, vocals (Soft Touch, Odo), guitar (Odo) Jesse Schilderink tenor saxophone Anton de Bruin keyboards & rhodes Marijn van de Ven double bass & electric bass Jens Meijer drums Danny Rombout conga, bells, shakers & djembe Thomas Nii Lantey Botchway dundun, banana bell, talking drum Lisette Ma Neza spoken words (The Universe) Latanya Alberto vocals (Moonlight) Gyedu Blay Ambolley rap vocals (Reincarnation) Stevo Atambire vocals (The Sky) Lydia Stavraki & Inda Duran vocals (The Universe) Strings on Mission on Earth, Soft Touch & Moonlight: Celeste Engel & Luna Hallenga violin Daniela Rivera viola Jasper den Hond cello Ghana has an ancient tradition of story-telling, so the continuance of this great heritage can take many forms... and not just ones that involve the voice or words. Peter Somuah spins tales which come from his instrument: as a young trumpet-player, he embarked on a fascinating search for his identity between the Highlife music of his native country, Miles Davis – his idol – and the cosmopolitan musical language of Holland, the country which is now his home. He tells that story in "Letter to the Universe".When Somuah and his band ended their set and departed the stage at the 2022 North Sea Jazz Festival in Rotterdam, it was clear to everyone in the hall that they had witnessed something very special, the arrival of an extraordinary new artist. It was his first big festival appearance; up to then he had only played in clubs. So the question on everyone’s mind was: who is this Ghanaian twenty-something who has just totally amazed and dumbfounded an entire audience? In Accra, Ghana's capital city, Peter Somuah grew up with Highlife music, that swinging combination of big band influences from the colonial era and the sweetness of palm wine. "I took up the trumpet when I was 14," he recalls. "I played Highlife and Afrobeat in a marching band, I listened to the records of musicians like E.T.Mensah and transcribed their solos." But there was another key experience which turned Somuah to a different era of jazz: when the name Miles Davis is mentioned, a warm radiance suddenly flashes across his face. He remembers how one day a buddy brought him a video of Miles. Somuah was mesmerised: "I really wanted to be able to play like that. I had no idea what he was doing or how he was doing it, I just tried to pick out the notes and imitate him. We are connected to the African-Americans via the history of slavery, so I was able to make a spiritual connection with Miles through that commonality." Somuah went on to listen through all the phases of his trumpet god’s career, while also studying the playing of Freddie Hubbard and Roy Hargrove. From then on, his goal became the exploration – through his own music – of the connections between Ghana and modern jazz. After a stay in China with friends, and several years as a member of a band touring France, Belgium and Spain, Somuah follows his partner to Holland. At the Codarts Arts School in Rotterdam, his vision of a cosmopolitan jazz language starts to take shape. He forms a cosmopolitan sextet and records "Outer Space" with them, a debut on which he defines his own sound: "On Outer Space I wanted to escape from the box of rules that the purists want to keep you in. It was about being myself, it was about the freedom to mix all the styles of music I like." "Outer Space", which received the Edison Jazz Award, has many flavours of Africa, with Highlife and Afrobeat shining through strongly. With his new album "Letter to the Universe", Peter Somuah has ventured further out into the musical cosmos as a travelling storyteller. His new compositions reflect the stages of his young life: his Ghanaian past, the work of his jazz idols and the lively “Afropean” scene of his new home in the Benelux. In the pulsating and frenzied "Mission On Earth", one can read an unmistakable dedication to Miles Davis's "Bitches Brew" phase, and also an echo of the layered architecture of today's cosmic jazz as played by the likes of Kamasi Washington. That track is also a perfect demonstration of quite how tight and organic the interplay with his Dutch band with keyboardist and producer Anton de Bruin is, and remains throughout the album. Somuah's work, however, is by no means a male-only affair: right from the prologue, he assigns an important role to slam poet Lisette Ma Neza, who has her roots in Rwanda. In what becomes a thread running through the disc, she formulates the big identity questions of the current generation travelling Africans who address their questions to the universe as they explore their life situated between continents, philosophies and lifestyles. Peter Somuah's music also deals with this Afro-African existence in a way that reaches out for answers. This is trumpet-playing that has nothing to do with showing-off and virtuosity. Rather, he creates a flow in an eloquent narrative, and yet there is also, very clearly, plenty of the joy of playing and danceability here. There are also colours and hallmarks from Ghanaian music be found on this journey, for example in the easy-going six-eight rhythms from the Ashanti region ("Green Path"), the fusion of boisterous Fra Fra music from the north of Ghana with jazz ("The Sky"), or in Highlife borrowings, notably in the appearance of Ghanaian veteran Gyedu-Bley Ambolley ("Reincarnation"). To follow Peter Somuah on his quest between the continents of Europe and Africa is something totally refreshing and unexpected, particularly for European ears. What the young Ghanaian has done is to bring his own new and previously unheard stories to the cosmopolitan jazz of the 21st century. This is an open-ended journey…which makes it all the more exciting to find out where Somuah’s story is going to take us. Credits: Music composed by Peter Somuah