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Vincent Peirani - AbrazoCD / Vinyl / digital Vincent Peirani accordion Emile Parisien soprano saxophone Abrazo. Embrace. A close dance perhaps, but also with the hint of a friendly tussle. Could there be a more fitting metaphor for the duo of accordionist Vincent Peirani and soprano saxophonist Émile Parisien? "It's like a marriage," says Peirani. "In the beginning everything’s just great, wonderful, paradise. But of course, after a while, it also becomes challenging, which is quite normal. "Right now, we're just massively happy playing together." There can be very few musicians who have got to know each other as well as Peirani and Parisien have. They have clocked up well over 1000 concerts together in the past decade, of which more than 600 have been as a duo. They first met in 2012 as members of drummer Daniel Humair’s quartet, and their very first appearance as a duo was an impromptu latenight club set while touring in Korea. "Une catastrophe! An unmitigated disaster"... Peirani still remembers it vividly. But shortly later, with the benefit of no jetlag, and also having done some proper preparation, things did fall properly into place at a festival in France, and one of the outstanding lineups in European jazz was born. In 2014 their first duo album "Belle Epoque" was released on ACT. From then on they started touring, and were soon playing at the leading clubs and festivals in France and Germany and setting off all over the world – to Asia, Latin America, the USA, Canada and throughout Europe. And also appearing in major classical venues such as the Philharmonie halls in Berlin, Hamburg, Essen and the Musikverein in Vienna. And it was not long before international recognition became established, through prizes such as the Echo Jazz, Les Victoires du Jazz, the Preis der deutschen Schallplatten-kritik, and numerous awards and ‘best-of’ lists from leading jazz magazines. "Belle Époque", their 2014 debut album as a duo, was a tribute to soprano saxophonist Sidney Bechet, one of the biggest stars of early jazz in the 1920s and a wonderfully melodic player. Peirani and Parisien have left it nearly six years to produce the follow-up. "Abrazo" is also a salute, this time not to a person but to an art form: to the tango with all its elegance, sadness and rhythmic and melodic power. And as in their debut as a duo, Peirani and Parisien do not reproduce the original repertoire, they prefer to play WITH it. Furthermore composers of South American imprint such as Astor Piazzolla, Tomás Gubitsch or Xavier Cugat form only a part of the repertoire they have developed. Parisien’s and Peirani's own pieces have a way of moving in the spirit of tango. That is certainly the case for their arrangement of "Army Dreamers" by Kate Bush, an artist for whom Peirani has a profound admiration. The opening track "The Crave" by US-American pianist/ bandleader Jelly Roll Morton – one of the most influential jazz musicians of the early 20th century – establishes a surprising connection to the previous album. It seems as if "Abrazo" and "Belle Époque" are two parts of a suite, and indeed if one listens to albums together, the sense that they have interconnecting common threads is very strong indeed. What unites all of these disparate elements is the particuarly deep affinity between Peirani and Parisien. One can hear at any moment the astonishingly sensitive way they are able to interact. And another common feature which they have between them is that both stand out currently as among the most important innovators on their instruments anywhere. In a truly magical way, they seem to have a sixth sense which makes everything fall into place. And it seems as if they can source their ingredients just about anywhere: whether it’s traditional or modern jazz, free avantgarde, classical, folklore, rock, electronic, new or old music, they have an irrepressible hunger for the new, and an unquenchable appetite for adventure. This boundless curiosity, this urge to grow together, this imperative to climb ever new levels… these are the elements that meld the duo Peirani & Parisien together and that make them such a unique phenomenon.Credits: Recorded by Boris Darley at Studio Besco, December 19 – 22, 2019 Assisted by Léo Aubry & Loïc Colin Mixed by Boris Darley, Vincent Peirani and Emile Parisien at Studio Holy Oak Mastered by Klaus Scheuermann Produced by the artists The Art in Music: Cover Art by Thomas Scheibitz, Spieler (detail), 2019, ACT Art Collection

Nesrine - Ahlam CD / digitalNesrine Belmokh voice & cello Matthieu Saglio cello & vocals David Gadea percussionNES can't be tied down to a specific location. Their music is between traditional Arabic and world music, jazz and pop. These three superb musicians originally met in Valencia in Spain. Percussionist David Gadea is from the region, and was already touring with Flamenco greats such as Ximo Tébar and Josemi Carmona; Matthieu Saglio is a French cellist “with a thousand tone colours” who has performed in more than 30 countries; the singer/cellist Nesrine Belmokh had worked with legendary conductors such as Lorin Maazel and Daniel Barenboim, and performed with Cirque du Soleil on international tours. Placido Domingo has called Nesrine “an exceptional artist, a wonderful voice.” Russafa, the area around the station in Valencia, Spain, is famous for its market, which offers every imaginable Mediterranean delicacy. This was once a working-class district, but is now full of eccentric cafés and hip restaurants. "Russafa is a place full of light and colours," explains Nesrine Belmokh. "It's the perfect meeting place for everything Mediterranean!" It also proved to be a meeting place that would shape the singer/cellist's future as a musician, because it was there that she met the percussionist David Gadea in 2015. "David and I went to a solo concert by a cellist, Matthieu Saglio. When we talked afterwards, we found out that for seven years we had both lived in Russafa without knowing each other - only 200 metres apart!" The three became friends, created a trio, built a repertoire and chose a name: NES, Nesrine's nickname. The acoustic music on her debut album "Ahlam" draws strong inspiration from pop and flamenco, as well as from the sounds Nesrine heard in her parents' house, which was frequented by Arabic musicians from the Mediterranean region.“Arab-Andalusian music is more or less the classical music of North Africa, and it left its mark on me," explains Nesrine. "It was also the starting point for my artistic career – that all got going when I sang and played mandolin in an Arab-Andalusian band. Later on I embarked on classical cello studies, but I always knew I wanted to be a singer.""Ahlam" means "dream" in Arabic. The long-held wish of the three NES musicians was to make an internationally released album - a dream which has now quite literally come true. The title song also expresses a personal dream of love fulfilled, and of the desire for peace in the world: "There is no beauty without a concept of goodness." (That sentence is a free translation of the title song's refrain.) All the Arabic lyrics on the album "Ahlam" were written by Nesrine's mother, a poet whose main occupation is as a doctor. "We’re in touch all the time," explains the singer. "An intergenerational connection like this needs constant feeding and watering!"Nesrine sings in English, French and Arabic. She can be soft and hypnotic – as in "Bye Bye", chanson-esque – in "Le Temps" or sing pop songs such as "The World is Blue" in a duet with herself. "Music is my exorcism" is the motto of "Bye Bye" – music to drive out the demons. And the lyric: “Spending days and years looking for my identity/ I guess I have to find it within a community" – suggests that this trio itself might well represent the community she is referring to. The astonishingly varied sounds of the classically trained cellist Matthieu Saglio – who also works with loop pedals, and the sometimes fiery, sometimes very delicate percussion by David Gadea constitute the virtuoso flamenco/jazz basis of this band.People with a liking for the genre-busting music of artists such as Anouar Brahem, Dhafer Youssef or Ibrahim Maalouf are going to love NES. NES are not hemmed in by categories or language barriers. Their songs are full of grace and emotion, born and nurtured by the sun in the cultural melting pot of Valencia.Credits: Music composed by Belmokh & Saglio  Produced by NES Recorded Mixed and mastered by Nicolas Baillard at Studios La Buissonne, Pernes les Fontaines, France, June 2017  Except cello loops recorded at Cut Records, Valencia, Spain, in January 2017 by Rafa Sánchez  The Art in Music: Cover art by Philip Taaffe: Asuka Nimbus, 2013, ACT Art Collection, Berlin 

Emile Parisien - Double ScreeningCD / digital Emile Parisien soprano & tenor sax Julien Touéry piano Ivan Gélugne bass Julien Loutelier drums There probably isn’t another jazz musician anywhere in Europe receiving as much acclaim at the moment as French soprano saxophonist Emile Parisien. The concert recording "Sfumato Live in Marciac" (CD and DVD), with Joachim Kühn at the piano, plus guests Michel Portal, Vincent Peirani and Wynton Marsalis, was released in 2018 and was greeted with rapturous enthusiasm: "An outstanding voice in contemporary jazz", remarked ARD Parisien, and with good reason. Arte Metropolis discerned a "magician on the saxophone", The Times of London called him "Europe's leading soprano saxophonist," and for Der Spiegel, it was "a pleasure to watch Emile Parisien perform his great art". In the US, Downbeat Magazine even considered it an understatement to limit Parisien’s importance to the sphere of European jazz, while Rolling Stone magazine confirmed him not only as perhaps the best saxophonist of his generation but also as the leader one of today's most impressive bands. And this is just a sample from many such plaudits... So it is not overstating the case to describe Parisien as an artist who is setting the direction for his instrument. In the years since Sidney Bechet, John Coltrane and Steve Lacy, no player has devoted him- or herself to the soprano saxophone as intensively or with such a propensity to innovate. No one has brought out the vital, incisive, exotic, vibrato-rich tone of the instrument with such ease, and also recalibrated it and placed it at the centre of wholly new concepts. Parisien's new album "Double Screening" marks a return to the quartet format, and combines all of the qualities of this exceptional musician. Parisien lets jazz shine through in a way that is inimitable: he poses questions, he elaborates, he finds new answers and new ways to re-define the old. It can be visionary; it is also joyous. Parisien is increasingly integrating elements from his homeland as he creates a whirling mix of chanson with contemporary classical music, and also with French and North African folklore. His playing radiates improvisational dynamism and originality. He stacks up the ideas at a fast pace but concentrates on making his lines readily comprehensible to the listener. He doesn't have to overwork any single motif, because they come to him so thick and fast. He never goes the simple route, and yet the compositions, which are all by him or the band members, have rousing energy, demanding arcs of concentration, and astonishing stringency. These organized jollifications are full of unexpected feints and sudden twists and turns. The boundaries between composition and improvisation are cast to one side. The superb way in which these band members communicate with each other and avoid any sense routine is a joy to experience. This jazz is fresh, frantic and original; and it calls out for all the superlatives.Emile Parisien's prodigious gifts as an instrumentalist are in no doubt; in fact, it is not something he ever needs to prove. When he traverses into expressive free jazz areas, then rushes through tricky melody lines at top speed, lingers over complex ideas, or makes the soprano saxophone sound for a while like a Japanese Shakuhachi flute, it always has the purpose of serving the art. And there again, it's not about just the soloist either, but rather the band which instinctively, almost dreamily steers a course between the succinct and the emotionally honest, jumping out of the rough and immediately landing in the smooth. The music is built with precision, and yet it is full of spaces for individual spontaneity. This is new European jazz that is aware of its traditions, but can also depart from them to break new ground: it’s furious, it’s virtuoso and never ceases to take the emotions by surprise.Credits: Recorded and mixed by Philippe Teissier Du Cros at Studio Gil Evans de La Maison de la Culture, Amiens (France), December 2017 Mastered by Klaus Scheuermann

Vincent Peirani - JokersCD / Vinyl / digital Vincent Peirani accordion, accordina, clarinet, keyboards, music box, glockenspiel & voice Federico Casagrande guitar Ziv Ravitz drums Jokers... Once again, accordionist Vincent Peirani reshuffles the cards. As a good jazz musician, he likes to venture into unexplored territories. As a good music fan and a very good musician in general, he is curious, enthusiastic, and eager to make new discoveries and find new things to listen to or play. Jokers, his first album in trio, goes even further, and elsewhere. The Jokers project is not entirely new. It was born a few years ago when the German radio station NDR invited Vincent Peirani to produce two concerts, giving him carte blanche for the format. Vincent chose to turn for the first time to the jazz trio, a formula with such a long history that it is almost sacred, and certainly intimidating. But typically, he used that framework only to escape from it. His two accomplices, Federico Casagrande on guitar and Ziv Ravitz on drums and keyboards, both have a wealth of experience and skills, an interest in rock and electronic music, and a taste for musical hybridity. The drummer immediately suggested that Vincent (who expected nothing less) experiment with electronic effects on the accordion. The tone was set. The group gave first of all some thirty concerts, enabling it to discover and hone its possibilities. Then, when the time came for thinking about an album, Vincent Peirani decided to reshuffle the deck once more: let’s take the same musicians, but start all over again, with a repertoire and a sound completely different from the live performances. The album opens with This Is the New Shit, a remake of a piece by Marilyn Manson, that nightmarish creature of American metal (the odds are low that jazz fans will know the original). There you are, expecting an outburst of hellish violence, when Vincent plays his melody on a musical box, like a child inventing a world whose secrets only he knows. It’s a bit like the opening credits, after which the rest of the album unfolds like a film. With suspense, romance, rhythm, (super)natural settings, fantasy, travelling shots, virtuoso elements and others of an intimate nature, lighting that sets the screen ablaze. This music, with its unpredictable movements, breathes, bewilders the senses; we listen to it as much with our eyes and imagination as with our ears. In Jokers, the music is well scripted, framed and “edited”, like the sequences in a film. Vincent Peirani still plays his trusty accordion but, through the magic of effects and production, it is transformed into a “camera-accordion”, a kaleidoscope-like lightbox.  Vincent Peirani learned and experimented with all this production work at night in his cellar, during this long period of the pandemic, which has been so conducive to reinvention. It was new for him; for a long time, he had wanted to work with sound, and for the first time he even provided a maquette of the pieces ahead of recording. He then transformed the recorded material during the mixing of the album, taking great care over details, moods, everything that can make a piece into a story. Often, the guitarist and the drummer had no idea of the final result, they trusted the director. Jokers is indeed a jazz album: the musicians listen to each other, interact, bring the musical material to life. Alterity is a key word in this music, as it is in jazz: understanding and becoming another musician, instrument, piece. The three musicians find and understand each other by devious ways, which have to be invented. While working on this album, Vincent also embarked on a duo collaboration with hip-hop dancer Frédéric Faula: another means of decentring himself, learning and enriching Jokers.  On paper, all this may seem laborious. But ultimately, pleasure is always the guiding principle behind the choice of what we are to hear. Circus of Light reflects an aurora borealis on the waters of the Mediterranean, or sends Nino Rota off into the Milky Way. River, taking up a Bishop Briggs pop hit, visits the convict songs of the American South. Copy of A, a piece originally recorded by Nine Inch Nails (Vincent Peirani is a fan), evokes the jubilation of an extraterrestrial carnival parade. Right up to and including the final credits, with a moving and pensive stroll through Italy, Jokers is guaranteed to give not a moment of boredom. With its iconoclastic revivals, powerful rock-music energy, Italian-style ritornellos, and its virtuosity and bold risk-taking, this album is simply a reflection of Vincent Peirani: we never know where to expect him, but we are always delighted to find him there!Credits: Recorded by Etienne Clauzel at Studio Black Box, Noyant-la-Gravoyère (France), October 2021 Mixed by Tony Paeleman & Vincent Peirani at Swome, Ivry sur Seine Mastered by Chab at Chabmastering Paris Produced by Vincent Peirani Cover art “The Universe” by Sengai Gibon (1750-1837)

Vincent Peirani - Jokers (Live at Bimhuis)CD / digital Vincent Peirani accordion, accordina Frederico Casagrande guitar Ziv Ravitz drums Vincent Peirani, a pivotal figure in contemporary jazz, takes on the role of the Joker. Deriving inspiration from the jester — an archetype since medieval times — Peirani has put together a group of “wild cards”: Ziv Ravitz on drums and Federico Casagrande on guitar, musicians with a total readiness to throw themselves into any musical challenge. Not only do Jokers transcend genres as they blend jazz, rock and improvisation with disconcerting ease, each of them can also shapeshift as the music requires from a dazzling soloist into an ideally supportive ensemble player. “Live at Bimhuis” is more than just an album; it’s a plunge in Peirani’s world of playfulness and derring-do. Every track is an adventure, a game of perspectives in which the accordion, often thought of as an instrument on the fringes, is revealed as a many-levelled threat. Peirani's music is both joyful and mischievous. He may give a sly smile to the spirit of the Joker, but he also delivers musical reflection of real depth.Recorded in the intimacy and buzziness of Amsterdam’s iconic Bimhuis, the album captures the very essence of great improvised music. It is as if every note that resounds gives cause to celebrate — the wonderful creativity and artistic freedom of this extraordinary trio.Credits: Produced by Amélie Salembier & Vincent Peirani/ Yes les Guy´zz Recorded live at Bimhuis, Amsterdam, on October 13th 2023 Cover Art by Alice Thibault Design by Siggi Loch

Nesrine - Kan Ya MakanCD / Vinyl / digital Nesrine vocals, cello Vincent Huma guitar Grégoire Musso bass, keyboards Anissa Nehari percussion Rhani Krija percussion Paco Soler trombone Franco-Algerian singer, cellist and songwriter Nesrine is a storyteller, a ‘Scheherazade’, for our times. And her album ‘Kan Ya Makan’ – the Arabic for ‘once upon a time’ – has something of the aura of a modern ‘Tales from the Arabian Nights’. The Times newspaper (UK) has called Nesrine ‘an incandescent, multilingual talent’, Rolling Stone Magazine is fascinated by her ‘musical world without borders’. Her songs in Arabic, French and English have the character of a personal biography, encompassing both Algeria, the country in which her family originated, and her current home town, Paris.Nesrine's ingeniously crafted and multifaceted songs are also a reflection of quite how diverse her musical career has been: she played as a classical cellist in Daniel Barenboim's East-Western Divan Orchestra and in the orchestra of the Valencia Opera under conductors including Lorin Maazel – but has also performed as a guest star with Cirque du Soleil. She gave up the safe path of being a classical orchestral musician in favour of a solo career – and has made a major success of the shift: she now regularly performs at Philharmonies, other concert halls and at festivals throughout Europe and the USA, and her two albums on ACT have received international acclaim. A digital EP was also released at the beginning of 2024, featuring Nesrine performing her music with the renowned Metropol Orkest.Whereas Nesrine's previous albums, ‘Ahlam’ with the trio NES (2018) and her solo debut ‘Nesrine’ (2020) took a broader perspective, ‘Kan Ya Makan’ now zooms in close: “My previous albums were more about my view of the world,” says Nesrine. “This one is about my personal story. Many of the pieces are about close relationships between me and other people. But also about me. In ”Dunia’ – the Arabic for ‘life’ – I tell my whole life story, from childhood to the present day.’ And what is abundantly clear is how close and how unified the very disparate musical and personal influences on Nesrine have now become. For the first time, she also sings in two different languages, Arabic and French, within the same song. She says: ‘I firmly believe in this kind of connection and the possibilities it opens up. It's a real reflection of myself and a liberation. I don't have to choose one side; I can just be both.’This reconciliation of apparent contradictions is also reflected in the music. For example, the cello part in the song ‘Bonnie & Clyde’, quotes the prelude from the Cello Suite No. 1 by Johann Sebastian Bach, while elsewhere there are references to Serge Gainsbourg combined with Arabic rhythms; stylistically confident and vocal passages with some judicious vocal processing are blended in to the complexity of layered cello patterns. Nesrine uses the classical heritage of her instrument in a wide variety of ways, creating bass lines, pads, arpeggios, melody lines – and layering them into elaborate structures of complex clarity. ‘The cello is my constant companion,’ explains Nesrine. ‘It usually forms the starting point when I’m composing; everything else builds on it. Only sometimes do I have a vocal melody in my head, and only then do I bring in the cello.’Despite the complexity of her music, writing is first and foremost a sensual, intuitive process for Nesrine: ‘It's like capturing information that already exists. I don't write much music. Whatever I write is just there and that's it. For the current album, I only had these nine songs. That's how I always work, my whole working process is very focussed.’ Together with her producers and fellow musicians Vincent Huma and Grégoire Musso, Nesrine has distilled her ideas into compact, three- to four-minute formats. They were joined by friends such as Rhani Krija and Anissa Nehari on percussion, plus trombonist Paco Soler – and cellist and singer Juliette Saumagne, her female Clyde in the song ‘Bonnie & Clyde’. Even though Nesrine mainly talks about herself, her life and her personal connections to other people and things in the songs on ‘Kan Ya Makan’, the album also conveys her view of the world and our time: "If my grandfather hadn't left Algeria at some point and come to France, I wouldn't be the person I am today, I wouldn't be making the music I make. I want my listeners to feel that it's not primarily a problem when people move from one country to another – it's a beautiful thing. The current political debates are all about extremes. I don't think that will get us anywhere. What gives me confidence and strength are the people who listen to my music and my stories. We only see what we want to see. And I want to open people's eyes with my music." In the title track she sings: Kan Ya Makan....once upon a time: love, art and beauty. "Nesrine lets us hear the beauty of the world." (André Manoukian, Radio France) Credits: Produced by Nesrine, Grégoire Musso, Vincent Huma

Emile Parisien - Les ÉgarésCD / Vinyl / digital Ballaké Sissoko kora Vincent Segal cello Emile Parisien soprano saxophone Vincent Peirani accordion, accordina Les Égarés is more than a record. It’s play space, a locus of musical life, a poetic asylum inhabited by two twosomes who for years have excelled in the art of crossfertilising sounds and transcending genres. They are Ballaké Sissoko (kora) and Vincent Segal (cello) on the one hand and Vincent Peirani (accordion) and Émile Parisien (sax) on the other. In the case of these magicians, 2 + 2 no longer makes 4, it makes 1. Because what they concoct is most definitely a unity of spirit, a single and fluid sound that disdains all forms of egotistical competitiveness and puts each participant at the service of a common musical good. Neither jazz, nor trad, nor chamber, nor avant-garde, but a bit of all of them, all at once, Les Egarés is the kind of album that makes the ear the king of all instruments, an album where virtuosity expresses itself in the art of complicity, where the simple and grandiose idea of listening to one another results in the birth of a splendid song with four parts. It all started with a summit meeting – high on a hill overlooking Lyon. That night in June 2019, at Les Nuits de Fourvière Festival, everyone was preparing to celebrate the 15th anniversary of the NØ FØRMAT label in a beautiful setting of Roman stones under an open sky. Vincent Segal played the role of master of ceremonies and held a kind of musical salon, gathering together guests of choice, among whom were Ballaké Sissoko, Vincent Peirani and Émile Parisien. The participants signed a pact: rehearsing must never take precedence over anything that showed signs of being a moment of spontaneous creation. But how to reign in such inspired musicians, all of them enlivened by this desire to converse in music? That afternoon, in an arbour that shielded them from the hot sun, they started to jam, just for the beauty and pleasure of it, and the music just flowed like a spring, fresh and limpid. It was the memory of this spontaneous outpouring that gave rise to the idea of forming a quartet of Egarés (‘those who have gone astray’). And that’s what the recording of the album felt like too: a spontaneous sharing of impulse and know-how. Only one promise couldn’t be fulfilled, one long held dear by Vincent Segal, and that was to record in Bamako with his accomplice Ballaké Sissoko, as the pair had previously done for their debut Chamber Music. The extreme tension that currently holds sway in Mali scuppered this dream and, in the end, the four musicians set up their creative workshop in the alpine town of Gap. Outside, the weather was unpredictable; in the studio, the sun came out almost immediately. But it wasn’t a bland unchanging beauty: from the first notes, everything was volatile, in motion, vibrating. No surprises there: none of these four free stylers likes to be imprisoned, whether it’s in a particular role, or in a particular style or sound to which their instrument could so easily be confined. Each bought a few rough diamonds along in their knapsack and submitted them to the group. Tempered by that common fire, in the natural crucible of a live acoustic setting, those gems took on a new form, sublimating themselves and soon providing the material for an authentic and communal trove of music–musical gold in fact, melted down into a singular alloy of tones, touches, breaths and phrasings, that starts with a motif in unison that straightway spells out the basic alchemical formula. Take ‘Ta Nye’ and ‘Banja’, marvels of the Manding canon that act like markers for the start and finish lines of the course taken by Les Egarés: two kora tunes that the counterpoint and echoes of the other instruments enrobe and subtly displace, with that commitment to softness, that care to accompany as closely and precisely as possibly that’s the prerogative of experienced musicians. Just listen to Emile Parisien’s madly airborne introduction to ‘Banja’. A scent of Armenia clothes the first few measures of ‘Izao’, a piece that slips and slides in the direction of Transylvania via Turkey, seemingly orchestrating a disconcerting marriage of kora and Bartok in certain passages, all underpinned by a throbbing bass. ‘Amenhotep’ sets off a slow but sure ascending spiral, a Coltrane-like trance that elevates the interlocking breath of accordion and sax. Around the melody of ‘Dou’, as if guarding a fire, each of the four men take it in turn to preserve the memory of an ancestral blues, giving it the heady swaying feeling of a lullaby. ‘Nomad’s Sky’ opens with majesty and mystery, like a plant with intoxicating scents, everything required to overwhelm the senses present in the obstinate veins of the bass, played on a cello, and the progressive deployment of the instrumental motifs. ‘La Chanson des Égarés’ derives from those irresistibly cadenced melodies that buzz inside you when, according to Vincent Segal, ‘you walk without knowing where you’re going, letting yourself drift and giving into the pleasure of being lost,’ – a pleasure that, all on its own, aptly sums up the philosophy of this record. Credits: Produced by Ballaké Sissoko, Vincent Segal, Emile Parisien and Vincent Peirani

Emile Parisien - Les MétanuitsCD / Vinyl / digital Emile Parisien soprano saxophone Roberto Negro piano 100 Years of Ligeti: Duo Improvisations Inspired by György Ligeti's String Quartet No. 1 "Métamorphoses nocturnes". 28 May 2023 marks the centenary of the birth of composer György Ligeti. Film director Stanley Kubrick gave the cosmopolitan avant-gardist a brief moment of fame when he appropriated pieces of the composer’s music for the soundtrack of "2001: A Space Odyssey". With that exception, and perhaps unsurprisingly, Ligeti’s challenging and complex music has seldom reached appeal among the broader public. Among musicians, however, his standing and the influence of his music are immense. Ligeti’s lifelong search for new paths, from sound-surface music to micropolyphony and microtonality has left its defining, long-term mark on jazz musicians too. So, when French soprano saxophonist supreme, Emile Parisien and Italian pianist Roberto Negro – widely considered to be one of the most exciting pianists in Europe, on account of his own projects and his collaboration with the Ceccaldi brothers – now choose to focus on Ligeti in their duo album. "Les Métanuits", this is not just a flash-in-the-pan or some kind of quick centenary fix. For both musicians, this new venture has a long history. "When we first played together eight or nine years ago, Emile and I met in my kitchen to talk about music. We wanted to get to know each other better," Negro remembers. They quickly discovered that they both adored Ligeti. For Negro there is an added interest because of his own heritage: born in Turin, Negro grew up in Kinshasa before studying in Paris; Ligeti had a major preoccupation with the music of sub-Saharan Africa which shaped his polyrhythmic aesthetic.Parisien and Negro found that another thing they were in agreement about was their favourite piece by Ligeti: the String Quartet No. 1 'Métamorphoses nocturnes', and this was to lead to repeated encounters with the piece. For example, they once accompanied the renowned French Quatuor Béla string quartet in a performance of it. And now the duo have had the time and the opportunity to dig more deeply into this chamber music work, composed in 1953/54. "This string quartet is a rich source of inspiration for our improvisations," Parisien explains. "As one of his early works from the 1950s, it is still strongly influenced by Béla Bartók. Hence it has a strong, constantly moving principal theme which runs through the whole piece." Parisien and Negro have always been particularly enthusiastic about the rhythmic aspects of the piece, with its echoes of Stravinsky. And it is these which have given structure to their adaptation, which they have divided into eleven parts, each with a different tempo marking. Whereas Ligeti valued improvisation in jazz, he didn’t make use of it in his compositions. Parisien and Negro proceed with seemly respect: "The original motifs, moods and colours shine forth again and again. Harmonically, we expanded them with our ideas," explains Negro. "The original string quartet is only about 22 minutes long. In our album version it has become 45 minutes. When we play it live, it becomes even longer. So, to make up for this, we shortened the title and turned "Métamorphoses nocturnes" into "Métanuits", he adds...with a knowing smile. "Métanuits" is a fascinating endeavour: a wonderful piece of craftsmanship in which everything seems to interlock. There is high-wire virtuosic playing, exploration of all the tonal possibilities of the instruments by both players. Tempi tend to be on the fast side: (with the indications on the sections ‘allegro’, ‘presto’ or ‘prestissimo’ setting the pace), but with a 'largo' to catch breath at the end. There is also a surprising lyrical warmth, as the pair follow each other through constantly changing re-framings of the theme, which as is re-heard takes on an irresistible expressiveness. "The overlaps between classical music and jazz are particularly close to my heart. The boundaries between these genres no longer have to exist" is Roberto Negro’s view. And this is something he and Emile Parisien prove through the natural flow and the surprising approachability of "Les Métanuits". In their homage to Ligeti, they don't even bother with the historicising conventions and barriers of an old, abstract or arcane avant-garde. Instead, they let this beguilingly contemporary music resound - and reveal its astonishing communicative strengths.Credits: Produced by Roberto Negro & Emile Parisien Executive production: Full Rhizome

Emile Parisien - Let Them CookCD / Vinyl / digital Emile Parisien soprano saxophone & effects Julien Touéry piano Ivan Gélugne double bass Julien Loutelier drums & electronics When accidents happen, they are normally over in seconds, sometimes minutes; this one has been going on for 20 years. It is two decades since the members of Emile Parisien’s quartet played a jam session together. At the end, they looked at each other in disbelief. They had not just been hit by a collective musical thunderbolt, they also knew they had just brought...well...something...into being. The common ground between them was jazz, but each had all kinds of seeds to sow in it, from classical music and contemporary sounds to rock, electronica and chanson. Saxofonist Emile Parisien, Pianist Julien Touéry, Bassist Ivan Gélugne and drummer Julien Loutelier rip up labels, break down barriers, upset codes, and yet they know exactly where they are headed. There is a shared obsession with narrative. “The central axis of the quartet has always been storytelling,” Parisien emphasizes.“Let Them Cook” is like a breath of fresh air, and with a band sound now firmly and unmistakably of 2024 rather than 2004. There was a particular turning point: at a concert in Sweden near the end of their “Double Screening” album tour, they had taken a chance and tried out a move from an entirely acoustic sound to incorporate some electronics.It worked, so they stayed with it: they found that these electronic punctuations never polluted the band’s DNA, but rather stimulated it. The electronic apparatus was clearly additive to the stories of these compositions, the way it all fitted together was astounding.Which brings us back to the ever-present question: how do you get away from the classic jazz quartet of sax, piano, bass and drums? “We’re always trying to find the answer! There’s no point in redoing what the John Coltrane and Wayne Shorter groups did, because in many ways you’ll never reach their level.” “There’s a certain road in life most people walk on,” Wayne Shorter once said, “because it’s familiar, and they can jostle to get in front. I prefer to take a different road that’s less crowded, with many forks, where you get a wider view of life. I call it ‘the road less travelled’. That’s where I want to be.” In the year which marks its 20th anniversary, Emile Parisien’s quartet has never been more in tune with the thinking of one of its main influences.Credits:Produced by the artists

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

Emile Parisien - LouiseCD / Vinyl / digital Emile Parisien soprano saxophone Theo Croker trumpet Roberto Negro piano Manu Codjia guitar Joe Martin bass Nasheet Waits drums “The best new thing that has happened in European jazz for a long time” (Le Monde), Emile Parisien has formed a top-flight American-European sextet for this album, his seventh as leader or co-leader on ACT. The band will be touring in 2022, the year which also marks the tenth anniversary of Parisien’s first appearance on an ACT album.The saxophonist developed his strong sense of direction in music remarkably early: he was 10 years old when the news reached his family in Cahors that a new music school would be opening up roughly 200 kilometres away in Marciac. The youngster told his parents that this was the school he wanted to go to as a boarder...and so, with their support and approval, off he went. And it was through the school and the festival in Marciac that he received mentorship from some of the greats of North American jazz: Wynton Marsalis (who appeared as a guest on the album Sfumato Live), Clark Terry, Bobby Hutcherson, Oscar Peterson… The fact that three of the musicians in the sextet on "Louise or half of the band is American (Theo Croker (trumpet), Joe Martin (bass), and Nasheet Waits (drums) is important for Parisien: “It was time for me to return to the source that gave me the love for this music in the first place,” he explains. The idea of a ‘return to the source’ is especially true of Parisien’s choice to work alongside Theo Croker, the grandson of trumpeter Doc Cheatham (1905-97). Parisien describes their meeting on the “Jazz Animals” tour in 2018 as having been a ‘superrencontre’, and a particularly strong musical connection and a personal friendship have developed since those meetings. On “Louise” Parisien has not only ensured that a huge emotional and stylistic range can be heard in Croker’s trumpet-playing, but has also enjoyed matching and intertwining his own melodic voice with Croker’s. Their interaction is something special, and provides some of the many joyous moments on this wide-ranging yet very coherent album. Parisien has also generously given Croker the chance to have last word on the album, with his solemnly evocative composition, “Prayer for Peace”. Drummer Nasheet Waits is a vivid and energising presence throughout the album, and especially in the third part of “Memento”, the most substantial piece on "Louise", which Parisien dedicates to his mother. “I just love Nasheet’s playing, he’s unbelievable. It was a dream to play with him,” says Parisien who first admired.Waits’ playing on record, before their paths started to cross at festivals. This is the first time they have worked together. Joe Martin is one of the first-call New York bassists; Parisien knows him from their time as fellow members of Yaron Herman’s quartet. Manu Codjia and Robert Negro are two of Emile Parisien’s very closest musical colleagues. “We have played in so many contexts, explored so much music together,” says Parisien. Guitarist Codjia was one of the very first musicians whom he met when he first moved to Paris nearly two decades ago. “Manu has an amazing ability to be the ‘glue’ that holds a band together and creates a common sound.” Codjia has contributed the composition "Jungle Jig", an energetic piece in which an ideal balance has been struck between chaos and order. Roberto Negro has also played with Parisien regularly as a duo, in Sfumato and other contexts. “European music, classical, jazz, Roberto plays them all so well! He’s such a complete musician,” says Parisien. Roberto Negro’s composition “Il giorno della civetta” (civet) is elegantly paced and has a wonderfully natural flow.The title track “Louise” is gentle, spacious and meditative. The title refers to the ‘spider’ sculptures of Louise Bourgeois. These sculptures have mostly been seen in public spaces, and that has caused Parisien to reflect on how confinement during lockdown has deprived us all of the joy of being out in the open. Bourgeois’ sculptures are also very strongly connected to themes of motherhood, and to the metaphors of spinning, weaving, caring and protecting. Parisien’s affection for and valuing of the unconditional love of mothers for their children is the emotional background to this evocative track, with its glorious solos from Theo Croker and Manu Codjia. Two pieces bring to the fore European musicians from earlier generations who have been decisive influences on Parisien: “Jojo” is a happy reference to Joachim Kühn; the track is unmistakably, intentionally, and deeply ‘Ornette-ish’ in its inspiration. “Madagascar” by Weather Report recalls a time when Parisien played in The Syndicate, the band formed in 2007 to carry on Joe Zawinul’s legacy and to perform his music.  “Louise” is a remarkable album in which ferocious energy contrasts and coexists happily with a much softer side. Its subtleties and joys emerge the more one listens. As a result, "Louise" gives us the closest insight yet into the character and the creative individuality of one of Europe’s leading jazz musicians.Credits: Recorded by Mathieu Pion at Studio Gil Evans de La Maison de la Culture, Amiens (France), June 2021 Mixed by Mathieu Pion in October 2021 Mastered by Klaus Scheuermann Produced by Emile Parisien Executive Producer: Andreas Brandis & Full Rhizome

Fresu - Galliano - Lundgren - Mare NostrumCD / Vinyl / digital Paolo Fresu trumpet, fluegelhorn Richard Galliano accordion, bandoneon, accordina Jan Lundgren piano What began in 2005 as an experiment – just three concerts in Sweden bringing together a triumvirate of leading figures from European jazz – has developed in the past 20 years into one of the most distinctive line-ups now defining the ‘Sound of Europe’. Sardinian trumpeter Paolo Fresu, French accordionist Richard Galliano and Swedish pianist Jan Lundgren tell musical stories through Mare Nostrum, narratives from the northernmost to southernmost points of the continent. The trio combine their influences, which range from folk, classical and popular music, with the freedom of jazz. Over the course of hundreds of concerts and through three acclaimed albums, not only has this all-star project evolved into a highly empathetic working band, the three musicians have also become close friends whose affinity and chemistry can be heard and felt on Mare Nostrum IV. The mastery of Fresu, Galliano and Lundgren is in the nuances, the way they conspire together to make beautiful and often melancholic melodies flow, in their scintillating textures, and in the music’s subtle twists and turns. There is also delight in the sheer sound, from the intent and purpose behind every single note to the unique sonic identity of the trio as a whole. On Mare Nostrum IV, the twelve pieces that Fresu, Galliano and Lundgren wrote or arranged for each other are enchanting, cinematic miniatures of Nordic melancholy and Mediterranean warmth. This is a sea of sonorities, a utopia of beauty in which people know from deep what binds them together. And that is something more valuable in our uncertain times than it ever has been before. Trumpeter Paolo Fresu is an institution in jazz from Italy of the last three decades. As a leader and sideman he has participated in over 350 recordings, several of them on ACT, starting with his music/film project Sonos ‘E Memoria in 2001, followed by now four albums in the “Mare Nostrum” series, the duo album “Summerwind” with Lars Danielsson (2018) and guest appearances on albums of Adam Bałdych, Nguyên Lê and Jens Thomas. Paolo Fresu is artistic director of the Berchidda Festival Time In Jazz and, as teacher, lead the Jazz Seminars in Nuoro (Sardinia) for 25 years. He lives between Paris, Bologna and Sardinia. Richard Galliano is a unique innovator of the accordion and a singular voice of his instrument. Encouraged by Astor Piazzolla, Galliano created the "New Musette", his version of the traditional music of his French home country, which became one of his trademarks. He has recorded more than 50 albums under his own name - in jazz, classical and various musical styles from around the world. His impressive list of collaborations includes artists such as Chet Baker, Eddy Louiss, Ron Carter, Wynton Marsalis, Serge Reggiani, Claude Nougaro, Barbara, Juliette Greco, Nigel Kennedy and various renown orchestras. Among many other prestigious awards Richard Galliano was appointed “Officer” and “Commander of the Order of Arts and Letters” by the French government. Pianist Jan Lundgren is a pioneer of European jazz, combining classical music, folk traditions, American jazz and improvisation. This becomes evident on "Mare Nostrum", his own trio and their view of "European Standards" and "Swedish Standards", fusions of Renaissance choral music and jazz on "Magnum Mysterium" and various recordings together with Nils Landgren, Hans Backenroth, Wolfgang Haffner, Lars Danielsson or Emile Parisien. Jan Lundgren is a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Music, was the first Scandinavian jazz artist to perform at Carnegie Hall and founded the Ystad Sweden Jazz Festival in 2010, which quickly became a major European jazz event.Credits Recorded and mixed by Rémi Bourcereau at Studio La Menuiserie, France, on September 30th, October 1st, and October 2nd, 2024, mastered at Studio Sequenza by Thomas Vingtrinier. Cover art by Martin Assig, “Berg” (detail), 2023

When the Franco-Algerian singer, cellist and songwriter Nesrine Belmokh and her trio NES appeared on the scene in 2018 they seemed to emerge from nowhere. Many parts of the music world in Europe were taken by surprise by her, and completely captivated as well. Now, for her second album named simply after her – "Nesrine" – she has re-invented herself. Nesrine's debut album "Ahlam" was received with tremendous and widespread enthusiasm. What commentators noticed was its sheer beauty, the unusual instrumentation of voice, cello and percussion, and also the way in which the Mediterranean region from North Africa to Southern Europe was brought to life and unified through music. The distinguished cellist Sol Gabetta called Nesrine "a wonderful singer and cellist". London’s Sunday Times described her as "an incandescent, multilingual talent, " and later went on to include “Ahlam” among the newspaper’s albums of the year. French producer and radio host André Manouki-an was in raptures: "NES lets us hear the beauty of the world" and Deutschlandfunk stated simply that "NES’s time has come.” Several extensive tours throughout Europe followed, and NES beguiled audiences in major classical venues like the Philharmonie and the Konzerthaus in Berlin, made a very big impression at the Amsterdam Cello Biennale, and had major success at important jazz and world music festivals. In the new album, Nesrine the solo artist gives us further glimpses of her personal and musical life story. She grew up in France as a child of Algerian parents. She learned classical cello, and was soon working with organisations such as Daniel Barenboim's West-Eastern Divan Orchestra and the Orchestra of the Opera in Valencia, conducted by Lorin Maazel, plus landing a solo role in one of the programmes of "Cirque du Soleil". But it is through the ingenious songs that she writes herself, in Arabic, French and English, that her dazzling artistic personality comes through. Nesrine’s musical world is without borders; the combination of cello with her powerful voice and the interaction of her North African roots with her European present are irresistible. There is an economy of expression here, and the poise and culture of classical music are juxtaposed with rhythms coming from both pop and jazz – it is a fascinating and constantly shifting blend. For the new album Nesrine has teamed up with producer/guitarist Vincent Huma (Jorge Drexler, Miguel Bosé, Marlango) and sound engineer Fab Dupont (Shakira, Jennifer Lopez, Wynton Marsalis, David Crosby and many more). Together with NES percussionist David Gadea and guests, they have succeeded in creating a complex musical world of both acoustic and electronic sounds, and yet the natural-ness, the simplicity and warmth of the debut album "Ahlam" have been retained, and also broadened by adding completely new influences. In theory this might sound as if the juxtaposing of different cultures and the crossing over between them will lead to overload, but for Nesrine we are dealing with things that are normal, even existential. Her music is a reflection about her generation for whom origins and stylistic boundaries define themselves through their interaction. This music functions and flows so naturally because the combining of cultures is never artificial. It results from the fact that the different elements are simply, logically and truly parts of the artistic essence of the artist herself, and of her personal history. To ask what this music is just has to be the wrong question. World music? Or global pop? Or fusion? The right question to ask is *who* it is. And the answer has a compelling simplicity about it: NESRINE.

past is present | Emile Parisien & Vincent Peirani: Belle ÉpoqueA curated ACT Music vinyl series in which the past becomes the present. Timeless recordings that don't just live on, they continue to speak in the now. About this edition: First time on vinyl release of Emile Parisien & Vincent Peirani: Belle ÉpoqueLimited to 1,000 copies, each hand-numberedRemastered for vinylHigh-quality 180g pressing, black vinyl, lacquer cutLiner notes written exclusively for this edition Includes a collector's obi-strip on premium art paper Individually designed labels and inner sleeve, inspired by the original artworkA designed inner sleeve as a narrative cornerstone of the album, printed on coated art paper past is present is ACT's curated deep dive into the label's rich catalogue, bringing outstanding recordings back into focus on premium vinyl. These are albums whose relevance has not faded – they still speak with clarity and emotional force today. Selected as part of ACT's musical heritage, each title appears either for the first time on vinyl or in a newly remastered edition, reaching the highest possible fidelity while honouring the original artistic vision. Every release is conceived as a limited, hand-numbered collector's edition, made for listeners who value both the sound and the object. The original cover artwork is preserved and elevated through refined production: a bespoke collector’s obi strip, newly commissioned liner notes, custom-designed labels and an individually designed inner sleeve – each part of a cohesive series identity and a premium vinyl experience. Belle Époque by Vincent Peirani and Emile Parisien marks the beginning of one of the most compelling partnerships in contemporary European jazz. When the two entered the studio in 2013, their duo was still in its early days, yet the chemistry between them was already unmistakable. What followed was not only a remarkable recording, but the starting point of a journey that would take them to stages around the world.Inspired by the legacy of soprano saxophone pioneer Sidney Bechet, Belle Époque bridges eras and influences with striking elegance. The album moves fluidly between early jazz, French chanson, original compositions and modern improvisation, carried by Peirani's richly expressive accordion and Parisien's lyrical, soaring soprano. Together they reimagine this repertoire with both reverence and bold individuality, turning each piece into something vividly their own. At its heart, Belle Époque is a celebration of musical dialogue – two voices listening, responding and shaping a shared narrative in real time. The result is music of warmth, sophistication and depth, capturing the moment a singular duo found its voice. A defining recording, now rediscovered as part of past is present.

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

Limited test pressings of the album by Richard Galliano, Paolo Fresu, Jan Lundgren.Album: Mare Nostrum IVRelease: 28.03.2025A rare collector's item: A test pressing is the very first sample disc of an album and is used for quality control before the final pressing. It does not always match the sound of the later release exactly, which makes each copy a distinctive collectible with its own history. Every test pressing is a limited edition: ideal for collectors and for anyone who appreciates jazz vinyl, rarities and exclusive editions.  Your ACT test pressing package includes:  1 Bio-Vinyl test pressing in its original white sleeve. A beautifully designed card, featuring hand-written key details about the release such as artist names, album title, production year, number of test pressings. Album booklet in PDF format. This sheet provides an in-depth look at the album and includes: The cover artwork, a thoughtfully written text about the album, tracklist, full credits for production and performance,  instrumentation details. Test Pressing Authentication Certificate. This certificate confirms the authenticity of this test pressing, which was produced as part of the quality control process before the final vinyl pressing. Test pressings are made in limited quantities to ensure the highest audio fidelity and manufacturing standards. Each test pressing is carefully inspected and approved by our team before production proceeds. This document serves as verification of its authenticity and uniqueness. For official validation, this certificate bears the company stamp.Please note: A test pressing is a preliminary version of the vinyl record used to evaluate the quality of the pressing before full production. The audio quality may not be identical to the final version and may include some imperfections inherent to the test process. It holds historical significance as part of the production process.

Emile Parisien - SfumatoCD / digital Emile Parisien soprano & tenor saxophone Joachim Kühn piano Manu Codjia guitar Simon Tailleu double bass Mario Costa drums Guests (on 03 - 05 & 09): Michel Portal bass clarinet Vincent Peirani accordion The French jazz scene has a vitality, an originality and a do-it- all and do-it-anyway mentality about it right now. It is French musicians who are blazing the new trails for contemporary European jazz. There is a wonderful open-mindedness towards all musical cultures, genres and tendencies; and yet French musicians also give off the sense of having a proper grounding in their own tradition. A musician who represents all of these tendencies ‘par excellence’ is saxophonist Emile Parisien. Born in Cahors in the wine-growing region of the Lot, he is a jazz visionary. He may have one foot in that ancient soil, but his gaze is firmly fixed on the future. The leading French newspaper Le Monde has called him “the best new thing that has happened in European jazz for a long time,” while the Hamburg radio station NDR made the point of telling its listeners to give Parisien their “undivided attention.” The reference points on Parisien’s personal musical map are very widely spread indeed. They range from the popular folk traditions of his homeland to the compositional rigour of contemporary classical music, and also to the abstraction of free jazz. And yet everything he does has a naturalness and authenticity about it. Rather than appearing pre-meditated or constrained, his music has a flow, he traverses genres with a remarkable fleetness of foot and an effortless inevitability. What is it that makes the simple urgency of Parisien’s music quite so enjoyable? How does he manage to combine a provocative and anarchic streak with such a captivating sense of swing? Anyone who has seen and heard him on stage will know: it is because he lives his jazz with body and soul, because there is an authenticity and honesty inflecting every breath and every note. The track “Clown,” in which the playing of Vincent Peirani is to the fore, led to the following reflection from Parisien: “Because the melodic line in our music is so strong and prominent, we can improvise with a fantastic degree of freedom. From our background in jazz, the build-up of intensity is something completely natural to us, but we also dip into the language of the European free scene, and we have the common backdrop of traditional music, and of rock and pop as well.” Parisien didn’t have to hang around on the scene very long before the awards started arriving. He picked up Artist of the Year in both of the most important jazz prizes in France. He received the Prix Django Reinhardt in 2012 and then the Victoires du Jazz in 2014. In Germany in 2015 he received the ECHO Jazz Award for Best International Ensemble for the passionate virtuosity of the duo which Parisien has with his close friend and musical brother-in-arms, the accordionist Vincent Peirani. His regular quartet has been working together for more than ten years and played countless concerts all over the world. So perhaps it was the right time to try something new. A re-formed quintet had its very first try-out at a ‘carte blanche’ session at the Marciac Festival in 2015. Parisien was understandably keen to use this opportunity to work with that great pre-eminence of German jazz Joachim Kühn, not least because of the Leipzig-born pianist had worked for many years in a trio with a musician who had been another of the key figures along Parisien’s path to success, the veteran drummer Daniel Humair, in whose quartet Parisien is a regular member. Kühn’s long and distinguished career has found him in establishing working relationships with saxophone greats such as Ornette Coleman, Archie Shepp and Pharoah Sanders. This time, the reeds master he is working with is almost forty years his junior. That age difference didn't stand in the way of an instant creative symbiosis between them: the sparks started to fly in the concert hall from the get-go. With his new band-mates, guitarist and rising star Manu Codjia, bassist Simon Tailleu and drummer Mario Costa, they traversed through free improvisation, found moments of coruscating energy, painted emotional pictures in sound, as they discovered the volcanic energy, humour and sheer quality in each other...a new band was born. “Sfumato” is the result of what happened once this dream team found their way into a studio. In addition to Peirani, French jazz legend and mentor to Parisien, Michel Portal, joins the ensemble. What results is a group which brings generations together to create a sound-world rooted in the here and now. This is music in which the untrammelled imaginations of players and of listeners can roam in complete freedom, and will experience the joy of new discoveries.Credits: Produced by Emile Parisien Executive Producer: Siggi Loch Recorded by Gerard De Haro & Nicolas Baillard at Studio la Buissonne (France), May 16 - 18, 2016 Mixed by Tony Paeleman Mastered by Klaus Scheuermann Cover art © Chen Ruo Bing, untitled, 2016, Taguchi Fine Art, Tokyo, Japan

Emile Parisien Quintet - Sfumato live in MarciacCD / DVD / digital Emile Parisien soprano saxophone Joachim Kühn piano Manu Codjia guitar Simon Tailleu double bass Mário Costa drums Guests: Wynton Marsalis trumpet Vincent Peirani accordion Michel Portal clarinet French soprano saxophonist Emile Parisien is one of the most highly regarded European jazz musicians of our time. The three albums he made in just three years – “Belle Epoque” in 2014, “Spezial Snack” in 2015 and “Sfumato” in 2016 – have propelled him, at the age of just 35, to the top of the worldwide rankings on his instrument. One thing is abundantly clear: Europe has a new jazz star. 2017 was the year for Emile Parisien. No jazz artist received more prominent acclaim in his home country France, and beyond. Very few European jazz artists can have appeared at so many big jazz festivals and classical concert halls. Emile Parisien today is regarded the most important innovator on the soprano saxophone. Right at the beginning of 2017, Jazzthing magazine (DE) set the tone with their CD review: “It is amazing how quickly Emile Parisien has become one of France’s most influential musicians. “Sfumato” is the title of the new album from the 34-year-old soprano saxophonist, who has nothing to fear from the competition of anyone of his own generation anywhere in the world. And this album is going to amplify the buzz about him which is starting to echo around Europe.” And that was exactly what happened: not long after the release, the French “Jazz Magazine” and German music magazine “Stereo” both voted “Sfumato” as their album of the year. Shortly after that, Emile Parisien received the “Victoires Du Jazz”, the jazz prize for album of the year at the most important French music awards. In Germany Parisien also received the most important music award, the ECHO Jazz, for “best international saxophonist” of the year. Topping out an outstanding year, French “Jazz Magazine” chose Émile Parisien as its artist of the year for 2017.Deutschlandfunk Kultur (Germany) called Parisien a “superstar of the jazz scene in France”, Fono Forum (Germany) stated: “Emile Parisien is taking the magical sound of the soprano saxophone onwards – following in the footsteps of Sidney Bechet, Johnny Hodges, Steve Lacy, John Coltrane, Wayne Shorter and Evan Parker.” The Guardian in the UK gave “Sfumato” a rare 5-star rating and called it “an exhilarating genre-hop bubbling with captivating remakes of US and European jazz traditions. An exuberant album”. And the widely-read French magazine “Télérama” wrote: “Parisien’s inventiveness and energy are nothing short of breathtaking.” The year of 2017 also marked a new high-point for Emile Parisien’s career as a live performer. In that one year he played at festivals such as Jazz Sous Les Pommiers, Bergen Jazz Festival, Elbjazz, Jazz Baltica, Montreux Jazz Festival, Jazz à Vienne, Umbria Jazz, the London Jazz Festival and the Rheingau Musik Festival. He also appeared in the some of Europe’s finest classical concert halls: the Philharmonie in Essen, the Konzerthaus in Vienna, Hamburg’s new Elbphilharmonie and the Konzerthaus in Berlin. A special highlight was Parisien’s residency at Jazz in Marciac, the place where Parisien’s enthusiasm for jazz had been originally been awakened as a young audience-member, and where he was invited to be Artist in Residence for 2017. Parisien’s “Sfumato” concert on 8 August 2017 was unforgettable and has been captured for ever on both CD & DVD. His quintet was augmented at this concert by illustrious guests: US trumpet star Wynton Marsalis, French jazz legend Michel Portal and Parisien’s alter ego and long-established duo partner Vincent Peirani. Parisien’s “Sfumato” concert on 8 August 2017 was unforgettable and has been captured for ever on both CD & DVD. His quintet was augmented at this concert by illustrious guests: US trumpet star Wynton Marsalis, French jazz legend Michel Portal and Parisien’s alter ego and long-established duo partner Vincent Peirani. Multi-layered, innovative and experimental, “Sfumato live in Marciac” is packed full of tension, excitement and turbulence. And yet is firmly grounded in jazz, brimming over with playfulness and adventures of improvisation; it is a testament to the intensity and to the magic of live jazz. And yet is firmly grounded in jazz, brimming over with playfulness and adventures of improvisation; it is a testament to the intensity and to the magic of live jazz.Credits: Recorded live in concert by Nicolas Djemane at Jazz in Marciac on August 8th, 2017 Mixed by Boris Darley in April 2017 Mastering by Klaus Scheuermann Produced by Emile Parisien Video editing by Alice Fave & Nicolas Lecart Cameras: Florence Pradalier, Cedric Alliot, Ugo Gillino & Mathias Touzeris Audiovisual director: Jean Marc Birraux DVD authoring by Platin Media Productions Cover art by Chen Ruo Bing, untitled, 2016, ACT Art Collection

Emile Parisien - Spezial SnackCD / digital Emile Parisien soprano & tenor sax Julien Touéry piano & prepared piano Ivan Gélugne bass Sylvain Darrifourcq drums, percussion, zither Ten years have gone by since this quartet — under a name of pure convenience — undertook the Suite for the first time, a jubilant voyage through varying climates which the quartet covered in a flux of juvenile energy, constant musical tension, and that palpable feeling of urgency… one could sense it inside the heady scents of the pleasure of collective playing. The ensemble was acoustic, the current electric, and the voltage high. It was a miraculous moment and it had the taste of a first experiment. At the time, the quartet was still expressing itself in the language of swing, delivering a wild, hard bop enlivened by brief outbursts of free and other, modern, jarring discordance. It had a fossilized radiance. While Spezial snack seems today to be light-years distant from the music offered at the time, the trajectory taking the group to this new terra incognita still has logic. Remaining intact, the identity of the group has simply matured over the course of some stern questioning. Haricot-guide, the latest opus in their cartoon-esque vein (urge versus narration), is an implacable demonstration of this. What separates this piece from the not-quite-worn blues of their debuts? There's the same, cohesive sound which strikes you right from the first bar; there's the same light sense of parody; and they also show the same, playfully natural manner of mining quaintly outmoded chord progressions through elastic rhythms, micro-events and combinations of timbres. They have rapidly developed their own palette and playing mode, interacting and exchanging glances. They also had a few skilled strings to their bow: clichés, which the quartet has never ceased to develop, are also a form where innovation is possible. An unexpected clash of cymbals, a cluster of piano, the odd bruitist hatching… these and other little nothings have progressively invaded their music to the point of becoming its raw material. No more solvent, merely the essence, its spirit. In the course of Les Flics de la Police, an embryonic melody works its way through a jungle of exotic rhythms. The music is first and foremost a territory, by turns deserted and lush, where the listener's vigilance is permanently mobilized. The lyricism here, the pivot around which their collage-screenplays are articulated, is no longer a condition but a hypothesis, and the orchestrations have become as central to their works as they were for the 20th century composers they all admire. This logic is pushed to its paroxysm in Potofen, and even beyond in François, both of which titles are theatres for military operations which clearly state that, faced with the intransigency of each of the four musicians, no compromise is possible. The material they propose is above all the subtraction of what it refuses to be. And so the conflicting nature of their relationships is exposed in broad daylight, and the only possible path it can take lies in the organization of chaos, with all its instantaneous alliances and circumstances. Who is playing with whom? At what moment? By focussing on the unisons which form and separate, the vital thread of this music suddenly becomes limpid. And listeners can then rediscover the pleasure of spectators watching an adventure-film: fascination, barbarian hordes blocking the trail, and a cathartic battle suspended in a flash in the final bar… The quartet had accustomed us to a kind of darkness, but never has it been this deadly. In an afterlife of the blue note, the melody of Mazout Damnation develops in constantly unsuspected fashion, wrapped in a phantasmagorical setting whose required victim congeals inside a space-time airlock. Darkness or light? Ascent or Fall? A few Expressionist chords open the sluices: a deluge of notes, an autistic riff, and savagery. The ultimate step in colour saturation comes in the free tutti. A free form, as they said of Calder's works, or the design of reconstruction. For this quartet is the heir to those experimenters who opened wide the windows onto codified genres, both in music and elsewhere. The group hasn't plundered their aesthetic, but transposed their approach onto our own, ultra-referenced time. It has chosen the most radical path, and is our indispensable contemporary. Damien Bertrand, filmmaker June 19, 2014 Credits: Produced by the artists Recorded at Studios La Buissonne by Gérard de Haro, assisted by Nicolas Baillard (April 2014) Mixed by Sylvain Thevenard Mastering: Klaus Scheuermann Cover art: Pay On Time Motherfucker © by Jiri Geller, 2007, courtesy of Showroom Helsinki

Vincent Peirani - Thrill BoxCD / digital Vincent Peirani accordion & accordina (4), vocals (3 & 7) Michael Wollny piano & fender rhodes Michel Benita bass Guests: Michel Portal bass clarinet (5) &bandoneon (7) Emile Parisien soprano sax (6 & 11)Ulf Wakenius was sceptical. Youn Sun Nah, the new star of vocal jazz, had suggested they extend their successful duo by inviting a young French accordionist to join in for the night’s concert. Wakenius said that, considering the huge spectrum of moods and the dynamics of the program, it had better be Richard Galliano himself. Nevertheless, he agreed to give it a try and the rest is history: Wakenius was so impressed by Vincent Peirani’s performance that he wanted him as an accompanist on his album Vagabond, and Peirani followed this up by also playing on the latest album by Youn Sun Nah, Lento. Now a member of the ACT family, Peirani now takes the next logical step with his ACT debut album Thrill Box. Admittedly, the title is misleading, the album is neither showy or flashy, in fact quite the opposite, it is an introversive and lyrical CD. Thrill Box refers to his instrument and Peirani’s unique way to play the accordion is full of surprises. He makes it sound like an organ, a piano, a wind instrument or a human voice, counterpoint and radically reduced passages alternate with dynamic parts, multitoned elegies and percussive parts. Peirani also sings in unison with the accordion, revealing an excellent voice that, along with his accordion prowess, initially got the attention of Youn Sun Nah. Seldom found in Jazz, the accordion has traditionally been used in folk and classical music and only a few exceptional talents, such as Klaus Paier from Austria or some representatives of the French accordion tradition including Jean-Louis Matinier or Richard Galliano, have managed to go beyond this border. Yet it would be insufficient to place Peirani in this tradition. Peirani belongs to a growing number of outstanding young talents who no longer are merely jazz, classical or rock musicians, but rather universal musicians who use and benefit from the huge spectrum of musical expression that has not yet been discovered. Peirani started his career with classical music, and although the phrase is hackneyed, he was something of a child protégé. At the age of 12 he enrolled at the Conservatoire National de Région in clarinet in his hometown of Nice. Between 1994 and 1998 he won the most important international accordion competitions and as well the first prize at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique in Paris. He stayed in the French capital, got to know people like Daniel Humair at the National Conservatory and discovered a new spectrum of musical opportunities including contemporary classical music, chanson and jazz. In 2003 he won the La Défense Jazz competition and became a much sought-after man for open-minded musicians, from people of the avant-garde such as Michel Portal or Louis Sclavis to crossover musicians including Renaud Garcia Fons. He also had several projects of his own: a rock quintet called “Living Being” and “Sejalan” with the French-Indonesian singer Serena Fisseau. On Thrill Box all these experiences are reflected upon, not only stylistically but also in terms of repertoire - In addition to compositions of his own, the mysteriously whirring “Hypnotic”, the rhythmically playful musette tune for Michel Portal “3 Temps Pour Michel'P” and the deeply moving ballad "Air Song" inspired from Indonesia, the album contains a variety of different stylistic identities: North-American traditional music, with the folk songs “Goodnight Irene” and "Shenandoah", dismantled bebop of “I Mean You” form Thelonious Monk, bluesy “Waltz For JB” by Brad Mehldau, the enigmatic, almost South American version of Abbey Lincoln’s “Throw it Away” and wild Balkan sounds on “Balkanski Cocek”. All this is framed by two extraordinary solos, the album opens with Joseph Canteloube’s “Bailero” and closes with Peirani’s own “Choral”. Apart from the soloistic pro- and epilogue and the guest appearances by the soprano saxophonist Emile Parisien and Peirani’s old friend Michel Portal, Thrill Box is a trio album. It is a real treat for the fans of the genre with two experts as accompanists: First of all, there is Michel Benita, known as the subtle bass experimenter of the trio E_L_B (together with Peter Erskine and Nguyên Lê), and then there is Michael Wollny, famous for his work with the trio [em]. The German pianist actually got to know Peirani on the stage of the Parisian jazz club New Morning at the ACT Jubilee Night last spring. The result was a moving duo performance and an immediate musical connection. Wollny did not have to think long when Peirani asked him to join in on Thrill Box and, once again, the listener will be amazed at how Wollny does all the right things, adapts to the ideas of his accompanists like a chameleon and constantly develops them further. The future looks very promising for Vincent Peirani. After Thrill Box there will definitely be no more scepticism. Credits: Produced by Vincent Peirani & Axel Matignon Executive Producer: Siggi Loch Recorded by Jean-Paul Gonnod, November 18 - 20, 2012 at Studio de Meudon, France. Assistants: Mathilde Recly & Guillaume Jay Mixed by Jean Paul Gonnod at Studio de Meudon Mastered by Klaus Scheuermann Cover art: "Stage set with escaping cloud" by Per Arnoldi, acrylic on paper, 2012

Limited test pressings of the album by Vincent Peirani.Album: Living Being IVRelease: 26.09.2025A test pressing is the very first sample disc of an album and is used for quality control before the final pressing. It does not always match the sound of the later release exactly, which makes each copy a distinctive collectible with its own history. Every test pressing is a limited edition: ideal for collectors and for anyone who appreciates jazz vinyl, rarities and exclusive editions. Your ACT test pressing package includes:  1 Bio-Vinyl test pressing in its original white sleeve. A beautifully designed card, featuring hand-written key details about the release such as artist names, album title, production year, number of test pressings. Album booklet in PDF format. This sheet provides an in-depth look at the album and includes: The cover artwork, a thoughtfully written text about the album, tracklist, full credits for production and performance,  instrumentation details. Test Pressing Authentication Certificate. This certificate confirms the authenticity of this test pressing, which was produced as part of the quality control process before the final vinyl pressing. Test pressings are made in limited quantities to ensure the highest audio fidelity and manufacturing standards. Each test pressing is carefully inspected and approved by our team before production proceeds. This document serves as verification of its authenticity and uniqueness. For official validation, this certificate bears the company stamp.Please note: A test pressing is a preliminary version of the vinyl record used to evaluate the quality of the pressing before full production. The audio quality may not be identical to the final version and may include some imperfections inherent to the test process. It holds historical significance as part of the production process.