Katalog

Besetzung: Benjamin Schaefer p, Robert Landfermann double b, Marcus Rieck dr

Back to the roots – in many ways. The Benjamin Schaefer Trio had their highly praised debut in the series "Jazz thing Next Generation" in 2004. In the meantime, they released two albums at the renowned label "Enja". While the trio was expanded to a septet in part on the last CD, the latest album concentrates again on a traditional piano-trio. And it is again being released on the Double Moon Records label

Besetzung: Sonja Huber vib, Matthias Siegrist g, Martin Wyss b, Daniel Bolli dr

The music really does give you a feeling of well-being, because the compositions have been composed unmistakably with the lightness and simplicity of pop, but not at all with shallowness and naiveté that is often threatened in such cases. Instead, they are rooted in the refinement of jazz, so that they are never boring.

Besetzung: Elodie Lauton voc, Jasper van't Hof p, Felix Graf p, keys, tenori-on, programming, Steve Argüelles dr, electronics, Peter Borföi e-bass

Terminal B is a musical trip into the inner being, the heart and soul of a woman. The woman is sitting in the waiting hall of Terminal B at EuroAirport Basel-Mulhouse-Freiburg on a Sunday morning. She is drinking coffee and reading the paper. She has a standby ticket in her bag. Will she get on the plane or go back home, a home, which she actually wanted to leave? The thoughts and feelings of this woman are made audible by the international band members of the project Goldamour. In addition to the Anglo-Catalan Steve Argüelles, who lives in France, and the Dutch pianist Jasper van't Hof, the group is composed of the singer Elodie Lauton from Montpellier and Felix Graf (piano, programming) and bassist Peter Borföi, both from Basel, Switzerland. Goldamour is not just a patchwork family project with respect to its members. Very different music styles are also interwoven to capture the inner turmoil and mood swings of this fictive person adequately. For example, we hear elements of chanson, jazz, pop, samba and trip hop, at times acoustic, at times defamiliarized electronically.

Besetzung: Patrick Bebelaar p, Joe Fonda b, Herbert Joos tp, flh

A few piano chords by Patrick Bebelaar. Each one resounds in the room, with a healthy reverberation. Joe Fonda's rapidly plucked bass tones join them as if from nowhere and slowly develop into a small foundation. The piano begets a romantic medley of tunes. Wonderfully peaceful and gently swinging at the same time. The final notes. The final notes? That's what you think! The piece is already past the halfway point when Herbert Joos' trumpet joins the two, breathy and scintillating. This is the impressive beginning of "Between Shadow And Light". Presence through reduction – rather one sound less than one too many: that's the leitmotif. This area between shadow and light, between major and minor keys, between "black" and "white" jazz is the special feature of this recording, but which also completely fills the edges of this intermediate space. It could just as well be titled "Shadow – Light – And In Between". The fact that Bebelaar has mastered playing intermediate tones on the piano is something that he recently proved on "Dedications" (INT 34342), his duo album with Michel Godard. He is also presenting his very original ideal of sound here and found a kindred spirit in Herbert Joos. They advance in step grasping intermediate spaces in a profession that was called "European chamber jazz" in its beginnings. But this is a jazz of worlds, colorful jazz in black and white.

Lineup: Stefan Schmid ts, ss, cl, fl, Malte Duerrschnabel as, fl, cl, Niels Klein bs, cl, bcl, cl, Christoph Moschberger tp, flh, Frederik Koester tp, flh, Tobias Wember tb, Max von Einem tb, Max Frankl g, Robert Landfermann b, Jens Dueppe dr

When the "Who Is Who" of the young German jazz scene put their efforts completely at the service of one of their own, then they do it out of friendship, respect and admiration. For example, Niels Klein, Frederik Köster, Max von Einem, Robert Landfermann and Max Frankl, among others, play on Stefan Schmid's album exTENded. On one hand, the name exTENded describes the large ensemble project of Stefan Schmid composed of 10 musicians or – to put it more precisely – seven wind section players plus rhythm group. On the other hand, the debut album with 9 pieces is titled exTENded. The music is modern big band jazz, which belongs to the school of someone such as Peter Herbolzheimer just as much as to the Very Big Band of Carla Bley – not the worst references. However, Stefan Schmid goes at least one step further. He has composed the 9 compositions presented here in such a way that the individuals are left a maximum of leeway, which is a rather difficult endeavor in the context of a big band. Schmid masters this really well to the joy of his co-players, who can shine full of relish both in the structure of the band and as soloists.

Lineup: Ray Anderson tb, Lew Soloff tp, Matt Perrine sousaphone, Bobby Previte dr

When you listen to the eight tracks of the new album The Sweet Chicago Suite by Ray Anderson's Pocket Brass Band, you often feel breathless, because Ray Anderson, Lew Soloff, Matt Perrine and Bobby Previte play so impressively. With all the power displayed, you can quickly forget that the Pocket Brass Band is really only a quartet. Of course, a good share of the music's roots is in the marching bands from New Orleans; Anderson feels a spiritual bond to this magical place and its music. However, you already notice due to the album name that it is not a tribute to the "Big Easy", but instead to Ray's hometown Chicago.

Lineup: Jürgen Hagenlocher ts, Alex Sipiagin tp, flh, David Kikoski p, Boris Kozlov b, Nate Smith dr

There are not many European jazz musicians who can deal respectfully with jazz steeped in American tradition and know how to interpret it in their own style at the same time. One person who has dedicated himself to so doing with heart and soul is Jürgen Hagenlocher. He calls his new CD "Leap In The Dark" for a good reason. This leap into the unknown was worth the effort. Getting involved in the unknown and developing music from different viewpoints and backgrounds contains a certain amount of risk, but it can also produce an extremely inspiring and exciting result as is the case here.

Lineup: Matthieu Marthouret hammond organ, Manuel Franchi dr, David Prez ts, Sandro Zerafa g, Maxime Fougères g, Nicolas Kummert ts, voice, guest:David Fettmann as

The quartet with top-rate members already released its first album in 2009 ("Playground") at the French label Must Records and immediately reaped a lot of praise in the press. The successor with the same band members has become more straightforward and substantial; the long years of playing together has resulted in an effortless, completely unpretentious, easy-going and grooving recording with a masterful, homogeneous band.

Lineup: Christoph Irniger ts, bcl, fx, Marco Blochlinger b, fx, Crigel Bosshard d, perc

When the Cowboys perform, nothing stays in place. The trio makes its daring musical forays through styles and melodies as if a blizzard would sweep through the alleyways. A storm is created with daring arrangements that blow off roofs and knock down trees. The concert venue becomes a battlefield with steamy funk grooves at times, then the rock cannons boom to be followed again by wild improvisations.

The influences of Frank Zappa, Rage against the Machine, Don Li, Massive Attack, Screaming Headless Torsos and Pantera (who name one of their CDs "Cowboys from Hell") are loud and clear. But the music is still different and fresh, characterized by an unconventional use of electronics. Unbridled playing spirit and brute energy have gotten every club rocking till now. Of course, then it's great news that the Cowboys are continually on the move!

Lineup: Timo Vollbrecht ts, ss, Lorenz Kellhuber p, rhodes, Tim Kleinsorge b, Moritz Baumgartner dr, special guest:Johannes Enders ts

Extremely relaxed: this best describes the composition and interpretation on "In Sight". The four young guys from RADAR have produced a mature work with "In Sight", which forms an absolutely intrinsic whole. You can also bring to mind when listening that these are not old hands playing, but that "In Sight" is actually the debut album of the young Berlin quartet RADAR. With a matter-of-factness, they present their own style; slight digressions in the direction of classical fugue or Latin as light as a feather always take a proper place in their pure and original overall sound.

Lineup: Marc Perrenoud piano, Marco Müller bass, Cyril Regamey drums

Perrenoud, about whom the journalist Luca Sabbatini once wrote that there is an "unbelievable fantasy in his melodies, a destructive force, tangible lyric intensity," is really a master of all things who defies any customary categorization. If anything, then what we hear is clearly jazz. However, we also find many influences from other popular styles in his artistic approach. It is a kind of popular music such as Johann Sebastian Bach cultivated. It is a kind of popular music such as Cake celebrates. It is a kind of popular music such as Return To Forever lets us appreciate. There is a suitable term for this in English: attitude. Perrenoud, whose record collection must be very large given the great variety of sounds and associations, seems to display such a pop attitude for jazz (put more aptly: for his jazz) more than clearly. Despite the multifaceted influences on this trio that come to mind, how original and even novel they sound is really impressive. What the trio does with the classic "Autumn Leaves" alone is remarkable in this respect.