past is present | Julia Hülsmann Trio & Roger CiceroA 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.Milestone albums on vinyl for the first timeLimited 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 inspired by the original artworkA designed inner sleeve as a narrative cornerstone of the album printed on 180 gsm uncoated sulfate board 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. Good Morning Midnight (2006) closes Julia Hülsmann's ACT trilogy exploring poetry and jazz – after E. E. Cummings and Randy Newman, this time dedicated to Emily Dickinson, largely unknown in her lifetime and today regarded as one of America's most important poets. For the then little-known pianist, the series marked her step into wider public awareness and the beginning of a highly acclaimed international career. For vocalist Roger Cicero it was an important step into the limelight – soon after, he became a genuine pop star in Germany, before his one-of-a-kind story ended abruptly in 2016, at just 45. The contrasts could hardly be greater: urban-influenced jazz on one side, on the other the words of a poet who spent her life in seclusion in rural Massachusetts. Yet jazz works here less as a style than as a vocabulary, linking seemingly distant worlds. Carried by Hülsmann's trio with Marc Muellbauer and Heinrich Köbberling, coloured by subtle electronics, bandoneon and brass, Cicero finds a tone between curiosity and doubt, exuberance and introspection – “I've never sung anything like this before.” A wide arc between poetry and jazz, between the 19th and the 21st centuries – and a reminder that new music can be found not only in the present, but also in the past.

Little North: Crossing Currents CD / Vinyl (LP, 180g) / digital  Lasse Jacobsen drumsMartin Brunbjerg Rasmussen double bassBenjamin Nørholm Jacobsen pianoFeaturing: Joel Ross vibraphone Hannes Bennich alto saxophone It is ten years since Little North released their debut recording, Yonder. The Danish piano trio’s new album Crossing Currents marks that anniversary and sees them fulfilling long-cherished dreams: not only does the new recording feature American vibraphone innovator and co-producer Joel Ross, it was also made in hallowed New York surroundings, The Bunker Studio in Brooklyn. And before entering the studio, pianist Benjamin Nørholm Jacobsen, bassist Martin Brunbjerg Rasmussen and drummer Lasse Jacobsen made sure that they took time to immerse themselves in the New York jazz scene and to draw inspiration from it. “For us, Joel Ross is quite simply the representative of that world,” says Jacobsen. “His approach is intellectually and spiritually clear, but also emotionally so. It is respectful, and he appreciates wonderful melodies. He has a particular kind of energy that doesn’t look back. And that is absolutely what we wanted on our album.”That energy also suited the trio’s second guest, Swedish saxophonist Hannes Bennich, whom Little North have known since their early days. “We had already worked with Hannes on other projects,” says Lasse Jacobsen. “In this case, he acted as a kind of "sparring partner" for Joel Ross. He brought his own energy, he’s a true virtuoso, and has real knowledge and affinity for the music that Ross stands for. At the same time, we needed someone who could step straight into a recording situation with confidence, and could contribute a musical voice that is entirely his own. Hannes was exactly the right person!”Crossing Currents creates a very special atmosphere which is defined by two things: the juxtaposition of contrasting characters and the interplay of European and American influences. A memorable hallmark of Little North’s ACT debut While You Wait was that they created a special magic by opening up their musical connectedness – grown and developed through their many years of working together – to a soloist. On that earlier occasion, it was the Norwegian trumpeter Oscar Andreas Haug. But here they have taken that a stage further: whereas Haug can be seen as an extension of the same musical world which the trio inhabit, Crossing Currents is about opening up to different energies, venturing out of one’s comfort zone, and being inspired by the spirit of the creative cauldron which is New York.The musicians’ openness towards one another, their mutual respect and regard are palpable and run like a strong thread through the album. Crossing Currents is an encounter on equal terms, sustained by alertness in listening to each other, and an intensity that can often be conveyed with no more than a few notes, harmonies or textures. This is particularly the case with the amount of space which the two harmony instruments – piano and vibraphone – allow each other. Pianist Benjamin Nørholm Jacobsen often lays the harmonic foundation, whilst Joel Ross plays finely nuanced melodies over it, frequently interwoven with the lines of saxophonist Hannes Bennich. And when the energy level increases, it happens collectively and with a shared intensity.Crossing Currents is never about one individual taking up a lot of space, but rather about balance, about sharing. The creative drive is strong, and yet there isn’t any pressure. There are different currents – but they flow together.CreditsRecorded 19-20 November 2023 at The Bunker Studio, Brooklyn, NYCRecorded by Nolan ThiesMixed by August WanngrenMastered by Sofia von Hage and Thomas Eberger at Stockholm MasteringComposed by Little NorthProduced by Little NorthCo-produced by Joel Ross

Daniel García: The Hero's Journey CD / Vinyl (LP, 180g) / digital Daniel García piano, synths, vocals, clapsSpain’s leading newspaper El País calls Daniel García Diego “one of the most exciting figures to have emerged from the world of contemporary jazz in the past decade.” Whereas the pianist is never an attention-seeker for its own sake – it simply doesn’t form part of his way of being – there are things which he does stunningly better than anybody else: his knowledge, respect and love for both jazz and flamenco go astonishingly deep, and he combines these two very different heritages fluently, effectively, indeed dazzlingly in his own music.That uniqueness makes him a pivotal, even an ambassadorial figure for Spanish jazz. He is indeed part of the story of why the scene has raised its profile in recent years. His three albums for ACT – until now recorded in his long-standing and joyously continuing trio with Madrid-based Cuban musicians Reinier el Negrón Elizarde and Michael Olivera – have all attracted superlatives: Travesuras (2019) was “something quite spectacular” (Jazz Journal, UK), Vía de la Plata was “important...essential” (Paris Move) and Wonderland (2025) was “brilliant and thrilling” (Latin Jazz Network). During late 2024, discussions started with ACT about what his fourth album project for the label might be. “When Andreas Brandis and Michael Gottfried came to me with the idea of a solo album, I really liked it.” The pianist promptly set to work composing, but it was not long before fate took a hand: in early 2025, Daniel García’s father was very unexpectedly diagnosed with incurable cancer, and continued to weaken, especially in his final months, before passing away in December 2025. So, virtually all of the composition and planning, and also the recording sessions – two afternoons and long evenings in June 2025 spent completely alone at the piano with his pre-recorded sounds at Camaleón Studios in Madrid – were happening at a time in which García and his family were living with grief, suffering in anticipation of the inevitable. Against that backdrop, it is unsurprising that The Hero’s Journey is imbued with astonishing depth of feeling throughout. And yet it isn’t a dark album in any way. As García explains: “For a long time I have been attracted by the hero figure – I’m not thinking at all about some invincible movie superhero, but rather the idea of a person constantly facing new challenges who needs to overcome them.” The pianist has been fascinated by the concept of archetypes and the ‘monomyth’ developed by Joseph Campbell in the book The Hero with a Thousand Faces. Campbell’s theory of a universal narrative arc effectively served as the blueprint for the Star Wars saga. “What I like about it is that this way of looking at the world tells that, at our core, we as humans are not different from each other.”That idea of dealing with challenges that come along, one by one, determines the structure of an album which is designed to be listened to as one continuous experience, and which will be performed live in concert from late 2026. “What I did was to put music with a different character to all of those stages. It’s about what I feel at each different stage, a reflection of my own journey.” That approach also suits the pianist well because he is such a musical omnivore: “I find it difficult to categorise my music. It’s like trying to put the sea in a box—it just overflows! I love classical music, I love Middle Eastern music, I love rock, I love singer-songwriters! Inspiration can come from anywhere!”In its 13 sections, The Hero’s Journey is one unified story which takes the listener through a wide range of experiences and moods. All of the tracks have a sub-text, examples of which are: the opener, Life in a Crystal Bottle, is about a simple, ordinary, innocent world in which nothing remarkable has yet happened. The fourth track, Meeting the Mentor, is an affectionate portrait of a gentle father figure, with delicate inner voicings indicating a safe place, and the enjoyment to be had at the piano. The tenth, toccata-like track, The Ordeal, is the only one in the set to be completely through-composed. It is about the inner strength, motivation and mobilisation that comes from having a strong internal engine. And the final track, The Resurrection, is about having come full circle...and being ready to face more new and unexpected challenges. There is a theme of self-reliance in the way in which the album has been made: all of the sounds which the listener hears have been fashioned by Daniel García Diego himself. “Everything is me,” he smiles. “It’s made in a way that I am going to be able to perform it live. That has been part of the purpose since the start.” Alongside the piano there are samples of pre-recorded clapping and also singing...and processed samples of the sounds of a looped and pre-recorded violin...or electronically generated samples from a Moog synthesizer. They are all very sparingly used, with the piano as main protagonist. Crossing the Threshold has particularly atmospheric use of these sounds, which García has used to portray the idea of finding oneself in a totally unfamiliar and alien world. The Hero’s Journey may have been created against a sombre backdrop, but it stands as a deeply optimistic statement about the nature of human resilience. CreditsComposed and produced by Daniel GarcíaRecorded at Camaleon Music Studio inMadrid, Spain, on 17 - 18 June 2025Mixed and mastered by Shayan FathiPhoto by Rob Lewis

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.First time on vinyl release Limited 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.

Robinson Khoury: Transara CD / Vinyl (LP, 180g) / Limited white vinyl (LP, 180g) / digital  Robinson Khoury trombone, modular synths, lead vocal in 6, 9Anissa Nehari percussions, voice in 6, 9Léo Jassef piano, synths, voice in 6, 9Trombonist/composer Robinson Khoury is one of the most prominent and visible rising stars on the French jazz and cross-genre scene. A charismatic live performer, his breakthrough came in 2024 with the album MŸA, featuring his trio with percussionist Anissa Nehari and keyboardist Léo Yassef. This group, in which Khoury plays not just trombone but also modular synths – he sings as well – became a tightly-knit and vibrant musical unit; the title of their debut album became the band name Robinson Khoury MŸA. This trio now takes centre stage on their ACT debut album, Transara.“I really like the unusual,” says Khoury. “Strange combinations, unexpected line-ups. Trombone, modular synths, keyboards and percussion...I’d never heard anything like it (!), and that’s exactly what fascinated me.” And there are other important affinities within the group: “I think that part of the reason we work so well together is because we share a Mediterranean heritage through our families – the Mediterranean connects us.” Equally formative, he explains, has been their life based in Paris, a world city where a wide variety of influences converge.For Khoury, Transara marks an important step forward. He describes the first MŸA album as having been a kind of “embryo” in which a musical entity was slowly taking shape, and that the trio has made huge strides since then. The three have become fluent in the musical language which they share. According to Khoury, their organic and intuitive music moves “into another world, another reality”. This progression is what the title Transara signifies: a transition between worlds, a connection of spaces and states.Robinson Khoury has had a fascinating, broad and transformative musical journey. Growing up in Lyon as the son of a jazz pianist and a jazz singer, music was ever-present right from the start. He sang in the highly renowned Maîtrise (children’s choir) of the Opéra de Lyon, and spent his summers at the Jazz à Vienne festival. The turning point came at the age of eleven, when his voice broke and he had to leave the choir. In search of a new form of expression, he discovered the trombone: “I was looking for an instrument through which I could continue to sing – and the trombone was perfect for that.” Just a few years later, he was studying at the Conservatoire in Lyon while also playing in jazz clubs. From an early age, he moved between classical and jazz, developing an openness to different styles.At around the age of 18, he also discovered Arabic music – singers such as Egyptian icon Umm Kulthum and South Asian legend Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan – and they left a lasting impression. Although Khoury has Lebanese roots, this music was not initially a natural part of his everyday life; all the more so, it felt like a direct form of expression for him on the trombone. “What I particularly love about Arabic music is the singing. Translating this onto the trombone felt very natural, as it is like a second voice to me.” Soon, musicians such as Ibrahim Maalouf and Natacha Atlas became aware of him, and invited him to join their bands. Khoury also founded the sextet Sarāb, which likewise blends Arabic music and jazz. All of these multiple sides of Khoury’s musical identity – jazz, Arabic music, the means to be expressive as an instrumentalist from his classical training, plus his love of singing and his motivation for change – find a reflection in Transara. The music is also a deeply-felt commentary on our times, constantly shifting between melancholy and warmth. “Given the state of the world around us, one cannot help but be pensive and melancholic,” says Robinson Khoury. At the same time, he says, his aim is to create a safe space where musicians and the audience feel secure and at ease, a place where feelings and thoughts can be shared. The track “Poussière” (dust) encapsulates all of this particularly well. Khoury explains that it is about the lives of all the people who “leave us too soon”. At the same time, there is a comforting perspective in this: “They haven’t simply vanished. The dust remains part of this planet; we breathe it in; it is a part of us.” And from this idea springs hope – the certainty that the past continues to have an effect and helps us to “continue to hope and to breathe”. CreditsRecorded in October 2025 at Studio Gil Evans, AmiensRecorded & mixed by Mathieu PionMastered by Pierre-Emmanuel MeriaudComposed by Robinson Khoury, except 8 (composed by Léo Jassef)Photo by Sylvain Gripoix

Johanna Summer: Dialoge CD / Vinyl (LP, 180g) / digital  Johanna Summer piano Claire Huangci piano Danae Dörken piano Kit Armstrong piano Igor Levit pianoIt was a very special experience. Pianist Igor Levit went on to describe it as one of the “most artistically fulfilling moments of recent years”. To be wandering through Robert Schumann’s familiar “Waldszenen” (forest scenes)... and then suddenly to veer off onto new and unexpected paths: that was what the audience at the 2023 Lucerne Piano Festival witnessed during the first onstage encounter of pianists Johanna Summer and Igor Levit. Levit played first, starting with the opening piece from Schumann’s cycle of Romantic piano pieces in its original form; Summer then responded by picking up the thread of each of these miniatures in turn and, with an improvisation based on what she had heard, gave a magical account of the places where her musical intuition can take her. Nothing about this evening had been planned; the dialogue between Schumann’s classic pieces and the variations which Summer based on them had complete freedom, everything happened in the moment...Johanna Summer’s collaboration with producer Andreas Brandis has been steadily building traction. Their first venture was a highly acclaimed solo album, "Resonanzen"; that was followed by "Cameo", a duo album with saxophonist Jakob Manz, and the concert in Lucerne became the catalyst for the new album "Dialoge" (dialogues). The context here is four duos. Each of them features Summer on one of two grand pianos, with another pianist – Claire Huangci, Kit Armstrong, Danae Dörken and Igor Levit – on the other. The objective is to create an open-ended conversation between tradition and the present, between composition and improvisation. As for the repertoire, Summer’s studio guests were encouraged to take as much liberty as they wanted. As the pianist explains: “I asked them to bring along pieces they have a real affinity with...which would make it fine when I added something extra.” Johanna Summer deliberately kept herself in the dark as to which pieces her co-performers had chosen, until they actually started playing. To keep a completely open mind towards the music, she even made sure she left the room while her colleagues were warming up before the recording. The element of surprise is important here. It gives rise to the enormously daring, dynamic effect that Dialoge leaves on the listener. It was particularly appealing for Summer to be able to immerse herself in her duet partners’ very personal musical choices. She explains: “With his Greek heritage, Danae chose a Greek focus, with compositions by Manolis Kalomiris and Mikis Theodorakis. Zhou Tian’s ‘Prelude’ was written specifically for Claire; the two have known each other since their student days. Igor, in turn, brought along ‘Andantino de Clara’, a piece written by Robert Schumann – which, given our shared history, was of course a perfect fit. And Kit brought a lot to the programme, but in an unconventional way with spontaneous quotes from his repertoire – ranging from the Renaissance to the Viennese Classical era.”The improvisational reworking of classical and contemporary works is far less common than improvisation on, say, jazz or pop standards. So Summer’s unusual approach has raised the hackles of some critics. For instance, following the pianist’s acclaimed performance at the Lucerne Piano Festival, an established classical music critic remarked that this way of engaging with the piano tradition “fits into our fake-obsessed present, in which the distinction between original and forgery is becoming increasingly blurred.” Johanna Summer herself is very clear on that point: she is not attempting to impose some kind of rebrand onto European classical music, and is certainly not doing what she does for effect. Rather, she is concerned to bring her own personal and deeply sincere perspective to the musical source materials. “What interests me most is to ask the question: What does this work really want to tell us?” I try to define what attitude and what energy are contained within it – and figure out how I am going to translate that into my own personal vocabulary, which is not drawn solely from classical music. It’s about recognising the essence of a piece for oneself and developing a way of interpreting it. In principle, that is what classical pianists do, they are interpreters. The most beautiful moments are those when you unexpectedly discover a little gem, whether it’s a lovely phrase or an unusual chord combination, and are completely spellbound for a moment. It reminds me of a feeling I used to have as a child. When I was tidying a cupboard, I would find a long-forgotten toy. Suddenly, in that moment, a whole cosmos of creativity unfolds.”Is this classical music? Is it jazz? Does it matter? Johanna Summer doesn’t see herself as a ‘jazz pianist’ – she’s simply a pianist. Piano icon Joachim Kühn, himself a great connector of genres and eras, describes what Johanna Summer does as ‘music full of imagination and beyond categorisation’. Whether she is improvising as a soloist, in a duo with classical musicians, or alongside musicians who cross genres naturally, such as Malakoff Kowalski or Chilly Gonzales, Johanna Summer’s musical imagination seems to know no bounds. Every encounter with the instrument and other musicians is a new beginning. And Johanna Summer is inimitable; she always ends up sounding entirely like herself. CreditsRecorded 19.06. and 23.07.2025 at Emil Berliner StudiosRecorded by Lukas KowalskiMixed and mastered by Emanuel UchProduced by Andreas BrandisPhotos by Gregor Hohenberg, Ilan HamranCover art by Małgorzata Szymankiewicz, Untitled 390, 2025,acrylic on canvas, 100 × 90 cmUsed by kind permission of the artist and

Mahan Mirarab: Unspoken CD / Vinyl (LP, 180g) / digital  Mahan Mirarab guitar, fretless guitar, oud Kian Soltani cello featured on #9,11, 5 Lars Danielsson bass featured on #7, 3 Golnar Shahyar vocals featured #8Unspoken, the ACT debut album from Mahan Mirarab, opens up a whole world of personal, deeply felt stories. The Iranian-born, Vienna-based guitarist draws on his experience of East and West, darkness and beauty, sorrow and joy. His music reveals perspectives which are profoundly human, intimate and sensitive, in album which is emerging at a time full of tensions and contradictions. He performs solo on the double-neck guitar and on some tracks is also joined by Kian Soltani (cello), Lars Danielsson (double bass) and Golnar Shahyar (vocals). His is a unique and personal musical journey: jazz blends with influences from classical and folk music from Iran, with European chamber music, imbued profoundly with the spirit of song.Mahan Mirarab was born in Tehran. He started playing piano and guitar as a child and, at the age of 14, joined a Pink Floyd cover band as a bassist. Through the Tehran underground scene, Mahan Mirarab came into closer contact with Western music such as jazz and progressive rock. Resources were scarce; the music was mainly learned recordings on black-market traded cassettes. Through these, Mahan Mirarab also discovered the music of American jazz musicians such as Bud Powell, Chick Corea and George Benson. He listened to their music so often that he could soon sing along to every single solo and eventually transcribed them for the guitar. All this was a considerable risk, as Mahan Mirarab recalls: “Owning music cassettes was a criminal offence. I had a friend who ended up in prison because of a copied jazz tape.” Yet Mirarab’s curiosity for this unfamiliar music burned brightly. One group in which he played in was a Weather Report covers band which mainly performed at events in embassies. The Austrian ambassador in Teheran was a huge Joe Zawinul fan and it was he who gave assistance to Mahan Mirarab – who had long since made it his aim to discover the (musical) world beyond his homeland – to leave the country. This is how Mirarab arrived in Vienna in 2009, and it is where he still lives today. Once he had moved to Vienna, Mahan Mirarab, who had previously studied architecture in Iran, made the decision not to pursue a degree in music. He preferred to get to know the scene, launch his own projects and, above all, play the music that suited him personally, far removed from institutional structures. In 2009, he recorded his first trio album, which explored jazz from a Persian perspective. This approach gradually gained him a foothold in the scene; he played concerts in local jazz clubs and at smaller festivals, and he was able to forge important contacts. His first international experiences followed, and eventually a joint project with his wife, the singer Golnar Shahyar, became an international success, with concerts worldwide and attention growing. At the same time, Mahan Mirarab felt increasingly that he could only hold his own if he was able to constantly demonstrate every facet of his skill as a musician and composer. This imperative was something which grew in him without his being fully aware of it. It was a kind of survival strategy for the new environment, but the effect was that he felt somehow driven to be constantly aspiring for perfection.When ACT director and producer Andreas Brandis first became aware of Mahan Mirarab, the musician promptly sent him a whole mountain of varied material to consider. But it was one small solo sketch that really clicked: “Among the tracks I’d sent to ACT was a ‘first idea’,” recalls Mahan Mirarab, “and Andreas Brandis and Michael Gottfried from the label said pretty quickly: ‘That’s the one, let’s delve deeper into this and produce a whole solo album together.’ That way of working was something that I found very liberating, like being given permission not to always need to show everything I can do, but simply being allowed to be myself.” Mahan Mirarab and Andreas Brandis met in person several times, including once in Paris. They also spoke a lot on the phone and discussed a host of solo ideas which ultimately formed the basis for the album Unspoken.It was during this collaborative process that the idea arose to invite guests for some tracks on the album. For example, the classical cellist Kian Soltani also hails from Iran. As Mahan Mirarab notes, there are also other important similarities between the two: “Kian is a perfect classical cellist, but he’s also a really good improviser, and a brilliant composer too. I wrote cello parts for him, and he completely rearranged them and brought a whole load of great creativity to the table.” Mahan Mirarab has long been familiar with bassist Lars Danielsson, even though the two only met in person recently. “I’ve known Lars since my time in Iran – I mean, from a recording with John Abercrombie. Later, I learnt many of his compositions, just for myself because I liked them so much. In both his compositions and his improvisations, Lars has this incredible awareness of dynamics, harmony and space in the music. It was important to me to get to know him as a person too. That’s why I flew to Gothenburg especially to make sure I could record with him in the same room. Although there was plenty of space there, we sat very close together – which made our playing together particularly intense and immediate.” The relationship with the singer Golnar Shahyar couldn’t be closer: she and Mahan Mirarab are also a couple in real life. Having spent a great deal of time together on stage and in the studio since 2011, they have focused more on their own projects in recent years. But there remains a special connection and affinity. Their great skill, deep familiarity and emotional empathy are palpable on the album. Indeed, there is not a shadow of a doubt: everything about Unspoken is personal. The tracks “Banoo” and “A Way to Mourn” tell the story of Mahan Mirarab’s grandmother, who passed away during the recording sessions. In the track “Jina”, the personal meets the collective: in Kurdish, the title means “life” and is inextricably linked to the young woman Jina Mahsa Amini, whose death in the custody of the Iranian morality police in 2022 sparked a nationwide protest movement. These were events that profoundly changed Mahan Mirarab. For a long time, he was unable to write about them; it was only working on Unspoken that gave him the courage to do so. “Sparkling” is Mahan Mirarab’s favourite track, penned by his wife Golnar, and the version of “In a Silent Way” is a nod to Joe Zawinul, whose influence once proved to be the opener of so many doors in his life. And the instrument Mahan Mirarab used to record Unspoken is also a bespoke, one-off creation by Turkish luthier Ekrem Özkarpat: a double-necked guitar with both a fretless and a fretted fingerboard. This instrument serves as a metaphor for the two worlds between which Mahan Mirarab has moved and which meet in his music: the Western world structured on semitones and the microtonal world of his native country.If one asks Mahan Mirarab how he feels about the current situation in Iran and how this is reflected in his music, he has to think about it for a long time. “It’s difficult to witness what’s happening right now from a distance. I lived in Iran for 25 years, have an incredible number of memories, and my parents and many of my friends still live there. That makes me very sad. But my connection to my country of origin isn’t a national one. Ultimately, it doesn’t matter where wars and conflicts take place – it’s always about people who feel the same way all over the world. I think it’s important to remain attentive, sensitive and empathetic, to reflect in some way on what is happening around us.” It is this human reflection on the world with all its inherent contradictions that makes Unspoken so unique, moving and fulfilling.CreditsMusic composed & arranged by Mahan Mirarab, except 6 (traditional folklore music from Mazandaran, North of Iran), 12 (Joe Zawinul), 8 (Golnar Shahyar), 10 (Andrey Babayev); cello lines in 5 and 11 arranged by Mahan Mirarab & Kian SoltaniProduced by Mahan Mirarab & Andreas BrandisA Way to Mourn & Lars in Isfahan recorded on December 4 at Tia Dia Studios, Mölnlycke, Sweden, by Åke LintonChoopan 42, Sparkling Dark Gaze, Weißensee, Jina recorded on January 12 at Westbahnstudios, Vienna, by Farhad KhanbilverdiSolo tracks recorded on December 14 & 28 at Creative Cluster, Vienna, by Mahan MirarabMixed by Christoph BurgstallerMastered by Klaus ScheuermannPhoto by Victoria NazarovaMahan performs on guitars built by Ekrem ÖzkarpatKian Soltani appears courtesy of Deutsche Grammophon Gesellschaft

Michael Wollny & Emile Parisien: FreiheitACT Shop Exclusive!CD / Vinyl (LP, 180g)  Emile Parisien soprano saxophoneMichael Wollny pianoOn their new duo album, Michael Wollny and Emile Parisien invite listeners into a conversation shaped by trust, intuition and complete artistic freedom. Recorded in concert as part of the Bodenseefestival 2025, the album captures two singular musical voices meeting in a space where nothing is controlled, nothing is predetermined, and every gesture becomes a response to the moment.“Here, you are invited to witness one of our many conversations with Michael Wollny, in complete freedom and spontaneity. I feel the rare privilege of sharing this space with such an exceptional musician – someone with a profound sense of listening, where everything becomes possible. It is an honor to have met him and to be able to express myself in this way by his side, especially in the world we live in today. Thank you, Michael, for this passion and for your remarkable musical intelligence.” (Emile Parisien) “In this duo we neither control nor plan. We listen to what the music reveals, allowing it to lead us to places we could never have anticipated. It is a deep pleasure and an honor to experience these precious moments on stage with my friend, the one and only Emile Parisien, who magically opens all doors of perception and possibility. Thank you for being on this journey together, and sharing our mutual intuition of musical freedom – the ability to really play.” (Michael Wollny) Between Wollny’s profound sensitivity at the piano and Parisien’s fearless imagination on saxophone, the music unfolds as a shared act of discovery. Their dialogue is guided by deep listening: melodies appear, doors open, and unexpected paths emerge with striking clarity. What results is a rare encounter between two artists who allow the music itself to lead, revealing the beauty of spontaneity, friendship and mutual trust. CreditsRecorded on 26 May 2025 at Gnadenkirche Allensbach, presented by Bodensee Festival Recording & Sound Direction: Martin Pilger Recording Engineers: Yue Liu, Martin Pilger Mastered by Klaus ScheuermannPhotography: Jörg Steinmetz Cover art © Katja Strunz, Courtesy Contemporary Fine Arts Design by Siggi Loch A production of Südwestrundfunk, 2025 The concert was recorded at 26. JAZZ am SEE Allensbach in the Ev. Gnadenkirche, as part of the Bodensee Festival 2025, with Michael Wollny appearing as Artist in Residence.

past is present | Nils Landgren & Esbjörn Svensson: Swedish Folk ModernA 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.First time on vinyl Limited to 1,000 copies, each hand-numberedRemastered for vinylHigh-quality 180g pressing, black vinyl, lacquer cutLiner notes written exclusively for this editionIncludes a collector's obi strip on premium art paperIndividually 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. The first album of the past is present series vividly embodies its philosophy: Swedish Folk Modern brings together Esbjörn Svensson and Nils Landgren, two of Europe's most influential jazz musicians, in a rare and deeply intimate setting. With great sensitivity, Svensson and Landgren improvise on Swedish folk songs: pieces about love and sorrow, from the fields and from the church, that are familiar to almost everyone in Sweden. Swedish Folk Modern is not only an exceptional album by two musicians who understand each other instinctively. It is also a moving testament to the extraordinary range of stories that can be told through the vocabulary of jazz. Together with its follow-up Layers of Light, and alongside the posthumously released solo album HOME.S., it is one of the only recordings to feature Esbjörn Svensson, who passed away on June 14, 2008, as a leader outside his legendary trio e.s.t. A rare jewel in the crown of European jazz history, now on vinyl for the very first time. 

Joel Lyssarides: Late on EarthCD / Vinyl (LP, 180g) / Limited Curacao Blue Vinyl (LP, 180g) / digital Joel Lyssarides piano Niklas Fernqvist bass Rasmus Blixt drumsFor Swedish pianist Joel Lyssarides, substance and depth always take precedence over flashy concepts, emotion and expression over mere virtuosity. Making music, he says, is like searching for grains of sand in the desert — a continuous journey of many small steps. His music thrives on detail: the finest nuances, subtle shifts in harmony, groove and dynamics. And on a distinctive piano sound — crystal clear, yet never sharp. The fact that Lyssarides’ music has now surpassed 100 million streams shows that this quiet intensity resonates with audiences around the world.Lyssarides belongs to a generation of European jazz musicians who left stylistic boundaries behind long ago. He is a sought-after collaborator – currently as a pianist alongside Nils Landgren, as part of the e.s.t. tribute project with Dan Berglund and Magnus Öström, and also as a composer for pop productions and video game music. Yet the piano trio remains at the heart of his work. It is the formation in which his musical universe unfolds most directly.Joel Lyssarides’ new album Late on Earth has been developed in an unusually long and intensive process. Over more than four years, the music has developed in close exchange with producer Andreas Brandis – a creative dialogue that encouraged Lyssarides to explore new paths. “It was almost therapeutic. On the one hand Andreas knows what makes me tick, and what I can do musically, but I also shared many of my doubts with him. In the end we decided everything together: the choice of the line-up, the studio – in this case the legendary Bauer Studios – the songs, the final takes. That helped me enormously, and I think I’ve never captured who I am and what I feel as honestly as this on a recording.” And there’s also a thought that makes him smile: “For the first time, I even have pieces on an album in a major key!”One important reason for the music’s emotional depth was Brandis encouraging Lyssarides to take more risks and to let go of the idea of perfection. “Especially at a time when music is increasingly digitally polished or even entirely generated by AI, Andreas was interested in the total opposite: the human element. In the end it’s often the small imperfections that make music come alive – music arises from immediate experience capturing the search for who you are, for your sound, your expression.”Joel Lyssarides’ music arises from immediate experience, rather than from any attempt to follow a conceptual agenda. “I sit down at the piano, feel something — and play, often for hours.” Many of the pieces on Late on Earth grew out of such moments: from sleeplessness, from love, from fleeting thoughts or small observations. For Lyssarides, it is a great joy when these small moments find their way out into the world and begin a life of their own. Sometimes this can feel almost surreal, as he describes: “Recently a pianist sent me his version of one of my pieces and wrote how much it meant to him. And I thought: wait a second – I wrote that tune at four in the morning...in my underwear.” Late on Earth is a collection of sincere musical snapshots — full of beauty, sometimes with rough edges, always carried by a profound emotional clarity. CreditsRecorded 07–08 July 2025 at Bauer Studios, Ludwigsburg Recorded, mixed and mastered by Adrian von Ripka Composed by Joel Lyssarides Produced by Andreas Brandis Photos by Andreas Brandis (Joel Lyssarides),Joel Lyssarides (Niklas Fernqvist; Rasmus Blixt)Cover art by Jiří Georg Dokoupil, used by kind permission of the artist© VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2026Design by Siggi Loch

Joachim Kühn: Joachim Kühn & Young LionsCD / Vinyl (LP, 180g) / digital Joachim Kühn piano Jakob Bänsch trumpet AndrésColl marimba Nils Kugelmann bass Sebastian Wolfgruber drumsWhen Joachim Kühn was asked back in 2024 for his feelings about turning 80, his response couldn’t have been clearer: getting older annoys him. Rather than being sentimental about it or celebrating it, it’s something he’d rather resist, preferring to put his efforts into working against the threat of getting bored or distracted, and particularly against any hint that he might be stagnating.But when he is asked how he’s feeling or what he’s doing, his story takes a very different turn: "I'm more productive than I’ve ever been. My daily routine revolves entirely around music. I compose and improvise. Every day, and for hours on end." For Joachim Kühn, being 80-plus means above all one thing: not wanting to waste time. Practise...create...keep going. "What I want is to play with even more freedom," he says, "like all the great musicians at the end of their lives – Bach maybe, or John Coltrane." This irrepressible urge to become better, to avoid repetition, to try new things, has shaped Kühn's entire musical life. Classical music, free jazz, jazz rock, modern jazz, world music – Joachim Kühn is constantly on the lookout for new inspiration. And for musicians who will challenge him, force him to be on his mettle and to develop further.In the album Joachim Kühn & Young Lions, all of these needs are fulfilled. Kühn wrote a set of new music between December 2024 and January 2025 with the aim of recording it with people he had never played with before. "In terms of sound, my idea was trumpet and marimba," he recalls. One of the players was a certainty from the start: Andrés Coll, whom Joachim Kühn discovered in his adopted home of Ibiza, would take the vibraphone part. "He’s an incredible talent," says Kühn. One might have the thought that two virtuosos on harmony instruments could get in each other's way, but the opposite happens: Coll plays with no less density or intensity than Kühn, but instead of occupying each other's space, their notes mix like splashes of colour in a painting, creating new tones which are all the more intense.Finding the right trumpeter was less simple. "I listened to a lot of potential candidates, but none of them convinced me. Finally, my friend Roland Spiegel, jazz editor at Bayerischer Rundfunk, recommended the young Jakob Bänsch and played me his music. I knew from the very first minute that he absolutely had to be part of this." Bänsch visited Kühn in Ibiza, and together with Andrés Coll they rehearsed for four days, working on music that is extremely challenging to play, especially for the trumpet. The effort was worth it. On the album, Bänsch manages to strike a balance: his playing of Kühn's complex themes is clear and strong, but he also brings the agility and subtlety which the freely improvised sections require. The rhythm section of Young Lions came about through an encounter with ACT director Andreas Brandis. He instinctively liked the idea of a new band with young musicians, and played Kühn the album Life Score by the Nils Kugelmann Trio. Kühn and bassist Kugelmann met that very same day at the ACT offices in Berlin. "We took an instant liking to each other," Kühn remembers. "After our meeting, I listened to his music more intensively and thought: he's a perfect fit." That left the question of the drummer. After listening to Nils Kugelmann's album several times, the answer became clear: "Kugelmann and his drummer Sebastian Wolfgruber are a team! They know each other well and are a great fit for the new band." Like their fellow musicians, Kugelmann and Wolfgruber shine with mastery in two seemingly contradictory areas: weight, grounding, stability when the music requires it – but in the very next moment they are capable of completely free flight across all musical boundaries. All in all, Young Lions, recorded in the studio of Joachim Kühn's friend and producer Axel Kroell, has turned out to be a fortunate turn of events on many levels: for listeners, for the band and for the pianist/leader, who remarks: "These four guys, all in their 20s or early 30s, are the outstanding musicians of their generation – you know straight away that they're going to be huge. Actually, they already are. And as to what they'll be playing in a few years' time – I'm already excited by that. They really fired me up, we play absolutely as equal colleagues, I'm just totally thrilled!" Perhaps the most important message of the album is that combining different generations and personalities can produce a very special kind of cohesion and connection, and music which is so much more than the sum of its parts. In times of polarisation, it is something of a musical Utopia. Young Lions is the essence of that idea of jazz – which is also the essence of Joachim Kühn – one of its most important exponents anywhere in the world. CreditsRecorded August 27th to 28th 2025, at Polyester Studio, Munich, GermanyRecorded, mixed and mastered by Klaus ScheuermannAll music composed by Joachim KühnPiano tuner: Alex MahlerJoachim Kühn is a Steinway ArtistProduced by Axel KroellExecutive Producer: Andreas BrandisPhotos by Tibor Bozi Cover art by SHOSHU © 2025Used by kind permission of the artistDesign by Siggi Loch

Lars Danielsson: Echomyr CD / Vinyl (LP, 180g) / digital  Lars Danielsson double bass, cello, gimbri (#10), piano (#10), electric guitar (#6) Gregory Privat pianoJohn Parricelli guitar Magnus Öström drums & percussionGuests: Arve Henriksen trumpet on #3, 7Magnus Lindgren flute & alto flute on #6Carolina Grinne English horn on #8 Echomyr, the title of the fifth ‘Liberetto’ album from Swedish bass and cello master and composer Lars Danielsson, signifies music that has come from a particularly deep place in the soul. “The album title is a newly invented word,” he says. “The ‘echo’ part describes an expansive field where sound resonates; and ‘myr’ is an old Norse word for ‘moor’”. These are sounds from the depths, from deep within oneself. Especially now, we are asking ourselves what it is that makes each of us human and unique. And that is what I have been searching throughout my whole life as a musician: not simply to copy things that already exist, but to find something that comes from my own heart and from within myself."Echomyr sees Lars Danielsson continuing along his own distinct musical path, combining the freedom, harmony and rhythmic intensity of jazz with the vision of a cultivated sound that comes from his classical roots, together with the catchy melodies of popular and folk songs. Danielsson's compositions are unmistakable. He is a consummate melodist with a particular capacity to make complex things sound simple and natural. Danielsson, who grew up with rock and roll and free jazz, says that the way he used to compose was in a complicated way, with the aim of hiding behind the complexity. Today, what he seeks is the very opposite: clarity. ‘It's not difficult to write complicated music. But writing music that people will understand and that nevertheless has personality and depth – that's my goal.’ It is precisely this balance of depth and lightness that makes Danielsson's music so special – and on Echomyr he has taken it to a new stage in its evolution. For Danielsson, continuity and development are more valuable than the constant search for the new or the spectacular. He has been working with the core of his ‘Liberetto’ quartet – e.s.t. drummer Magnus Öström and renowned UK guitarist John Parricelli – for over 15 years. Tigran Hamasyan had the piano chair in the band in its early years, and since 2017 Gregory Privat has been the band's permanent pianist. Privat brings an ideal mix of extroversion and virtuosity with the kind of unselfish playing that works to the common good within the band and to bring out the very best in each song. In addition, three soloists appear on the album, and they are all musicians who share a characteristic: their instrumental playing is remarkable for its vocal quality, so they add their ‘voices’ to the album’s contrasted tracks: trumpeter Arve Henriksen, flautist Magnus Lindgren and Carolina Grinne on cor anglais. When composing, Danielsson says he thinks neither of what the market wants, nor of success. Over time, he has accumulated a substantial catalogue of compositions, and they form the starting point for him – often together with his wife and fellow musician Cæcilie Norby and close confidants from his label ACT – to work on the dramaturgy, to form the shape and the flow of an album that can really touch people. But even then, he says, his aim is not to please, but to create honest, deeply felt expression. This is how ‘Something She Said’, the last track on Echomyr, came about. It was inspired by images on the news from war zones such as Gaza and Ukraine. Danielsson does not respond with loudness or anger, but rather with thoughtfulness and compassion. An echo from within – this is music with sincerity.. and clarity...and timelessness.CreditsMusic composed by Lars Danielsson Horn arrangement on #3 by Arve Henriksen Recorded April 6-9 and Oct 28-31, 2025   Recorded and mixed by Bo Savik at Tia Dia Studios, Mölnlycke, Sweden Mastered by Klaus Scheuermann Piano tuning by Bengt Eriksson Photo by Peter PousardProduced by Cæcilie Norby, Magnus Öström & Lars DanielssonCover art Peter Krüll, used by kind permission of the artist Design by Siggi Loch

SHALOSH: What We Are Made OfCD / Vinyl (LP, 180g) / digital Gadi Stern pianoDavid Michaeli double bassMatan Assayag drums“From the very start of SHALOSH, we have always said that we would never commit to any one genre but keep our music as open as possible,” drummer Matan Assayag says. “It’s the best way to bring ourselves fully to each song and the only way to stay truly authentic.” In more than a decade since its founding, the trio has made its signature this freewheeling, energetic and deeply-felt blend of jazz improvisation with everything from rock to Arabic music, western classical composition and pop melodics. Theirs is a journeying and infectiously engaging sound that has won fans from across the globe. What We Are Made Of, the band’s fourth album for ACT, impressively brings together all the influences that shape SHALOSH’s unmistakable overall sound.” Featuring a dazzlingly imaginative takes on ‘90s Europop anthem Barbie Girl, Oasis’ Don’t Look Back in Anger, Natalie Imbruglia’s early-noughties hit ballad Torn, Muses’ heavily rocking Hysteria and their own intricate, original compositions, the record is the group’s most open to date. It also marks the first time they have collaborated with a producer, ACT’s director, Andreas Brandis.“We’re a piano trio in a world of piano trios and with six albums already under our belt we wanted to make sure we kept pushing ourselves out of our comfort zone,” pianist Gadi Stern says. “That resulted in bringing outside compositions into the group that we could reimagine. It also meant enlisting Andreas, who we have known and valued for years, as our first producer. He really encouraged our approach and the result was immensely creative.” Workshopping their ideas across a week of intense rehearsals with Brandis in Berlin, the group honed their cover versions and originals into the nine final tracks on the album.“When I approach a cover I always look for something lacking in the performance that the composition has,” Stern says. “With Barbie Girl, it’s a brilliantly cynical song with great lyrics, it’s minor and has a melancholic melodic element to it but the performance is ‘90s Europop. I broke down all the elements to see how we could put it back together and make it more faithful to the essence of the song. While on Don’t Look Back in Anger I was on a walk during a trip to Tashkent in Uzbekistan and the groove for it just popped into my head. I recorded it on my phone and the whole idea only took 15 minutes.” Other tracks took longer to gestate, like the trio’s modernist jazz version of Torn. “We had previously recorded it for an album in 2018 but it didn’t make the cut because it was 12 minutes long and so messy,” bassist David Michaeli says. “We played it to Andreas during the Berlin sessions and he was great at telling us what to delete and what to keep and suddenly it made sense.” The trio’s originals, meanwhile, take shape in the achingly beautiful downtempo melodics of Ella Plays, which was inspired by Stern’s daughter Ella and the poetry of Khalil Gibran, the dark, swirling groove and vamping piano phrases of Point of Gravity and the meditative harmonics of Circle.“The band is ultimately a safe space for the three of us to freely express ourselves and share our opinions and ideas,” Mahan Assayag says. “We accept each other and all of our songs are a collective effort, which is what you hear in the finished music – the variety of influence and experience that makes us who we are. It’s why we called the album What We Are Made Of.“ SHALOSH celebrate freedom, the beauty of contrasts, the value of truly listening to one another, and the deeply human process of creative searching and finding — qualities that seem especially important right now.”„CreditsRecorded September 10–11, 2025Recorded by Klaus ScheuermannMixed and mastered by Klaus ScheuermannProduced by Andreas BrandisCover art by Ross Bleckner, used by kind permission of the artistDesign by Siggi Loch

Bill Laurance & Michael League - Where You Wish You WereNow available for the first time as a limited oxblood-colored vinyl edition, following a long period of unavailability!CD / Vinyl / digital Bill Laurance acoustic piano and voice Michael League oud, fretless acoustic guitar bass, fret-less baritone electric guitar, ngoni and voice A mere mention of the names of Michael League and Bill Laurance makes one think of Snarky Puppy. It is now nearly twenty years since Southern California-born bassist/multi-instrumentalist Michael League founded the globally acclaimed, four-time GRAMMY award-winning collective. As for keyboardist Bill Laurance, originally from London, he has been a part of the globe-trotting adventure for nearly as long as League has. So the fact that League and Laurance are now releasing "Where you Wish you Were", their first duo album together, does feel at the same time like a logical development...and also a surprise. Michael League takes a very different role here from the one he does in Snarky Puppy. On "Where you Wish you Were", he is to be heard mainly playing the oud and other acoustic stringed instruments. He takes the view that “we are so much more than the roles we play in the most popular band that we're a part of.” And Bill Laurance adds: "It was only a matter of time before we'd make a record by ourselves. We've been close friends for 20 years now and we've worked together in so many different capacities - with Snarky Puppy, my own band, and in collaboration with other artists. So it just felt like it was a natural thing to do." Laurance and League became completely taken by the idea of doing something totally different from Snarky Puppy, which is a project on such a large scale, it recently filled London's 12,500-capacity Wembley Arena. The pair kept the idea in mind to reduce the music down to a scale where it could be played by their duo. The recording offered a long-awaited opportunity to explore the intimacy, fragility and clarity which exist within the relationship between two musicians; it was something which they were both keen to achieve. "I think both Michael and I are driven by the idea to push boundaries, which is important. But this album is different," Laurance recalls. “Every single compositional idea has a lot of weight to it, and everything has very specific purpose. There was no rhythm section to hide behind, it was really just about melody and chords. And we were instinctively trying to create a place where people want to go to, that felt comforting. We feel that now, maybe more than ever, there is a need for such places.” What is particularly surprising, apart from the duo format with its reduced, concentrated approach, is the particular sonic and stylistic character of the music. Bill Laurance, who with his own projects and also with Snarky Puppy, often relies on a mixture of piano and a variety of synthesizers, orchestral arrangements and digital soundscapes, focuses here entirely on the possibilities of an acoustic grand piano, which has been ‘prepared’ with extra felt to dampen the strings. And Michael League, known elsewhere primarily as an electric bassist fired up by jazz and groove, plays a number of mostly fretless stringed instruments of Mediterranean and Oriental origin here – first and foremost the oud, but also a specially constructed acoustic and electric guitar and a West African lute, the ngoni. All these instruments have the quality of being able to imitate the voice, and also offer microtonal possibilities which go way beyond the norms of western music. These kinds of musical influences have accompanied Michael League since his childhood, and particularly now because his adopted home country, Spain is part of the Mediterranean region: “My family is of Greek ancestry and my brother specializes in Greek folk music, so my first time playing an oud was when I snuck into his room as a 14 year-old. We always had Greek and Turkish music in the house, and over the last almost ten years I've visited Turkey frequently to study. I just love playing the oud but because I've never really taken any lessons, my relationship with the instrument is a bit unrefined. Yet, my oud mentor, the great Armenian-American musician Ara Dinkjian, has been very insistent that I continue to develop my voice on the instrument without formal, traditional studies. He likes the unconventional way in which I approach the instrument. I treat it almost more like a blues slide guitar, and he wants to see what happens if I stay on this course.” "Where you Wish you Were" has nothing of a world jazz fusion album about it, and was never intended be one. "Bill and I are very clear about not pretending that this project has anything to do with replicating any regional styles with deep roots," emphasises League. "We're committed to creating something that is uniquely ours, even if it retains certain elements of established genres of music." And so it is, as is so often the case in the musical world which is now called "jazz": the universe of personal, musical and sonic influences of the two musicians do not serve to set limits or to categorise, but rather as a vocabulary which allows the two musicians’ own distinctive mode of expression to shine through. With compositions focused entirely on melody, harmony and space, a warm sound and the soulful playing of the two players, League and Laurance have created a place which is not just conducive to dreams; it is a place to which the listener will want to return to again and again.Credits: Produced by Bill Laurance and Michael League Cover art "Opus 18" by Nadia Attura

Wolfgang Haffner - Kind of Cool Now available for the first time as a limited yellow vinyl edition, following a long period of unavailability!CD / Vinyl / Colored Vinyl / digital Wolfgang Haffner drums Christopher Dell vibraphone Jan Lundgren piano Dan Berglund bass Dusko Goykovich trumpet Jukka Perko alto saxophone Guests: Max Mutzke vocals Frank Chastenier piano Christian von Kaphengst bass Nils Landgren trombone James Dean and Marlon Brando were the glamorous heroes of the silver screen in the 50s. Character actors, sex symbols, blasé eccentrics with a penchant for extravagance. Role models for the rebellious youth: the embodiment of cool. A new attitude towards life was spreading around the USA. "The Birth of the Cool" also happened at the same time in the field of jazz, leading it to become the soundtrack of a generation. Miles Davis, John Lewis and the Modern Jazz Quartet, Dave Brubeck and Chet Baker (the "James Dean of jazz") gave jazz a whole new direction: the search for a special "cool" atmosphere based on tone and space in jazz, on substantial melodies with a laid-back approach designed for the collective. But this music was never cold-cool, it was merely played and conceived with what one might call a cool head. It is exactly this feeling and understanding of music that speaks from the heart of Wolfgang Haffner and drives his music forwards. So producer Siggi Loch didn't have any problem at all in convincing him to reinterpret an old understanding of the attitude with "Kind of Cool" in a way that was reminiscent of the origins of coolness in jazz: "The first jazz record I ever had was a gift: "Dave Brubeck live in Carnegie Hall". Immediately after that I went out and bought the Jazz Messengers and the Modern Jazz Quartet. That is how I began to occupy myself with jazz," Haffner recalls. So even if this ECHO Jazz-winning drummer, who is one of Germany's most successful jazz-band leaders, has played with the crème de la crème of the international music scene since then, in nearly all styles all the way through to rock and pop, and even if he has been involved in a good 400 albums, the source of it all were the heroes of modern jazz between 1950 and 1960. "I wouldn't call myself a cool, swing or bebop drummer," says Haffner. "I try to find the essence of the music.But the timing, melody and compositional structure of the cool jazz, that is in the nature of my music. The sound is the focus, and I think that is the important thing." Three main pillars define "Kind of Cool": First of all, "cool“ jazz tunes had to be on it. "So What" for example, the opener of "Kind of Blue", and "Django", the perhaps best-known composition by John Lewis, from the first album of his Modern Jazz Quartet. Secondly, standards were chosen from different styles that lent themselves to a "cool" interpretation. The most logical choice was "Autumn Leaves", made famous by the versions crafted by Cannonball Adderley with Miles Davis in 1958 and by Bill Evans in 1959. The Broadway ballad "My Funny Valentine" from 1937 also became a modern jazz standard thanks to the recordings made by Chet Baker and Miles Davis. And Billy Eckstine's "Piano Man" can be considered one of the "coolest" numbers made with the Kansas City sound of Count Basie; the two recorded it in 1959. Finally, Wolfgang Haffner contributed three of his own compositions that fit into the programme. "If you try to copy what they played back then, you can only lose," Haffner explains. "Nobody needs a second "Kind of Blue". What makes "Kind of Cool" so special is confronting the disparate fathers of the "cool“ tradition with the other feature, and to take the resulting number down to a common denominator: Davis' "So What", for instance, is dipped in the Modern Jazz Quartet sound by means of the vibraphone, while contrastingly the strict quartet piece "Django" gains the dynamic and ethereal splendour of the brass. Haffner's normally opulent compositions, that work with the dynamics and various sounds and rhythms, appear here in a sober, classic light. "Kind of Cool" is permeated by the typical Haffner feel that flows organically and naturally through the music. Haffner has a veritable all-star band at his side for "Kind of Cool". No other could have met the requirements better than Dusko Goykovich. The 83 year-old trumpeter with an ECHO Jazz for his life's work actually played together with the fathers of cool and modern jazz like Miles Davis, Art Blakey and Chet Baker. Pianist Jan Lundgren could also be considered as being ideal for the project, thanks in part to his profound mastery of the Great American Songbook and classical music; but also to his clear touch, intelligent phrasing and extraordinary timing. The vibraphone has a very special role on "Kind of Cool", having been one of the characteristic sounds of the Modern Jazz Quartet under the mallets of Milt Jackson. Christopher Dell, the virtuoso, avant-garde all-rounder among vibraphonists meets the challenge with aplomb. Finnish saxophonist Jukka Perko takes on the role of Paul Desmond, while e.s.t. bassist Dan Berglund helps Haffner provide the relaxed groove. Max Mutzke, a true soul man, takes over the vocal part on "Piano Man": "He'd never even heard of the piece, but in the end we used the very first take – it was perfect right off the bat," Haffner recalls. Jazz is just as "cool" today as it was then. Credits: Recorded by Arne Schumann on August 14 & 15, 2014 at Hansa Studio, Berlin. Recording Assistant: Jonas Zadow “Piano Man“ recorded by Philip Krause on July 15, 2014 at Emil-Berliner-Studio, Berlin Mixed by Arne Schumann @ Schumann & Bach Mastered by Peter Heider at Purecuts Cover art (detail) by Gert & Uwe Tobias, by permission of the artists

"This double CD is one of those rare live milestones that you really need." - MUSIKWOCHE "A double portion of power jazz." - WOM MAGAZIN

Peter Somuah: Walking Distance CD / Vinyl (LP, 180g) / digital  Peter Somuah trumpet, flugelhorn                    Anton de Bruin rhodes, organ, keys Jens Meijer drumsMarijn van de Ven bassDanny Rombout percussion Heleen Vellekoop flute on #2Nia Ralinova cello on #2, 3 Since the release of his ACT debut Letter to the Universe (2023) and its follow-up Highlife (2024), Ghanaian-born trumpeter Peter Somuah, now based in Rotterdam, has established himself as a bridge-builder between cultures and continents. “An excellent musician and jazz at its most international,” notes the BBC. For the globetrotting Peter Somuah, musical influences from geographically distant cultures are always just a step away. This is precisely what his new album Walking Distance is about. Walking Distance is an exploration of musical unity — a journey through diverse genres that, despite their differences, remain deeply interconnected. The album blends elements of post-bop jazz, Arab music, Latin grooves, blues, funk, and the influences of Ghanaian music, resulting in a sonic reflection of the idea that cultural boundaries are far closer than they appear. They are, quite literally, just walking distance away. Drawing on this broad range of influences, the album’s pieces tell stories of everyday experiences: of being on the move in the bustle of life, of setting out and arriving, of universal actions that connect all people. This sense of “storytelling” once again proves to be one of Peter Somuah’s great strengths on Walking Distance, as it was on his previous albums. With a tone that is at times radiant, at times fragile, he takes listeners along on a deeply personal journey – from Ghana’s capital Accra with its vibrant highlife scene, via stations in Asia, all the way to Europe. The music is carried by the groove and vibe of Somuah’s multinational band, which he assembled in Rotterdam. The band, too, embodies the openness of its leader: the belief that all musicians, regardless of their background, are capable of playing any music in the world, provided they engage attentively and respectfully with its vocabulary and history. Peter Somuah explains: “I want listeners to feel both grounded and uplifted, reconnecting with themselves and the world around them through sound. Walking Distance represents my search between tradition and innovation. It’s a story of exploring the space between, finding unity in diversity, and using music as a bridge to bring us all closer together.” The way the 29-year-old does this is a reflection of his personality: assured, relaxed, sincere, fearless – and always with a smile.CreditsRecorded between 25 and 27 August 2025 at The Womb Studios, The Hague, NetherlandsRecorded by Tijmen van WageningenMixed by Anton de BruinMastered by Stuart HawkesProduced by Peter Somuah, Anton de BruinComposed by Peter Somuah

Mammal Hands: CircadiaCD / Vinyl (LP, 180g) / Limited transparent vinyl (LP, 180g) / digital  Nick Smart pianoJordan Smart saxophoneRob Turner drums Mammal Hand stand at the forefront of a new generation of British musicians for whom jazz is above all a starting point for discovering their own means of expression. The piano/sax/drums trio blends elements of contemporary European jazz vocabulary with rock- and electronica-influenced rhythms and cinematic soundscapes. In doing so, they have succeeded in reaching an international audience that extends far beyond the jazz genre. The band’s sixth album, “Circadia,” marks a new stage of evolution in several ways: it is their first release on the ACT label, allowing them a new quality of visibility and musical freedom. And their first with a new drummer — Rob Turner, the long-time driving force behind British jazz success story GoGo Penguin.“The constants in Mammal Hands’ line-up are the brothers Nick Smart (piano) and Jordan Smart (saxophone). The departure of drummer Jesse Barrett in 2024 forced the two to reflect on what the core of the band really was. As a result, drummer Rob Turner became the new rhythmic backbone of the band. “We have known Rob since we all started out over a decade ago,” Nick Smart says. “We were all part of the UK jazz scene and we always connected over our shared musical instincts and interests. We had to rediscover the soul of our music and Rob has transformed it into something that continues our legacy as well as pushes it forward.” Rob joined the band for a forthcoming summer tour. “We spent time in the van on the road connecting over conversations about life and music and decided we should be working on a new record together once the shows were done,” Jordan says. “We took a musically open-ended approach, sending each other fragments of ideas that drew on the core tenets of the group: improvisation, intensity in the moment and ensuring the whole band moved together dynamically.”Decamping to east London’s Briggs Building for seven-hour shedding sessions once they were off the road, the reformed trio began honing the melodically-hypnotic sound that has become their signature since 2012’s debut Animalia while also injecting a new source of energy. “Myself and Jordan have been drawn to electronic music for a long time, while Rob was pulled towards the open-ended almost spiritual side of our improvisations,” Nick says. “Everything was egalitarian and empathetic in the room, being led by feelings and storytelling first. We would refine ideas until they reached their absolute essence.”The result is the enveloping nine tracks of Circadia. Moving from the intricate melodic freneticism and breakbeat rhythms of opener “Window To Your World” to the undulating harmonies of “Paper Boats”, cacophonic textural breakdowns of “Alia’s Abandon” and doom-laden overtone harmonics of “Submerge”, the album acts as a bridge back to the Mammal Hands sound as well as delving into heavier, often darker sonic territory. “Nick’s synth bass and Rob’s drumming really locked together, creating a new rhythmic foundation that runs through the whole record,” Jordan says. “The gloves were off and we felt free to push boundaries, which meant exploring more electronic and beat-influenced textures. It was like the ideas from all our different projects were coming full circle into Mammal Hands and forming part of a bigger cycle.”That sense of cyclical progression – like the circadian rhythm that gives the record its title – is equally reflected in the trio’s move from their previous label of Gondwana Records to ACT with this release. “Esbjörn Svensson Trio is one of my biggest influences so to release on ACT feels like coming home as well as starting something new at the same time,” Rob says. “It’s one of the most exciting highlights of my career.”For Nick and Jordan, the transition also marks an era of creative freedom. “There was no pre-conceived idea of how we should sound, no baggage,” Jordan says. “It feels like an open space for people to listen to what we’re doing and for us to engage in all our influences, from jazz to neoclassical, folk, post-rock and beyond.” Freewheeling yet tethered to their storied history, coming full circle to renew a relationship while drawing on decades of experience, the new phase of Mammal Hands has only just begun. CreditsRecorded March 20th to March 24th 2025 at Giant Wafer Studios, WalesRecorded by Ben CappMixed by Ben Capp Mastered by Shawn JosephComposed by Mammal HandsProduced by Mammal Hands and Ben CappCover Art by Cecily Eno

Limited test pressings of the album by Peter Somuah. Album: Walking DistanceRelease: 13.03.2026A 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.

Limited test pressings of the ACT debut album by SHALOSH. Album: What We Are Made OfRelease: 27.03.2026A 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.

Now available for the first time as a limited green vinyl edition, following a long period of unavailability! Youn Sun Nah / vocalsUlf Wakenius / guitarsLars Danielsson / bass & celloVincent Peirani / accordion & accordinaXavier Desandre-Navarre / percussion   Female singers who manage to stir a whole genre are seldom found. Diana Krall and Norah Jones are such outstanding talents who gave vocal jazz a whole new colour, and Korean singer Youn Sun Nah has been equally phenomenal. In the last few years she has conquered the music world with her albums “Voyage” (2009) and “Same Girl” (2010) released on ACT. “A miracle“, “a great piece of art“, “enchanting” “a world-class singer” – just some of the overwhelmingly positive responses from the press to these albums. Within two years Nah had received her fourth “Korean Music Award”, the BMW World Jazz Award and the ECHO Jazz Award for best international female singer whilst in France, her second home, “Same Girl” was the best selling jazz album of the year in 2011, Nah received the “Prix Mimi Perrin du Jazz Vocal“ as female vocalist of the year, the leading magazine “Jazzman“ awarded her with “Choc de l'annee 2012” as artist of the year and she was granted the title of nobility “Chevalier de l‘Ordre des Arts et des Lettres” by the culture secretary, putting her in the prominent company of such stars as David Bowie, Dee Dee Bridgewater and Dustin Hoffman. What is the secret of her remarkable success? Her new album “Lento” gives an explanation by combining Youn Sun Nah’s unique qualities. One of them is the blending of different cultural and musical sources, in a respectful yet unconventional manner. Besides jazz and related styles, she draws on chanson, pop and folk music, and in addition to compositions by herself and her band members, there is the extremely light version of the Korean folk song “Arirang” as well as “Hurt” by the alternative rock band Nine Inch Nails, and Stan Jones’ “Ghost Riders In The Sky”, a classic country song made famous by Johnny Cash. . For the first time Nah also calls upon European classical music: Alexander Skrjabin’s Prelude op. 16 Nr. 4 in E minor with its tempo indication ”Lento” was a source of inspiration for the album’s title, and it also sets up an intimate, atmospheric and harmonious musical world. Youn Sun Nah unfolds her expressive power especially in the peaceful and slow-paced moments – on the fragile chanson “Full Circle”, with heartbreaking grievance on “Lament” or artistic unison singing on “Momento Magico”. On “Lento” it becomes more apparent that Nah’s voice ties the songs together. It is the precision of her intonation and phrasing, great timing and crystal voice that enable her to turn minimalistic forms into powerful emotions, pure elegance and magic. All this requires extremely subtle and considerate co-musicians, therefore the successful lineup from “Same Girl” was the first choice for “Lento” as well: Nah’s longstanding duet partner Ulf Wakenius on guitar, Lars Danielsson on bass and Xavier Desandre-Navarre on percussions. The fourth member of the band is new - the French accordion magician Vincent Peirani. Two pieces on “Lento” were written by him and, similarly to Youn Sun Nah, his variations and ideas seem to emerge from an inner voice, which is one of the reasons why there is perfect interaction between the two musicians. With her universal yet individual style Youn Sun Nah gives traditional vocal jazz a new flavour, while unconventionally and effortlessly exploring new exciting spaces. She is one of the most outstanding representatives of vocal jazz that includes the whole spectrum of contemporary music.

Michael Wollny - Nachtfahrten Now available for the first time as a limited blue vinyl edition!CD / Vinyl / digital Michael Wollny piano Christian Weber bass Eric Schaefer drums This release owes its original inspiration to a book published in 2013 entitled “Nachtmeerfahrten” (Sea Journeys by Night), which takes the reader over to the dark side of romanticism, to a world of fantasy, of eerie shadows, and things that go bump in the night. Producer Siggi Loch edited the “Meer”/ sea part out of the title, which therefore became “Nachtfahrten” (Night Journeys), which suits this pianist, who is a creature of the nocturnal realm. He feels very much at home in a world of grey cats and blurred outlines, where the contrasting emotions of the moment can leave all rational expectations behind; this is a backdrop which is alive with possibility, but also with trepidation. Michael Wollny, who was described by FRANKFURTER ALLGEMEINE ZEITUNG as a “complete piano master“ and by DIE WELT as „the most exciting German jazz pianist of our time,” has been taking the communicative games of action, inter-action and reaction in his trio in all kinds of interesting directions and new levels over the past ten years. To give just one example, he and drummer Eric Schaefer have fine-tuned the way they create intense energy, making their ways of working together more and more intuitive. Last year, however marked a watershed, as Wollny achieved considerable public success with the album “Weltentraum,” without sacrificing one iota of the virtues of his playing. All his refinement is still there, as is the stylistic breadth of his playing. Wollny draws on a deep well of inspiration, from Coldplay to Schubert or Messiaen. Jazz greats such as Monk and Bill Evans are also right under his fingers. He clearly respects and values the jazz canon with its singable melodies and its song forms, but he isn't confined to that; he is also capable of laying down a hypnotic groove. It is an irresistible combination, and has for the first time enabled him to engage with a large audience. His popular success with “ Weltentraum” has also brought awards in its wake, notably three ECHO Jazz prizes. Nevertheless, Wollny is too big a musical talent either to get comfortable or to rest on his laurels. He has ventured into new musical territory in this new album. In fact, the means to do it came to him in one fell swoop, without him being fully aware of the implications at the time. His method is reductive. “Taking something away,” as he explains it now, “has a tendency to create unease.” With that realisation, everything seemed to align and take shape. Wollny worked with Eric Schaefer to identify fragments, ideas and motifs. He combined old sounds with new, his own material with borrowings from film, literature, painting, philosophy, aesthetics. All the pieces of the puzzle fell into place, with the help of producer Siggi Loch. Everything that has been included here carries with it a sense of musical inevitability. For example the first track “Questions in a World of Blue” an adaptation of the Twin Peaks music by Angelo Badalamenti, makes it abundantly clear that the listener can expect the answers to the questions which this album asks are going to be anything but predictable. Wollny sets the scene with a few “poisoned” major chords. They allow uncertainty to glisten through them. Meanwhile Schraeger charms a few delicate brush sounds out of his drum kit, and bassist Christian Weber's supple bass playing completes the picture and sets it into relief. This is a way of playing which we have not heard from Wollny before. It is music of steady state rather than of development. These are sounds that hover, which spread like ripples. Improvisation, as it is known from the jazz tradition, with its logical processes for developing solos, has been put aside in favour of something else. The shaping of melody, the conventional conversations within a piano trio are replaced by sounds which develop layer by layer. Wollny here is casting light onto “Neon Nocturnes,” he is developing sound pictures with a strong character of their own, finding natural resonances in darkness. He is not just asking questions that remain open, he is ensuring that they lead to new and ever more interesting questions. Wollny takes the listener to recognizably fictitious locations. Each one becomes the pretext for a new “Nachtfahrt” (Night Journey): Twin Peaks, the Bates Hotel from Hitchcock's Psycho, the valley of the castles from Edgar Allan Poe's early story “Metzengerstein”. Making this disconnect from reality is a subtle way to prepare the listener for the discontinuities. What drives Wollny here is a conscious desire to create complex ambivalence, as he juxtaposes what appear on the surface to be quite simple motifs. This is a process which Wollny has discovered and developed for this album. A possible source of inspiration here is the music of Chris Beier, with whom Michael Wollny studied at the conservatoire in Würzburg. At that time Beier was starting to suffer from focal dystonia, a severe condition which takes away muscle memory. Beier was obliged to write out and to prepare his music bar by bar. His playing became perceptibly hestitant and fragmentary, but at the same time translucent, pared down and incredibly intense. “I found the way he played had a devastating effect on me,” remembered Wollny. This method of intense paring-down runs right through “Nachtfahrten” from the first note to the last.

Nils Landgren: Love of My Life CD / Double vinyl (2xLP, 180g) / limited red transparent double vinyl (2xLP, 180g) / digital  Nils Landgren vocals, tromboneThe Swedish Radio Symphony OrchestraUlf Forsberg concertmasterJoel Lyssarides pianoLars Danielsson bassRobert Ikiz drumsIda Sand vocals on #1, 4, 9, 10, 11, piano on #4 Nils Landgren’s 70th birthday is approaching – it will be on 15 February 2026 – and that provides a moment to reflect not only on the scale of his achievement, but also the astonishingly wide range of roles which his life in music has involved. He is one of the most successful European jazz musicians of the past few decades. He is not just a trombonist and singer but also a festival director, mentor, promoter, producer and builder of bridges. He has been awarded of the German Cross of Merit, the Sir George Martin Music Award and the Litteris et Artibus medal, the highest order for art and culture which the Swedish royal family can bestow. He is a tirelessly hard worker, playing up to 200 concerts in peak years. But perhaps most importantly, it is in his nature to be both optimistic and huge-hearted. Everything Nils Landgren does is imbued with love, whether it is for music, for his signature instrument – the red trombone – for the people alongside him on the stage or for those gathered together in front it...And also for his wife the actress Beatrice Järås to whom he has been married for 48 years. What all of this means is that the title of his latest album could not be more apt: ‘Love of My Life’.“When I was young, I wanted to be a pop star... but one playing the trombone. Everyone told me: just forget it, take your place at the back of the orchestra. But that was something I could never have accepted.” Recorded with a band made up of close friends, plus the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, playing opulent arrangements by seven-time Grammy winner Vince Mendoza, Nils Landgren’s new album casts its net wide, from touching original compositions to songs by Cat Stevens, Leonard Bernstein, Kurt Weill, Herbie Hancock and also colleagues with whom he has worked such as Joe Sample and Ida Sand. This wide-ranging repertoire bears testament to Landgren’s remarkable capacity to bring all kinds of people together, to unite them and make things happen. “The most important thing in music for me is: no pigeonholing. It's always better to explore together a bit, to try to do some new things...”As is so often the case with Nils Landgren, ‘Love of My Life’ also has something of the character of a musical family enterprise: he is accompanied by Sweden's rising piano star Joel Lyssarides, double bass icon Lars Danielsson, drummer Robert Ikiz – also a permanent member of the Nils Landgren Funk Unit – and singer and long-time companion Ida Sand. For Nils Landgren, this is a lifelong dream come true. In the liner notes to the album, he writes: “Basically, I'm still the boy from the small Swedish ironworks town of Degerfors. I still can't quite believe that I have been invited to make music with an entire symphony orchestra and some of my best friends.” Anyone who knows Nils Landgren or has seen him live will know that this statement has absolutely no false modesty about it; it is totally genuine. “Many people say I'm down-to-earth. Even a small mount of fame can make things go completely wrong... My father told me: don't elevate yourself above others. Keep your feet on the ground. That's a very Swedish, Nordic attitude – you should never believe that you are better than others.” Nils Landgren is exactly the same person onstage that he is away from it. After every concert, he takes the time to talk to each and every visitor, hug them, take photos, sign albums, sometimes for a few hours. He says: “I am strongly motivated to meet the audience. It gives you an incredible amount of energy.” That's why, he says, he doesn't have any hobbies. When he's at home in the small village of Skillinge in southern Sweden, right by the sea, he likes to spend time with his wife Bea and practise the trombone in a wooden hut specially set up for this purpose, where his countless awards are also displayed. He also enjoys swimming in the Baltic Sea, even when the temperature is below ten degrees.“I have no need of bungee jumping or extreme sports – every time I go on stage, it's like free climbing. That's quite enough for me.”And that is why the Nils70 birthday concerts are likely to feel so much like family celebrations: Kicking off on 14 February at the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg with his band, the Hamburg Symphony Orchestra and the ‘Love Of My Life’ programme, and then on 5 May at the Berlin Philharmonic – together with close friends such as Michael Wollny, Wolfgang Haffner, China Moses, Viktoria Tolstoy, members of the Berlin Philharmonic and many more. And actually, the whole of 2026 will be Nils Landgren Year: together with renowned regional orchestras, Nils Landgren will bring the ‘Love Of My Life’ programme to some of the most beautiful concert halls throughout Germany. “I usually meet orchestras for rehearsals just the day before the concert. Most of the time, it's just me and my trio – there's not even a conductor. As always in jazz, it's all about communication. I hope that the orchestral musicians understand my ideas... and if not, then I'll just have to try to convince them.” Pianist Michael Wollny once said that ‘with Nils, everything becomes easy.’ Landgren – it seems, at least in music – has no problems, no fears, there are only ever new opportunities to create something beautiful, perhaps even something magical in the moment. Behind this is a deep belief in goodness – not only the good in music, but also in people. And being convinced that the individual can be effective in a world where one can quickly feel lost and powerless. “Seeing things positively gives you so much more strength to carry on,” says Nils Landgren. “And the love which you receive as a result can then be passed on... and then you find that even more has been added when it comes back...” CreditsAll orchestra arrangements by Vince Mendoza – except Waiting (by Magnus Lindgren)Recorded live at Berwaldhallen, Stockholm — September 2024 & August 2025Recording engineer: Ulf ÖstlingFOH: Jan UgandProduced by Jan B. LarssonExecutive producers: Nils Landgren & Andreas BrandisPhotography: Nikola StankovicCover art by Martin NoelDesign by Siggi Loch

Vision String Quartet: in the fields CD / Vinyl (LP, 180g) / digital  Florian Willeitner violinDaniel Stoll violinLeonard Disselhorst celloSander Stuart viola Five years on from their last album, vision string quartet are back, and they’re on stupendous form. ‘In the Fields’, their debut on ACT, is a brilliant demonstration of new worlds opening up to the musically curious, and also a statement of how astonishingly versatile a modern string quartet as good as this one can be. This Berlin-based ensemble - Florian Willeitner (violin), Daniel Stoll (violin), Sander Stuart (viola) and Leonard Disselhorst (cello) - has established itself in recent years as the ‘string quartet of the future’ (Sydney Morning Herald) and is known for its way of traversing between classical music, folk, jazz and new and original compositions. The release is also significant in the context of the ACT label, marking a further step beyond the world of jazz. ACT CEO Andreas Brandis comments on the collaboration: "My connection with the Vision String Quartet goes back many years – it began with the Concerto.21 masterclasses that I lead, and has continued through my close collaboration with the quartet’s first violinist Florian Willeitner. In the future, ACT will open up even more to connections between classical music, contemporary music and improvisation – and Vision String Quartet is an excellent example of this new pathway."The new album is a journey in sound, with a consistent dramaturgy from start to finish. Its shape and structure are based on Béla Bartók's five-movement String Quartet No. 4. For the members of the quartet, Bartók, who found his inspiration ‘in the fields’ and in the folk music of Europe, is their point of departure and their guiding figure. “We were infected by his fascination with what is familiar but also unknown,” the musicians explain, inviting listeners to dive with them into the depths of this music.The opening track, ‘Kopanitsa’, a Bulgarian folk song in 11/8 time, already reveals the earthiness and rhythmic fire that pervades the album. In the booklet, the quartet also refer to this introduction to the new recording as the ‘first movement of our work’. Florian Willeitner heard the piece played by a bagpipe player on the streets of Sofia – authenticity and the simple joy of playing are the order of the day here. This is followed by the second movement from the string quartet in F major by Ravel, an evergreen of the quartet repertoire, to which Willeitner and pianist Joel Lyssarides add a post-impressionistic sound world in ‘Ravel Reloaded’. Bartók's String Quartet No. 4 is the centrepiece of the album: its movements are not only interpreted classically, but also expanded in collaboration with Austrian percussionist Bernhard Schimpelsberger to include a ‘percussive dimension’ that opens up new dimensions for the listener. The musicians describe the experience of playing this work in 13 concerts on their 2023 tour of Australia as a “living in a compositional dream”; living and breathing a work until it became a part of them.In addition to working with Schimpelsberger, the vision players have had many exciting and inspiring encounters and collaborations with other musicians on their numerous concert tours around the world. For ‘In the Fields’, they composed and recorded pieces together with Iranian guitarist Mahan Mirarab and Swedish pianist Joel Lyssarides. These original compositions and arrangements provide the chance to hear further surprises. ‘Lydian Rose’ celebrates the colourfulness of the Lydian mode, “Raindance” allows plucked melodies to dance in the rain, and ‘Convalescence’ by Mahan Mirarab, written during the pandemic, is a wild ride between poetic gentleness and unremitting drive. The final ‘Skymning’ by Lyssarides is a gently flowing folk song that lingers in the ear. The vision string quartet remain true to their approach of performing as a band, playing the classical repertoire from memory and standing up – a trademark “that means maximum freedom and liveliness for us,” Willeitner explains. The group’s concert formats are equally innovative: dark concerts, cross-genre projects and collaborations with artists such as Fatma Said, Gabriel Kahane and Golnar Shahyar - all are demonstrations of the quartet's versatility.  It is definitely worth coming out of shuffle mode, and listening to this album straight through from start to finish in its intended order. That allows a true appreciation of the thoughtful interplay and contrast between the quartet movements by Bartók, Ravel and Dvořák and the quartet's own compositions. Heard like this, the dramaturgy and the utterly convincing shape of the album can unfold as intended, in all their depth. Together with their extraordinary guests, the four musicians on ‘In the Fields’ have demonstrated with complete conviction what the string quartet in the 21st century can be: packed with life, driven by curiosity, a place where the possibilities are limitless. CreditsRecorded between 7–12 October 2024 and 29–30 October 2024 at Studio 1,BR Franken, NürnbergProduced by vision string quartetExecutive producer for BR: Beate SampsonRecording producer, engineer, editing, mixing: Christian JaegerRecording and editing technician: Tatjana SchewtschenkoPiano tuner: Theo KretzschmarMastered by Christoph Stickel, Vienna Cover photo by Sander Stuart