Jacob Karlzon Trio live in St.Ingbert 2010

Photo © by Miki Anagrius 

 Jacob Karlzon - Piano

Hans Andersson - Bass
Jonas Holgersson - Drums

recorded live at Jazzfestival St. Ingbert, Kulturzentrum Alte Schmelz, March 20, 2010

1. Maniac (Michael Sembello)
2. Ninnen (Jacob Karlzon)
3. Pull/Woid/Nilha (Jacob Karlzon)
4. Fragrancia (Jacob Karlzon)

Jacob Karlzon Trio has developed a unique interplay in which the lines between impulses in the spur of the moment, improvisation and composed passages are almost wiped out. The repertoire consists mainly of Jacob Karlzon´s compositions, where beauty, space and emotional intensity are united into something heavily swinging, where tenderness is close to groove, and where closely united musical expressions are reflected dynamically. Impressions are collected from various places, which creates a width in the artistic direction the ensemble takes. Their joined expression is warm and intense, and starts out in a nearness to the listener. Sometimes music from other composers is used, which leads to personal interpretations of for example Cole Porter or the heavy metal band Korn.
Today the members of the trio are Jacob Karlzon (piano), Hans Andersson (bass) and Jonas Holgersson (drums). During the year of 2008 the trio played a great number of concerts in Sweden and Denmark. After these tours the trio recorded in Nilento Studio, Gothenburg with the great technician and producer Lars Nilsson.
The record “Heat” was released on the Swedish record-company Caprice in spring 2009 and contained, except for the trio, the great swedish hornplayers Peter Asplund on trumpet and Karl-Martin Almqvist on saxophones. The record consists mainly of compositions by Jacob Karlzon but also includes his arrangements of a composition by Maurice Ravel and one by the numetal-band KoRn. It also includes one song from the motion picture Lord of The Ring.

Nils Landgren Funk Unit "Funky ABBA" live at JazzBaltica 2004

Photo © by: ACT / Johan Bergmark

The Funk Unit:
Nils Landgren - Trombone, Vocals
Magnum Coltrane Price - Vocals, Keyboard
Annika Granlund - Vocals, Trumpet
Jessica Pilnäs - Vocals
Karl-Martin Almqvist - Tenor Saxophone
Henrik Janson - Guitar
Lars DK Danielsson - Bass
Robert Östlund - Keyboard
Wolfgang Haffner - Drums
Special Guests:
Viktoria Tolstoy - Vocals
Roy Hargrove - Trumpet
Terri Lyne Carrington - Drums
Peter Weniger - Tenor Saxophone
Sharon Dyall - Vocals

recorded live at Große Konzertscheune Salzau, July 2004

1. Dancing Queen
2. Gimme!Gimme!Gimme!
3. Voulez-vous
4. When All Is Said And Done
5. Summer Night City
6. Knowing Me, Knowing You
7. Take A Chance On Me
8. Super Trooper
9. S.O.S.
10. Thank You For The Music
11. You Dig

Exactly 30 years after ABBA’s international breakthrough at the Eurovision Song Contest, Nils Landgren has undertaken a highly personal tribute to one of the greatest pop bands ever, working together with his grooving band, which "drives young people into a frenzy and yet also is taken seriously by the snobbish jazz lovers" (Spiegel).The new album is called FUNKY ABBA – and Nils can call it that with much justification, through his long-standing friendship with Benny Andersson. Twenty-five years ago, on the strength of his special trombone sound, Benny asked the fresh-faced Nils to join him in the studio to play on the ABBA song "Voulez-Vous". This time it was the other way round: Benny couldn’t wait to take part on at least one track of FUNKY ABBA.

e.s.t. Esbjörn Svensson Trio live in Burghausen 2001

Photo © by: ACT / Patrik Sehlstedt

Esbjörn Svensson - piano
Dan Berglund - bass
Magnus Öström - drums

recorded live at Wackerhalle Burghausen, May 6, 2001

1. The Rube Thing
2. Good Morning Susie Soho
3. The Chapel
4. The Wraith/ From Gagarin´s Point of View
5. Dating
6. Bowling
7. Dodge The Dodo
8. Hands Off

Openness, curiosity, and a little bit of chance are all a part of Esbjörn Svensson’s artistic foundation: “I play piano because we didn’t have any other instrument in the house. Actually, I would have rather played drums. For instance, as a kid, I put together a set out of old odds and ends, and tried to sound like “Sweet” on “Ballroom Blitz”. But then Magnus Öström came with his drums, and I decided to stay with the piano. Magnus and I grew up together, and have played together from the beginning. When Magnus was given his first drum set, he brought it over to my house, and we started playing. We had no idea how to play, but it was a lot of fun. Since we didn’t have a teacher, and no one was telling us how to play, we were able to gradually develop our music in a very unique, individualistic way.”
From the mid-eighties on, Svensson and Öström established themselves as inspiring sidemen in the Swedish and Danish jazz scenes. They formed their first trio in 1990, but it wasn’t until 1993 that they got the necessary lift to get a CD off the ground. It was then that they met Dan Berglund. Both were fascinated by the structural strength and creative diversity of his playing and were able to entice Berglund into joining the trio.
In 2000 the CD Good Morning Susie Soho (ACT 9009-2), was released and earned the trio the title “Trio of the Year” by Jazzwise, UK. e.s.t. toured on the “RISING STARS” Jazz Circuit and played all major festivals throughout Europe. The same time Sony Columbia USA released the first CD “Somewhere Else Before” a compilation from the European albums “From Gagarin´s Point of View” and Good Morning Susie Soho” in the USA.

Jim McNeely & HR-Big Band feat. John Abercrombie: Timeless

John Abercrombie, guitar
Jim McNeely, conductor & arranger
HR-Big Band (Frankfurt Radio Big Band)

recorded live at hr-Sendesaal, Frankfurt a.M., Germany, November 9, 2009

1. Jazz Folk
2. Ralph's Piano Waltz
3. Bred
4. Ballad In Two Keys
5. Line Up
6. Anniversary Waltz
7. Soundtrack
8. Ralph (Out Of Towner)

Over a career spanning more than 40 years and nearly 50 albums, John Abercrombie has established himself as one the masters of jazz guitar.
After graduating from Berklee, Abercrombie headed to New York, where he quickly became one of New York's most in-demand session players. He recorded with Gil Evans, Gato Barbieri, and Barry Miles, to name a few. He was also a regular with Chico Hamilton's group.
But it was in Billy Cobham's band, which also featured the Brecker brothers, that Abercrombie first started to build a following.
In the early 1970s, Abercrombie ran into Manfred Eicher, who invited him to record for ECM. The result was Abercrombie's first solo album, Timeless, in which he was backed by Jan Hammer and Jack DeJohnette. Abercrombie's second album, Gateway, was released in November 1975 with DeJohnette and bassist Dave Holland; a second Gateway recording was released in June 1978.
His second group, a trio with bassist Marc Johnson and drummer Peter Erskine, marked the first time he experimented with the guitar synthesizer. This gave him the opportunity to play what he called “louder, more open music” with a propulsive beat, demonstrated in the group's three releases, Getting There (featuring Michael Brecker) in 1987, Current Events in 1988, and John Abercrombie, Marc Johnson & Peter Erskine in 1989.
From there, he moved to partnerships that he would shuffle and reshuffle for the next 20 years.
Another album, titled Open Land, added violinist Mark Feldman and saxophonist Joe Lovano to the mix.
His affiliation with Feldman, in a quartet that included Marc Johnson and drummer Joey Barron, ushered in a period of looser, freer, almost improvisatory playing. “I like free playing that has some relationship to a melody; very much the way Ornette Coleman used to write all those wonderful songs and then they would play without chords on a lot of them,”
Throughout the 1990s and into 2000 and beyond, Abercrombie has continued to pluck from the ranks of jazz royalty--and be plucked for guest appearances on other artists' recordings. One propitious relationship was with guitarist, pianist, and composer Ralph Towner, with whom Abercrombie has worked in a duet setting.
His latest recording "Wait Till You See Her" featuring his quartet of violinist Mark Feldman and drummer Joey Baron, newcomer Thomas Morgan replacing previous bassist Marc Johnson, was released in 2009 on ECM.

WDR Big Band feat. Kurt Elling live in Köln 2010

 

Kurt Elling, voc
WDR Big Band Köln:
Johan Hörlen, Karolina Strassmayer: as; Olivier Peters, Paul Heller: ts; Jens Neufang, bs
Andy Haderer, Rob Bruynen, Klaus Osterloh, Wim Both, John Marshall: tp
Ludwig Nuss, Marshall Gilkes, Bernt Laukamp: tb, Mattis Cederberg: b-tb
John Goldsby, b; Paul Shigihara, git; Frank Chastenier, p; Hans Dekker, dr
Conducted and arranged by Michael Abene

recorded live at Philharmonic Hall, Cologne/ Germany, June 26, 2010

1. Soft Lights And Sweet Music (Irving Berlin)
Soloists: Paul Heller, ts; John Marshall, tp; Hans Dekker, dr
2. Steppin´Out (Joe Jackson)
Soloists: Paul Heller, ts; Hans Dekker, dr
3. You Are Too Beautiful (Richard Rodgers/ Lorenz Hart)
Soloist: Ludwig Nuss, tb
4. All Points West (Kurt Elling/ Laurence Hobgood)
Soloists: Paul Heller, ts
5. Nighttown (Don Grolnick/Lyrics: Kurt Elling)
Soloists: Karolina Strassmayer, as
6. Effendi (McCoy Tyner / Lyrics: Kurt Elling)
Soloists: Frank Chastenier, p; Kurt Elling; John Marshall, tp; Johan Hörlen, as
7. Stella By Starlight (Victor Young)
Soloist: Johan Hörlen, as
8. Dream Clock (Joe Zawinul/Lyrics: Kurt Elling)
Soloist: Paul Shigihara, git
9. Face On The Barroom Floor (Wayne Shorter/Lyrics: Kurt Elling)
Soloist: Frank Chastenier, p
10. I Like The Sunrise (Duke Ellington/ Lyrics: Kurt Elling)
Soloist: Andy Haderer, tp
11. Introduction of the Band
12. Tumbleweed (Michael Brecker/ Lyrics: Kurt Elling)
Soloist: Marshall Gilkes, tb; Frank Chastenier, p; Paul Shigihara, git;
13. All The Way (Sammy Cahn/Jimmy Van Heusen)
Soloist: John Marshall, tp

On June 23rd last year, Grammy nominated and critically acclaimed modern Jazz vocalist Kurt Elling released "Dedicated to You: Kurt Elling Sings the Music of Coltrane and Hartman", his eighth album and second release on Concord Jazz.
The live collection was recorded in January 2009 at the Allen Room in the Lincoln Center, New York as part of Lincoln Center’s American Songbook series. The new 12-track release features an all-star cast of musicians including saxophonist Ernie Watts, the Laurence Hobgood Trio and string quartet.

"Dedicated to You" is a stunning spectrum of music, both vocal and instrumental. The album opens with an introductory interpretation of the American Songbook classic, “All or Nothing At All,” in which the interconnectedness between Elling’s vocal and Watt’s tenor saxophone calls up immediate references to the Coltrane/Hartman source. The transformative interpretations of songs such as “Autumn Serenade,” “Nancy With The Laughing Face” and “You Are Too Beautiful” are definitive examples of how to remain true to the inner essence of a song.