Randi Tytingvåg Ensemble live at Schlachthof, Bremen 2010

Randi Tytingvåg - vocals
Anders Aarum - piano, rhodes
Espen Leite - accordion
Magne Thormodsæter - double bass
Ivar Thormodsæter - percussion/drums

recorded live at Kesselhalle/ Kulturzentrum Schlachthof Bremen, March 14, 2009

1. Cohesion
2. Red or Dead/ Quiet Noise
3. Why
4. Queen & King
5. My Heart Belongs To Daddy (Cole Porter)
6. Mr. Barn/ Big in China
7. Between Us
8. A Trip To The Moon
9. Rat Race

Randi Tytingvåg is a Norwegian jazz singer and songwriter. She is known for her great, characteristic voice and for her way of communicating with the audience. Her compositions has integrity and underlines her talent for storytelling. The songs are a crossover between the different genres she herself has been influenced by. You will find elements from jazz, cabaret, tango, chamber music and from the singer/songwriter tradition.
She has her music education from School of The Arts Roehampton in London. She made her debut as a jazz singer in 2001 at the Maijazz festival. In 2004 she was announced to be ”The artist of the year” in her home town Stavanger. In the same year she made her album debut ”Heavenly Attack” and the EP ”Beyond Surface.” In 2006 she released the album ”Let Go”. Tytingvåg is a critically acclaimed jazz singer and songwriter who has managed to create her own unique sound.

Christian Muthspiel "Yodel Group" live at Jazzfest Saalfelden 2009

Christian Muthspiel - Trombone, Piano, Electronics
Gerald Preinfalk - Saxophones, Clarinet, Bass clarinet
Matthieu Michel - Trumpet, Flügelhorn
Franck Tortiller - Vibraphone
Jerome Harris - E-Bass
Bobby Previte - Drums

Jazzfestival Saalfelden/Austria, August 28, 2009

1. Yodeler No. 1 (Mai-Jodler)
2. Introduction by Christian Muthspiel
3. Yodeler No. 6 - No. 4 - No. 3 - No. 5
4. Yodeler No. 2 - Königsberger

"Yodelling" is the Blues of the Alps, at times rapid and exciting, at times sustaining, calming, sad, heroic and solemn. The origin of yodelling was singing and calling from pasture to pasture in the Alps. This is all part of the childhood I grew up in, that was shaped by song and mountain and was a ritual whenever we reached the top of the hill. At the same time simple and of highest refinement and always full of soul, sometimes with the spirit of nature, sometimes provoking the love of the "dirndl", archaic cheering and crying out with joy, sung since prehistoric times in all the earth's mountain regions, this wonderful type of music cannot even be destroyed by the "Musikantenstadl".
With this venture I want to approach this style of music with an Austro-European-American band, whose musicians I have known closely for years from various mutual performances and by using totally non-alpine instruments. In so doing we treat this music respectfully but not too seriously.
Just as with several of my previous developments of music of the Renaissance or of alpine music, my aim in this project is to feel, be inspired by and express the tension between the original music and my own interpretation, between bygone times and the present where new music can freely take place. (Christian Muthspiel, translation: Bobby Previte)
Christian Muthspiel´s latest CD is a trio recording called "Dancing Dowland"

World Saxophone Quartet live in Berlin 2009

Hamiet Bluiett (bs, cl)
Edward "Kidd" Jordan (as)
David Murray (ts, bcl)
James Carter (ts, ss)

recorded live at Kino Babylon, Berlin, Jazzwerkstatt Berlin-Brandenburg: Discover us!,
March 28, 2009

1. River Niger (Jordan)
2. Yes we can (Murray)
3. The god of pain (Murray)
4. The guessing game (Bluiett)
5. Long march to freedom (Murray)
6. Hattie wall (Reprise) (Bluiett)

"Probably the first of several saxophone-only ensembles who proliferated in jazz after 1975, the WSQ is unquestionably the most commercially (and, arguably, the most creatively) successful. Of course, commercial success is a relative thing in jazz, especially when one is speaking of an avant-garde group. At their creative peak, the group melded jazz-based, harmonically adventurous improvisation with sophisticated composition. All of the group's original members (Julius Hemphill, alto; Oliver Lake, alto; David Murray, tenor; and Hamiet Bluiett, baritone) were estimable composers as well as improvisers. Each complimented the whole, making them even greater than the considerable sum of their parts. As a composer, Hemphill drew on European techniques (though his tunes were not without an unalloyed jazz component), while Bluiett was steeped in blues and funk. Lake and Murray fell somewhere in between. As soloists and writers, the early WSQ covered all the bases. The membership stayed constant until Hemphill's departure in 1989." (by Chris Kelsey, allmusicguide)
After several replacements Oliver Lake and Julius Hemphill were followed for this concert by James Carter and Kidd Jordan. "Political Blues" from 2006 is their latest album.

Mike Stern & WDR Big Band Köln: Mike Stern Selection live 2009

Photo © by George Lange

Mike Stern – g

Tom Kenney – b
Dave Weckl – dr
Michael Abene – ld
WDR Big Band Köln

recorded live at Zeche Zollverein Essen, September 11, 2009

1. Tumble Home
2. KT
3. Wishing Well
4. What Might Have Been
5. Introduction of the Band by Michael Abene
6. Tipatina’s
7. Next Week
8. Avenue B
9. Wing and Prayer
10. Chromazone
11. Upside Downside

In a career that spans three decades and a discography that includes more than a dozen eclectic and innovative recordings, five-time Grammy nominee Mike Stern has established himself as one of the premier jazz and jazz-fusion guitarists and composers of his generation.
In this concert he is featured together with his long time rhythm section consisted of bassist Tom Kennedy and Dave Weckl on drums in a big band setting by the great WDR Big Band in a programme of all Stern originals arranged by Michael Abene.
Don´t miss Mike´s latest Grammy nominated album "Big Neighbourhood" released on HeadsUp in 2009.

Ornette Coleman live at Jazzfest Berlin 1971, 1972 & 1987

Ornette Coleman Quartet

Ornette Coleman: Alto Saxophone
Dewey Redman: Tenor Saxophone
Charlie Haden: Bass
Ed Blackwell: Drums

recorded live at Philharmonie, Berlin during Berliner Jazztage, November 5, 1971

1. Whom do you work for?
2. Broken shadows
3. Street woman

Ornette Coleman solo
Ornette Coleman: Alto Saxophone, Piano

recorded live at Philharmonie, Berlin during Berliner Jazztage, November 4, 1972

4. Love eyes

"The Original Quartet"
Ornette Coleman: Alto Saxophone
Don Cherry: Trumpet
Charlie Haden: Bass
Billy Higgins: Drums

recorded live at Delphi, Berlin during JazzFest Berlin, November 5, 1987

5. Peace warriors
6. Turn around

Rarely does one person change the way we listen to music, but such a man is Ornette Coleman. Since the late 1950s, when he burst on the New York jazz scene with his legendary engagement at the Five Spot, Coleman has been teaching the world new ways of listening to music. His revolutionary musical ideas have been controversial, but today his enormous contribution to modern music is recognized throughout the world.
Celebrating Ornette´s 80th birthday radio berlin opened the treasure chest… (Ornette on piano!!).
Be sure to buy Ornettes latest CD, the 2006 live album "Sound Grammar".

Oregon live at "Birdland", Neuburg an der Donau 2006

Ralph Towner, Guitar, Keyboards
Paul McCandless, Reeds
Glen Moore, Bass
Mark Walker, Drums

recorded live at "Birdland", Neuburg an der Donau, July 27, 2006

1. "Green & Golden" (Ralph Towner)
2. "The Glide" (Ralph Towner)
3. "Castle Walk" (Ralph Towner)
4. "Pepe Linque" (Glen Moore)
5. "Free Piece 2" (Oregon)
6. "Anthem" (Ralph Towner)

Oregon - Live At Yoshi’s is the group's latest CD which features five tunes that are Ralph Towner originals recorded for the first time by the band, a dramatic "free piece" that could have only occurred on an inspired night in front of a spirited live audience, one of Glen Moore’s distinctive and witty compositions, and four pieces derived from the best of the group’s repertoire over the years. This is the first album recorded by the group with an audience present in 22 years. The live situation has evoked OREGON’s improvisational power, and the soloing, which is in abundance, ranges from poetic to incandescent. The record is characterized by some exciting new sounds including Ralph Towner’s FRAME Guitar featured on two of the CD’s most dynamic pieces.

Avishai Cohen 'Aurora' live at Leipziger Jazztage 2009

Avishai Cohen - Bass, Vocals
Karen Malka - Vocals
Shai Maestro - Piano
Amos Hoffmann - Oud
Itamar Doari - Percussion

recorded live at Leipziger Jazztage, August 29, 2009

1. Leolam (Avishai Cohen)
2. Two Roses (Avishai Cohen)
3. Shir Aletz (Avishai Cohen)
4. Shir Hamatera/Hahava (Avishai Cohen)
5. Aurora (Avishai Cohen)
6. Morenica (Avishai Cohen)

"With the latest new album Aurora, Avishai Cohen has reached a certain essence of expression, using voice as a direct and powerful vehicle for his emotions. 
Singing – in Hebrew, English, Spanish and Ladino. The music draws its source in the earth of his home country, at the crossroads of many cultures. Arab-Andalusian and Hebraic, it tells the story of Bedouins of the desert and speaks of life, love, youth and freedom. 
Jazz naturally remains at the heart of this original universe – the ideal meeting place for all kinds of encounters.. Aurora is a work of synergy under the Blue Note label, which for years seems to have been at the centre of all futures in jazz, of which Avishai Cohen is undeniably the most modern and irresistible standard-bearer." (Sebastien Vidal- Journalist / Broadcaster)

Maceo Parker live at 34th International Jazzweek Burghausen 2003

Maceo Parker (as, voc)
Greg Boyer (tb)
Ron Tooley (tp)
Corey Parker (voc)
Will Boulware (Hammond B3, keyb)
Bruno Speight (g)
Rodney Curtis (b)
Jamal Thomas (dr)
Martha High (voc), Charles Sherrell (voc)

recorded live at Wackerhalle Burghausen during 34th International Jazzweek Burghausen 2003

1. Gimme Some More
2. Uptown Up
3. Baby Knows
4. There Was A Time
5. My Love / Hey Jude

In 1990 the opportunity came for Maceo to concentrate on his own projects. He released two successful solo albums entitled Roots Revisited (which spent 10 weeks at the top of Billboard's Jazz Charts in 1990) and Mo' Roots (1991). But it was his third solo album, Maceo’s ground breaking CD Life on Planet Groove, recorded live in 1992 which soon became a funk fan favorite. Planet Groove also served as a calling card, boosting Maceo's contemporary career as a solo artist for a college aged audience, and bringing into being his catch phrase "2% Jazz, 98% Funky Stuff."
At the beginning of 2007 Maceo had a chance to fulfill one of his dreams in working with a Big Band. Working with Grammy Award Winners the WDR Big Band, he broadcast and performed a live series of shows paying tribute to Ray Charles and putting Maceo’s own funky music to a Big Band setting.
This has led to his latest release Roots and Grooves a live recording taken from these shows which also features Dennis Chambers and Rodney "Skeet" Curtis.

Tempelektrisch live at Jazzclub Unterfahrt 2009

Photo ©by Ralph Horbascheck

Axel Schlosser (Trumpet/Flügelhorn)
Christian Weidner (Alto Saxophone)
Nils Wogram (Trombone)
Frank Möbus (Guitar)
Wolfgang Zwiauer (Bass)
Rainer Tempel (Fender Rhodes, Synthesizer)
Jim Black (Drums)

recorded live at Jazzclub Unterfahrt, Munich/ Germany, December 2009

1. "Lucy goes waltzing" (Rainer Tempel)
2. "The Striker" (Rainer Tempel)
3. "Selecâo" (Rainer Tempel)
4. "Trains" (Rainer Tempel)
5. "Pink" (Rainer Tempel)
6. "Elder Statesmen" (Rainer Tempel)

"I bought my first electric keyboard in 1986 and I still have it. Although it was one of the cheapest on the market I had to spend all the money I had on it. I just needed something that was loud enough to be heard in the rock band I was in at the time.
I took classical piano lessons as a kid and teenager and later studied jazz piano, but I also was influenced by the jazz rock music that was around me.
I prefer analogue instruments which are as old as myself. Their sounds, in the ears of today, hardly resemble any natural instrument but have become instruments in themselves. The Rhodes and The Wurlitzer Piano, as well as the Hohner Clavinet, cannot be played the same way a piano is played. In some situations, the Rhodes blends much better with wind instruments than the piano does.
So this album is called tempelektrisch, even though there are more natural instruments in the band than electric ones." (Rainer Tempel about tempelektrisch)

Lars Danielsson & Leszek Mozdzer live at Swedish Jazz Celebration 2009

Photo © Nikodem Krajewski / ACT

Lars Danielsson, Bass, Violoncello
Leszek Mozdzer, Piano

recorded live at Swedish Jazz Celebration, Gothenburg/ Sweden, March 28, 2009

1. Pasodoble (Danielsson)
2. Eja Mitt Hjärta
3. Incognito (Mozdzer)
4. Easy Money (Mozdzer)
5. Prado (Danielsson)
6. Follow My Backlights (Mozdzer)
7. Suffering (Danielsson)

The really great album "Pasodoble" was introduced to you earlier on this blog. As a kind of extension of this duo, Lars Danielsson and Leszek Mozdzer recorded the album Tarantella as a follow-up. Some of the duo pieces and passages on Tarantella, such as “Melody on Wood” and “Fiojo”, are built directly upon passages from Pasodoble, and on listening, it’s no wonder that Danielsson calls Możdżer “the perfect pianist for me”. It is simply amazing how Danielsson consistently refines his work, how he continues to open up new areas of sound and place them in new contexts and combinations. “I have taken the character of my music as the starting point, and have looked for the people who will best fit to it.” He found Norwegian trumpeter Mathias Eick, British guitarist John Parricelli, and the American drummer Eric Harland. Of course, Trantella is released on ACT.

Craig Taborn Trio live in Karlsruhe 2009

Craig Taborn - Piano
Thomas Morgan - Bass
Gerald Cleaver - Drums

Recorded live at Jazzclub Karlsruhe, December 3, 2009

1. Over The Water (Taborn)
2. Bodies We Came Out Of (Taborn)
3. Light Made Lighter (Taborn)
4. Crocodile (Taborn)
5. The Soul of Grace (Taborn)
6. Mystero (Taborn)
7. Golden Age (Taborn)

Jazz pianist and organist Craig Taborn began working professionally in the 1990s in a variety of musical contexts, ranging from more straight-ahead jazz to more outside music, with young jazz musicians, seasoned veterans, and even techno artists. In his hometown of Minneapolis, Taborn studied piano, composition, and music theory with area university professors before going away to college. Before he graduated from college, Taborn had already performed on three recordings as a member of the James Carter Quartet. After graduating with a liberal arts degree from the University of Michigan in 1995, DIW released Taborn's first date as a leader, The Craig Taborn Trio, followed by "Light Made Lighter", released 2001 on Thirsty Ear.

Cyminology live in Berlin 2009

Cymin Samawatie (voc)
Benedikt Jahnel (p)
Ralf Schwarz (b)
Ketan "GK" Bhatti (dr)

recorded live at Grüner Salon, Volksbühne Berlin, December 2, 2009

1. Introduction by Cymin Samawatie
2. As ney (Cymin Samawatie; Text: Dschelâl ed-dîn Rumi)
Naagofte (Benedikt Jahnel; Text: Forough Farrokhzad)
3. Porr kon (Cymin Samawatie; Text: Omar Khayyám)
4. Kalaam/ Dassthaa/ Delbasstegi (Cymin Samawatie/ Cyminology)
5. Gosara - temporary (Cymin Samawatie)

"Cyminology is a quartet whose ethnic mix embraces Iran, Germany, France and India. And though its leader, singer and composer Cymin Samawatie, sings in Farsi and uses some texts by 13th and 14th century Persian poets, musically its roots are in jazz, which is where Benedikt Jahnel (piano/composer), Ralf Schwarz (bass) and Ketan Bhati (drums/percussion) share common ground with their leader. The results are often striking. Samawatie has a pure, direct vocal style, unadorned yet expressive, and Jahnel's choices as accompanist and soloist are spare and telling. The quartet, despite its ethnic diversity, delivers remarkably unified performances even when stretching out. Restraint, rather than overt emotion, is their way. Yet, on a CD full of a uniquely beautiful melancholy, the impression persists that they have a broader range than is disclosed here.“ Irish Times: RAY COMISKEY. This week's jazz CDs reviewed: As Ney, released on ECM.

Das Rote Gras live at Bavarian Broadcast 2010

Sylvaine Hélary (Flutes, Vocals)
Daniel Glatzel (Tenor Saxophone, Clarinet, Melodica)
Mathias Götz (Trombone)
Nicolas Cambon (Cornet, Pichotte)
Karsten Hochapfel (Guitar, Cello)
Benjamin Schäfer (Bass)
Gabriel Hahn (Drums, Casio)

live at Bavarian Broadcast, February 24, 2010

1. "Bourrée" (Johann Sebastian Bach/Karsten Hochapfel)
2. "Polizeihundkalender" (Karsten Hochapfel)
3. "Bajao" (Karsten Hochapfel)
4. "Vorratsdatenspeicherung" (Mathias Götz)
5. "Tous les élephants von à l'école" (Karsten Hochapfel)
6. "Salsatanik" (Karsten Hochapfel)
7. "Senfblau" (Karsten Hochapfel)
8. "Prêtre viré" (Karsten Hochapfel)
9. "Funk" (Karsten Hochapfel)

'Das Rote Gras' is a young band, fueled by explosive creative ideas, shooting through time and space. Different cultural backgrounds (Paris, Berlin, Athens, Seoul, Tettnang) and diverse musical influences (from Ellington via Stravinsky to Radiohead) collide in the here and now: Friction! Inhomogenity! Uproar! The big bang! ... but then, slowly but surely softening ... searching for common ground ... getting a feel for subtilites and music's natural laws ... growing into a unique bandsound in the shapes of detailed suites, experimental soundscapes, Moroccan Gnawa-Rhythms and pulsating Wave-Grooves... Always driven by collective joy as well as the strong personalities of every musician but most of all the love of music and all the risks that dwell in its' depths.

Joe Locke Force of Four live at JazzBaltica 2009

Joe Locke, vib
Robert Rodriguez, p
Ricardo Rodriguez, b
Johnathan Blake, dr
Special Guest:
Nils Wuelker, tp

recorded live at Große Konzertscheune, Salzau, July 3, 2009

1. Like Joe
2. No Moe
3. Ruminations
4. Laura
5. Available In Blue
6. Alpha Punk
7. Saturns Child

Joe Locke leads a unique new quartet, made so by the melding of four distinct musical personalities into a fresh sounding ensemble. The influences of New York, Cuba, Philadelphia and Puerto Rico, as well as the many places travelled by these four player/composers, come together in this group.
"This is one of the very best groups I've ever assembled", says Locke. "Whether the music is swinging hard, funky or delicate, these guys know how to squeeze the juice out of the material. Playing with this band is really rewarding." Their great record "Force of Our" was released in 2008 on Origin.

NDR Bigband feat. Jacky Terrasson ‘A Blue Note Tribute to Horace Silver’ live at Jazzfest Berlin 2009 - UPDATE

(Photo of Horace Silver © by Francis Wolff/Mosaic)

Jörg Achim Keller · leader
Jacky Terrasson · piano
Fiete Felsch, Peter Bolte · alto sax
Christof Lauer, Lutz Büchner · tenor sax
Frank Delle · baritone sax, clarinet, bass clarinet
Thorsten Benkenstein, Ingolf Burkhardt, Claus Stötter, Reiner Winterschladen · trumpet
Dan Gottshall, Klaus Heidenreich, Stefan Lottermann · trombone
Ingo Lahme · bass trombone
Ingmar Heller · bass; Ralph Salmins · drums

Recorded live at Haus der Berliner Festspiele, Große Bühne, Berlin, November 7, 2009

Tribute to Horace Silver Suite (arranged by Jörg Achim Keller)
1. Ecaroh (Silver)
2. Peace (Silver)
3. Filthy McNasty (Silver)
4. Lonely Woman (Silver)
5. Nutville (Silver)
6. Song for my father (Silver)

The list of jazz musicians who have been co-laborating with the NDR Bigband reads like an endless Who’s Who of Jazz.
This season’s special edition is dedicated to Blue Note recording artist, piano player Horace Silver. One of the original protagonists of hardbop and funk jazz and, together with Art Blakey, founder of the legendary Jazz Messengers he had one of the biggest popular successes of the jazz history with his composition Song For My Father in 1963. Since Silver’s high age and fragile health don’t allow stage appearances these days, his part is congenially covered by 43-year-old label mate Jacky Terrasson.