Herbie Hancock – The Imagine Project live at ViennaJazz 2010

Herbie Hancock - Piano, Keyboards
Vinnie Colaiuta – Drums
Tal Wilkenfeld – Bass
Lionel Loueke – Guitar
Greg Phillinganes – Keyboards
Christina Train - Vocals, Violin

recorded live at Staatsoper Wien (Vienna State Opera), July 5, 2010

1. Watermelon Man
2. Don´t Give Up (Peter Gabriel)
3. Actual Proof
4. Tamatant Tilay / Exodus (Bob Marley)
5. Maiden Voyage/ Dolphin Dance/ Round Midnight
6. Speak Like A Child/ Cantaloupe Island
7. The Times, They Are A Changin (Bob Dylan)
8. Space Captain (Matthew Moore)
9. Imagine (John Lennon)

Herbie Hancock is perhaps the most important crossover artist in Jazz today. In 2008 he won a the Album of the Year Grammy for his Pop-Jazz album “River/The Joni Letters”, an honor seldom bestowed on Jazz musicians. The man born Herbert Jeffrey Hancock in Chicago in 1940 achieved prominence in the 1960s with his recordings for Blue Note records.
In addition to his superb solo albums, he also served as a sideman for Miles Davis, Donald Byrd, Kenny Dorham, Freddie Hubbard, Wayne Shorter and many other fine musicians. Herbie Hancock also recorded soundtracks which helped electrify Jazz.
Free thinker that he is, Hancock also extended his talents beyond the realm of Jazz. His current opus, “The Imagine Project”, is an all-star affair, which includes prominent musicians from both the Jazz as well as Pop worlds. Recorded in Mumbai, Paris, London, and Dublin, this project features mutually-diverse musicians such as sitar player Anoushka Shankar, guitarists Jeff Beck and Lionel Louke, and bassist Marcus Miller. The vocalists include the Blues team of Susan Tedeschi and Derek trucks, Pop stars Pink and Seal, Latin musician Juanes, and Africa’s Oumou Sangare.
With this project Herbie Hancock is once again proving that music is the universal language which is optimal for communicating messages advocating world peace, humanity, and tolerance. In addition to the album, the project also has its own website which includes a documentary film, live performances and additional background information.

Geir Lysne & NDR Bigband feat. Stefano Bollani: Visioni live in Hamburg

NDR Big Band
directed by Geir Lysne
Stefano Bollani, piano
Jeff Ballard, drums

recorded live at Studio Rolf Liebermann, Hamburg, June 10 & 11, 2010

1. La Sicilia
2. Il Dormatore - Para Frase
3. Storta Va
4. Elena e Il Suo Violino
5. Il Barbone (Di Bamako)

Italian pianist Stefano Bollani had a clear vision as a child when he was six years old: he wanted to become a famous singer. A few years later he recorded a tape and sent it to singer Renato Carosone  who told him to listen to Jazz and Blues. Stefano did as he was told and became a sought after sideman, until he met trumpet player Enrico Rava, who convinced him finding his own voice in Jazz.  Later on Stefano founded his quintet "Orchestra del Titanic".

Bollani achieved his childhood dream singing through the piano and is now one of the top jazz acts. in Italy and  Europe. When he played at NDR, the idea was born to perform with a real jazz orchestra, the NDR Big Band.

In 2006 Stefano released his album "I visionari".

Carla Bley & Steve Swallow & NDR Bigband: On the Stage in Cages - live in Kiel/ Salzau 2006

Carla Bley, piano
Steve Swallow, bass
Danny Gottlieb, drums
NDR Big Band

recorded live in Kiel/ Salzau, August 2006

1. Appearing Nightly At The Black Orchid, Part 1 (Carla Bley)
Soloists: Carla Bley, p, Steve Swallow, b, Christof Lauer, ts, Nils Landgren, tb, Peter Bolte, as, Danny Gottlieb, dr
2. Los Cocineros (Carla Bley)
Soloists: Fiete Felsch, as; Frank Delle, ts; Nils Landgren, tb; Marcio Doctor, perc
3. Lo Ultimo (Carla Bley)
Soloists: Christof Lauer, ts; Frank Delle, ts; Lutz Büchner, bs; Peter Bolte, as
4. Tijuana Traffic (Carla Bley)
Soloists: Dan Gottshall, tb; Claus Stötter, tp

Post-bop jazz has produced only a few first-rate composers of larger forms; Carla Bley ranks high among them. Bley possesses an unusually wide compositional range; she combines an acquaintance with and love for jazz in all its forms with great talent and originality. Her music is a peculiarly individual type of hyper-modern jazz. Bley is capable of writing music of great drama and profound humor, often within the confines of the same piece. As an instrumentalist, Bley makes a fine composer; she plays piano and/or organ with most of her bands, and while her playing is always quite musical, it's clear that her strengths lie elsewhere. Bley's asymmetrical compositional structures subvert jazz formula to wonderful effect, and her unpredictable melodies are often as catchy as they are obscure. In the tradition of jazz's very finest composers and improvisers, Bley has developed a style of her very own, and the music as a whole is the better for it. (allmusic.com)

Her latest recording "Carla's Christmas Carols" was released in 2008 on Watt.

HR Big Band feat. Joachim Kühn Trio - Out Of The Desert live in Frankfurt 2009

Joachim Kühn, piano, comp. & arr.
Majid Bekkas, oud, guembri, vocals, kalimba
Ramon Lopez, drums
HR Big Band
cond. by Örjan Fahlström

recorded live at HR Sendesaal Frankfurt, Jazzfestival Frankfurt 2009, October 29, 2009

1. Fresh Air
2. Lichtquelle
3. Night in the Desert
4. Der Wanderer
5. Klangzeit

The great avant-garde pianist Joachim Kühn celebrated his 64th birthday in March, 2008, and spent it in the desert doing what he does best – making music. He played in the middle of the Sahara with Moroccan Berbers, the desert musicians of the “Source Bleue des Meski”, a small oasis near the Algerian border. This is documented on his album Out of the Desert. Kühn, his trio members and the North African musicians share the Maghreb’s heat, its richness of colours and its variety of forms. Departing from this experience and this fundus of material, Kühn wrote a special programme for the hr-Bigband. The 2009 premiere at German Jazzfestival Frankfurt was an overwhelming success and Frankfurter Allgemeine magazine even praised the stirring performance a “musical miracle”.

Joachim Kühn, first and foremost world-renowned as an imaginative virtuoso, in this project also impressively bears witness to his capabilities as a composer and big band-arranger. His input is the perfect starting point for the vibrant attacks of one of Germany’s longest-serving jazz orchestras which happily contributes all of its wealth of experience reaching from swing to avant-garde. 

HR Big Band feat. Steffen Schorn: Tuvawabohu! – Mongolia live at 41st German Jazzfestival Frankfurt 2010

Steffen Schorn | cond, arr, bs
Nara Naranbaatar Purevdor | Moorin Hoor (Horsefiddle), Hoomii (Overtone singing)
Epi Enkhjargal Dandarvaanchig | Horsefiddlebass, Umzad
Badma Badamkhorol Sandandamba | voc
Bodek Janke | perc
Frank Wellert, Thomas Vogel, Martin Auer, Axel Schlosser | tp
Günter Bollmann, Peter Feil, Christian Jaksjø | tb
Manfred Honetschläger | bass-tb
Heinz-Dieter Sauerborn, Oliver Leicht, Tony Lakatos, Julian Argüelles, Rainer Heute | reeds
Martin Scales | g;  Peter Reiter | p; Thomas Heidepriem | b; Jean Paul Höchstädter | dr

recorded live at HR Sendesaal Frankfurt, October 28, 2010

1. Introduction
2. F.A. (Enkhjargal Dandarvaanchig)
Soloists: Peter Feil, tb; Oliver Leicht, alto clarinet; Bodek Janke, perc
3. Far Away (Schorn)
Soloists: Steffen Schorn, bass-fl; Martin Scales, gt; Bodek Janke, tabla
4. Gii´ngo
5. Mongolian Love Song (Gool´dingor)
6. Moorun Torg´un (Horse Race) (Enkhjargal Dandarvaanchig)
Soloists: Axel Schlosser, tp; Tony Lakatos, ts
7. Sana ch´riin (Naranbaatar Purevdor)
8. Aryuna - Die Heilige (Schorn)

For this very special project Steffen Schorn arranged original Mongolian folk songs for the HR Big Band featuring three soloists from Mongolia playing horse fiddle and doing some very nice overtone singing. I have no idea how to spell the titles of these tracks correctly, I wrote down just what I heard, but due to my bad Mongolian I might have spelled them wrong... can someone help?

Enkhjargal Dandarvaanchig is one of the most active, open minded and creative Mongolian musicians and has played with a lot of different people from all over the world.

Lansiné Kouyaté – David Neerman Quartet feat. Mamani Keita & Moriba Koita live at 41st German Jazzfestival Frankfurt 2010

Lansiné Kouyaté | balaphon
David Neerman | electric & acoustic vibes
Antoine Simoni | b
David Aknin | dr
Mamani Keita | voc
Moriba Koita | ngoni

recorded live at HR Sendesaal Frankfurt, October 30, 2010

1.
2.
3.
4.
5. Djanfa Magni
6. Bamanan Don
7. Boloba
8. Touma
9.

As youngest son of the famous Malian female bard Siramori Diabaté, Lansiné is born into the tradition of the Kela griots (French term for West African bards/diplomats). This group of griots is particularly recognized for its narrations of the Sundjata epopee. His mother remains for many Malian people one of the greatest jelimusow (female bard) who paved the way for Malians modern female singers.
Lansiné began playing the balafon with his father Nankoman Kouyaté. As he was still too young to join the famous national music groups of Mali, he first participated in local ceremonies in his home region within the Kangaba district, located about 100km from Bamako. At the age of 12, he was chosen by the national competition “Biennale” to join the prestigious « Ensemble instrumental national du Mali » (Malian National Instrumental Orchestra) where he met Ballaké Cissoko, Baba Sissoko, Toumani Diabaté and other artists.
In 1984 Lansiné's first trip out of Mali was to France on a tour, where in 1989 he settled to play with his uncle Kassé Mady Diabaté’s group. In the 90s Lansiné played for six years with Salif Keita and world toured with his group. Since then, he has performed with a wide range of artists: Mory Kanté, Baaba Maal, Moriba Koita, Manu Dibango, Positive Black Soul, Sekouba Bambino, Hank Jones, Jean-Jacques Avenel, Cheick Tidiane Seck, etc.

David and Lansiné, together with string bass player Ira Coleman and drummer Laurent Robin just recorded their first album, “Kangaba”, named after Lansiné’s native village in Mali.

Stephan Schmolck Harm-o-troniX live at 41st German Jazzfestival Frankfurt 2010

Stephan Schmolck | b, electronics
Hans-Peter Salentin | tp
Burkard Kunkel | bassetthorn
Walerie Kühl | p, keyb
Harald Oeler | acc
Martin Standke | dr

recorded live at HR Sendesaal Frankfurt, October 28, 2010

1. Never Change a Winning Team (Ein Blick zurück)
2. Symbiosis
3. Styles Conclusion
4. The Caper
5. April Blues
6. Move In Transition

Frankfurt-based bassist Stephan Schmolck opened this year's German Jazz Festival with his sextet called Harm-O-Tronix.
Schmolck, who will receive the Hessen Jazz Award this year, is a local legend on Frankfurt´s Jazz scene. He has played with nearly everyone there from Albert Mangelsdorff, Heinz Sauer, Bob Degen until Christof Lauer. "Stephan Schmolck proved to be both a noticeable composer of atmospheric ballads and an organizer of suite-like sound kaleidoscopes" (Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung). In 2008 he released his album "Back and Forth Electric +" featuring Bob Degen on piano.

Transition in Tradition – Courtney Pine Group salutes Sidney Bechet live at 41st German Jazzfestival Frankfurt 2010

Courtney Pine | ss, ts, bcl, fl
Omar Puente | violin
Zoe Rahman | p
Cameron Pierre | g
Darren Taylor | b
Robert Fordjour | dr

recorded live at HR Sendesaal Frankfurt, October 28, 2010

1. Haiti
2. New Orleans (a.k.a. Crescent City Blues)
3. Le Matin Est Noir
4. The Tale Of Joe Harriott
5. Toussaint l´ouverture
6. Au Revoir
7. Afropean

Courtney's eagerly anticipated 12th studio album "Transition in Tradition", and his debut release on Destin-E World Records, not only pays tribute to the first great saxophone star Sidney Bechet, but also marks several new forays into sound for the ground breaking Jazz Warrior.

The music was composed and evolved through a series of shows in the UK during 2007 before Courtney brought his band into the studio to document
and capture the energy, support  and encouragement that only a live audience can give.

Bill Evans Soulgrass with special guest Sam Bush live at 41st German Jazzfestival Frankfurt 2010

Bill Evans | ts, ss
Ryan Cavanaugh | banjo
Mitch Stein | g
Mark Egan | el-b
Josh Dion | dr, voc
Sam Bush | mandolin, voc

recorded live at HR Sendesaal Frankfurt, October 30, 2010

1. Celtic Junction
2. Sweet Tea
3. Introduction of the Band
4. Snap Dragon
5. Georgia
6. Katy Hill (Bill Monroe)
7. Same Ol´ River (Sam Bush)
8. Ode To The Working Man
9. Feel (Josh Dion)

Throughout his 20-year career as a solo artist, multi Grammy nominated saxophonist Bill Evans has explored a variety of musical settings that go well beyond the confines of traditional jazz, including hip-hop, fusion, reggae, Brazilian and slamming funk. Evans steps into more adventurous territory on Soulgrass, blending jazz, funk and roots music into a seamless and wholly unique hybrid of quintessentially American styles.  His daring collaboration with Bela Fleck and Nashville session aces Sam Bush, Stuart Duncan and Jerry Douglas on "Soulgrass" is Bill's latest exploration in an ever-evolving career. More currently, Bill finished his new and latest CD titled "The other side of something" (released on Intuition) featuring, once again, Bela Fleck, Victor Wooten, Sam Bush, Pat Bergeson, plus the addition of musicians like Dennis Chambers, Richard Bona, and his current working band of Chris Howes, Joel Rosenblatt and Ryan cavanaugh, etc. "The other side of Something" is the next step after "Soulgrass".

Jake Shimabukuro Ukulele Solo live at 41st German Jazzfestival Frankfurt 2010

Jake Shimabukuro | ukulele

recorded live at HR Sendesaal Frankfurt, October 30, 2010

1. Introduction
2. One For Three
3. Dragon
4. Bring Your Adz
5. Blue Roses Falling
6. Me & Shirley T
7. Let´s Dance Flamenco Ukulele
8. Sakura Sakura (Japanese Traditional)
9. Spain (Chick Corea)
10. Orange World
11. While My Guitar Gently Weeps (George Harrison)
12. Bohemian Rhapsody (Queen)
13. Ave Maria (Franz Schubert)

It's rare for a young musician to earn comparisons to the likes of Jimi Hendrix and Miles Davis. It's even harder to find an artist who has entirely redefined an instrument by his early thirties. But Jake Shimabukuro (she-ma-boo-koo-row) has already accomplished these feats, and more, in a little over a decade of playing and recording music. As the San Francisco Gate recently posited about the Hawaiian musician: "The sounds the boyish 33-year old wrings from his ukulele…are unlike anything else in the history of the instrument."

Yes, the ukulele. In the hands of Jake Shimabukuro, the traditional Hawaiian instrument of four strings and two octaves is stretched and molded into a complex and bold new musical force. On an album like his new ‘Peace Love Ukulele,' Jake and his "uke" effortlessly (it seems) mix jazz, rock, classical, traditional Hawaiian music and folk, creating a sound that's both technically masterful and emotionally powerful…and utterly unique in the music world.

Jake released som great albums, for example the 2009 CD "Live"

HR Big Band feat. Aki Takase & Rudi Mahall: The Music of Eric Dolphy live at 41st German Jazzfestival Frankfurt 2010

Manfred Honetschläger | cond
Jim McNeely | arr
Aki Takase | p
Rudi Mahall | bcl
Frank Wellert, Thomas Vogel, Martin Auer, Axel Schlosser | tp
Günter Bollmann, Peter Feil, Christian Jaksjø | tb
Achim Hartmann | bass-tb
Heinz-Dieter Sauerborn, Oliver Leicht | as
Tony Lakatos, Steffen Weber | ts
Rainer Heute | bs
Martin Scales | g
Thomas Heidepriem | b
Jean Paul Höchstädter | dr

recorded live at HR Sendesaal Frankfurt, October 29, 2010

1. 17 West/ Something Sweet, Something Tender (Eric Dolphy)
Soloists: Aki Takase, p; Rudi Mahall, bcl; Oliver Leicht, cl; Paul Hochstädter, dr; Christian Jaksjø, tb
2. Rudi My Beer! (Takase)
Soloists: Aki Takase, p; Rudi Mahall, bcl
3. Hat And Beard (Dolphy)
Soloists: Aki Takase, p; Rudi Mahall, bcl;  Steffen Weber, ts
4. Serene (Dolphy)
Soloists: Aki Takase, p; Rudi Mahall, bcl
5. Miss Ann (Dolphy)
Soloists: Aki Takase, p; Rudi Mahall, bcl;  Paul Höchstädter, dr; Axel Schlosser, tp
6. 245 (Dolphy)
Soloists: Peter Feil, tb; Rudi Mahall, bcl; Aki Takase, p; Rainer Heute, bcl

Berlin based pianist Aki Takase and bass clarinetist Rudi Mahal did a duo recording featuring tunes by late Eric Dolphy called "Duet for Eric Dolphy" released on enja, so they were a kind of natural choice for the HR Big Band on this tribute. 

Pee Wee Ellis & The Mahotella Queens live at Music Hall, Worpswede 2010

Pee Wee Ellis, tenor saxophone, vocals
Fred Ross - vocals
Ty - rap
Raymond Doumbe - Bass


Tony Remy - Guitar

Peter Madsen - Keys

Mamadou Sarr - Percussion


Guido May - Drums


James Morton - Alto Sax


Josh Arcoleo - Sax
Guests: The Mahotella Queens
Hilda Tloubatla, Nobesuthu Mbadu and Mildred Mangxola, vocals

recorded live at Music Hall, Worpswede, May 15, 2010

1. Soul Pride (James Brown)

2. No Discrimination (Tony Allen)

3. The Chicken (Alfred “Pee Wee” Ellis)

4. Din Don Dan (Alfred “Pee Wee” Ellis, Cheikh Lô, Guido May)

5. I Got The Feeling (James Brown)

6. Umuntu (Simon Nkabinde)

7. Please, please, please (James Brown, Johnny Terry)

8. Make It Funky (James Brown)

9. Pass The Peas (James Brown)

10. Cold Sweat (James Brown, Alfred “Pee Wee” Ellis)
11. Say It Loud, I’m Black And Proud (James Brown)

12. I Got You (I Feel Good) (James Brown)

Pee Wee Ellis and a host of African superstars are
 bringing music full circle with an innovative project called Still Black, Still Proud.
Pee Wee Ellis has been described as "The Man Who Invented Funk" for
 his work with James Brown, bringing R&B into the era of Funk, starting
 with Pee Wee's seminal 1967 song, Cold Sweat – arguably the first pure
 modern Funk song – and 25 more James Brown hits. It started a revolution in music.
Funk was the renewal of the African in African-American music, making
J ames Brown's music immensely popular, deeply felt and vastly
 influential in Africa.
So it only makes sense that Africa now comes to James Brown, with a host of African stars joining with Pee Wee Ellis in a rhythm-fueled tribute 
to the worldwide circle that Funk has become.

Joe Lovano Nonet: Birth of the Cool & More - live at German Jazzfestival Frankfurt 2009

Photo Credit: Jimmy Katz

Joe Lovano, ts, alto-cl, aulochrome
Steve Slagle, as, ss, fl
Ralph Lalama, ts, cl
Gary Smulyan, bs, bcl
Barry Ries, tp
Larry Farrell, tb
James Weidman, p
Cameron Brown, b
Lewis Nash, dr

recorded live at 40th German Jazzfestival, HR Sendesaal, 

Frankfurt am Main/Germany, October 29, 2009

1. Streams of Expressions
2. Streams of Expressions: Cool (Pt.II)
3. Prelude/ Moon Dreams
4. Move

Streams of Expression, Lovano's 18th album for Blue Note Records, unites disparate themes from his own discography, not to mention jazz history as a whole.
Streams of Expression reunites Lovano with the great composer, conductor, and musicologist Gunther Schuller (their first collaboration was Rush Hour, Blue Note, 1995), and draws upon everything from the cool school to late-era Coltrane, offering a holistic take on jazz, present and future. The album is comprised of two extended, multipart pieces (Streams of Expression Suite, Birth of the Cool Suite) and three stand-alone tunes (Blue Sketches, Buckeyes, Big Ben) and features an augmented incarnation of Lovano's nonet from the albums 52nd Street Themes (2000) and On this Day . . . At the Vanguard (2003). Three of the tracks showcase Lovano in a trio setting, recalling his Trio Fascination series, regarded as a contemporary classic.

Enrico Rava Quintet live at JazzBaltica 2004

Enrico Rava - Trumpet
Gianluca Petrella - Trombone
Andrea Pozza - Piano
Rosario Bonaccorso - Bass
Roberto Gatto - Drums

recorded live at Große Konzerscheune Salzau, July 2004

1. Sand
2. Rain
3. Algir Dalbughi
4. Nature Boy
5. Happiness Is To Win a Big Prize (in cash…)
6. Art Deco
7. Estate (feat. Roberta Gambarini)

“Contemporary Italian jazz can be said to have begun with Enrico Rava”, writer Mike Zwerin observed in the International Herald Tribune.
Featuring his regular Italian quintet with trombonist Gianluca Petrella, pianist Stefano Bollani, bassist Rosario Bonaccorso and drummer Roberto Gatto, “Easy Living” (released in 2004 on ECM) was recorded in Udine, near Rava’s Genovan home. It finds Enrico, in his 65th year, playing with unforced inspiration. Working ‘in the tradition’, he is characteristically disinclined to be limited by it. And his trumpet sings, perhaps more eloquently than ever. “I’m extremely happy about this record”, Rava told American web journal All About Jazz. “I think it’s by far the best record I ever made. Everybody on the record sounds beautiful. The session was so easy, so relaxed… Everybody was very much into the music.”
In general, the disc bears out the judgement of the Jazzpar Prize jury who elected Rava Musician of the Year in 2002. “Rava has proven himself adept at many styles… His bittersweet music does not fit neatly into any one genre. He can play fiery and lyrical lines and he can generate romantic atmospheres. Enrico Rava may shift between abstraction and structure but he mostly plays the trumpet with a warm, mellow sound – smooth and intoxicating. Sometimes his slow, spiralling, bop-like lines glide into free terrain. His phrases often close with a slur and he may employ half valves and other means to obtain a lyrical and adventuresome voice.” He may indeed, and on “Easy Living”, that lyricism is much in evidence.

Django Bates Trio "Beloved Bird" live at The Vortex, London 2010

Django Bates - Piano

Petter Eldh - Bass

Peter Bruun - Drums

recorded live at "The Vortex", London, April 13, 2010

1. Moose The Mooche (Parker)

2. Little Suede Shoes (Parker)

3. Hot House (Dameron)

4. Ex Pat (Django Bates)

5. Ah-Leu-Cha (Parker)

6. Now's The Time (Parker)

We proudly present a concert by pianist Django Bates and his new trio Beloved Bird, in which they perform new interpretations of music by Bates' hero, the pioneering saxophonist Charlie Parker. Bates has said, 'having heard Charlie Parker's music from my birth onwards, I knew it was good in the way that I knew that food was good. It was nutrition: a life force'. Parker classics such as Now's The Time and Moose the Mooche will be re-arranged and de-constructed resulting in various levels of recognizability.
Beloved Bird features Petter Eldh on bass and Peter Bruun on drums. Best known for playing keyboards, this is the first time Bates has toured with an acoustic piano trio in many years, and he acknowledges that two classic American piano trios provided particular inspiration: the Bill Evans Trio and The Bad Plus. For the latter, the admiration is certainly mutual, and this programme also features an extensive interview with Bates by Bad Plus pianist Ethan Iverson.
Now residing in Copenhagen, where he's Professor of Rhythmic Music at the Rhythmic Music Conservatory, Django Bates first came into the public eye as a member of seminal 1980s big band Loose Tubes. Since then he has led his own large ensemble Delightful Precipice, found an outlet for his more experimental compositions with his small group Human Chain and won numerous awards including being voted Best UK Jazz Composer three times by The Wire.