Swedish bassist, cellist, composer and arranger Lars Danielsson is well-know and admired throughout the International jazz scene for his lyrical playing and strong groove. Born in 1958, he is a musician with particularly broad interests. At the conservatory in Gothenburg he had studied classical cello, before changing to bass and to jazz. As a bassist he has a uniquely rounded sound, which is as lyrical as powerful.

The "Lars Danielsson Quartet" with former Miles Davis saxophonist David Liebman, pianist Bobo Stenson and legendary ECM drummer Jon Christensen has received a lot of recognition and numerous awards during the 18 years of its existence. Danielsson has released ten solo-albums since 1980 with his quartet and guests such as Alex Acuña and John Abercrombie. The Quartet has been a testing ground for Danielsson’s work as a composer and arranger, which has extended over the last years to include both - symphony orchestra and big band music. He has worked with Denmark’s Radio Concert Orchestra as well as the JazzBaltica Ensemble as a composer, arranger and producer.

Lars Danielsson has worked with: Randy and Michael Brecker, John Scofield, Jack DeJohnette, Mike Stern, Billy Hart, Charles Lloyd, Terri Lyne Carrington and Dave Kikoski. He has also been a member of the "Trilok Gurtu Group".

As a producer, Lars Danielsson worked with Cæcilie Norby, Jonas Johansen, the Danish Radio Concert Orchestra and Viktoria Tolstoy.

In 2007, he received a commission for a piece with the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestrafeaturing himself as a soloist together with Leszek Moždžer. He has also received a commission from the NDR Big Band and Wolfgang Haffner to write a piece for the JazzBaltica Festival 2007. Furthermore, he has been working with the St. Petersburg Symphony Orchestra in collaboration with Vytas Sondeckis and Bugge Wesseltoft.

His 2008 album “Pasodoble” was a huge success. Jazzwise UK wrote about Danielsson’s collaboration with Polish pianist Leszek Moždžer: “A clarity of thought and execution rarely encountered in jazz.”

“Pasodoble” was followed by another collaboration with Leszek Moždžer on the 2009 album “Tarantella”. Once more the album caused enthusiastic reactions by Jazzwise: “Easily Danielsson’s finest album to date, it also numbers among the finest albums in the ACT catalogue.”

On his most recent album “Liberetto”, Lars Daniellson teams up with Armenian piano shooting Star “Tigran”, e.s.t. drummer Magnus Öström guitarist John Paricelli and Trumpeter Arve Henriksen to discovers new musical spaces and the freedom of music between chamber jazz, classic and European folk music.

Michael Wollny, born in 1978 in Schweinfurt, internationally successful jazz pianist, music inventor, unconventional thinker, popular figure. Nobody plays piano like him. His trademark: the unpredictable, the quest for the never-before-heard, the courage to devote himself to the moment, to make the unforeseen sound self-evident. His desire to keep reinventing himself, both in terms of sound and composition; that is what makes him a “consummate piano maestro” (FAZ) and “the biggest (jazz) musician personality that Germany has produced since Albert Mangelsdorff” (Hamburger Abendblatt).

"As an improviser, you often find that it‘s not the compositions themselves you‘re playing, but your own memories of them. And as these memories come back to you in the moment, they assert their continuing existence in the here and now," says pianist/composer Michael Wollny. In other words, songs are like ghosts. Wollny‘s new album "Ghosts" is a gathering of some of the ghosts that regularly haunt him. Typically for Wollny, they range from classics like Franz Schubert's "Erlkönig" to jazz standards, film music, songs with a certain fragility by Nick Cave, say, or the band Timber Timbre, and also include his own darkly evocative original compositions.

In addition to Michael Wollny‘s leanings towards scary fantasy, the idea of "hauntology" is an important one for him. This term, which has been a looming presence in debates about pop music for some time, awakens memories of a distant past: forgotten, ghostly and spectral sounds. Wollny: "This perspective, these sounds and not least the term itself have preoccupied me in the past few months – and those reflections have led to the idea of producing a piano trio album dealing with the subject." A ghost album, then, that ventures into the depths of conscious and unconscious memory, sifts through stories originating in the past and which cast shadows on the present. This is a story of the friendly ghosts which surround us...but also of some evil spirits which we thought would never return.

The line-up to be heard on "Ghosts" is a direct follow-up from "Weltentraum", an album which now clearly stands as a cornerstone in Wollny's discography, since it established his reputation as an artist "who can turn every conceivable piece of music into an experience to take your breath away" (Die Zeit). American bassist Tim Lefebvre‘s very particular sound and vibe are to be heard on albums by David Bowie, Wayne Krantz and Elvis Costello. Wollny‘s most recent adventure alongside him was the internationally acclaimed project "XXXX". Wollny says: "When you work with Tim, you're not just working with one of the world's top bass players - Tim always has a foot in the world of sound processing, and is constantly expanding his electronic tool-kit. In addition to that, he creates phenomenal clarity in music and in overall sound, which has an unbelievable effect: it gives a shape and an organisation to the music without ever restricting you."

Wollny has been playing with drummer Eric Schaefer for almost 20 years. Like Lefebvre, he is also a complete original, a musician with an almost orchestral approach to sound, an unmistakable sense of groove and impressive individuality."The three of us are aligned in a special , inexplicable way. It‘s hard to describe but the effect is massive," says Wollny. "Last but not least, we are connected by the long time we have spent together. As a trio we have a specific sound, and we are now developing that in a wholly new direction." On "Ghosts", the trio has created a sound in the specific tradition of "Southern Gothic": deep, earthy, full of vibrating, rattling low-tuned strings and drumheads, evoking memories of clapped-out guitar amps, distorted cones of speakers cones. The atmosphere here is oppressively hot, the air heavy with dust.

Before "Ghosts" was actually recorded, another trio - Michael Wollny and the two co-producers Andreas Brandis and Guy Sternberg- convened. Brandis, who had already been heavily involved in the concept of "XXXX", brought to the table the concept of an album of songs, with the right people involved. Sternberg - he, as sound engineer, and Wollny had created the sound world of "Wunderkammer", which was to serve as the point of departure for this new album. Wollny says: "Even before the setlist for the album was fixed, I had a very clear sound in mind, which we discussed extensively with Guy and Andreas beforehand." The trio inhabits an acoustic space where nothing is superfluous or goes to waste: the long-dying resonance from a cymbal, drum or plucked string, or a sound from a reverberant surface, all are somehow there in the air. And sometimes all that remains is an acoustic or an electronic echo, a sound that hovers and acquires its own mysterious and spectral existence.

All the tracks on the album have one thing in common: each is a snapshot in the life of an individual song. Wollny: "Especially in jazz, there is never one definitive version of a piece. The standards repertoire always haunts you in the best sense of the word, these songs are never finished, they always resurface." And so, when it comes to classics such as "I Loves You Porgy" and "In a Sentimental Mood", Wollny, Lefebvre and Schaefer‘s primary point of reference is not the original compositions, but versions by Nina Simone and John Coltrane / Duke Ellington. And from a time before jazz standards, there are the spirits that inhabit folk songs and which reappear whenever these songs are sung. As, for example, in the traditional Irish folk song "She Moved Through the Fair", which is almost a prototype for the idea that ghost stories are to a large extent also love stories. As is also the case for "Willow's Song" - a seductive and dangerous love song from the legendary soundtrack for the cinema thriller "Wicker Man", a classic of the Nordic horror genre, as strange as it is frightening. Also related to "grand guignol" and nature: a startlingly vivid arrangement of Franz Schubert's "Erlkönig". In addition, in reference to the sultry "Southern Gothic": "Hand of God" by Nick Cave & Warren Ellis, audibly dedicated to Wollny's great mentor, whom he describes as the "Hand of God", Joachim Kühn. And furthermore, "Beat the drum slowly" by the band Timber Timbre, a perennial favourite of Wollny's, and "Ghosts" by David Sylvian - perhaps the clearest representation of the themes that characterise "Ghosts": here we find that melodies and sounds can haunt memories that stay either hidden or repressed, and in a way that is at the same time seductive, touching, mysterious and profound. Two original compositions by Wollny find their place naturally in this cleverly selected programme, which is as heterogeneous as it is coherent: first is Wollny's eponymous contribution to "Hauntology", for him "a ‘song without words‘ which comes from another, past or strange, parallel pop world" and then "Monsters never breathe" with its melody that stretches into infinity and could only ever be sung if it were possible to sing without needing to pause for breath.

"All the songs are living ghosts and long for a living voice" wrote the Irish poet Brendan Kennelly (1936 - 2021) in one of his most famous poems. For Michael Wollny, this line is a cryptic and yet profound insight. It adds an eerie beauty and serves as a motto for his fascination for the magic of songs which this recording represents. When we talk about ghosts, we look into what seems to be the past, and bring back memories from it into our lives. We as listeners can all believe in the "Ghosts" that the Michael Wollny Trio hear. Because we can all hear them and recognise them.

Tender-hearted yet tenacious, Nils Landgren is a world-class artist. His Funk Unit’s groove is irresistible, and The Man with the Red Horn himself has led the band through their highly successful run of CDs, and in rapturously received concerts everywhere from Stockholm to Beijing. "Funk is my Religion" is the band’s eleventh album – the album title just says it all. Landgren and his Norsemen bring a passion, an intensity and a freshness to their craft which has remained undimmed since the start. For more than 25 years, jazz-funk has been the force driving Landgren. This veritable elixir of life produces the bubbling energy, groove and joy that can be heard and felt in every note of the music. The band’s deliciously easy and laid-back vibe gets straight through to audiences. With the crispness of their funk rhythms, blazing brass, cool vocals and persuasive melodies, a new chapter for the Nils Landgren Funk Unit is only just beginning.

Wolfgang Haffner is unique: he has a phenomenal sense of drive and propulsion, a versatility which allows him to play in many idioms, an infallible instinct for focus and direct communication, and remarkable talents as a composer as well. This combination of skills and artistry are what have made him the most important drummer from Germany of his generation. He was born in 1965 in Wunsiedel in Franconia, a small town near the Czech border. As the son of a church music director and a piano teacher, he found his way into music very early. Haffner remembers clearly the day he became a drummer. He was just six years old when his father brought home a drum kit. "It was there in the room. I just sat down behind it, and that was it." Already as a teenager he was drumming his way through the regional music scene with sensational results, and it was not long before his talent was really spotted: at 18 the great Albert Mangelsdorff took him into his band. This was to be a 20-year association, and their partnership was to prove hugely formative for Haffner both as musician and as a person. As his star rose ever higher, Haffner’s irrepressible energy and zest for playing brought him to work with countless stars and across all styles: he played in the big bands of Peter Herbolzheimer, WDR and NDR; for two years while still in his twenties he was in Chaka Khan's band, he spent eleven years with Klaus Doldinger’s Passport, four years with Konstantin Wecker... He worked with a host of jazz musicians including Al Jarreau, Pat Metheny, Nils Landgren, Jan Garbarek, Randy Brecker, Bugge Wesseltoft, Nils Petter Molvaer, Mike Stern, Larry Carlton, Ivan Lins and the German all-star band Old Friends. And there were also stars from the pop and hip-hop scene such as Nightmares on Wax, the Fantastischen Vier, Xavier Naidoo, and Max Mutzke. In the fusion genre he was in the quartet Metro as well as producer of the Icelandic band Mezzoforte for their album "Forward Motion". Well over 400 recordings and thousands of concerts (including a 280-day world tour in 2000 and a total of 28 tours of Asia alone to date!). He has played in over 100 countries worldwide. One reason why Haffner is always in such demand is that playing the drums for him is never an end in itself, he always puts himself at the service of the music and of the band. This is especially evident in his own projects, contexts which reveal a musician who is complete, yet always curious and open to following new directions. These qualities shine through in his NuJazz project Zappelbude, founded together with keyboardist Roberto Di Gioia, a band which was far ahead of its time in the 1990s; and also in his ACT debut under his own name, "Shapes", recorded by the quintet in 2006, which he revived two years later in a purely acoustic trio version; or with "Round Silence", for which he received an ECHO Jazz award in 2010; and in "Heart of the Matter", on which he is joined by his friends Götz Alsmann, Till Brönner, Thomas Quasthoff, Sebastian Studnitzky and Sting’s guitarist Dominic Miller. Among this long list career highlights, probably his most important and personal project is one that he has completed in the past six years. It is his trilogy of albums entitled "Kind of...". Whereas the sound of funk, electronica or pop had often been a major focus up to this point, Haffner dedicated himself in this trilogy to three themes that are personal to him, and recorded the music in a much more intimate small-group setting. "Kind of Cool", released in 2015, features the great heroes of cool jazz, figures who were influential for Haffner in his formative years - "Dave Brubeck's Carnegie Hall concert was my first record." The album brings that period into the present with a European all-star band. Here are memories of such greats as Miles Davis, Chet Baker or John Lewis and others, which Haffner transforms into a very personal homage. That is equally true of the second part, "Kind of Spain", his 2017 declaration through jazz of love for flamenco and the Mediterranean music of his former adoptive country - Haffner lived on Ibiza for several years. It won him another ECHO Jazz award in 2018. His list of awards is long, and includes the Kulturpreis Bayern, the Großer Preis der Stadt Nürnberg and the Joachim-Ernst-Behrendt-Ehrenpreis der Stadt BadenBaden. The title and theme of the album which concluded the trilogy, released in February 2020, probably took a lot of people by surprise: "Kind of Tango". Haffner has, however, wanted to emphasize that this is not a typical tango album, but rather a re-imagining of the feel and the spirit of the tango into his own musical universe, inspired by Astor Piazzolla and others. This is an area which has interested him for a long time, and particularly since a concert with the German Allstars in 2004 at the famous Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires. Long-time colleagues such as bassist Lars Danielsson and vibraphonist Christopher Dell are with him on "Kind of Tango", together with stars from abroad like Ulf Wakenius and Vincent Peirani, but also amazing youngup-and-coming, talented people such as pianist Simon Oslender and the singer Alma Naidu. Such habits of bringing on younger musicians run deep with Haffner; he was once given his chance to shine by Albert Mangelsdorff and now, in his turn, he is helping the next generation. These days Haffner is as focused as ever: on his music, on his band, on superb all-star projects like the recent 4-Wheel-Drive with Nils Landgren, Michael Wollny and Lars Danielsson, or on his role as Artistic Director of "Stars im Luitpoldhain" in Nuremberg, the biggest open-air jazz event in Europe which takes place every two years. And whatever new things he undertakes in the future, they will always be blessed with that unmistakable "Haffner touch".