Magnus Lindgren is a multi-talented creator of music. His ability to express himself on the tenorsax, clarinet or flute wears the sign of a real master. However, he is also able to explore interesting music on several other instruments. Multi is a good expression of this gifted person. As a composer he has a great potential to fulfil his own creative impulses. He dresses them in a melodical costume, optimal for the stylish frame that is proper for the moment.

Last but certainly not least; the obvious masterclass in the musically versatile arsenal of Magnus Lindgren is his brilliant emotion for arranging music. The greatness lies in the way he puts together the sublime samples of notes, the sound colours, the rhythm figures, the harmony sequences.

All this in a truly organic way; no risk for overdoing. The final result brings a sence of dewfresh contemporary statement. If you on top of this add the natural gifted Magnus Lindgren´s ability to accommodate the subtle quality from a large range of musical genres; then the comparison with the musical titan Quincy Jones is obvious.

Therefore, it´s not surprising that Quincy is the mentor who Magnus admires the most, along with giants as Miles Davis and Herbie Hancock. In Magnus way of looking at it, those three legends have had the guts to always look further into the universal world of music, even though they already had proven their greatness.

In the same manner Magnus works all the time to extend his musical frames, no matter if he deals with small jazz combos, big bands, choirs with instrumental soloist, intergration between classical orchestra and jazz group, swedish folklore, heavy funk rhythms, brazilian samba or african traditional music. Structures and genres are always given new dimensions, a certain amount of risks are included and the joy to participate is offered to everyone who has the opportunity to experience his enchanting efforts.

When Magnus Lindgren receives well earned honours for his various musicianship he responds with deep confession that his own thoughts on this matter truly is that he has just begun! He claims very prompt that music can vary a lot; the main thing is that it always must be worked out with a solid personality and total honesty.

In his early days, Magnus listened to big band jazz created by Buddy Rich; the melody was Mercy, Mercy, Mercy. With his own words; he was overwhelmed. The first LP he bought was the Michael Jackson album Thriller. It catched him totally. The fact that Quincy Jones had created the intensive dynamic and spectacular varied background for the legendary popicon was a logical summary for the taste of Magnus Lindgren.

All music must come from the bottom of your soul, according to Magnus Lindgren. Therefore, it´s logic that his cd-project from autumn 2013 is called Souls. In a furtile collaboration with the american bassplayer and producer Ira Coleman, Magnus has put together a nice couple of newly written originals. The disc with a certain club feeling and to some degree with old school technology was recorded in New York. The production Souls contents a spectacular group of international musicians, together with vocal artists with star glance. For example the Swedish singers Rigmor Gustafsson, Marie Fredriksson (from Roxette) and Anna Christoffersson. Souls can be considered as a manifest from Magnus Lindgren for his ability to make music with a broad musically spectrum, together with an open hearted attitude.

In Magnus Lindgren´s way of looking at it, the improvisational moment is the centre of the musical universe. The established jazz quartet offers generous possibilities to spread a creative flow. Magnus is steadily returning to that kind of chamber musicial cooperation. He proved it again in the cd-production Four, released 2012. The result gave lots of acclaimed media respons and also a Swedish Grammy nomination. The album Four consists of the world renowned bassplayer Palle Danielsson, the astonishing drummer Jonas Holgersson and Daniel Karlsson respectively Anke Helfrich, two pianoplayers with the ability to give a good back up with sublime expressions. The music is merely Magnus´ own compositions, completed with a colourful version of Michel Jackson´s I Just Can´t Stop Loving You.

Originally from Los Angeles, California, pianist/composer Danny Grissett is a relatively new addition to the New York jazz scene. He started playing the piano at age five, and began studying classically when he turned six. Danny continued his classical training through high school and college, earning his B.A. in Music Education in 1998, while developing a love for jazz along the way. He further explored his love for jazz in graduate school, earning his M.F.A in Jazz Performance from Cal Arts in 2000, and completing studies at the prestigious Thelonious Monk Institute in 2001. There he studied with jazz masters such as Barry Harris, Herbie Hancock, Terence Blanchard, Kenny Barron, Bobby Watson, Jimmy Heath and Carl Allen.
Also during this time he began to establish himself on the LA Jazz scene with the guidance of one of his mentors, drummer Billy Higgins. He began performing more often with distinguished local and touring artists such as Billy Higgins, George Coleman, Jackie McLean, and Ralph Moore. In 2002 he joined drummer Roy McCurdy in the trio of John Heard, (bassist formerly with the trios of Ahmad Jamal and Oscar Peterson.) The invaluable time spent with Heard and McCurdy, playing clubs frequently, talking about music and the scene in NY, proved to be instrumental in cultivating Grissett’s ever increasing thoughts about moving east.
In the summer of 2003 Danny moved to New York, and within the first few months of Grissett’s arrival, he became a sideman of choice for artists such as Vincent Herring and Vanessa Rubin. You can hear Danny on Vincent Herring’s Mr. Wizard, and Ends and Means on High Note, and Live at the Bird’s Eye. He has also been a member of Tom Harrell’s quintet for the last 4 years, appearing on the last two releases from the great trumpeter Light On (2007) and Prana Dance (2008).
In 2006 Danny made his debut as a leader with his first trio recording Promise on the Criss Cross Jazz label, a debut Allmusic.com called “…exquisite, and easily one of the best debuts of 2006.” His second trio recording Encounters was released the following year and he continued to catch the ears of his peers, music lovers, and critics alike. Grissett has been featured in the bands of Nicholas Payton, Steve Wilson, Buster Williams, Russell Malone, and most recently Jeremy Pelt. He has also been busy as a studio musician, recording with the aforementioned Pelt, as well as Jimmy Green, Lage Lund, and Tom Harrell.
Danny continues to perform internationally at jazz festivals and clubs in Italy, France, Germany, Japan, South Africa, Colombia, and many cities within the US. He has performed with other notables such as Freddie Hubbard, Benny Golson, The Mingus Big Band, Marcus Strickland, Steve Nelson, and Louis Hayes.
In May 2009 Danny’s greatly anticipated third recording as a leader Form was released.

Shannon Barnett is a versatile Australian trombonist, vocalist and composer, and graduate of the Victorian College of the Arts. In 2007, she was named Young Australian Jazz Artist of the Year at the Australian Jazz Bell Awards. Barnett has become an important contributor to the Australian music scene, performing in ensembles including Vada, The Bamboos, The Vampires, and as a guest with the Andrea Keller Quartet, on the 2004 ABC Jazz release Angels and Rascals. Barnett has also appeared with the Australian Art Orchestra, Barney McAll's Mother of Dreams and Secrets feat. Kurt Rosenwinkel, Charlie Haden, Flap! and the Paul Grabowsky Sextet, and from 2009-2010, she worked as a multi-instrumentalist and composer with the contemporary circus group Circus Oz. In 2010, Barnett released her debut album as a leader, entitled 'Country', on the Which Way Music label. The recording also features Christopher Hale (acoustic bass guitar), Nashua Lee (electric guitar) and Ben Hendry (drums), and was nominated for Best Jazz Album in the 2010 AIR Awards and Best Jazz Recording in the 2011 ABC Limelight Awards. After attending Dave Douglas' ‘Workshop in Jazz and Creative Music’ in Banff, Canada in 2010, Barnett was inspired to relocate to New York City, where she completed a Master of Music degree. There she performed with the likes of Darcy James Argue's Secret Society, Pedro Giraudo, Cyrille Aimée, Cecile McLorin Salvant, the Jon Faddis Jazz Orchestra of New York and was a regular member of the Birdland Big Band. In early 2014, she moved to Cologne, Germany, to take up a position with the WDR Big Band.

"Jakob Manz will always surprise you," says pianist /keyboardist Roberto Di Gioia, who produced the 21-year-old's new album alongside Siggi Loch. "It is widely known that Jakob can play the saxophone unbelievably well, and also that he can take it in just about every conceivable direction in modern jazz. What is less appreciated is how authentic he sounds when he plays soul, funk and rhythm'n'blues. And just when you think you've heard everything from him, he will play you a blues solo so deep and soulful, it’s incredible." The release of Manz’s jazz-rock debut "Natural Energy" in 2020 gave a good pointer to his potential. That album was followed by headline appearances at important festivals: the Leverkusener Jazztage, Jazz Baltica, and also in the Porsche Arena in Stuttgart where he was a guest soloist at the "70 Years of the SWR Big Band" concert, and then at the ACT30 anniversary concerts in the Berlin Philharmonie. 2022 saw the release of the exquisitely crafted acoustic duo album "The Gallery Concerts I" with pianist Johanna Summer.This showed a different side of Jakob Manz, as an improviser of great depth and sensitivity.

Whereas Jakob Manz's debut album gave us a cross-section of his musical spectrum in all its breadth, "Groove Connection" offers a close-up of what are probably his greatest strengths: the ability to enthral and delight an audience with soulful melody, his incisive soloing and his infallible sense of rhythm. This very rare combination of qualities was the starting point for producers Roberto Di Gioia and Siggi Loch, to which they added a top international top line-up...so the sparks could really fly. Loch comments: "Jakob Manz is an unbelievable talent. For me he stands in the tradition of great saxophonists such as Lou Donaldson, David Sanborn (his hero) and also Klaus Doldinger and his band “Passport”. All of these are musicians who found their characteristic sound on a foundation of jazz, which they combined with soul and blues, and became successful worldwide with it."

The bar was deliberately set high for "Groove Connection", and right from the start. It should be an album of international standard, with musicians like Jakob Manz who penetrate the vocabulary of soul, jazz and rhythm'n'blues deeply and make them their own. Roberto Di Gioia, on keys and also a songwriter, was a shoo-in from the beginning – partly because of his history with Klaus Doldingers Passport and his current groove-jazz band "Web Web", and also because of his pop and soul sensibility as a producer of German Motown artist Joy Denalane and hugely popular rapper / singer Max Herre.

First choice to underpin the band from the bass was American Tim Lefebvre, another hero of Jakob Manz’s, an authority on his instrument and collaborator with artists as diverse as David Bowie, Wayne Krantz, Tedeschi Trucks Band and Michael Wollny. A stylish groove comes from the drums, and from the Swede Per Lindvall in particular. His range of credits includes membership of the first Nils Landgren Funk Unit, and also having been drummer for ABBA. Bruno Müller, one of the most sought-after German session guitarists, adds flavoursome funk. The Swedish trombonist Karin Hammar creates a gentler counterpart to Manz's brilliant alto saxophone. There are also guest appearances from guitarist Nguyên Lê, trumpeter Paolo Fresu and speaker Mark Harrington.

As soon as the members of Groove Connection met in the studio, everything clicked instantly. Roberto Di Gioia remembers: "We had everything perfectly prepared, including top-level bass equipment for Tim...who arrives, plugs his €500 no-label touring bass into the amp, starts to play a bit, then Per Lindvall joins in and immediately there’s something happening. That's when I had to shout into the control room that they should start recording immediately." The vibe of those first few minutes continues over the duration of the recording. Everything just flows, everyone seems to grasp subconsciously exactly what the music really needs, which notes to play - and which ones not to. In the end, one or two takes are sufficient for most of the tracks on the album. The fact that it all succeeds so seemingly effortlessly, and that the result sounds so light and unencumbered, but at the same time so rousing, is proof of the fabulous quality of all those involved in the recording. Everyone is at the top of his or her game, and, even more importantly, everyone has deeply internalised the vocabulary and the feeling of this music, there is real communication going on, and a lot of joy in the room. And that joy is audible to listeners from the very first bar - with a mixture of originals and groove-jazz versions of Adele, Billie Eilish, Whitney Houston, Lionel Richie...and many more.

There are very few young jazz musicians who master their instrument with such complete and daunting virtuosity as Jakob Manz, and yet his playing always sounds so unpretentious, clear, soulful and at the service of the tune - all at the same time. His success in doing this is due on the one hand to his talent and the determination with which he works on his musical expression. On the other hand, it is also due to his will to inspire and touch the emotions of the audience with his music. He says it is important to him that he should play his particular instrument, the alto saxophone, in a way that fills the room, but at the same time reaches each individual listener with directness and immediacy. And there is no doubt: he succeeds in this with flying colours, whether it's in a club, a large concert hall, a festival stage... or indeed wherever the listener might hear his new album.

Camille Bertault and David Helbock are two of the most jaw-droppingly talented members of the cohort of European jazz musicians currently in their mid-thirties. Their journeys in improvised music are always adventurous, playful and exciting. She is the rising star of French vocal jazz. He, Austrian-born, is one of the most fascinating pianists on the scene. Their personalities appear to be polar opposites, yet Bertault’s live-wire humour and Helbock’s calm self-assuredness only appear different on the surface. When it comes to the musical choices they make, they are emphatically on the same page. Each is astonishingly versatile, with an innate sense of dramaturgy. This voicepiano duo reaches unbelievable levels of inventiveness here on “Playground”.
“We both love Egberto Gismonti and Hermeto Pascoal, Björk and Monk,” Helbock explains. “We also wanted a classical piece.” The duo found the initial repertoire to explore and to spread their musical wings with relative ease. Bertault’s vocal artistry is hers and hers alone. Her voice is a magnificent instrument to carry a melody, whether at breakneck speed and with devastating precision or at pindrop volume. Helbock’s creativity, as he exploits all the sound possibilities of the grand piano, is completely ‘sui generis’ as well. He dampens the piano strings, he plays directly on them, he uses the piano case as a percussion instrument, he makes use of electronics. And “Playground” is the first time he has worked with loops.
His accompaniment therefore has an almost orchestral scale and depth, a jewel-case for this scintillating and very special voice. The pair have written seven new numbers for the album: we hear the whimsical blues of “Lonely Supamen”, the mysterious “Fabelwesen”, the chanson-esque “Aide-moi” and the ethereal-melancholic “Bizarre”.
“Playground” is a kaleidoscope of sounds and emotions which invigorates, excites – and will always surprise. The craft and technique may be breathtaking, but neither musician ever forgets the essential: “It’s not about showing strength or virtuosity, but about expressing the truth of the moment,” says Camille Bertault. And that is what she and David Helbock have delivered with each and every track.