Showing posts with label Michael Wollny. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Michael Wollny. Show all posts

Friday, October 29, 2021

Christian Brückner & Michael Wollny - Heinrich Heine / Traumbilder (October 29, 2021 ACT Music)

Lyrik & freie Improvisation: Heinrich Heine bereitet die Bühne, setzt den Ton - der entlaufene Romantiker, bekannt für seine elegante Leichtigkeit und den zeit- und gesellschaftskritischen Scharfsinn in seinen Gedichten. Seinen Worten wohnt Musik inne. Deshalb gehört er zu den meist-vertonten deutschen Lyrikern. Nun kosten Christian Brückner und Michael Wollny die fruchtbare Beziehung von Text und Musik aus. Beides führende Künstler in ihrem Metier. Brückner, bekannt als Synchronstimme von Robert De Niro und aus unzähligen Hörbüchern und Filmen, gilt gegenwärtig als erfolgreichster Sprecher Deutschlands. Und Wollny, „der vielseitigste und innovativste deutsche Jazzpianist seiner Generation“ (Der Tagesspiegel), schafft es wie wenige andere, aus den verschiedensten Einflüssen heraus immer wieder neue, atemberaubende musikalische Erlebnisse zu kreieren.

Die Verbindung aus Lyrik und Jazz hat eine lange Geschichte: Anfang der 1960er Jahre wurde sie in Deutschland populär, nachdem zuvor Autoren der US-amerikanischen Beat-Generation, wie Jack Kerouac, diese Welle ausgelöst hatten. Jazzpapst Joachim-Ernst Berendt brachte diese Gattungsmelange in den Hörfunk des SWR und etablierte unter dem Titel „Lyrik & Jazz“ auch eine ganze Schalplattenserie für das Label Philips in Kooperation mit dem legendären Magazin „twen“. Eine Produktion stach dabei besonders heraus und ist bis heute als CD und digital erfolgreich: Heinrich Heine. Siggi Loch, der damals die Serie betreute, machte Berendt den Vorschlag, diese Ausgabe von „Lyrik & Jazz“ Iive im Studio mit Sprechern und Musikern aufzunehmen. Die Protagonisten der Aufnahme aus dem Jahr 1964 waren der „König der Vorleser“ Gert Westphal, sowie der Jazz-Gitarrist Attila Zoller und weitere hochkarätige Musiker wie Emil Mangelsdorff oder Peter Trunk. „Dieses Hörbuch ist eine Kostbarkeit“, befand seinerzeit „Die Welt“.

Nun, 57 Jahre nach der Erstaufnahme, ist Loch erneut und zusammen mit Christian Brückner und Michael Wollny ins Studio gegangen, um eine zeitgenössische Interpretation dieser Idee zu realisieren. Brückner und Wollny erweisen sich als perfektes Paar, um Heine neu erklingen zu lassen. Die beiden kennen sich schon lange und standen schon mehrfach gemeinsam auf der Bühne - vor allem für Vertonungen von Texten des Wort- und Collagen-Künstlers Ror Wolf, zusammen mit Saxofonist Heinz Sauer oder Wollnys aktuellem Trio. Aber auch mit Texten aus dem Jazz-Erzählband „But beautiful“ von Geoff Dyer.
Brueckner & Wollny Photo: Gregor Hohenberg

Die Aufnahmen für „Heinrich Heine: Traumbilder“ profitieren sehr von der aus vielen Auftritten entstandenen Vertrautheit und Chemie zwischen Brückner und Wollny. Im Studio entstanden 24 musikalische Kurzgeschichten, voller Witz, Ironie, Charme und Eindringlichkeit, genau wie auf der Bühne: Als echte Improvisationen. Wollny vertont Brückners Vortrag frei und aus dem Moment heraus, dieser reagiert wiederum so spontan wie virtuos in Ton, Stimmung und Charakter. Bei vier Stücken bilden, auf Impuls von Produzent Siggi Loch, verschiedene Fragmente aus bereits existierenden Stücken den musikalischen Rahmen für die folgende Improvisation: Wollnys „Polygon“ (auf „Ich habe gerochen alle Gerüche“) und „Der Wanderer“ (auf „Ich hab im Traum geweinet“), sowie die Volkslieder „Die Loreley“ (nach dem gleichnamigen Heine-Gedicht) „Es sungen drei Engel“ (auf „Im traurigen Monat November war’s“). Das Resultat der Zusammenarbeit ist eine Verbindung aus Musik und Wort, die einen immer wieder aufhorchen, schmunzeln, nachdenken und bei jedem Hören neue Nuancen entdecken lässt. Ein echtes, einmaliges Hörerlebnis eben.

1. Denk' ich an Deutschland in der Nacht 02:21
2. Traumbild 02:14
3. Ich hatte einst ein schönes Vaterland 02:21
4. Ich habe gerochen alle Gerüche 01:37
5. Ein Jüngling liebt ein Mädchen 01:22
6. Liebesantrag 01:38
7. Die Welt ist dumm 00:33
8. Religion (Dabei muss ich ihnen auch gestehen, Herr Doktor) 03:38
9. Die kleine Harfenistin 01:53
10. Nimmer glaub' ich 01:10
11. Die Loreley (Ich weiß nicht, was soll es bedeuten) 02:35
12. Die Stadt Göttingen, berühmt durch ihre Würste 00:59
13. Die Franzosen glaubten... 00:57
14. Anno 1839 (O Deutschland, meine ferne Liebe) 03:03
15. Liebessehnen 01:33
16. Ein Weib (Sie hatten sich beide so herzlich lieb) 02:51
17. Wenn ich an Deinem Hause vorübergeh' 01:27
18. Im traurigen Monat November war's 04:08
19. Wie sehnt' ich mich so oft 01:39
20. Ich hab' im Traum geweinet 01:50
21. Mr. Heines Blues (Aber ach! Jeder Zoll) 01:51
22. So übel war's in Deutschland nie 02:32
23. Die alten, bösen Lieder 03:05
24. Sie erlischt (Der Vorhang fällt) 02:24

Michael Wollny / piano
Christian Brückner / voice

Text by Heinrich Heine
Recorded by Michael Wollny
Produced by Siggi Loch

Monday, May 3, 2021

Wollny / Parisien / Lefebvre / Lillinger - XXXX (2021 ACT Music)


 eXplore

This story begins with just one sound, originating in the place which Berlin jazz people think of as their living room, the A-Trane. Back in December 2019, the club was host to four leading figures in today’s improvised music scene, who turned this cozy space into their blank canvas, their research lab. In eight sets over four nights, piano phenomenon Michael Wollny, re-inventor of the soprano saxophone Emile Parisien, electric bass icon Tim Lefebvre, and that free spirit of the drum kit Christian Lillinger were given free rein. They had agreed beforehand, incidentally, that nothing should be composed, arranged or pre-planned.

eXpand

As a result, the music we hear doesn’t fit into any category. We’re in uncharted territory, so a good way to capture its essence might be to break it down into its four component parts. First there’s Michael Wollny, here for the very first time playing only on electronic keyboard instruments. He creates a characterful world of retro-futuristic sounds that is very much his own. We find the occasional nod to early Jean-Michel Jarre, references to science fiction and horror movies, and also vivid memories of the sounds of avant-garde Krautrock: "Can" and Irmin Schmidt and Klaus Schulze. As for Tim Lefebvre, here is a musician who has plied his very great craft with stars such as David Bowie, the Tedeschi Trucks Band, John Mayer, Knower, Steely Dan, Elvis Costello and Wayne Krantz. Here he is like a rock in a tempestuous sea. He propels the music forward with a combination of bass and effects. He builds structures and tames unruly elements. The way he lays down a groove is overwhelming. As a counterbalance we find the explosive yet highly sensitive playing of drummer Christian Lillinger. He stacks layer upon layer of rhythms and textures. And the melodic lines of Emile Parisien on soprano saxophone always have an astonishing springy inventiveness. Such is Parisien’s latent energy, it seems as if at any moment he could suddenly become airborne.

eXploit

It takes a particular kind of musician to step forward willingly into a context like this with no fall-back or safety net. Before they actually met, the four musicians had been well aware of the risks. Each of them knew how different the others’ musical vocabularies and heritages were. And there was indeed a kind of tension at the start, which took about a quarter of an hour to subside. What took its place, however, was a collective sense of raised consciousness. The players’ eager curiosity as to what the next turn, the next impulse, the next push will be is palpable to the listener. One can sense the tension between the urge to construct forms, lines, grooves, harmonies, textures, versus the illicit joy of tearing such fragile structures apart before they have even been heard. There are beats and patterns from the 90s, 80s and 70s, all coalescing into cinematic bacchanalia of sound. These four master improvisers and composers all have the urge to rewrite the rules of their musical world – and to do so in real time.

eXterminate

And the story continues. The live sets by the musicians and their equipment produce a wealth of juxtapositions, fascinating collages of instrumental sounds. And in total, the recordings from the A-Trane result in at least eight hours of music. A decision is taken to distil these recordings into just one album that will be more than simply a document of the series of live concerts. Tim Lefebvre has the spark of an idea, and in February 2020, he and Michael Wollny meet producer and sound engineer Jason Kingsland in Atlanta. Kingsland has a background not just of working with renowned indie rock and pop artists, but also a passion for experimentation and improvisation. So the task becomes one of capturing the intoxication and the euphoria of these four Berlin nights, and also to take the abundance of possibilities and whittle them down to a cohesive album. Gradually, over several days and nights, the material is reduced, and a distillate consisting of ten surprisingly succinct tracks emerges. But here’s the paradox: this is a live recording which also sounds like a studio album… and yet every note in it was improvised at the club. What emerges here is an album full of joy, emotion, humour and an almost childlike, naïve pleasure in "playing". And it also presents a new trans-Atlantic group which is absolutely “sui generis” – a quartet which is one of its kind in the world right now.

1. Somewhere Around Barstow (Michael Wollny / Emile Parisien / Tim Lefebvre / Christian Lillinger) 04:14
2. Dick Laurent Is Dead (Michael Wollny / Emile Parisien / Tim Lefebvre / Christian Lillinger) 04:47
3. Too Bright in Here (Michael Wollny / Emile Parisien / Tim Lefebvre / Christian Lillinger) 05:33
4. Grandmother’s Hammer (Michael Wollny / Emile Parisien / Tim Lefebvre / Christian Lillinger) 01:59
5. The Haul (Michael Wollny / Emile Parisien / Tim Lefebvre / Christian Lillinger) 05:03
6. Find the Fish (Michael Wollny / Emile Parisien / Tim Lefebvre / Christian Lillinger) 03:05
7. Doppler FX (Michael Wollny / Emile Parisien / Tim Lefebvre / Christian Lillinger) 03:59
8. Michael vs. Michael (Michael Wollny / Emile Parisien / Tim Lefebvre / Christian Lillinger) 06:50
9. Nörvenich Lounge (Michael Wollny / Emile Parisien / Tim Lefebvre / Christian Lillinger) 03:47
10. Nostalgia for the Light (Michael Wollny) 05:22

Michael Wollny / synthesizer, rhodes & piano
Emile Parisien / soprano saxophone
Tim Lefebvre / electric bass & electronics
Christian Lillinger / drums & percussion

All music improvised by Michael Wollny, Emile Parisien, Tim Lefebvre & Christian Lillinger, except “Nostalgia for the Light” written & arranged by Michael Wollny; “Doppler FX” includes a sample of The Norwegian Wind Ensemble: “Rules of Behaviour Part II” directed by Geir Lysne & Michael Wollny

Recorded by Gleb Zagrebin live at A-Trane, Berlin, December 2019
Mastered by Zino Mikorey, Berlin

Produced and mixed by Jason Kingsland, Michael Wollny & Tim Lefebvre at Martin’s Garden, Roswell, Georgia, February 2020

Executive Producer: Andreas Brandis

Wednesday, November 14, 2018

Various Artists - Magic Moments 11 (ACT MUSIC 2018)


Presenting the 11th edition of ACT's popular Magic Moments series. This CD presents sixty-seven minutes of the best of current jazz. Thoughtful moments sit alongside pure joy and entertainment. With Michael Wollny, David Helbock, Vincent Peirani, Iiro Rantala, Joachim Kühn New Trio, Ida Sand, Lars Danielsson & Paolo Fresu et al.With ACT-releases of 2018: 01 David Helbock’s Random ControlAfrican Marketplace 02 Andreas Schaerer / Luciano Biondini / Kalle Kalima / Lucas NiggliPlanet Zumo 03 Jin JimHouse Of The King 04 Benjamin Schmid & Andreas M. HofmeirConcertino vom Lande - Beim Fernsehen 05 Laila BialiQueen Of Hearts 06 Lars Danielsson & Paolo FresuAmigos 07 Vincent Peirani / Living BeingEnzo 08 NESAhlam 09 TonbruketDig It To The End 10 Emile Parisien Quintet / Vincent Peirani / Michel PortalLe clown tueur de la fête forain...


line up
Michael Wollny, Nils Landgren, Ida Sand, David Helbock, Iiro Rantala, Jin Jim, Benjamin Schmid, Andreas M. Hofmeir, Laila Biali, Lars Danielsson, Paolo Fresu, Vincent Peirani, NES, Tonbruket, Emile Parisien, Michel Portal, Joachim Kühn, KUU!, Julian Wasserfuhr, Roman Wasserfuhr, Jörg Brinkmann, Andreas Schaerer, Kalle Kalima

1 African Marketplace ( Abdullah Ibrahim) 04:23
2 Planet Zumo ( Kalle Kalima) 03:43
3 House Of The King ( Jan Akkerman) 04:31
4 Concertino vom Lande - Beim Fernsehen ( Christof Dienz) 01:59
5 Queen Of Hearts ( Laila Biali) 04:55
6 Amigos ( Lars Danielsson) 02:50
7 Enzo ( Vincent Peirani) 04:27
8 Ahlam ( Nesrine Belmokh & Matthieu Saglio / Leïla Guinoun) 04:41
9 Dig It To The End ( Dan Berglund) 04:05
10 Le clown tueur de la fête foraine III ( Parisien, Touéry, Gélugne & Darrifourcq) 03:59
11 Barcelona - Wien ( Joachim Kühn) 03:50
12 Thank You Iceland ( Kalle Kalima, Frank Möbus & Christian Lillinger / Jelena Kulji?) 04:15
13 Hello Dave ( Michael Wollny) 04:06
14 I Have Nothing Left For You ( Ida Sand) 04:34
15 Cello Bello ( Julian & Roman Wasserfuhr) 04:08
16 Tears For Esbjörn ( Iiro Rantala) 06:01

Curated by Siggi Loch

Cover art by Jiri Geller: Sugar Happy, 2012
with the kind permission of the artist

Wednesday, July 4, 2018

Prince in Jazz (A Jazz Tribute to Prince) WAGRAM MUSIC 2018


A compilation from some true Jazz icons performing covers of the adored songs of the legendary Prince

1 When Doves Cry (feat. Cassandra Wilson) 5:37
Bob Belden Project

2 Little Red Corvette 3:33
Heath Brandon

3 Kiss 5:16
Clotilde Rullaud

4 Strollin' (feat. Lars Danielsson & Jacob Karlzon) 3:35
Viktoria Tolstoy

5 Crazy You 3:57
Osunlade

6 Around the World in a Day 3:54
Ray Lema & Laurent de Wilde

7 Soft and Wet 3:01
N'Dambi

8 I Feel for You 5:42
Angela Galuppo

9 Cream 5:34
David Helbock

10 Nothing Compares 2 U 2:38
Heinz Sauer & Michael Wollny

11 The Question of U (feat. Holly Cole) 3:39
Bob Belden Project

12 1999 7:51
Bob Belden's Manhattan Rhythm Club



Saturday, January 27, 2018

Friday, December 22, 2017

Leszek Możdżer / Iiro Rantala / Michael Wollny - Piano Night (Live) Jazz at Berlin Philharmonic VII (ACT MUSIC 2017)


“Three men, three pianos, one emotion – jazz”. These were the words with which German national TV news succinctly summed up the piano summit on 31st May 2016 in a sold-out main hall of the Berlin Philharmonie – a concert which can now be experienced exclusively on vinyl. And the TV news reporter continued: “Iiro Rantala, Leszek Możdżer, Michael Wollny. Each in a class of his own. Together, they’re a miracle”. Is there perhaps an element of déjà vu in this story? Yes, certainly. Because these were the same three jazz piano greats who had performed at the very first ‘Jazz at Berlin Philharmonic’ in December 2012, the event which triumphantly set in motion the concert series curated by Siggi Loch at the German capital city’s classical music shrine.

Making this second appearance together were three of the most outstanding and established representatives of European jazz, each with a host of awards to their name. Możdżer, Rantala and Wollny are from a generation which mostly went through the rigours of classical study and therefore have a knowledge of that canon and tradition. Each of them has ventured from there into the freedom of jazz, and have not just loved it, but also thrived on it. They also grew up, almost inevitably, living and breathing rock and pop music. In other words, these are musicians who have garnered experiences in all genres and style, and who simply ‘make music’ that transcends technical barriers, and do it “in the spirit of jazz”, which puts them at one with the basic tenet of the ACT label.

After more than a dozen ‘Jazz at Berlin Philharmonic‘ concerts – all of them completely sold out, with all three pianists returning, individually, from other formations – it was exciting to listen out for how the three had developed in the interim since that first concert together. Finnish pianist Iiro Rantala has been integrating completely new colours into his playing – “melodies full of clarity and beauty”, as the Stern, one of Germany’s leading magazines, described them, have become a focus for his artistry.

The two solo albums ‘Lost Heroes’ (from 2011) and ‘My Working Class Hero’ (a tribute for what would have been the 75th birthday of John Lennon in 2015) finally gave him a major international profile. Artistic integrity, a respect for the power of melody and the freedom he has when soloing – Rantala brings all of these elements to the fore with total conviction in his composition ‘Freedom’.

Michael Wollny has also found his artistic freedom – something he has worked towards for ten years. It was with ‘Weltentraum’ (2014) and ‘Nachtfahrten’ (2015), however, that word really started to get round that there was a quite exceptional pianist in Germany, a “complete master of the piano” (Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, FAZ), a musician who seems to be able to find his own surprising solution to every kind of musical or aesthetic proposition. He certainly does that on this album in a duo with Iiro Rantala – ‘White Moon’, a composition by his most important early teacher Chris Beier, who was also the first to spot Wollny’s potential.

There remains the Polish “phenomenon” (Süddeutsche Zeitung) Leszek Możdżer, who is the great romantic among European jazz pianists. His “filigree virtuosity with its light and shade is fascinating, hugely entertaining and nobody gets even close to what he can do as a craftsman of the contemporary piano” was the verdict of the German broadsheet FAZ. Możdżer’s ability to combine the simple with the difficult is something he demonstrates incomparably in the pictorial, almost filmic composition ‘She Said She Was A Painter’.

The piano summit concert has its shape, its dramaturgy, building inexorably towards a grand finale with all three pianists on the stage together. First there is the soulful heat of Gershwin's ‘Summertime’, and then a wild ride through Chick Corea’s ‘La Fiesta’. It is in moments like these, as the pianists play their multi-dimensional games of pursuit and avoidance, that the true spirit of this concert series emerges. The thrill, the tingle and the danger of these exceptional live encounters are part of the jazz tradition, but have been updated to send a buzz of excitement around today’s technology-fixated audience. Iiro Rantala’s ‘Olé!’ at the end of this concert didn’t just resonate in the hall in Berlin at the moment of triumph. It is a powerful and durable expression of the effect of live music at its absolute best.


Friday, June 16, 2017

Parisien / Peirani / Schaerer / Wollny - Out of Land (ACT MUSIC 2017)



For once, here’s a band for which the word 'supergroup' is completely apposite. Swiss vocalist Andreas Schaerer, German pianist Michael Wollny, French accordionist Vincent Peirani and his saxophonist compatriot Emile Parisien are four of the brightest and most charismatic stars in European jazz, and they have now formed themselves into a quartet. Between them, they have so far garnered no fewer than twelve German ECHO Jazz awards, as well as just about every distinction of importance in their own countries. They are in their mid- to late thirties, and their new live recording “Out of Land” demonstrates why they are at the very pinnacle of jazz musicians of their generation. It is because they are re-defining the possibilities of their instruments; not just cutting loose from the boundaries of jazz, but doing it in a way which energizes and inspires audiences of all generations.

The pivot and connector for this top-flight group of musical allies and equal partners has been Peirani. He had previously played with all three of the others, and has brought them together. The quartet member he has had the closest connection with is Parisien: they have been kindred spirits since working together in Daniel Humair’s quartet. They work as a regular duo, and in the group “Living Being”. Michael Wollny had been enlisted by Peirani at the end of 2012 for the latter’s ACT debut CD “Thrill Box”, and the two have continued to bring their combined “resourcefulness, erudition and shared relish for risk” (John Fordham in The Guardian) to their 2016 ACT album “Tandem”. Schaerer had first met Peirani two years previously, when he had invited the Frenchman to join his band “Hildegard Lernt Fliegen” as a guest for their concert in Paris. After that, both wanted to do more together, but the overladen state of their diaries conspired against it. It was only when Schaerer received invitations from Budapest and Berne which gave him carte blanche to put together any project he wanted, that he was able to enrol Peirani for a project - for which the accordionist also wanted to involve both Parisien and Wollny…

The four searched long and hard for the right name to put on their new band’s birth certificate. Schaerer sent Peirani a whole raft of suggestions, including the indeterminate “Out of...”. To which Peirani responded promptly with “Out of Land”. “That was it, we'd nailed it,” remembers Schaerer. The phrase “Out of Land” is intended to bring to mind that specific sense of leaving solid ground, and of venturing into terrain where it is far from obvious how things are going to develop. That was certainly a part of the concept: staying open to the ideas of the others, keeping the excitement intact, seeing what will happen musically in the moment. They did three days of rehearsals without prior preparation, and then went off to appear on stage together. Schaerer found it all very fulfilling: “It is simply a dream, almost a spiritual form of making music. It’s about being able to address one’s own visions in conditions of complete spontaneity, and also about transparency of communication with the others. These musicians can really do that!”


That capacity of all four musicians to interact and co-create which Andreas Schaerer has described here begins with the Swiss vocalist himself, one of the great singing improvisers of our time. He has a vast vocal compass; his stylistic palette ranges from classical art song to crooning and scat. He can produce all kinds of improbable sounds, and is able to imitate many instruments – including various parts of a drum kit. His recent arrival at the ACT label was marked with the release of “The Big Wig”, a major composition for 66- piece symphony orchestra. Accordionist Vincent Peirani, originally from Nice, is another musician making huge waves on the European scene. He too has received numerous awards and distinctions, the “Prix Django Reinhardt” and “Victoires du Jazz” in France and an ECHO Jazz award in Germany - his profile on the scene is huge. Peirani is able to magic an astonishing, maybe unprecedented range of sounds out of his button accordion and accordina. He is an inheritor of the great French accordion tradition, and that shines through in his playing, but his own expressive purposes take him further. Peirani’s spiritual brother is Emile Parisien, and not only because both can improvise over anything from Wagner tunes to hiphop. And like his band-mates, Parisien takes his instrument acoustically and compositionally into new domains. That is also true of Michael Wollny’s piano playing, which is full of fantasy and always capable of springing surprises, whatever the context - and he plays in many. Wollny is one of the very few German jazz musicians - of any era - to have carved out a substantial profile internationally.

“Out of Land” does put on record one first meeting: Wollny and Schaerer had never in fact previously played together. The listener can sense the unleashing of huge performance energy, impetus and joy right from the outset. Schaerer comments: “A whole lot of the things we had discussed in rehearsal were over-ruled once we got on stage. It was done quite consciously, the music in the moment simply demanded something different. That works with this band. It just gets airborne.” The listener gets that sense of flying with the band right from the start of Peirani’s tune “Air Song”. This highly melodic miniature brings its own powerful emotional updraft. The rhythmic and dynamic exuberance in Peirani’s tune “B&H” are overwhelming, while Wollny’s “Kabinett V” overflows with the desire for sonic experiment and discovery. Schaerer’s “Rezeusler” inspires the group to a combined burst of creative inspiration. This tune has evolved through various guises. Schaerer first imagined it as an uptempo roaster for sextet, it then morphed into a through-composed ballad for full orchestra, and is here in completely new clothes as a suite for quartet. The sounds of Peirani’s accordion, Schaerer’s voice and Wollny’s piano swirl and eddy impressionistically, before they all dig in together for a heart-on-sleeve finale. “Ukuhamba” is a fourteenminute all-encompassing jam session-like epic, which brings the album to a close. This album brings the listener tinglingly close to a moment of creation by four brilliant musical alchemists. The result is pure gold.

01. Air Song (Vincent Peirani)
03. B & H (Vincent Peirani)
03. Kabinett V (Michael Wollny)
04. Rezeusler (Andreas Schaerer)
05. Ukuhamba (Andreas Schaerer)

Emile Parisien / soprano saxophone
Vincent Peirani / accordion
Andreas Schaerer / voice & mouth percussion
Michael Wollny / piano

Produced by the artists
Executive Producer: Siggi Loch

Recorded live in concert at bee-flat Bern, April 10, 2016

Mixed and mastered by Martin Ruch at Control Room Berlin, November 2016



Saturday, September 17, 2016

Vincent Peirani & Michael Wollny - Tandem (2016) ACT MUSIC




"What this Nice-born Parisian coaxes out of the piano accordion is something the likes of which has never been heard before. You can tell it is a future legend who is playing here!" – Süddeutsche Zeitung. The French accordion player, singer and composer Vincent Peirani was born on 24.4.1980 in Nice. At the age of 11 he began playing the accordion, initially classical music. As a teenager he already won numerous international awards. At 16 he discovered jazz and soon took up the study of jazz in Paris. At the beginning he faced scepticism with his accordion and his classical training, but he quickly convinced the critics with an entirely new way of looking at the instrument, made a name for himself in France's jazz scene and was soon playing with the creme de la creme of French jazz, the likes of Michel Portal, Daniel Humair, Renaud Garcia Fons, Louis Sclavis and Vincent Courtois. 

Parallel to that he pursued many of his own projects, drawing from the widest range of genres – from jazz, chanson and world music through to classic and even heavy rock. Since 2011, Peirani has been playing regularly in the quartet of the Korean singer Youn Sun Nah, the most successful female jazz artist in France in recent years. Through this engagement he also made the acquaintance of Swedish guitarist Ulf Wakenius and ultimately the boss of the ACT label Siggi Loch. Peirani played on the Wakenius album "Vagabond" recorded in February 2012, also astonishing and enthralling live audiences everywhere. "Thrill Box" came out in May 2013 and was Vincent Peirani's first album as a leader – star-studded with pianist Michael Wollny, bassist Michel Benita and saxophonists Michel Portal and Émile Parisien. The album showcases the entire wealth of facets of Peirani's musical influences, and reveals more impressively than ever before what an intelligent and artful composer he is, and what a masterful and profoundly musical instrumentalist and storyteller.


01. Song Yet Untitled 4:16
03. Hunter 3:55
04. Bells 3:13
05. Did You Say Rotenberg? 5:02
06. Sirenes 5:05
07. Uniskate 4:03
08. Vignette 4:02
09. Fourth of July 4:33
10. Travesuras 6:20

Vincent Peirani, accordion
Michael Wollny, piano