Rolf Zielke - Beaches In Your Soul (April 16, 2021 Agogo Records)

“… and if you close your eyes,

a river fills you from within,

flows forward, darkens you:

night brings its wetness to beaches in your soul.”

From ‘Water Night’ by Octavio Paz

“For me, these special moments when we close our eyes and look inwards are intense experiences. Between sleep and wakefulness, such impressions inspired me to translate images from daydreams into music. Jazz and Funk, Arabic and Central Asian sounds and grooves, and above all, improvisation – these are my musical language. Thank you to the wonderful musicians who have brought these compositions to life!”

Rolf Zielke

“‘Beaches in Your Soul’ is an album that is both great fun and full of depth as it conveys an incredible, life-affirming energy. Rolf Zielke describes his music as “daydreams and visions of the future that become sounds.” There is no doubt that this album is an impressive demonstration of his outstanding abilities as a composer, arranger and pianist, as well as his important role in European jazz.”

Matthias Wegner, music journalist

1. Awakening

2. Night Sea Journey

3. Welcome The Shaman

4. Eyes Of Shadow Water

5. Okavango Serenade

6. Getting Up

7. Dragon, Lion & Cancer

8. Enta Omri - You Are My Life

9. Chagall's Windows

All titles composed, arranged and produced by Rolf Zielke. except „Enta Omri - You Are My Life“ - traditional arabic song, arranged by Rolf Zielke

Rolf Zielke – piano, clavichord, rhodes, keys, whistle

Benny Brown – trumpet, flugelhorn

Stephan Abel – saxophone, clarinet, alto flute

Stephan Braun – 5-string cello

Mohannad Nasser – oud

Mustafa Boztüy – darbuka, bendir, udu

Rainer Winch – drums

Friedhelm May – timpani

Recorded, mixed & edited by Volker Greve at Greve Studios and Rolf Zielke

Additional clavichord recordings at tonus arcus, Dietrich Petzold

Mastered by Hans-Jörg Mauksch at Pauler Acoustics

Pre-order

Oonops - Oonops Drops Vol. 1 (AGOGO RECORDS 2018)

'Oonops Drops' is the eponymous name of DJ Oonops' monthly broadcast on Brooklyn Radio (NYC). It's your not average radio show without talk and comments for which he invites renowned guests with their exclusive mixes from around the globe to create timeless and thematic episodes. In the last sixty shows he got visited by artists like Morcheeba, Guts, Nickodemus, The Herbaliser, Nostalgia 77, Boca 45, Blundetto, Chinese Man and many more. 

Born in 1977 he got in contact with music at an early stage and soon discovered his medium of choice: vinyl. Oonops is a dj, selector, digger and is known for his smooth mixing skills to rock parties in his unmistakable wildstyle of jazz, soul, funk, hip hop, beats, edits, reggae, dub and afro. He shared the stages with acts like Nightmares on Wax, The Beatnuts, Jeru The Damaja, Ebo Taylor, Myron & E, Akua Naru and The Artifacts to name just a few.

As a longtime friend of the label and as a resident of its own club night he now gets his own compilation series to showcase his manifold taste in digging, selecting and mixing. His matter was to create a compilation of manifold genres of undiscovered, previously unreleased and for the first time on vinyl delicacies for any avid and discernable listener and dj. Especially for the vinyl lovers he dug many tracks which are treats for every set from warm-up until peak time. This compilation will stay for a long time in the bags. 

For the cover he joined forces with San Francisco based oil paintress Lindsey Kustusch who cherishes the mood of this work and its spirit. Enjoy this musical trip from dub, soul, funk, instrumentals, hip hop and jazz!

1. Prince Fatty Meets Nostalgia 77 - Little Steps Dub 04:27

2. Figub Brazlevic - Shadows In The City 04:01

3. Guts - Score featuring Tanya Morgan & Lorine Chia 03:07

4. Mankoora - Sonór Tropicàl 04:39

5. Green Street - Don't Deny It 04:47

6. Suff Daddy - Paper-Proclamation (Pat Van Dyke Remix 03:31

7. DJ Cam Quartet - Mental Invasion 05:15

8. Cro-Magnon - Mysterious Vibes 04:35

9. Nautilus - Root Down feat. Fleur Earth 04:27

10. Shawn Lee - We Got The Jazz featuring Ohmega Watts 03:03

11. ShinSight Trio - You Got Soul 04:51

12. Indigo Jam Unit - Sepia 05:25

13. Slakah The Beatchild - Ain't Nothing Like Hip Hop 01:21

in Berlin

Miramode Orchestra - Tumbler (AGOGO RECORDS 2017)

A good concert is like a journey. When it starts you might not know what episodes await you, but in your heart you can feel which direction it will take you in. The Miramode Orchestra offers just this type of enriching, exhilarating experience. Although they meander between coordinates including jazz, electronica and groove, the seven musicians can never be tied down to a single musical location.

The sound created by a four-man rhythm section and three horn players is always flavoured by a certain ambition, but never fails to let souls fly and get bodies sweating!

Their debut album “Restless City” announced the band as fans of both exploration and experimentation. Why break down barriers when you can simply soar over them – after all, they only exist in the mind.

It is therefore no surprise that collaborations have already included not only a range of artists more at home in genres such as hip hop, soul and modern club culture, but also a string ensemble.

The latter returned to the studio for the band’s forthcoming album “Tumbler”, which is set for release in early 2017 on Agogo Records. There is a noticeable shift towards more song-like structures: The vocals of Inèz Schäfer, Dan Freeman, Mara von Ferne and the band’s keyboard player Eren Solak are taking Tumbler to another level.

At times it is difficult not to hear a touch of Bon Iver, 4hero or Cinematic Orchestra. Yet just as listeners are ready to slot a song into a pigeonhole, the Miramode Orchestra whisks them away to a new, unexpected stop on their journey.