Special Jakob Magnusson

On Once Around The Room ECM recording artists and key jazz musicians from several generations unite in a small ensemble to celebrate the musical legacy of drum icon Paul Motian in a big way. Joe Lovano and Jakob Bro lead a party of seven through fiery originals that recall the idioms and idiosyncrasies which Motian brought to light over six influential decades behind the drums. Lovano and Motian had been intimate colleagues for many years with their most notable collaboration being the groundbreaking trio featuring Bill Frisell – the lineup released three albums on ECM. Jakob Bro on the other hand made his ECM debut on Paul’s album Garden of Eden (2006). On Once Around The Room, compositions by Joe and Jakob appear alongside collective improvisation and Motian’s own “Drum Music”, seamlessly tied together and developed by an accomplished musical collective with stalwarts Larry Grenadier, Thomas Morgan and Anders Christensen respectively on bass as well as drummers Joey Baron and Jorge Rossy.

Bach was renowned as a keyboard player as well as being an accomplished violinist, but as far as we know he didn't play the lute. He seems to have been fascinated by the instrument’s special sound qualities, however, and was clearly inspired by the possibilities of the Lautenwerk. This was a gut-strung harpsichord designed to imitate the sound of the lute and at least some of the works usually referred to as ‘the Bach Lute Suites’ were probably composed for this instrument.

The Art in Music – Siggi Loch has had the clear objective to foster creative interaction between jazz and visual art ever since he founded ACT in 1992. As a producer who is also an art collector, he loves to bring not only topflight musicians together around him, but visual artists as well. Works by Philip Taaffe, Gerhard Richter, Martin Noël, Martin Assig and many more don’t just adorn album covers, they are also on display at the ACT Gallery in Berlin.

In 1991 lutenist Jakob Lindberg bought a very special instrument – one of the rare extant lutes by Sixtus Rauwolf, built c. 1590. The restoration of the lute took several years and was rather painstaking: for some repairs they even used ancient wood from the library in the Palazzo Pitti in Florence. Considering the great age of the instrument it was nevertheless in good shape and is now probably the only one in the world that, retaining its original soundboard, is in playable condition.

For his first album as an exclusive Erato artist, the French clarinettist Pierre Génisson focuses on his instrument’s most inspired 18th century advocate: Mozart. The centrepiece of his programme is the composer’s sublime clarinet concerto. “The spiritual and symbolic scope of this concerto is immense,” says Génisson. “Every time I come back to this masterwork, I experience the same thrill as when I discover a piece for the first time… Mozart and the clarinet – what a special combination!”

Blue sound. Deep focus. Encompassment. This is what awaits the listener on this recording. Not compression or complex harmonies, rather the sound characterizes this recording. The tone, the sound here is carried by the spirit of internalization. The silence between the notes connects. The album is a search for simplicity and the essential, which looks inward and decelerates the listener.

Jakob Lindberg was born in Sweden and developed his first passionate interest in music through the Beatles. After studying music at Stockholm University he came to London to study at the Royal College of Music. Under the guidance of Diana Poulton he decided towards the end of his studies to focus on Renaissance and baroque music.

On Remembering, the Danish cellist Jakob Kullberg continues his collaborations with two of the foremost Nordic composers: Per Nørgård and Kaija Saariaho. Praised internationally for his performances of the modern cello concerto, Kullberg regards the concerto form as the encounter of an individual soloist with the sound world of a composer. With living composers this approach often results in an unusual degree of collaboration, as the works gathered here bear witness to. Since 1999, Kullberg has enjoyed a close and unique partnership with Nørgård which has resulted in a large number of works.