Thomas Fasbender, Uwe Leuschner

G.G. und Rex, Mireille und Roger, Roland und Roy, und nicht zuletzt Die Flippers sie alle wussten ganz genau, was sie an diesem Mann haben: Uwe Busse zählt nicht ohne Grund zu den ganz, ganz großen Songschreibern und Kreativköpfen im deutschen Schlager und das seit über 30 Jahren.

It must be considered a stroke of good fortune that these three musicians have come together: On double bass, the Swede Anders Jornim, one of the most essential bass players on the European jazz scene with eight albums as bandleader for ECM and a packed artistic CV with tours and recordings alongside legends such as Elvin Jones, Albert Mangelsdorff, Joe Henderson, Lee Konitz, and Kenny Wheeler. On guitar, Arne Jansen, the two-time "ECHO Jazz" award-winning Berliner, who has played with the Senegalese Orchestra Baobab, Nils Landgren, and Jazzanova and whose duo recording with Nils Wülker recently climbed to number 15 in the German pop charts. On saxophone, Uwe Steinmetz, who also lives in Berlin, has made a name for himself as a composer for the NDR Big Band and the Fitzwilliam String Quartet in addition to his collaborations with Joe Maneri and Tord Gustafvsen, among others.

Musical soulmates organist Daniel Stickan and saxophonist Uwe Steinmetz follow their German Grammy-nominated album Where Roots Grow with Deeper Standards, in which they continue their 14-year artistic journey by exploring the language and songs of their grandparents, who spoke and sang in Plattdeutsch (Low Saxon), an ancient West Germanic dialect.

It must be considered a stroke of good fortune that these three musicians have come together: On double bass, the Swede Anders Jornim, one of the most essential bass players on the European jazz scene with eight albums as bandleader for ECM and a packed artistic CV with tours and recordings alongside legends such as Elvin Jones, Albert Mangelsdorff, Joe Henderson, Lee Konitz, and Kenny Wheeler. On guitar, Arne Jansen, the two-time "ECHO Jazz" award-winning Berliner, who has played with the Senegalese Orchestra Baobab, Nils Landgren, and Jazzanova and whose duo recording with Nils Wülker recently climbed to number 15 in the German pop charts. On saxophone, Uwe Steinmetz, who also lives in Berlin, has made a name for himself as a composer for the NDR Big Band and the Fitzwilliam String Quartet in addition to his collaborations with Joe Maneri and Tord Gustafvsen, among others.

Ein Glückskind hat ihn im Sommer 1939 eine Wahrsageringenannt. Er und seine Mutter würden schwere Zeiten überstehen. In der Slowakei erlebt der kleine Thommy eine behütete Kindheit. Dann kommen die Deutschen: Die Flucht nach Polen, das Ghetto, Auschwitz, der Todesmarsch im eiskalten Winter 1944 ins KZSachsenhausen und schließlich die Befreiung: Auf bewegendeWeise, ganz ohne Bitterkeit berichtet Thomas Buergenthal vonseiner Kindheit. Uwe Friedrichsen, ein gleichaltriger Zeitzeuge, leiht ihm seine Stimme.

Unless one lived in a major European centre with an orchestra, the opportunity to hear large-scale works by the great composers of the age was well-nigh impossible.

Despite all the problems in the world today, versatile German composer and keyboardist Uwe Gronau says, “I think humans are smart enough to create a good society for future generations, and one of the keys is the utilization of music.” The theme of pondering the future helped inspire the music on Gronau’s latest album, Thoughts of Tomorrow.

Auch mit seiner neuen Novelle "Freitisch" zeigt Uwe Timm, dass er zu Recht zu den besten deutschen Schriftstellern der Gegenwart gezählt wird. Reflektierte er in zwei seiner letzten Bücher das Leben und das Schicksal von Menschen, die er persönlich kannte und dachte über seine Beziehung zu ihnen nach, seinen Bruder bei der Waffen-SS in "Am Beispiel meines Bruders" und den vom Polizisten Kurras 1967 erschossenen Studenten Benno Ohnesorg in "Der Freund und der Fremde", spielt er auch in dieser Novelle virtuos mit seiner Erinnerung…

Lacy Pool is a small group of musicians whom Uwe Oberg picks to unlock Steve Lacy's compositions. Why no bass? Uwe Oberg: 'That never was a question. I wanted the band to function unlike a jazz quartet and it should not have a soprano sax. Now Lacy's pieces were mine and ours, and it got easier and easier, everything fell into place. The clarity, the repeating motifs, the collage approach, the deconstruction, the flow. What fun!' Uwe Oberg - piano, Rudi Mahall - clarinets, Michael Griener - drums.