Open Studio Jazz

Charley Rose and Devin Daniels are saxophonists from France and the USA, born in 1985 and 1997. Rose studied with a broad musical interest in Amsterdam, Daniels studied at Berklee College in Boston and soon played with renowned jazz greats.

Lina Nyberg (born February 27, 1970 in Stockholm, Sweden) is a Swedish jazz singer and composer. She has released 17 albums since her debut and composed major works for String Quartet, Big Band and Symphony orchestra. She is married to the Swedish jazz clarinettist and saxophonist Fredrik Ljungkvist.

Following two critically acclaimed albums in the space of just two years, contemporary Danish piano trio Little North continue their quest with upcoming album, ‘Wide Open’, set to release on January 27th on April Records.

When the Darmstadt teenager Volker Kriegel (1943-2003) officially debuted his first chords in the late 1950s, the guitar was still an outsider instrument in jazz. It could boast a few luminaries, but actually everything was still open when, in 1963 and 1964, the autodidact from Hessen won first prizes as guitarist and soloist at the amateur jazz festival in Düsseldorf.

To many jazz purists, the fusion of funk, soul, and jazz that evolved from the late '60s through the mid-'70s quickly shifted from interesting diversion to unabashed sacrilege. Watching the open-ended improvisation adventurousness of bebop, "the new thing," and free jazz give way to four-on-the-floor rhythms, simplified melodies, and–gasp!–verse-chorus-verse vocals was too much to bear for the self-proclaimed keepers of the flame.

Alto saxophonist Allan Praskin has a formative influence on the stylistic emphasis on the music of the Jazz Consensus, whose clear domain is … contemporary bebop. “Happy Frog”, the first track on the album, is an Adelhard Roidinger composition where his bass is featured. The piece presents the melody on bass, doubled by saxophonist Allan Praskin on Giant Steps-like changes after an eight bar recurring vamp. “Longing”, penned by Allan Praskin, a beautiful ballad brings forth emotions of loneliness, loss, and melancholy through its haunting melody. It also distinguishes itself in coming to a full stop before a short cadenza in the middle of the melody section.

Paul Butterfield was the first white harmonica player to develop a style original and powerful enough to place him in the pantheon of true blues greats. It's impossible to overestimate the importance of the doors Butterfield opened: before he came to prominence, white American musicians treated the blues with cautious respect, afraid of coming off as inauthentic. This collection includes the studio tracks recorded between 1965 and 1971.

Jean-Luc Ponty almost single-handedly brought the violin into the modern jazz era. Open Strings, recorded in 1971, presents Ponty at his pre-fusion best: after working together for over a year, this quintet of world-renowned musicians plays on the creative edge, notably German pianist Joachim Kühn who displays his technical mastery, sense of humour and sheer inventiveness.The three parts of Flipping form a triptych of connected pieces with ever-changing tempos, moods and modes, as the musicians exchange places and combinations.

"The Complete Reprise Studio Recordings" contains 20 discs with in total 452 songs, and that means every Sinatra recording on the Reprise label from 1960 to 1988 in chronological order. It features more than 24 hours of music, and is available in both a standard edition, and limited edition in a leather box. This set was nominated for a 1997 Grammy Award for Best Historical Album and Best Recording Package – Boxed.
In 1961, Sinatra inaugurated his own label, claiming the artistic freedom he longed for in the fifties. He then proceeded to do it his way, and this 20-disc set is the painstakingly detailed account of that artistic journey……….