A specially-price limited edition compilation of Manu Katché on ECM. Here the French drummer is joined in performances of his tunes by an outstanding cast of soloists including Jan Garbarek, Tomasz Stanko, Nils Petter Molvӕr, Trygve Seim, Mathias Eick, Marcin Wasilewski, Tore Brunborg, and Jacob Young. Recorded 2004 -2012 in Oslo, New York and Pernes-les-Fontaines, and drawn from his widely acclaimed albums: Neighborhood (ECM1896), Playground (ECM 2016), Third Round (ECM 2156), Manu Katché (ECM 2284)
Eagerly awaited second ECM album by French-African drummer Manu Katche. Recorded in New York’s Avatar Studio in January 2007, “Playground” picks up where the best-selling “Neighbourhood” left off: in the interim the project has coalesced into a rip-roaring and fully-integrated band. Manu’s group, featuring a Polish/Norwegian confederacy of young players, is energized by his hard driving drums and by his compositions which invite spirited solos… Together, the quintet - whose strong new frontline features Mathias Eick and Trygve Seim - makes exciting, zestful music.
Hanna Paulsberg's tenor saxophone voice is increasingly in demand for a wide variety of projects, from the Trondheim Jazz Orchestra to collaborations with Ellen Andrea Wang, Jon Balke, Andreas Ulvo, Erland Dahlen and veteran Knut Rissnaes. Yet her standing as a composer and leader of one of Norway's most outstanding young quartets has been firmly established with releases such as Waltz for Lili (Ora Fonogram, 2012) and Song for Josia (Ora Fonogram, 2014). Eastern Smiles, her third release, and first on Odin Records, continues the course established on her previous two releases, with six original compositions highlighting the dual melodic and rhythmic pulses that drive her music.