Bill Laurance & Michael League

Bill Laurance & Michael League

You can hardly talk about Michael League and Bill Laurance without mentioning Snarky Puppy. American bassist and multi-instrumentalist Michael League founded the globally acclaimed, four-time Grammy award-winning collective almost 20 years ago. And British pianist and keyboardist Bill Laurance has been part of this global adventure for almost as long. The fact that League and Laurance are presenting their first joint duo album with »Where you wish you were« seems both surprising and logical.

Bill Bailey

Thoughtifier (noun): 1. an intriguing device that can amplify the thoughts of a curious mind using music, channelled through a human instrument, known as Bill Bailey; 2. (colloquial) a person resembling Bill Bailey

Michael Kaeshammer

After decades of great success in North America with his naturally powerful live performance and the new album »Turn it Up«, singer-songwriter-pianist Michael Kaeshammer is on his way to conquering his old homeland. This is Germany, in whose southwest he amazed and swept away audiences as a teenage prodigy on the piano at the age of 16. In North America, the musician fills large halls and plays with other successful artists such as Ray Charles, Anne Murray and the Neville Brothers. The national US television chain PBS dedicated a TV special to him in 2020, and the Canadian channel Chek now even has its own cooking show, »Kaeshammer’s Kitchen«. His music, influenced by jazz, also combines elements of pop, blues and rock ’n’ roll – and convinces not least through Kaeshammer’s unique and rousing »crossover style«.

Michael Wollny Trio

For pianist Michael Wollny, the trio with bassist Tim Lefebvre and drummer Eric Schaefer is the constant in his otherwise constantly changing cosmos of collaborations. The three musicians share an almost inexhaustible musical vocabulary, an outstanding sensitivity in playing together and the ability to create new music of tremendous tension and dynamism from the moment. The band is a unity of three unmistakable characters: Michael Wollny is regarded as one of the most important European pianists of his generation. His playing blends influences from jazz, classical music, indie pop, new and early music to create an unmistakable personal style. Wollny has been playing together with drummer Eric Schaefer for more than 20 years. The two share a deep intimacy and at the same time the ability to constantly surprise and challenge each other. American Tim Lefebvre forms the foundation of the trio, with a weighty tone, rock-solid groove and a fine sense of dramaturgy. Together, Wollny, Schaefer and Lefebvre create music of exuberant dynamics, boundless variety and maximum urgency. With reference to the origins of the piano trio format, the British Jazzwise Magazine writes: »The Michael Wollny Trio makes it clear that we are living in the 21st century and not in the 1960s!«

Happy Birthday, Bill!

To round off his lively birthday celebrations, William Christie surrounds himself with a magnificent sextet of singers.

Kind of Jazz II – A Tribute to Bill Evans

Jan Lundgren is one of our foremost musicians, and with around fifty CDs and a range of projects and collaborations, he has consistently shown his ability to embrace tradition while always evolving. Each year, Jan Lundgren presents three concerts under the banner Kind of Jazz – unique meetings with invited artists and ensembles. Kind of Jazz 2025 marks the series’ seventh season.“This is a tribute to Bill Evans, who was one of my most important influences when I started playing jazz,” says Jan Lundgren. “I was captivated by his sound: his way of playing and voicing chords, the immense richness of his harmonies. It made him truly unique, and I consider him one of the most important jazz musicians of all time. We’ll play some original Bill Evans music, like Waltz for Debby and Very Early, as well as music he’s associated with, such as Song from MASH. We’re paying homage to both the artist and the composer. To recreate his style and not just play the songs requires a deep understanding of the artist – without losing oneself.”Just as Bill Evans had his trio, Jan Lundgren has put together an exceptionally skilled trio here. German drummer Wolfgang Haffner, one of the foremost in the world, has previously worked with Jan Lundgren (as well as with Nils Landgren, for instance). The renowned Swedish bassist Anders Jormin has also taken a leading role in international music and is now a professor at the Academy of Music and Drama in Gothenburg.

Michael Schönheit

Michael Schönheit

Michael Schönheit

Michael Schönheit