JOACHIM KÜHN — Europeana : Jazzphony No. 1 (Michael Gibbs) (1995) FLAC (image+.cue), lossless

Europeana won the Annual German Record Critics' Award upon its initial CD release in 1995. ACT
Tracklist :
1    Castle In Heaven 4:16
French Horn [Solo] – Theo Wiemes
2    Black Is The Colour Of My Ture Love´s Hair 4:42
Oboe – Douglas Boyd
Tenor Horn – Django Bates
3    The Shepherd Of Breton 4:34
Accordion – Richard Galliano
Orchestra – Members Of The NDR-Bigband
4    The Ingrian Rune Song    2:19
5    The Groom´s Sister 3:41
Soprano Saxophone – Christof Lauer
6    Norwegian Psalm 4:48
Flugelhorn – Markus Stockhausen
Oboe [Solo] – Martin Stoll
7    Three Angels 4:20
Tenor Saxophone – Christof Lauer
Trombone – Albert Mangelsdorff
8    Heaven Has Created 3:56
Piccolo Trumpet – Markus Stockhausen
9    She Moved Through The Fair 5:55
Soprano Saxophone – Klaus Doldinger
10    Crebe De Chet    4:14
11    Midnight Sun    5:28
12    Londonderry Air 4:41
Violin [Solo] – Volker Worlitzsch
13    Otra Jazzpaña    5:35
Credits :
Bass, Soloist – Jean-François Jenny-Clark
Concertmaster – Volker Worlitzsch
Conductor, Arranged By – Michael Gibbs
Drums, Soloist – Jon Christensen
Orchestra – Radio Philharmoníe Hannover NDR
Painting – Gerhard Richter
Piano, Soloist – Joachim Kühn
Soloist – Albert Mangelsdorff, Christof Lauer, Django Bates, Douglas Boyd, Klaus Doldinger, Markus Stockhausen, Richard Galliano

JOACHIM KÜHN BIRTHDAY EDITION — Trio Kühn Humair Jenny-Clark + Europeana (2014) 2CD | FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Joachim Kühn - Germany's jazz pianist of world renown. Reason enough to bring this back to life with previously unreleased concert recordings of the exceptional trio Kühn, Humair, Jenny-Clark from JazzFest Berlin. With the jazz symphony "Europeana" Kühn returned in a key role on one of the most important ACT recordings in 1994. Alongside Kühn, the crème de la crème of contemporary European improvised music came together here, including Albert Mangelsdorff, Django Bates, Klaus Doldinger and Richard Galliano.... ACT
Trio Kühn Humair Jenny-Clark    
1    Pastor    8:52
2    Easy To Read    6:45
3    Heavy Birthday    10:21
4    Heavy Hanging    5:56
5    Guylene    10:30
6    More Tune    5:28
Europeana    
1    Castle In Heaven (Eg Veit I Himmerik Ei Borg) 4:16
French Horn, Soloist – Theo Wiemes
2    Black Is The Colour Of My True Love's Hair 4:42
Oboe – Douglas Boyd
Tenor Horn – Django Bates
3    The Shepherd Of Breton (Dis Moi Donc Bergere) 4:34
Accordion – Richard Galliano
Orchestra – Members Of The NDR-Bigband
4    The Ingrian Rune Song (Seelinaikoi)    2:19
2-5        The Groom's Sister (Kylä Voutti Utta Kutta)
Soprano Saxophone [Soprano Sax] – Christof Lauer
6    Norwegian Psalm (Stevtone) 4:48
Flugelhorn – Markus Stockhausen
Oboe, Soloist – Martin Stoll
7    Three Angels (Es Sungen Drei Engel) 4:20
Tenor Saxophone [Tenor Sax] – Christof Lauer
Trombone – Albert Mangelsdorff
8    Heaven Has Created (Lo Ceu N'a Creat) 3:56
Piccolo Trumpet – Markus Stockhausen
9    She Moved Through The Fair 5:55
Soprano Saxophone [Soprano Sax] – Klaus Doldinger
10    Crebe De Chet    4:14
11    Midnight Sun (Ack, Värmeland, Du Sköna)    5:28
12    Londonderry Air 4:41
Violin, Soloist – Volker Worlitzsch
13    Otra Jazzpaña    5:35
Credits :
CD1 : Trio Kühn Humair Jenny-Clark live at JazzFest Berlin ‘87 & ‘95
Joachim Kühn - Piano
Daniel Humair - Drums
Jean-François Jenny-Clark - Bass
CD2 : Europeana
Joachim Kühn - Piano
Jean-François Jenny-Clark - Bass
Jon Christensen - Drums
Soloists: Django Bates, Douglas Boyd, Klaus Doldinger, Richard Galliano,
Christof Lauer, Albert Mangelsdorff & Markus Stockhausen
Radio Philharmonie Hannover NDR conducted by Michael Gibbs
Konzertmeister: Volker Worlitzsch

MATTHIAS SCHRIEFL — Shreefpunk Live In Köln 'Special Guest : Django Bates (2009) Serie : young german jazz | FLAC (tracks+.cue) lossless

"Clever-subversive modern jazz." - AUDIO
"An exciting discovery in terms of youthfully fresh jazz from Germany." - IN MUSIC ACT
PART 1: Shreefpunk Live At Stadtgarten    
1    Flying To New York    7:09
2    Blüte    7:04
3    Baustelle    7:03
4    Fiarn Sepp    4:21
5    Wien    6:03
6    München    4:30
7    Rom    4:32
8    KVB    5:58
PART 2: Shreefpunk Plus Strings At The Philharmonie, Special Guest: Django Bates    
9    Geräusche In Der Nachbarschaft    11:44
10    Regen    9:53
11    Kölsche Karnickel    5:35
Credits :
PART 1: Shreefpunk Live At Stadtgarten (Tracks 1 - 8)
Matthias Schriefl - Trumpet & Flugelhorn
Johannes Behr - Guitars
Robert Landfermann - Doublebass
Jens Düppe - Drums

PART 2: Shreefpunk Plus Strings At The Philharmonie, Special Guest: Django Bates (Tracks 9 - 11)
Matthias Schriefl - Trumpet & Flugelhorn
Johannes Behr - Guitars
Robert Landfermann - Double Bass
Jens Düppe - Drums
Hannah Weirich, Nadine-Goussi Aguigah - Violin
Axel Porath - Viola
Thomas Schmitz - Cello

SIDSEL ENDRESEN - So I Write (1990) APE (image+.cue), lossless

Tracklist
1    So I Write 7'49
(Jon Balke)
2    This Is The Movie 6'02
(Jon Balke)
3    Dreamland 3'59
(Jon Balke)
4    Words 6'26
(Audun Kleive)
5    Mirror Images 5'09
(Django Bates)
6    Spring 5'06
(Audun Kleive)
7    Truth 7'20
(Eivin One Pedersen)
8    Horses In Rain 5'54
(Django Bates)
Credits :
Sidsel Endresen - Voice
Django Bates - Piano, Tenor Horn
Nils Petter Molvaer - Trumpet
Jon Christensen - Drums, Percussion
 

SIDSEL ENDRESEN - Exile (1994) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

The material on Exile, the second ECM album by singer/poet Sidsel Endresen, had its genesis in a commission from the Molde Inter­national Jazz Festival 1993. Working outward from the lyrics, using them as the basis for a larger form, Endresen conceived a series of linked songs, con­nected by atmosphere and theme that she was to title "Pagan Pilgrimage". Some musical ideas were communicated together with the lyrics to the co-composers she had chosen for the task; other pieces she developed herself, in collaboration with the arranger for the whole work: Morten Halle.

Audience reaction to "Pagan Pilgrimage" was extremely positive, and the Norwegian press seconded the crowd's emotions. Terje Mosnes, in leading daily Dagbladet, spoke of "seventy-five minutes of beautiful music, with evocative harmonies and dissonances and surprising melody lines". Mosnes continued: "Only an artist with strong musicality and vocal control can allow herself to choose such a naked, vulnerable form as she does, and still make the listening experience so gratifying and rich."

However, a successful stage presentation does not necessarily translate effortlessly into the recorded medium. In the studio (Oslo's Rainbow studio), the decision was taken to depart from the larger form of "Pagan Pilgrimage", and concentrate on the separate pieces. Some sections were excised altogether, new elements were added, including improvised pieces by Endresen and David Darling. The album, then, is presented as a collection of songs – lyrics by Endresen –  music by Django Bates, Jon Balke, Jon Eberson, Darling and Endresen herself – grouped under the title Exile. ecm
Tracklist
1    Here The Moon 2'29
(Sidsel Endresen)
2    Quest 6'31
(Jon Eberson)
3    Stages I, II, III 7'46
(Django Bates)
4    Hunger 6'25
(David Darling)
5    Theme I 2'11
(Sidsel Endresen, David Darling)
6    Waiting Train 3'50
(Jon Eberson)
7    The Dreaming 4'37
(Jon Balke)
8    Dust 7'59
(Jon Eberson)
9    Variation III 3'10
(Jon Christensen, David Darling)
10    Theme II 2'31
(Sidsel Endresen, David Darling)
11    Exile 8'08
(Sidsel Endresen)
Credits :
Sidsel Endresen - Voice
Django Bates - Piano, Tenor Horn
Nils Petter Molvaer - Trumpet
Jon Christensen - Drums, Percussion
David Darling - Cello
Jens Bugge Wesseltoft - Keyboards 

ANOUAR BRAHEM – Blue Maqams (2017) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Other than a few cassettes in the 1980s, Tunisian oud master and composer Anouar Brahem has spent his entire career recording for ECM. The one exception was his score and soundtrack for the 1994 film Les Silences du Palais. In 2017, Brahem celebrated his 60th birthday with Blue Maqams, recorded at Avatar Studios in New York (a first) without his longstanding quartet of pianist François Couturier, bassist Björn Meyer, and bass clarinetist Klaus Gesing. With producer Manfred Eicher, Brahem assembled a band for this special date featuring bassist Dave Holland (who worked with the oudist on 1994's brilliant Thimar), drummer Jack DeJohnette (who has a nearly 50-year history with Holland), and British pianist Django Bates. The album title signifies the union between the incredibly complex Arabic modal and harmonic system and the "blue" so often evoked in jazz improvisation. Throughout, Brahem seamlessly combines the uncommon time signatures, sonic timbres, and whole-tone textures of Arabic music with the dynamic adventure of jazz improv. That premise is immediately put forth in the first track, "Opening Day." Brahem's haunting intro is joined by Holland's resonant playing inside of a minute, DeJohnette's cymbals increase the tempo, and Bates eventually transforms a spare modal ballad into an exercise in swing. The laid-back tom-tom groove DeJohnette establishes on the title track is an indicator. He's joined by the rest of the rhythm section before Brahem enters with a tender melody that swings gently. "Bahia" -- on which Bates sits out -- was previously recorded for Jan Garbarek's Madar. It commences with an oud solo accompanied by Brahem's humming, and opens onto a full-on jazz trio conversation. The oudist uses the scalar maqam ballad style as his rhythm section delivers grooving support in contrast. "Bom Dia Rio" is almost skeletal, while the oud develops the melody with Brahem's wordless vocalizing in accompaniment. When his bandmates enter, it twists and turns into a sprightly -- if moody -- 10/8 groover. On "Persepolis's Mirage," Brahem turns in some of his knottiest playing before the quartet delivers a processional Arabic melody augmented with layers of rhythmic invention. Bates adds fills from his instrument's lower and middle registers, providing weight and texture, but it's Brahem's meaty playing that ultimately shines. "The Recovered Road to Al-Sham" is an oud/piano duet that brilliantly juxtaposes Western chamber and Arabic classical music. "Unexpected Outcome" offers a moody lyric mode from Holland and Brahem before cracking open into an 11-minute, full-blown quartet jazz jam. There are excellent solos from each member and plenty of blue accents. Bates' elliptical chordal statements and fills add an elegant flourish in a closing statement to both the track and the album. Blue Maqams is lovely. It's a nearly perfect illustration of balance between cultural and musical inquiry, underscored by the confidence and near symbiotic communication of this gifted ensemble. This is an exceptional outing, even for an artist as accomplished and creative as Brahem. Thom Jurek  
Tracklist :
1    Opening Day    7:01
2    La Nuit    10:28
3    Blue Maqams    8:41
4    Bahia    8:45
5    La Passante    4:05
6    Bom Dia Rio    9:23
7    Persepolis's Mirage    8:06
8    The Recovered Road To Al-Sham    9:26
9    Unexpected Outcome    10:59
Credits :
Double Bass – Dave Holland
Drums – Jack DeJohnette
Oud, Composed By [Compositions By] – Anouar Brahem
Piano – Django Bates
Producer [Produced By] – Manfred Eicher