Tag Archives: Big Band

Germany: State Youth Jazz Orchestra Hesse (Landesjugendjazzorchester Hessen) releases new album „Warped World“

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Press Release

Wiesbaden (Germany), October 2026

State Youth Jazz Orchestra Hesse (Landesjugendjazzorchester Hessen) releases new album „Warped World“

On the 8th of November 2026 the State Youth Jazz Orchestra Hesse will release a new album featuring modern and contemporary big band jazz by the current generation of young musicians. The album was produced in collaboration with Ed Partyka and Holger Fröhlich.

It has been eight years since their last release, now the State Youth Jazz Orchestra Hesse (LJJO Hesse) has produced a new album. “Warped World”, set for release in November, marks the ensemble’s 14th album and its first studio recording since 2018.

The album was recorded in April 2026 at the renowned Bauer Studios in Ludwigsburg (Germany), where several of the ensemble’s albums have already been recorded. Over the course of three days, a total of 58 young musicians recorded the seven tracks. For many of them, it was their first experience in a professional recording studio.

Ed Partyka plays a special role in the current production; he has served as artistic director alongside Holger Fröhlich since 2024. As a composer, arranger, conductor, and teacher, he is one of the defining figures of the European big band scene. His work with the ensemble also shapes the musical style of the new album.

Last year, the ensemble celebrated its 40th anniversary. Several new works were created for this milestone, including “Warped World” by saxophonist and composer Kira Linn, who herself was a member of the Kicks & Sticks big band for many years. This piece ultimately gave the entire production its name. Linn describes her composition as a musical response to a world marked by many tensions. This idea shapes the character of the first side of the record, which features exclusively original compositions.

The A-side opens with “Eklipse,” a composition by Sammy Wahlandt, the current drummer for the Kicks & Sticks. He first brought the piece to the orchestra’s intensive rehearsal period in April. It impressed bandleader Ed Partyka and the ensemble so much that it was recorded in the studio just a few days later.

The production is completed by additional compositions and arrangements by Ed Partyka (“Overcast,” “Get Happy”), as well as Maria Schneider’s “Green Piece,” which opens the B-side, and David Hirschfelder’s “Natural Selection” in an arrangement by Jan Wessels. The two vocal ensembles, Junior-Voices and Kicks-Voices, have recorded an a-cappella version of the classic “What’ll I Do.” All sections of the State Youth Jazz Orchestra can be heard on the record: the Kicks & Sticks and Kicks-Voices on the A-side, and the Junior-Kicks, Junior-Voices, and Kicks-Voices on the B-side.

The album reflects different perspectives on the same present. While the first side deals with uncertainty, complexity, and friction, the other side responds to the resulting fractures and tensions with hope, curiosity, drive, and optimism.

“Warped World” will be released on the 8th of November on vinyl and all major streaming platforms.

The State Youth Jazz Orchestra Hesse is one of the oldest ensembles of its kind in Germany. Hesse’s best young jazz talents perform in four different ensembles. Under the direction of Ed Partyka and Holger Fröhlich, they have the opportunity to further develop their musical skills at a professional level and gain stage experience. The LJJO Hesse serves as a flagship for the state of Hesse, performing in major concert halls and at festivals around the world. For many members, their time with the ensemble lays the foundation for subsequent music studies and careers. Numerous alumni have gone on to enjoy success in the jazz scene, both as soloists and as members of renowned bands.

The State Youth Jazz Orchestra Hesse is part of the Junge Musik Hessen gGmbH (Young Music Hesse NPO).

Infos

More Information (in German)

www.ljoh.de | www.junge-musik-hessen.de 

Facebook | Instagram | YouTube | Spotify 

If you would like further information in English, please don’t hesitate to reach out.

Manager

Katharina Bernard 

+49 160 9468 7979 | katharina.bernard@junge-musik-hessen.de

JazzWorldQuest Showcase 2024: Itiberê Orquestra Familia Da França (France/Brazil)

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Itiberê Orquestra Família Da França

Nouvel album Live à Paris

Sortie le 19/04/2024 chez Inouïe Distribution

Itiberê Orquestra Familia Da França dévoile son extraordinaire Live à Paris dans un album déjà disponible en digital et qui sort en physique le 19 avril 2024.

Avec ses 23 musiciens français et brésiliens, le Live à Paris est un pari fou qui sidère l’entendement par sa démesure musicale.

Itiberê Orquestra familia da França est un orchestre franco-brésilien dirigé par Itiberê Zwarg, très proche collaborateur d’Hermeto Pascoal. Imaginé des deux côtés de l’Atlantique par le saxophoniste Benoit Crauste et Itiberê Zwarg, l’IOF a été conçu pendant la pandémie. L’Orquestra Familia a vu le jour en 2022 à Paris lors du Festival Sons d’Hiver où il a donné deux concerts dont on retrouve l’essentiel sur disque aujourd’hui. Il réunit 18 musiciens de jazz parisien et 4 musiciens brésiliens dont Ajurinã et Mariana Zwarg, sous la direction d’Itiberê.

Entre jazz, classique, expérimentation et musique brésilienne, L’Orquestra Familia Da França se pare de tous les superlatifs. L’album Live In Paris concrétise le rêve d’un échange culturel fort autour d’une musique instrumentale innovatrice, symbole de l’amitié entre la France et le Brésil. On peut plonger dans les coulisses de l’enregistrement avec une vidéo signée du réalisateur Clément Crauste.

Pour regarder et diffuser la vidéo du Live à Paris :

Projet d’une grandiose luxuriance musicale, la sortie de l’album Live à Paris du Itiberê Orquestra Familia Da França est un événement pour tous les amateurs de jazz et de musique brésilienne. Hors norme et démesuré, ce projet séduit par son gigantisme et sa folie contagieuse.

Enregistré à Paris en 2022 à l’invitation du festival Sons d’Hiver, l’album Live In Paris est une création de l’Itiberê Orquestra Familia Da França qui réunit 23 musiciens franco-brésiliens.

Bassiste historique, considéré comme l’un des grands artisans du renouveau de la musique instrumentale brésilienne et principal collaborateur de Hermeto Pascoal, Itiberê Zwarg affirme la dynamique d’un orchestre effusif, jouant sans cesse avec l’esprit de célébration rituelle de la musique, source de vivacité et d’extase. Source agitée par la transmission orale et collaborative.

Au sein des différentes versions de l’Itiberê Orquestra Família, Itiberê Zwarg adore faire jouer la part d’expérience de chacun dans une musique d’ensemble. Ce qui est fondamental pour les musiciennes et musiciens français et brésiliens réunis ici, c’est la liberté d’inventer et de créer.

A l’issue des répétitions en janvier 2022, l’orchestre franco-brésilien a donné deux concerts dont voici sur disque quelques-uns des meilleurs moments. La musique est à l’image du Brésil prodigue qui l’a vue naître, terre d’invention à la poésie exubérante et grand mélangeur du monde. Le répertoire de l’orchestre est librement inspiré de l’univers musical français. Itiberê y restitue les impressions ressenties lors de ses nombreuses tournées avec Hermeto Pascoal & Grupo.

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JazzWorldQuest Showcase 2024

New Album/Hungary: New Days Ahead – The Music of Daniel Hofecker – special guests: Eva Bolba and Stjepko Gut

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New Days Ahead – The Music of Daniel Hofecker – special guests: Eva Bolba and Stjepko Gut

The collaboration of the well-established Budapest Jazz Orchestra big band with young lion Daniel Hofecker has yielded a very exquisite result. Daniel is one of the most talented young composers and arrangers of his generation, not to mention that he’d earned his BA as a jazz trumpet player at the Liszt Academy in Budapest, before transferring to the University of Performing Arts in Graz, Austria, where he graduated with a Distinguished MA Diploma in 2022 in jazz composition and arrangement. For this album he collected the pieces that he had penned in the last couple of years, especially the ones that he got a great number of accolades for at international competitions of jazz composition and arrangement (see tracklist for details).


The title of the album is New Day Suite, alluding to his four-movement suite, which depicts a full day from dawn, through daytime, sunset and night. According to Hofecker, the greatest challenge of this composition was how one could depict the different characteristics of changing times and moods of a day by letting a powerful big band blow and hit their instruments. The piece One for Beni is an exercise in style in which Hofecker pays tribute to Bob Brookmeyer, whose composing and arrangement technique he applied here. La Galérie Des Cotelles is a piece inspired by a place in the Versailles castle in France.

It has a historical significance for Hungarians, unfortunately a very tragic one, since the ending of the First World War was sealed by a very unfavorable peace treaty for Hungary. What the composer aimed to do was illustrating the gloomy state of mind that has haunted Hungarians thinking about the peace treaty for over a century. The peace Politics is thematically related as it tries to illustrate the tensions, dilemmas and the unpleasant moments of political debate which no one can be completely exempt from.

One of the most influential teachers of Hofecker during his years in Graz was trumpet legend from Serbia Stjepko Gut -Hofecker says. “It was such a great inspiration for me all the time how he produced the idiosyncratic and inimitable melodies, rhythm, phraseology and swing that he is known for” – says the one-time student. This is behind the track, Mr. S.G. obviously a tribute to his master who himself embellished the piece with a phenomenal after the theme had been put forward by Éva Bolba.

Something like an encore, showcasing Daniel’s arranging skills is a standard, the unforgettable Cheek to Cheek also recorded by the ensemble: it aims at a sound typical of New York’s Village Vanguard big band, blending traditional and modern approaches. To make all good things three, Hofecker’s trumpet playing is also featured on his debut album.

Tracklist: (Including awards and competition prizes)

  1. New Day Suite – I. Dawnin’ Big Band Composition Contest of the Hungarian Jazz Federation, Budapest, First place, 2016
  2. New Day Suite – II. Daytime Helsinki International Big Band Composing Contest, Finalist, 2019
  3. New Day Suite – III. Sunset
  4. New Day Suite – IV. Night
  5. One For Beni Big Band Composition Contest of the Hungarian Jazz Federation, Budapest, First place, 2018; Barga Jazz Festival and Competition (Italy), Finalist, 2022
  6. La Galérie Des Cotelles – Big Band Composition Contest of the Hungarian Jazz Federation, Budapest, 2nd Prize and Best Composition Prize, 2021; Karel Krautgartner’s Composition Contest For a Jazz Orchestra, Prague, 3rd Prize, 2021
  7. Politics Barga Jazz Festival and Competition (Italy), Grand Prize, 2021; Downbeat Magazine’s Student Music Awards, Outstanding Composition Award, 2022
  8. Mr. S.G. Helsinki International Big Band Composing Contest, Finalist, 2021
  9. Cheek To Cheek (I. Berlin)

Online stream: https://bfan.link/new-days-ahead

ARC Trio and the John Daversa Big Band - ARCEOLOGY

JazzWorldQuest Showcase 2022: ARC Trio and the John Daversa Big Band – ARCEOLOGY

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ARC Trio and the John Daversa Big Band(USA)-Red and Gold
Album: ARCEOLOGY The Music of MSM Schmidt
Label: Blue Canoe Records

For the past several years, former Yellowjackets bassist and prolific producer Jimmy Haslip has enjoyed an ongoing working relationship with the Bremen, Germany-based jazz fusion keyboardist and composer Michael Schmidt (aka MSM Schmidt). While Haslip played on Schmidt’s 2007 album Transit and 2009’s Destination, he ended up coproducing 2012’s Evolution, 2015’s Utopia and 2017’s Life. They take their chemistry to new heights on ARCeology: The Music of MSM Schmidt.
This dynamic offering finds Haslip and members of his ARC Trio (keyboardist Scott Kinsey and Hungarian drummer Gergö Borlai) joining forces with the GRAMMY® Award-winning John Daversa Big Band on greatly expanded versions of previously recorded Schmidt material, along with two brand new pieces composed by Kinsey and Schmidt. The result is a powerhouse collection of polished, swaggering big band fusion along the lines of the Jaco Pastorius Big Band or The Brecker Brothers’ 2003 collaboration with the WDR Big Band Köln on Some Skunk Funk.

“I wanted to see if I could make this a big band record but somehow make it different,” said Haslip. “I didn’t think it should sound like a vintage big band recording. I wanted it to sound modern and have more of an edge, which is what led me to include guest soloists like Nguyên Lê, Mike Miller, Steve Khan, Oz Noy and others. They bring progressive elements into the big band setting and add compelling ideas to each song.”
Out of the eight songs that appear on ARCeology, six were previously recorded on other Michael Schmidt records. The two brand new compositions here are Schmidt’s “Mirrors” and Kinsey’s “Quartet.” And as Haslip noted, “In approaching this project, there was the thought that if you’re going to redo songs that have already been recorded, what can be done to make them sound like new compositions? And I think with Scott’s rhythm arrangements and John’s input on the horn parts, we came up with some creative solutions.”

Haslip also credited Kinsey, who became de facto co-producer of ARCeology. “Originally, I was the point producer on this whole thing, but as time went on I just knew that Scott needed to be a part of the production team,” he recalled. “We weren’t far into the project when I approached Scott and said, ‘I want you to be my co-producer on this because you’re contributing so much great work and it’s only fair that we do this together.’ He was up for that, so I am happy to say that Scott and I co-produced the record. I can’t take full credit for what’s happened here, as Scott was the real workhorse. He played most of the keyboard and synth parts and did all the keyboard solos, of course. Also, Scott’s rhythm arrangements had a big hand in influencing John’s horn arrangements. There was a lot of cool stuff already in place for John to just embellish. But then again, John has his own unique voice for orchestration. Everything he wrote after the fact was fantastic.”

Blue Canoe Records

JazzWorldQuest Showcase 2022