Kultur | lx – Arts Council Luxembourg and the Like A Jazz Machine festival have been working closely to promote the Luxembourgish jazz scene for some years now. On May 10 and 11, Kultur | lx will invite a delegation of international professionals to discover the Luxembourgish acts featured at the festival.
Like A Jazz Machine will be presenting the not so new newcomers Jambal and LINQ, who are bringing a breath of fresh musical inspiration to the local scene, as well as saxophonist Maxime Bender’s collaboration with producer Napoleon Gold. The festival will also showcase the result of three residencies, that are a strong feature of the festival: the collaboration of the vocalist Claire Parsons with the drummer Ziv Ravitz and the guitarist Eran Har Even; On the Edge, a new project by the trumpet player Daniel Migliosi with his brand-new quintet; the gathering of Pascal Schumacher, Greg Lamy, Marc Demuth and Jeff Herr, four names that are known on the Luxembourgish jazz scene. To finish on a high note, Michel Meis and his project Kolibri will make the audience dance until the end of the night!
As for every Focus organised by Kultur | lx, the invited delegation will have the opportunity to (re)discover these artists and take part in networking activities to meet professionals, promoters and jazz artists from Luxembourg. Among other things, Kultur | lx will organise a speedmeeting session on May 11 to allow Luxembourgish and international delegations to exchange on future touring possibilities and collaborations.
Discover the full line-up of the festival here.
As part of its mission to promote and disseminate Luxembourg artists, Kultur | lx – Arts Council Luxembourg will be present for the third consecutive year at the jazzahead! trade fair in Bremen, Germany.
From 11 to 13 April, a delegation of musicians, managers and programmers representing the Luxembourg jazz scene will meet at the ‘Jazz From Luxembourg’ stand (6B50), which will be an important meeting point for all those involved in the Luxembourg jazz scene. They will have the opportunity to make contacts, exchange ideas, talk to international professionals and present their current and future projects.
In 2023, jazzahead! attracted 3,000 participants from 60 different countries. As the central platform for the jazz sector, it is an annual event in Bremen for formal and informal networking, showcases and conferences.
A brochure has also been published to present all the players in Luxembourg.
We would be delighted to welcome you at our stand 6B50 during the fair and for a networking reception on 12 April at 16h00!
Taller de Musics and Kultur | lx – Arts Council Luxembourg joined forces to create a jazz residency programme gathering musicians from Luxembourg. The idea was to encourage artistic collaborations, on the one hand, and the transmission between experienced and emerging artists, on the other hand.
For four days, Irene Reig, Marc Demuth, Arthur Clees and Andreu Giró Espasa worked together at the Fabra I Coats in Barcelona. The set they developed consists of compositions by the four musicians and was presented during two concerts: one at the Jamboree Club, Barcelona (21.11.23), and the other at neimënster, Luxembourg(26.11.23).
To Marc Demuth, this kind of residency project is key to encourage artistic encounters. They contribute to establishing connexions between artists from different territories and backgrounds. “This should never be taken for granted”, Marc Demuth explains. “It is often in the context of studies that one connects with musicians/students from other countries but, in my opinion, it becomes increasingly difficult to build connections with jazz musicians from other countries once the studies are finished”. The artist also adds that the interactions with his peers from Barcelona let him understand the dynamics featuring the Barcelonese jazz scene.
For Arthur Clees, the musical contacts that he set up during this residency programme were a “great learning process and really inspired [his] creativity”.
Kultur | lx is fully committed in the implementation of such residency programmes, especially in the field of jazz. These working times give artists from different territories the opportunity to meet, exchange on their musical practices and open up their horizons on an international scale.
Sandrine Cantoreggi & Sheila Arnold | Mel Bonis: Entre Soir et Matin
Release date: December 1st 2023 | C-Avi Music
A late discovery of a most important female composer from France for the musical world. Melanie Helene Bonis, known by her artistic pseudonym Mel Bonis (21 January 1858 – 18 March 1937), was a Romantic composer in the late years of the 19th century and first half of the 20th century.
Her oeuvre includes more than 300 pieces: music for piano, chamber music in various formats, organ pieces, Lieder, choral music, a mass, and works for orchestra. Her teachers at the Paris Conservatoire included Cesar Franck, Ernest Guiraud and Auguste Bazille.
To her contemporaries’ surprise, Mel Bonis succeeded in the Paris society and was well regarded by her male composer fellows Camille Saint-Saens, her fellow student Claude Debussy and others. Some of her works have been officially published.
Sheila Arnold and Sandrine Cantoreggi initiated this album and discovered not only a piece – Soir – that was never played or recorded before, but kept her choice to play on period instruments (notably on a Bluethner Fortepiano 1871). Two Trios (one with Cello, the other with flute) embrace the program of small short pieces for Violin and Fortepiano, highlighting in particular the larger Violin Sonata, Op. 112.
Sascha Ley, Laurent Payfert, Murat Öztürk, Jean-Pascal Boffo | AXIS MUNDI
Release date: 19 January 2024
Four years after the release of their last album, Sascha Ley and Laurent Payfert break away from the duo formula for an experiment in instant compositions with long-time friends and colleagues Jean Pascal Boffo and Murat Öztürk, whom they had already invited as special guests on the album It’s Alright To be Everywhere (JHM 2019). After the shock and repercussions of the great pandemic, the desire to dedicate themselves to improvisation during this recording in February 2023 was very strong.
With an intuitive spirit, the four virtuoso artists from different fields play with a high degree of freedom to invent sounds and melodies that reflect both their individuality and the universality of being in the present.
Their communication is a dialogue between themselves and the audience, stories that are told and shared, their music, an experimental blend of their sources of inspiration which range from jazz, progressive rock, chanson, classical and contemporary, to the performing arts and poetry.
This year was another year of praise for Luxembourg artists in the international press. Discover below the best quotes featuring jazz and classical music artists from Luxembourg.
Tele-Port, Please Disperse
“This quartet plays powerful, energetic, colourful and dense vibrations that explode like supernovas in the listener’s heart and body. Even in a ballad like Cloud Jumper, the sound is strong, rocketing like an Apollo that is about to take off, probably because the quartet is made up of outstanding musicians.” – Le Soir, Jean-Claude Vantroyen, FR
Michel Meis, Lollipop Moment
“Explosive, edgy, provocative: the album features compositions incorporated in extensive and fearless free improvisations. As elaborate as it is spontaneous, Michel Meis’s 4tet breaks down the boundaries between genres, creating something truly avant-garde that refuses to be categorized.” – Jazz Trotter, France Musique, FR
Arthur Possing, ID:entity
“… nine small, fine, glittering, charming miniatures for the present, none longer than five minutes, graspable, technically demanding and yet full of natural beauty…” – Jazzthing, DE
Jambal, The Great Wave, Enterprises of great pith and moment
“The track is a delectable glimpse of the layered and cohesive sonic world of guitar riffs, melancholic keys, trumpet crescendos and intricate drum patterns that the album will offer us. With an emotive and expressive core that shines bright on each individual track, the album is set to be a showcase of continuitiy, individual brilliance and an instrumental celebration.” – Malvika Padin, Earmilk, UK
Dock in Absolute, [RE]flekt
“Not a single moment of distraction, not a second of boredom, as the trio sounds with such consistence that the iterative aspect of some sequences never lets one get bored, quite the contrary: this repetitive ritual supports creative, original, subtle and varied tracks.” – JazzMania, Jean-Pierre Goffin, BE
Greg Lamy & Flavio Boltro, Letting Go
“This highly successful new album exudes an astonishing elegance and refinement, an obvious simplicity (on both strings and brass) that surpasses any vain display of virtuosity, outlining a jazz that is limpid, airy, remarkably melodic and, from start to finish, of great beauty.” – Rolling Stone, Philippe Blanchet, FR
Claire Parsons & Laurent Peckels, The Aquatic Museum
“Between jazz, pop and contemporary music, fluid lines, dense orchestral arrangements and luxuriant harmonies, the clear, agile voice of [Claire Parsons] and her introspective lyrics, inhabited by flourishing inner worlds, navigate a vast field of possibilities and plunge us into an ambitious sonic experience inviting us to dream or philizophize.” – Catherine Carette, FIP
Naama Liany, Daydream
“Naama Liany’s brassy mezzo, always sincere, expresses several facets of dreaming between prayer, delirium and renouncing, through a programme called “Daydream”. This gathers several composers from the 20th and 21st centuries. From Albena Petrovic to Berstein’s young heroin (Barbara), French-Israeli singer Naama Liany offers a dip into the diversity of modern and contemporary compositions.” – Classique News, FR
PROPULSION is a career development and networking programme dedicated to jazz and improvised music artists from the Région Grand Est (France), Luxembourg and the French-speaking part of Belgium.
The laureates, who are selected upon a call for proposals, are granted tailor-made training on touring, production and communication. Mentors from each country provide the laureates an artistic point of view and advice on their projects.
The first edition of the programme gave the bands of Daniel Migliosi (Luxembourg) and Hugo Diaz (Région Grand Est) the opportunity to be accompanied by the team of the Compagnie Tangram and the artistic mentors of the programme, who were Stéphane Scharlé and Maxime Bender.
This second edition of the program brings a number of new features. Firstly, the arrival of Belgian partners in the program, and the introduction of a second program entitled PropulsionWOMEN, aimed exclusively at female musicians wishing to develop their skills in the leadership of musical projects. In addition to taking part in the joint PROPULSION program, the aim of the three laureates will be to finalise an artistic project to be presented live by one of PROPULSION’s partners by the end of the program. The winners will be mentored by a fellow musician with a proven track record. The mentors are Marion Rampal for the Grand Est region, Claire Parsons for Luxembourg and Margaux Vranken for the French-speaking part of Belgium.
Propulsion #2 is also offering the second edition of its PropulsionBANDS program, dedicated to the career and artistic development of existing projects. The BAND mentors are Stéphane Scharlé for France, Jeff Herr for Luxembourg and Manuel Hermia for the French-speaking part of Belgium.
Both programmes have the following objectives:
- Accelerate the professionalisation of emerging talents through comprehensive, individualised support;
- Promote and raise the profile of a generation of jazz artists on a European scale;
- Promote cooperation between cross-border cultural players and create a network open to Europe;
- Exploit the potential of mentoring and pooling resources;
- Include eco-responsibility and social issues (parity, diversity, etc.).
Who are the Luxembourgish laureates of PROPULSION #2?
PropulsionWOMEN | Veda Bartringer, guitarist
Veda Bartringer is a multi-instrumentalist from Luxembourg. She discovered the world of jazz at the age of 17, taking classes at the Conservatoire d’Esch-sur-Alzette, the Conservatoire de Luxembourg and the École de Musique de Dudelange, where she learned from musicians such as Pit Dahm, Pol Belardi, David Laborier, Jacques Pirotton and Erik Teuwens.
Starting in 2017, she pursued advanced musical studies in jazz guitar at the Royal Conservatory of Brussels, graduating with a Master’s degree in jazz guitar in 2022. During these 5 years of study, she learned alongside guitarists Fabien Degryse and Victor Da Costa, as well as François Decamps. Veda is a member of several Belgian and Luxembourg projects and has shared the stage with various artists. She is currently working on several personal projects, including duo projects with saxophonist Fabrice Muratore, Madagascan guitarist Joël Rabesolo, a solo guitar project, as well as the Veda Bartringer Quartet.
Guitarist Claire Besson is the winner of PropulsionWOMEN for the Grand Est region, and Lucia Pires, a flautist based in French-speaking Belgium, has been selected to take part in the program.
PropulsionBANDS | The Metz Foundation, Joël Metz
Joël Metz is a saxophonist. Having achieved his Bachelor and Master studies at the conservatory of Amsterdam and Codarts Rotterdam, Joël pursues his musical career as a bandleader of his group The Metz Foundation, a sideman for projects like the Josh Island Band and the Luxembourg Jazz Orchestra and as an educator for modern music at the Conservatoire du Nord in Luxembourg.
With an affinity for extended techniques like multiphonics, Joël likes to combine traditionally informed material with experimental sounds in his playing.
PropulsionBANDS selected Nobaban for the Région Grand Est and Bodies for the French-speaking part of Belgium.
Georg Ruby & Sascha Ley | The Laughter of the Red Moon. Dedicated to Hildegard Knef
Album release: October 12, 2023 | JazzHausMusik
Georg Ruby and Sascha Ley allow a wide range of musical parameters to take effect, creating original reinterpretations of the chansons and lyrics of the great German actress, singer and author Hildegard Knef (1925-2002) without imposing any stylistic boundaries.
Dock in Absolute | [RE]FLEKT
Album release: October 13, 2023 | Cam Jazz
Piano trio Dock In Absolute are perhaps the leading lights of a tremendous recent resurgence of creative music in Luxembourg, a territory that punches well above its weight in musical terms. The group’s previous work for CAM JAZZ established a distinctive voice, energised by pianist Jean-Philippe Koch’s compositions but realised by the energetic and thoroughly musical contributions of bassist Arne Weigand and drummer Victor Kraus. With roots in the vast literature of jazz piano trios, but with eyes set very much on the present, Dock In Absolute offer a music that is unmistakably contemporary and fresh but aware of tradition as well. Recorded in CAM JAZZ’s signature bright, responsive sound, [RE]FLEKT is set to be one of the must-have jazz records of the year. (Liner notes by Brian Morton)
Shauli Einav | Living Organs
Album release: November 18, 2023 | Outside in Music Europe
After six albums as a leader with only acoustic instrumentation, Shauli Einav, an Israeli saxophone player based in Luxembourg, explores more electronic and electric soundscapes. The music is inspired by both jazz and music from outside the jazz idiom. Einav aims to revive the sounds he was listening to in the 1990s: British artists such as Jamiroquai, The Prodigy, Simply Red or David Bowie, mediaeval folk music, and modern jazz-influenced harmonies.
“In a way, this is my homage to my teenage years where I aim to bring more audiences to jazz music, by building a bridge from the younger generation’s popular aesthetics to today’s mainstream jazz.”
For this new project, Einav’s band was selected for a week-long residency at opderschmelz, a week dedicated to getting deep into Einav’s new compositions and tightening the band! Einav teamed up with some of the rising stars of the European jazz scene: Dutch guitarist Eran Har Even, French organist Laurent Coulondre as well as Luxembourg drummer Paul Wiltgen.
Michel Reis | For A Better Tomorrow
Album release: December 1, 2023 | CamJazz
If jazz remains the “sound of surprise”, Luxembourgish pianist Michel Reis still cleaves to that hoary definition of the music. While still attractively accessible, Reis’s solo improvisations constantly take unexpected directions. He plays the piano “straight”, but still somehow manages to make it sound deliciously unfamiliar, as if it was only invented yesterday.
On his second recording for CAM JAZZ, Reis dedicates his music For A Better Tomorrow. There’s no clear political agenda in that title, but simply a dedication to the notion that in constantly reinventing itself, jazz is inherently progressive and committed to a human desire for improvement and self-development. Not a fiery showman, Reis is more like a close-up magician. One can hear everything he does, but it isn’t always quite clear how he does it. The magic of a music that never stops moving forward… (Liner notes by Brian Morton).
Under the supervision of music producer Ermanno Basso, For A Better Tomorrow was recorded and mixed in January 2023 by Stefano Amerio at Artesuono Recording Studio in Cavalicco (UD), Italy, and mastered by Danilo Rossi.
Kultur | lx, Taller de Músics and the Accion Cultural Española joined forces to implement a joint residency programme dedicated to Luxembourgish and Catalan jazz artists. In order to favour artistic encounters between both scenes and foster the international career development of jazz artists, two Luxembourg-based musicians and two Barcelona-based musicians will gather from November 18th to 21st in Barcelona to share their artistic visions. The result of these days dedicated to research and creation will be presented at Jamboree (Barcelona) and neimënster (Luxembourg), respectively on November 21st and 26th.
As this programme seeks to encourage the transmission between emerging and experienced artists, it will involve two established artists: Marc Demuth, a doublebass player and composer from Luxembourg, and Irene Reig, a saxophone player and composer based in Barcelona. They will coordinate the residency and share their experiences with two emerging artists selected by a jury.
The jury, composed by Marc Demuth, Irene Reig, Stéphane Wasila (neimënster) and Josep Mestres (Jamboree), decided to select the Luxembourgish vibist, composer and producer Arthur Clees, as well as the Barcelona-based drummer and composer Andreu Giró Espasa.
About the laureates
About Arthur Clees
Arthur Vinzent Clees is a young vibist, composer and producer from Luxembourg. He grew up in the small town of Esch-sur-Alzette and began his musical studies by taking cello. He soon decided to switch instruments and started finding interest in percussive instruments. After several years of studying classical percussion and taking multiple theory classes, he started to find his way into Jazz. Through playing drums and, eventually, by picking up the vibraphone as a main instrument, he started exploring the endless facets of contemporary improvised music. In 2019, he was a laureate of the Bourse Michelle and won the first prize during the drummer days in Luxembourg in 2020. After finishing high school in 2021, he started his bachelors in Jazz Composing in Dresden, where he currently studies.
Over the years Arthur was involved in many different band projects, both as a sideman and as a bandleader. With the band Anima he won the first prize of the Hans & Eugenia Jütting Stiftung in 2022. Arthur is currently active as a performer, composer and producer in both modern improvised music as well as contemporary classical music. Recent projects include a live album of an improvised set with Jan Jelinek (Faitiche & Terres Rouges), the release of debut albums with both Anima (Xjazz!) and Jambal (self released), as well as a brand-new duo project with vocalist Kateryna Kravchenko. In addition to his studies in composition and vibraphone, Arthur consistently kept working on his passion for electronic music and music production. Not only has he been making beats and mixes for other artists, including Culture the Kid, but he will also release his debut album stay, temporary home as a songwriter/producer on the Berlin based Label Macro end of 2023.
Andreu Giró Espasa
Andreu Giró is a passionate and dedicated musician who has devoted a significant portion of his life to studying and performing music. He commenced his musical education at the Can Ponsic Municipal School of Music, l’ARC Foundation, during the 2006-2007 academic year and continued his studies until the 2015-2016 academic year. During his tenure at the school, Andreu displayed a keen interest in the piano, dedicating 7 years to mastering this instrument and participating in various chamber music ensembles at the school. From 2010 to 2016, he concurrently pursued drum studies under the tutelage of teacher Iñaki de la Linde, broadening his repertoire and honing his skills with this instrument.
Andreu continued his education at the Taller de Músics School of Music in Barcelona. Between 2016 and 2019, he studied drums, piano, and ensemble (combo) under the guidance of different teachers delving into the techniques and expressions of jazz. Andreu’s unwavering dedication to music propelled him to commence his higher music studies at Taller de Músics ESEM in September 2019, where he continued to refine his drumming interpretation in jazz under the mentorship of teachers Ramón Ángel Rey, Toni Pagès, and Jordi Gardeñas. Andreu Giró successfully completed his higher Jazz studies and presented his graduation concert at Jamboree in Barcelona in June 2023.
About the mentors
Marc Demuth
Over the past several years, Luxembourg bassist Marc Demuth has emerged as a strong voice in the European jazz scene. In 2004 he was selected to be part of the European Jazz Orchestra on their tour through Europe and Brazil, under the conduction of the Portuguese leader and composer Pedro Moreira. A long-term usical partnership with Portuguese singer Sofia Ribeiro resulted in numerous appearances at venues and festivals all over Europe and the release of their Duo recording “Dança da Solidão” in 2006. Since 1998 has played in the Reis Demuth Wiltgen Trio, who released their fourth CD SLY for the Italian label Cam Jazz. Saxophonist Joshua Redman met the band at a festival in France in 2014 and fell in love with their music from the moment he heard them. Joshua joined the trio as a featured guest on many occasions and tours. He also was part of a project featuring the music of REIS/DEMUTH/WILTGEN arranged for the Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg by multiple Grammy Award winning composer and conductor Vince Mendoza.
As an accomplished and passionate jazz educator, Marc shares his experience and insights with the next generation of creative musicians at the Echternach Music School in Luxembourg. He started his musical studies at the Luxembourg conservatory, and pursued them at the Royal Conservatory of Brussels with Jean-Louis Rassinfosse and Michel Hetzigeorgiou. He got his master from the Royal Conservatory of The Hague under Hein van de Geyn.
In 1996, at the young age of 18, he won a scholarship for studying electric bass at the famous Berklee College of Music, while participating at their annual workshop in Perugia, Italy.
Irene Reig
Irene is a saxophone player and composer based in Barcelona. She got interested in jazz music at an early age and she has been involved in music since then. She has been living in different cities such as Amsterdam and Philadelphia where she developed her career and recorded her firsts albums: Views and The Bop Collective. She is currently playing with her own trio and many other ensembles. She is also part of the collective and label The Changes.
Arthur Possing | ID:entity
Album release: August 25th 2023 | Double Moon/Challenge Records
ID:entity, the first solo album, draws a deep and intense introspection – both musically and humanly – into the world of pianist and composer Arthur Possing. The singer-songwriter format has always had an impact on the artist and the essence of songs has been the essential guideline for this new record. By using multiple textures of the piano, Arthur creates a very personal and intimate universe, combining originals with covers of influential songs and free improvisation.
Listen to ID:entity album
Listen to ID:entity’s first single : The Essence of Joy
Jambal | Enterprises of great pith and moment
Release: September 15th
Jambal and L.A. based composer/producer Tristan de Liège teamed up last summer to record a new full-length collaboration album called Enterprises of Great Pith and Moment.
After one week of songwriting, composing, arranging and rehearsing, they started putting the album together at Unison studios in Differdange.
The result is a very intimate insight into the unique band-sound of Jambal, which has evolved considerably since their first EP release in 2021. A blend of experimental textures, modern grooves, and shifting harmonies, as well as improvisations, heavily influenced by contemporary jazz. The album also features a string quartet, played by L.A. based musician Gregory Allison and Luxembourgish artist Claire Parsons. Sound engineering as well as mixing was done by Eric ‘Slunnes’ Slunecko, the mastering has been made by Nate Wood.
Their first single Uncertainties just recently got a spin on John Osborne’s show on JazzFM UK.
Listen to Jambal:
04.08. : release of Uncertainties
01.09. : release of Collisions of Light
15.09. : album release
VictorKrausGroup | Canto Ostinato
Album release: October 7th | Donemus Records
For Canto Ostinato, Victor Kraus (playing the marimba) is joined by eight of the best musicians from the Luxembourg and international music scene: Kae Shiraki (piano), Aniela Stoffels (flute), Anik Schwall (cello), Max Mausen (clarinet), Guy Frisch (vibraphone), Emre Sevindik (electronics), Michel de Souza (voice) and Pit Brosius (conductor). In collaboration with this team, performing as the VictorKrausGroup, he has developed a hybrid project around the 1976 piece Canto Ostinato by Dutch composer Simeon ten Holt. Other projects are currently being planned and will follow in 2024/2025.
The project began in 2017 as part of a production by German broadcaster NDR at the international festival Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (Germany), culminating in 2023 in the recording of an album to mark the composer’s 100th anniversary during an artist residency at Trifolion in Echternach (Luxembourg). Simeon ten Holt used the term “genetic code” to describe the rhythmic foundation of his piece. It is a quintuplet that develops Canto Ostinato by exploring 106 repeated cells ad libitum.
Victor Kraus presents a brand-new version by adding wind and string instruments, electronic elements and vocals to this magnificent piece, originally written for multiple keyboard instruments. Electronics and vocals play a predominant role in this project, which is conceived as a hybrid project, an artwork and a sensual performance, blending a “classical” work with minimalist transformations, electronic music, singing, lighting and recitation of poems by Fernando Pessoa, Gianni Rodari, Gabriel Marcel and Anise Koltz.
Maria Miteva | Golden Lights
Album release: October 22nd
Flutist Maria Miteva’s new album Golden Lights features works by four Luxembourgish composers and five Bulgarian composers – Boris Schmidt, Alexander Müllenbach, A. Petrovic-Vratchanska, Ivan Boumans, Miroslav Danev, Dimitar Bodurov, Milcho Leviev, Antoni Donchev, Valeri Kostov. After her last album Ways, Maria Miteva shows a new face of her work, merging jazz and classical music together along with world-renowned classical and jazz musicians.
Maria Miteva -Flute
Eugenia Radoslava -Piano (contemporary pieces)
Antoni Donchev – Piano (jazz pièces)
Boris Dinev – Drums, Tupan, Percussions
Boris Schmidt – Doublebass
Luc Hemmer – Vibraphone
Josip Dragnić-Gitarre
Olivier Dartevelle – Clarinet
Mariya Parashkevova – Voice (recording)
The album was recorded at the Luxembourgish Studio Tonstudio Schlim.
With the support of Ministry of culture, Fondation Independance by BIL, and the SACEM
Claude Lenners | Hôtel à insectes
Release: September 15th | NEOS Music
Carried by contemporary music and works, the CD Hôtel à insectes explores the extraordinary and abundant of insects through a 25-piece cycle with texts by Shakespeare, Kafka, Grass, Neruda, Virgil, as well as Schlechter. It is a collection of texts with insects as a central topics, addressed on different points of view.
The works are recorded by the Noise Watchers Ensemble:
Marie-Reine Nimax (soprano),
Max Mausen (clarinet)
Hany Heshmat (guitar)
Greg Lamy, laureate of the Global Project Grant 2023 in the category of Jazz/World music, has released his new album, Letting Go, with Flavio Boltro on 8 June 2023 via Igloo Records.
Letting Go marks a clear evolution in the guitarist’s playing, distinguished by the care taken with the colours, the play with space, the increasingly refined sound, and the lightness of the accompaniment that avoids overload. Above all, they emphasise the importance of listening to their partner. This is an album of spellbinding spontaneity – all the themes are first takes! – and a natural fluidity at all times.
Greg Lamy enlisted the help of a digital communications agency to raise awareness of his album, develop a conversation with his fans and attract new ones, as well as generating excitement for his new album through the creation of high-impact content.
As well as raising his profile at a European level, he has developed his international reputation, leading him this autumn, in addition to numerous dates in Europe (Italy, France, Germany), to perform solo in Canada and in Taiwan with Flavio Boltro.
“Wonderful” – Alice Leclercq in Jazz News
“You want to let yourself go to the indolent rhythm of this music, like in a boat abandoned to the slow current of a wide river in which you feel so comfortable that you wish the river would never reach the sea.” – Jean-Claude Vantroyen in Le Soir, ****
“he lets his guest do the honour of taking his piece to the top, in the kind of letting go that refers to the title, which is a key feature of the art of improvisation, of which the album is a sparkling example.” – Ismaël Simeon in Jazz Magazine, ***
About Greg Lamy
“A guitar player whose refreshing and pure guitar sound gives birth to multiple melodic climates, underlined by a most fluid style, a musician with a promising future. ” Such is Lionel Loueke’s praise of the American-Luxembourgish guitarist and composer Greg Lamy, one of the most talented artists of the European jazz scene.
After studying jazz guitar in Boston at the Berklee College of Music as well as in London at the Trinity College, Lamy was quickly noticed when showcasing with various bands in clubs and at festivals across Europe and the United. He plays and has played with, among others, Lionel Loueke, Gretchen Parlato, Flavio Boltro, Bojan Z, Marco Massa, …
For Lamy, a tour follows hot on the heels of another. Europe, United States, Brazil, China – his music goes around the world. He released numerous albums with different projects, most notably, with his quartet, “Meeting” in 2013 and “Press Enter” in 2017, both on Igloo Records and both highly praised and among the label’s bestselling albums. In 2016, Greg Lamy won the Export Artist of the Year Award (music:LX) in the Jazz category. In 2020, he was offered an endorsement deal by the renowned guitar manufacturer “Westville”
About the Global Projet Grant
Created by music:LX and taken over by Kultur | lx, the Global Project Grant is awarded to a musician of each genre (pop/rock/electro/hip-hop, jazz/world, classical/contemporary). It allows to support the artist in the development of a project that aims to stimulate his/her career. Kultur | lx follows the artists and their teams in each stage of the project.
More information about the Global Project Grant can be found here
Applications to be submitted by September 18, 2023