"Born To Be Blue" is the latest release from Sound Liaison. It highlights the sound of the vibraphone and features the REF Trio - Rob van Kreeveld (piano), Edwin Corzilius (double bass), and Frits Landesbergen (vibraphone). The name REF Trio comes from the first letter of each member's name. The album was recorded live at MCO Studios in The Netherlands in front of a live audience. It includes performances of "A Child Is Born" (written by Thad Jones), "Emily" (written by Johnny Mandel), "The Girl Next Door" (written by Hugh Martin), "Born To Be Blue" (co-written by Mel Torme and Robert Wells) and a Medley of Duke Ellington favorites.

After fifteen years of playing mostly ‘groundbreaking’, modern music, slowly but surely more Romantic composers entered Calefax’s repertoire. This album is the Romantic Anthology that was bound to happen, filled with voluptuous nineteenth-century compositions.

From combined musical and audiophile criteria we have compiled the most excellent recordings 2L have to offer. Two of the albums presented in this collection was nominated for the American GRAMMY Awards "Best Surround Sound Album" and "Best Performance". Discover what the unique Nordic Sound is all about!

Impex Records is excited to announce their premier collaboration with one of our generation's most influential jazz artists, Patricia Barber. Her elegant album "Higher", recorded and mixed by long-time collaborator Jim Anderson, contains eight songs that explore the mysteries that bind us, causing Jazz times to declare: "Few performers in or out of jazz are as consistently brilliant as Patricia Barber…Brainy. Beautiful".

Nordic Brass Ensemble was founded in 1993 by a group of brass musicians who shared a strong desire to make chamber music together. From the start, the ensemble has focused on developing its own musical ideas and concepts of sound. By exploiting the different instruments' special qualities and combining them in new and unusual ways, and by extensively using mutes, percussion and, indeed, unfamiliar instruments to create new colours and effects, the ensemble is continuously shaping its distinct sound.

For Dutch jazz pianist Marc van Roon, this album represents a dream come true, the culmination of almost five decades of exploring, playing, performing, contemplating, constructing, deconstructing, searching, researching, reflecting, engaging in conversations, jamming, travelling, instructing, sharing, dreaming and being. For a long time he wanted to allow himself full immersion in this genuine kind of improvisational exploration. Recording these pieces provided van Roon the opportunity to improvise on a tightrope, letting go of preconceived and trained artistic conceptualizations, a journey to the edge of technique and control. As an underlying framework he chose to use the printed keyboard scores of J.S. Bach as he connects the pre-composed orchestrations with improvised jazz.

"Stories" is Jan Gunnar Hoff’s third solo piano album on the 2L label and is a sequel to his critically acclaimed album "Living" from 2013. On the new release Hoff stretches his creative abilities, presenting contrasting compositions and improvisations, in a distinctly personal mixture. Some of the pieces are meditative and expressive, while others have a strong rhythmic vibe. Stories also displays Hoff as an arranger, presenting versions of classics like “God Only Knows” and the traditional Swedish folk song “Värmlandsvisan”.

"Midnight in Paris" is an album by American pianist, composer and bandleader Duke Ellington recorded in 1962 for the Columbia label. The album features performances of compositions inspired by or associated with Paris…

There are so many recordings of Mozart piano concertos already available, that it might be hard to see where this one might fit in. Suffice it to say that, if you’re looking for these three concertos together, are interested in far-more-intimate playing, though which still respects the raison d’être of the concerto-form, and an instrumental sound as close to what audiences might have heard at the time, then this release is definitely an attractive proposition. Couple this with a superb performance, and recording – which sounds definitely perfectly fine.

Arranger Kenichi Tsunoda's big band has been one of the top jazz orchestras in Japan since its formation in 1990. This set is particularly impressive for the wide range of the arrangements, the band's musicianship, and the individual solos. This release was recorded in Extreme High Deninition format.

Arranger Kenichi Tsunoda's big band has been one of the top jazz orchestras in Japan since its formation in 1990. This set is particularly impressive for the wide range of the arrangements, the band's musicianship, and the individual solos. This release was recorded in Extreme High Deninition format.

Ruud Breuls, Simon Rigter, Karel Boehlee, Jos Machtel and Marcel Serierse can play. No doubt. They belong to the absolute top of European jazz. They have played with everybody who is somebody in the world of jazz. But what really makes this album special is the love and dedication they bring to Armstrong's music. Listening to the 8 compositions presented here one realizes that genre is completely irrelevant.

Carmen Gomes has won many awards in the Netherlands and surrounding areas. Like so many new European singers, she sings in English. Her style is bluesy and intimate with a sexy voice that's sweet as dark tupelo honey, and her interpretations are unerring. Idea of this album would take on the challenge of reinterpreting Harry Belafonte's "Belafonte Sings the Blues" was originally suggested by Harry van Dalen, owner of the eminent High End audio shop Rhapsody. He thought that Carmen’s band would be perfect for reinterpreting the mood and the sound of the classic album.

Kjell Tore Innervik performs Iannis Xenakis's Psappha and Morton Feldman's The King of Denmark, exploring the intimate performing space with large format recording techniques, engaging the listener in immersive audio. The Xenakis was recorded twice: once from the perspective of an intimate listener, and a second time literally "over-head", giving a first-persona perspective. The difference not only in microphone technique but also in the performer's state of mind and how he projects his playing has a profound impact on the listening experience. "Radical Interpretations of Iconic Musical Works for Percussion" was an interdisciplinary artistic research project hosted at the Norwegian Academy of Music (2013–2017) in collaboration with the Oslo Academy of the Arts, the Oslo School of Architecture and Design, Westerdals Oslo ACT and 2L through the Norwegian Artistic Research Programme.

"Two of a Mind" is an album recorded by American jazz saxophonists Paul Desmond and Gerry Mulligan featuring performances recorded in 1962 which were released on the RCA Victor label. This is an album of great melodic interaction between Desmond and Mulligan. It's too bad that they did not perform more often with each other. But what the did give us, will have to do.