According to the "Butterfly Effect", tiny disturbances at one point on the earth’s surface, even the flapping of a butterfly's wings, can trigger huge changes in distant places. For saxophonist/ flautist/ clarinetist Magnus Lindgren and pianist John Beasley, the point of departure here is the smallest possible format for musical interaction, the duo. And it is a starting-point with enchanting consequences.

Over 70 minutes of the best jazz infotainment: Magic Moments is one of the most successful compilation series of European jazz and shows a cross-section of the current ACT program, compiled by Siggi Loch.

"A new hope in German jazz" was German broadcaster mdr kultur’s verdict on Vincent Meissner's debut album "Bewegtes Feld" (2021). Deutschlandfunk went further, predicting that his band “will take off like a rocket." Downbeat (US) wrote of an "excitement” running through the album, which was produced by Meissner’s mentor Michael Wollny. The pianist was only twenty at the time, and already garlanded with prizes. Praise and an armful of awards are what they are…but at that point, because of Covid, Meissner’s young acoustic piano trio with bassist Josef Zeimetz and drummer Henri Reichmann had scarcely had any chances to perform live, to explore the richness of their bandleader’s compositions, or indeed to let this material develop properly.

In early 2020, listeners and the media were delighted, amazed, and taken completely by surprise by pianist Johanna Summer’s debut album “Schumann Kaleidoskop” (Schumann Kaleidoscope). Her improvisational approach to Robert Schumann's “Kinderszenen” also caught the admiration of colleagues from a wide range of musical backgrounds.Star classical pianist Igor Levit’s comments on the album were clear yet heartfelt: “Johanna Summer is an outstanding jazz pianist. She is so centred and at ease with herself, she handles material so confidently and freely…and yet she finds her own right note every time.” Piano poet Malakoff Kowalski found the album simply “scandalously good” and was “enraptured and amazed by an artist who fearlessly follows the music”. And jazz icon Joachim Kühn stated: “Johanna Summer's music is full of fantasy and without category. Coming from European classical music, with a wonderful touch, she creates something perfect and complete. Something her own”.

Music is feminine. And it always has been, whether in Italian, Germanand French. Viva la musica. Die Musik. Lamusique. And in jazz? During the 20th century female musicians lives were lived in the shadows. Lil Hardin, for example, wrote compositions like “Struttin‘ With Some Barbecue”, and yet while her husband Louis Armstrong was becoming famous, she was hardly noticed at all. She was, as she described it later, “standing at the bottom of the ladder holding it and watching him climb.” Since then, however, things have moved on. Progress may be slow, but things are definitely changing. In jazz, today the female element has gone way beyond just the “girl singer with a band”. It is not only quite normal for a woman to be playing electric guitar, bass, drums or trumpet, we now have musicians such as Terri Lyne Carrington serving as important role models.

Friendship has often been the basis for great collaborations in music. It was also something very special for “Mr. Red Horn”, trombonist Nils Landgren, when two years ago he fulfilled a long-cherished wish by celebrating Christmas With My Friends (ACT 9454-2). The critics celebrated the album as "the year’s most beautiful Christmas CD", "a soulful heavenly journey", and it went Gold in both Sweden and Germany.
Five of the twelve friends who accompanied Nils Landgren two years ago are with him again on Christmas With My Friends II: the classic singer Jeanette Köhn, the versatile vocalist Sharon Dyall, jazz singer and pianist Ida Sand, and The Norrland Duo of Sweden’s most talented acoustic guitarist Johan Norberg and Jonas Knutsson, a saxophonist especially known for his lyrical style…

Just as there are a multitude of different ways to celebrate Christmas, there is also a vast and appetising array of Christmas music. And whereas Nils Landgren's "Christmas With My Friends" series has been an integral part of the run-up to the holiday season for the past 15 years, it is far from being all that ACT has to offer: a host of other artists from the label have created their own distinctive Christmas sounds. These range from the quiet contemplations of pianist Bugge Wesseltoft or the hymn-inspired "Nordic Christmas" from saxophonist Tore Brunborg, to music from Canadian singer Laila Biali or “a touch of class” (The Observer) from Echoes of Swing… and even the coruscating and youthful energy of the Jazzrausch Bigband. All these and many more are to be found on "Christmas in the Spirit of Jazz". This is the ACT Christmas soundtrack for 2021.

Daydreams and soothing stories…in the Spirit of Jazz "There's a place for us, somewhere a place for us. Peace and quiet and open air wait for us. Somewhere…". These words from the classic song from Leonard Bernstein's “West Side Story” set the tone for "Fahrt ins Blaue III - dreamin' in the Spirit of Jazz": this is uplifting music, to take the mind and the soul to a place of safety. The kind of quiet interlude in a day which is always restorative. Switch off and then switch back on – better focused. We find calm, intimacy, thoughtfulness here; the sixteen tracks in this compilation have a sense of flow, while also allowing the listener to wander off into all kinds of musical dream worlds….

David Helbock’s fine musicianship goes hand in hand with a remarkable ability to communicate on several levels. As British writer Peter Bacon has written, there is “much to intrigue the mind, much to warm the heart and much to tickle the funny bone.” German critic Roland Spiegel has elegantly described his music as “never cerebral, but captivating both the head and the body….” For his new album the Austrian-born pianist brings those strengths and that ability to engage and appeal to audiences into a new and different venture.

“Jazzrausch Bigband is making jazz sexy again” (Bayerischer Rundfunk). Downbeat has singled out not just the band’s “high-voltage performances” and “party atmosphere”, but also the amount of experimentation going on. The ensemble’s ingenious mix of techno and big band jazz has proved to be just as accessible to people listening to the band from the comfort of their seats in a concert hall as it has to those sweating it out on the dance floor. Since 2015 Jazzrausch Bigband has been in residence at Harry Klein in Munich, a club renowned for its house and techno acts as well as for its stunning live visuals; this cooperation between a techno club and a big band is truly unique in the world. From its base at the club, the pioneering ensemble has defined a completely new genre, “techno jazz”. The band’s music is getting noticed on the other side of the Atlantic too: Jazzrausch Bigband has performed at New York’s Lincoln Center, and Downbeat magazine has pinpointed this unusual band’s remarkable strengths: “A high-voltage performance with party atmosphere and yet plenty of experimentation. The mix of jazz and techno initially might seem surprising, but actually makes perfect sense.”

ACT is a label with a clear sense of its own identity, values and mission, and these virtues find strong expression in this new compilation. ACT has been a major force since 1992 in bringing to the fore European jazz which transcends the old genre boundaries, and has played a major part in helping this music to become far better known in its many and varied forms. This is in fact the second compilation album from the label to bear the motto “Romantic Freedom”. Back in 2006, fourteen years after the label was founded, the first album with this title focused on performances by solo pianists, a particularly strong area for ACT. Now, another fourteen years on, "Romantic Freedom - Blue in Green" brings the story and the message up to date - and does so in several fascinating ways.

Introducing a new artist on ACT: FLORIAN WILLEITNER“I don’t think I have ever known a musician with quite the level of openness to people, to emotions, to musical languages, and the capacity to make them his own as Florian Willeitner. He is a stunningly good violinist, and I discover something new every time I hear him.” Paul Zauner, Founder & Artistic Director, INNtöne Festival In the past the violin in jazz could sometimes seem a bit exotic, even outlandish, but all that has changed. Classical music and jazz are no longer mutually exclusive worlds; these days they enrich each other, and it is the norm for string instruments to take centre stage. The ACT label has played its part in this transformation, with artists such as the Bartolomey/Bittmann duo, the radio.string.quartet.vienna and the incomparable Adam Baldych among the pioneers who created the paradigm shift, and who continue to take their music in new directions.And yet, as violinist/composer Florian Willeitner from Passau in Southern Germany sees it, there is still further to go: “The full potential of the violin, with its unique versatility and its kaleidoscopic possibilities of timbre and texture, is rarely to be heard in conventional jazz settings.”

The wheel has come full circle with the album “Last Call”, featuring the duo of Larry Coryell and Philip Catherine. This live recording from the Philharmonie in Berlin captures the culmination of an evening under the banner “Art of Duo” in Siggi Loch’s “Jazz at Berlin Philharmonic” series.After four decades, it marks the two guitarists’ return to the scene of one of their very first major triumphs. In 1976 they appeared as part of the band 11th House at the Berliner Jazztage at the same venue, but it was the moment when just the two of them stepped forward and performed as a duo which the “Die Zeit”’s critic hailed as possibly the high point of the whole festival. It was a decisive step in what would become a highly successful collaboration.

Diego Pinera is a unique figure who is genuinely taking music in new directions by juxtaposing the polyrhythmic freedom of jazz with other metric systems. As he says, “I studied music in the places where it came from.” He started playing drums as a four-year old in Montevideo. His student years were spent in Havana, Boston (Berklee) and Leipzig.
Based in Berlin since 2003, he has continued to widen his musical horizons, immersing himself in the ‘odd’ meters of the title through extensive work with Berlin-based musicians from Greece and Bulgaria.‘Wisdom’ here refers not just to Pinera’s accretion of wide knowledge and consummate skill, but also to mystery and alchemy: the track “Conversations With Myself” is a hushed, concentrated masterpiece. His ear for fresh colours and timbres is astonishing.

When the Franco-Algerian singer, cellist and songwriter Nesrine Belmokh and her trio NES appeared on the scene in 2018 they seemed to emerge from nowhere. Many parts of the music world in Europe were taken by surprise by her, and completely captivated as well. Now, for her second album named simply after her – "Nesrine" – she has re-invented herself. Nesrine's debut album "Ahlam" was received with tremendous and widespread enthusiasm. What commentators noticed was its sheer beauty, the unusual instrumentation of voice, cello and percussion, and also the way in which the Mediterranean region from North Africa to Southern Europe was brought to life and unified through music.