Inside the Island – Quadro Nuevo on the island of Samos
It is a journey inward – not only geographically, but musically and spiritually as well. Inside the Island, the new album by Quadro Nuevo, will be released on October 24, 2025, by GLM Music, distributed by Edel (LP/CD) and Kontor New Media (digital). More than a collection of pieces, it is a musical travelogue, born on the Greek island of Samos. There, where waves, light, and sun shape the landscape, where ancient villages slumber in the hills, and a kafenion remains a meeting place for locals, the four musicians withdrew to create music scented with lemons, wild rosemary, and the cheerful melancholy of the South.
Quadro Nuevo consists of Mulo Francel (tenor saxophone, clarinet, mandolin, whistle), Andreas Hinterseher (accordion, bandoneon, vibrandoneon), Didi Lowka (double bass), and the ensemble’s newest member, guitarist Philipp Schiepek. Together, they embark on a search for the “simple life,” an unhurried, contemplative way of life that heightens awareness of what truly matters. Far from tourist crowds and global politics, they create music that is warm, elemental, and timeless – born from the openness and serenity of the Aegean.
On his new album “The Afrodub Experience,” multi-instrumentalist and producer Umberto Echo takes us on a journey through time and space across four continents. With numerous collaborators, he explores 50 years of Afro-Caribbean music history.
The starting point is the Afrobeat of the 1970s. In the Berlin project “Afrobeat Academy” of the late 2000s, Umberto found inspiration through collaborations with original musicians from Fela Kuti’s band “Africa 70.” He began to fuse their music with dub and reggae. Originally intended as Umberto’s second album, the project continually takes new twists and turns, becoming a journey you might not want to end. 18 years later, “The Afrobeat Experience” is now released as Umberto Echo’s twelfth studio album on GLM Global Music and Oneness Records.
Similar to how dub emerged from the roots reggae of the 1970s, Umberto Echo approaches Afrobeat with its many rhythmic layers by isolating and re-melding musical levels, thus opening up a view of deeper sonic elements. Various protagonists join him on this journey, who significantly shape the album. Musicians from Nigeria, Zimbabwe, Burkina Faso, Mozambique, Ghana, and Guinea-Bissau enrich the spectrum, as do singers from Jamaica and Barbados. Jazz musicians and co-producers from New York to Hamburg to Melbourne inspire each other and give the project a unique character over time.
Countless sessions yield a vast pool of ideas and songs, some of which have already been used on recent albums, others discarded. Experimentation, remixing, expansion, and shortening take place. Antique tape machines, digital effects from the 1980s, and a mixing console from the 1960s are coupled with state-of-the-art computers. Older songs are completely reworked years later, while others are conjured up at the very end. Historical and obscure instruments meet software and samples, and musicians who were still schoolchildren at the beginning of production ultimately participate.
What rightly sounds like chaos and eclecticism has been continually organized by Umberto over the years and, with the help of his co-producer Silvan Strauss, only completed when everything came together harmoniously. On the ten resulting songs on the album, Umberto Echo shares his “Afrodub Experience,” which can be enjoyed for years to come, discovering new details every time.
With the album “Songs From The Treehouse”, Tim Collins and Martin Gasselsberger have captured the essence of childhood nostalgia through emotional, intricate, and playful compositions. American vibraphonist Tim Collins and Austrian pianist Martin Gasselsberger first performed together in 2013, and from the very first note, it was clear they were musical kindred spirits. Since then they have performed many concerts in both duo and quartet settings, and now with the release of the album “Songs From The Treehouse” (GLM Fine Music), this deep musical connection is on record for all to hear.
“We wanted to capture the intimacy and playfulness of our concerts in an album”, says Collins. “I love that the most nuanced expression can come through…we’ve played together so much that we can almost read each other’s minds.”The running theme throughout “Songs From The Treehouse” is simple: happy childhood memories. The CD release features twelve songs, while the vinyl features nine. Of those songs, six are composed by Collins and four by Gasselsberger. The two covers include a Billie Eilish song and piece by Austrian guitarist and composer Harry Pepl.
“Mer Diga Men” – A musical homage to the past, present and future
With their third album “Mer Diga Men”, Die Drahtzieher are making a powerful statement – musically, emotionally and culturally. The title comes from Romanes, the language of the Sinti and Roma, and means “We see each other”. The song of the same name was composed by rhythm guitarist Bobby Guttenberger, who used it to commemorate his deceased brother.
his deceased brother. But the album goes beyond personal memories: it combines past, present and future into a musical narrative. The unmistakable sound of the Drahtzieher artfully interweaves the influences of three well-traveled young musicians from Ravensburg. The ensemble’s instruments meet at eye level in imaginative arrange-ments. Deep melancholy and fiery temperament meet in the styles of gypsy music, valse musette and Latin-inspired bolero. The trio creates the positive impression of the Next Generation, which carries the sonic tradition of its fo-refathers fresh and cosmopolitan into the future
On selected songs on the album, the trio is joined by French guitarist Samson Schmitt. Such as on “Flora”, an enchanting gypsy ballad. It was composed by jazz legend Dorado Schmitt, whose son Samson has now given his famous father’s work a new interpre-tation. The gentle, flowing melodies of the guitars merge with the harmony of the musicians’ playing. The result is a modern example of what the romantic side of the gypsy jazz tradition can produce today. A look into the past
“Mer Diga Men” is a tribute to all those who are no longer with us, but who live on in our memories and our music. Bobby Guttenber-ger, himself a Sinto, dedicates the title track of the same name to his brother, who died in a tragic car accident. The band deals with universal themes such as loss, grief and gratitude – emotions that everyone knows. Music has the power to connect beyond the boundaries of time and transience. Another example on the album is the ballad “Pour Que Ma Vie Demeure” (For My Life to Remain) by Django Reinhardt, the forefather of jazz manouche. With this work, the band also pays tribute to the legendary artist and his musical legacy. A look into the future
But “Mer Diga Men” not only stands for remembrance, but also for reunion and the joy of encounters. The band addresses these words to their listeners, friends and fellow musicians – to all those with whom they share a passion for music. Every concert, every session is an invitation to lose oneself in the music together and to inspire each other. With this album, the band reaffirms their desire to play even more live gigs, meet new people and spread the unifying power of music. A look into the present
The musicians themselves say about their new album: “We have different interpretative approaches for Mer Diga Men. But the most important one is the here and now.” Jazz thrives on the moment – on spontaneity, on immediate experience. During the creative process, the band is completely with itself, in its center. They recognize themselves in the music and accept what is. “We see ourselves” means to them: We are present. We are aware of ourselves. We open our eyes to what really matters.
With “Mer Diga Men”, Die Drahtzieher offer an album that touches, inspires and connects – a work that seeks to merge the past, present and future in the language of music.
David Klüttig – guitar, Bobby Gutenberger – guitar, Kolja Ledge – double bass and as guest: Samson Schmitt – guitar
Good jazz can be like an exciting movie with unpredictable twists and turns, in which many genres go hand in hand:
Action, crime, comedy, romance, thriller, sometimes even horror. Good instrumentalists create suspense and get our
inner movie theaters moving.
Cinematographic jazz is the name of the music by the band led by saxophonist Tom Reinbrecht, named after a novel by
Canadian Booker Prize winner Michael Ondaatje: The Cat’s Table. Sitting at the cat’s table on a cruise ship, far away
from the honorable captain and his guests, are the shady but also most fascinating passengers. They are adventurous,
creative and tell exciting stories. Among them are also a handful of exciting musicians, often called “cats” in jazz. Bassist
Patrick Scales and drummer Christian Lettner have taken a seat at Tom Reinbrecht’s The Cat’s Table; together they
formed the long-standing rhythm section of Klaus Doldinger’s Passport. They are joined by keyboard virtuoso Jan Eschke
and, as the album’s special guest, the talented guitarist Ferdinand Kirner.
With this project, the musician musically transcends genre boundaries, seeking the wild and untamed, the rock’n’roll in
jazz, but also the jazz in rock’n’roll. The Cat’s Table is sensual head cinema that is funky and soulful, grooves powerfully,
is melodically seductive and is simply brightly colored in the overall picture. The Cat’s Table plays music that is so
captivating that we forget to reach into the popcorn bucket. Pulsating riffs and funky grooves, powerful hooklines that
become catchy tunes, seductive melodies and epic harmonies, soulful lines and the bittersweet melancholy of the blues…
The 13 (8) tunes on the album “Supernatural Soul Charade” tell a dramaturgical arc of suspense like the successive
scenes in a grippingly staged movie. The spectrum of moods ranges from powerful and poetic calm radiating a spirit of
optimism (East of Western Woods) to dark, driving drama reminiscent of a car chase (Charade) to a dance mood of
infectious joie de vivre (Superfunktural). Within the individual scenes, the musicians improvise their own individual story,
finding their own story in the stories.
With the album Supernatural Soul Charade, Tom Reinbrecht has written a tribute to the music and zeitgeist of the 80s.
From singing in a rock band as a teenager, his musical path led him to jazz, with the saxophone as his main instrument.
After studying music, Tom Reinbrecht became a sought-after big band leader and worked across genres in the jazz,
classical and pop genres with the New York Voices, Paul Carrack and The European Jazz Project, among others. He
recorded his first album with Claudio Roditi and went on to make two further albums with excursions into bebop and
Brazilian pop jazz. His sound is reminiscent of the jazz traditionalists after Charlie Parker, the bluesy expressiveness of
Cannonball Adderly and the velvety tone of Paul Desmond. The jazz critic Charles Regnault described his energetic and
at the same time butter-soft tone as the “tender bite”. With “Supernatural Soul Charade” he returns to his roots:
Cannonball meets Supertramp, Postbop meets 80’s, Desmond meets Mercury.
