"There is an incredible feeling of suspense in the room, a power emanating from this saxophonist's performance, demonstrated by the meticulous care with which he makes every single note his own. A sound resonant of virtually unrestrained emotional intensity, which invites the audience to hear the warmth of his breath, his sensitivity and vulnerability, as well as his desire to transcend boundaries. A cross between Albert Ayler and Lester Young, capturing a sensibility that is radical yet simultaneously timidly beseeching in an unmistakably individual form. This is how Stefan Hentz and "Die Welt" describes saxophonist Sebastian Gille.

Sebastian Gille, born on February 1, 1983, in Quedlinburg, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany, comes from a musical family and began playing the saxophone at the age of 14.

In 2004, at the age of 21, he moved to Hamburg, where he studied saxophone as part of the jazz and jazz-related music program at the University of Music and Theater. In the years that followed, Gille was awarded the solo prize of the Oscar und Vera Ritter- Foundation (2005), a scholarship by the German Academic Scholarship Foundation (2007-2010), the Dr. E. A. Langner Jazz Award (2007), the Jazz Advancement Prize of the Schleswig-Holstein Culture Forum (2007), an art scholarship by the Claussen-Simon Foundation (2014) and the Hamburg Jazz Prize (2015). In 2018 Sebastian Gille was also awarded the SWR Jazz Prize for his outstanding artistic merits.

During his career, Sebastian Gille has worked with a number of renowned artists, including Abdullah Ibrahim, Al Jarreau, Norma Winston, David Liebman, Steve Swallow, Bob Brookmeyer, Richie Beirach, Jim Black, Lionel Loueke, Jozef Dumoulin, Maria Schneider, Randy Brecker,

Adam Nussbaum, Joe Sample, Steve Gadd, João Bosco, Nguyên Lê, Tom Rainey, Michael Gibbs, Gary Husband, Christof Lauer, Patrice Heral,

Nils Wogram, Herb Geller, John Schröder, Steve Gray, Ben Perowski, Wolfgang Schlüter,

Dieter Glawischnig, Rolf Kühn, Wolfgang

Haffner, Vladislav Sendecki, Gene

Calderazzo, Claus Stötter, Kalle Kalima,

the NDR Big Band a.o..

Sebastian Gille has toured extensively abroad, for example in Russia, China, Canada, England, France, Italy, Spain, Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Estonia, Austria Switzerland, Czech Republic, Slovenia, Poland and Moldova.

His unmistakable command of the tenor saxophone has already been immortalized on over 40 recordings. Since the release of his debut album "Anthem" in November 2011, he has been highly lauded by the music press and described as one of the "most expressive saxophonists of our time". The Jazz Podium even considers him to be one of the indisputably greatest woodwind players on the planet."

"Shannon Barnett is an Australian trombonist and composer, currently based in Cologne, Germany.

She established herself as an important voice in the Australian scene by performing in ensembles including Vada, The Bamboos, The Vampires, and as a guest with the Andrea Keller Quartet, on the 2004 ABC Jazz release Angels and Rascals. Barnett has also appeared with the Australian Art Orchestra, Barney McAll's Mother of Dreams and Secrets feat. Kurt Rosenwinkel, Charlie Haden and from 2009-2010, she worked as a multi-instrumentalist and composer with the contemporary circus group Circus Oz.

In 2010, Barnett released her debut album as a leader, entitled 'Country', on the Which Way Music label. After attending Dave Douglas' 'Workshop in Jazz and Creative Music' in Banff, Canada in 2010, Barnett was inspired to relocate to New York City, where she completed a Master of Music degree. There she performed with the likes of Darcy James Argue's Secret Society, Pedro Giraudo,

Cyrille Aimée and the Jon Faddis Jazz Orchestra of New York and was a regular member of the Birdland Big Band.

In early 2014, she moved to Cologne, Germany, to take up a position with the WDR Big Band, which gave her the opportunity to perform with guests including Vince Mendoza, Ron Carter, Joshua Redman, Maria Schneider and Paquito D'Rivera. She has also become very active in the local scene. Her quartet, featuring Stefan Karl Schmid, David Helm and Fabian Arends released their debut album in 2016 on Double Moon/Challenge Records, and the band was subsequently nominated as a semi-finalist in the 2017 Neuer Deutscher Jazzpreis. Their second album 'Bad Lover', was released in 2022 on Florian Ross' 'Toy Piano Records' label.

In 2018 she composed and presented the cross-disciplinary work 'Dead Weight' for musicians and fitness studio.

Her project 'Wolves and Mirrors' released their album in early 2021.

In April 2019 she began as Professor for Jazz Trombone at the Hochschule für Musik und Tanz in Cologne, Germany.

In 2020 she received the WDR Jazz Prize for Improvisation and in 2022 she received the German Jazz Prize in the brass instrument category."

"Simon Nabatov's musical education began at the age of 3, his father, himself a musician, being the first teacher. The Central School of Music and Moscow Conservatory were the next steps. After the whole family emigrated and settled in New York in 1979, Nabatov continued his studies at the Juilliard School Of Music. By that time his interest and involvement in jazz and improvised music grew strong enough to make them his main activity.

Since then he performed and recorded with many fine musicians such as Paul Motian, Tony Scott, Sonny Fortune, Kenny Wheeler, Alan Skidmore, Herb Robertson, Louis Sclavis, Charles McPhearson, Billy Hart, David Murray, Paul Horn, Ricki Ford, Marty Ehrlich, Mark Dresser, Barry Guy, Gerry Hemingway, Jim Snidero, Herb Geller, Dave Pike, Attila Zoller, Matthias Schubert, Barry Altschul, Vladimir Tarasov, John Betsch, Ed Schuller, Arto Tuncboyaci, Adam Nussbaum, Paul Heller, Jay Clayton, Ron McClure, Mark Feldman, Drew Gress, Phil Minton, Michael Moore, Han Bennink, Misha Mengelberg, Wolter Wierbos, Paulo Alvares, Gareth Lubbe, Ben Davis and many others.

He enjoyed continuous work with Ray Anderson Quartet, Arthur Blythe Quartet, Perry Robinson Quartet, NDR Big Band (Hamburg,Germany), Steve Lacy - Simon Nabatov Duo, Nils Wogram Quartet, Nils Wogram - Simon Nabatov Duo, Matthias Schubert Quartet, Matthias Schubert - Simon Nabatov Duo and Klaus König Orchestra.

His own projects and activities included, since three decades, hundreds of solo recitals.In the early 90s Nabatov founded the trio with the bassist Mark Helias and the drummer Tom Rainey; the quartet "Nature Morte" with the British vocalist Phil Minton, multireed-player Frank Gratkowski and trombonist Nils Wogram (both from Germany); and the quintet including his trio plus the violinist Mark Feldman and the trumpet player Herb Robertson.In 2003 another trio was formed, with the cellist Ernst Reijseger and the drummers Michael Vatcher (and later Michael Sarin).

As co-leader Nabatov played and recorded in duos with Steve Lacy, with the German tenor sax player Matthias Schubert, American drummer Tom Rainey, Dutch drummer Han Bennink, German trombonist Nils Wogram, Dutch cellist Ernst Reijseger and the Dutch pianist Misha Mengelberg, just to mention a few. His current duo partners are the South-African born viola player and vocalist Gareth Lubbe, the Turkish clarinetist Oguz Buyukberber and the Brazilian pianist Paulo Alvares.

In the 1999-2000 season a large-scale radio production project (co - sponsored by WDR and Bayer AG) saw him write and record over 6 hours of music for solo piano, duo (with the American reed player Michael Moore), his trio, the quartet "Nature Morte" and the quintet. Beginning of 2000 the Swiss label HatHut Records brought out the first recording - the trio release "Sneak Preview". The next three recordings, quartet "Nature Morte", quintet "The Master and Margarita" and solo "Perpetuum Immobile" have been released by Leo Records.

Two more CD´s - " Chat Room" ( duo with Han Bennink ) and "Autumn Music" ( trio with Ernst Reijseger and Michael Vatcher ) were brought out by this independent English label.The next project produced by WDR in 2004 was a 90 - minute piece " A Few Incidents" based on the texts of Russian writer Daniil Charms. The octet included Phil Minton, Frank Gratkowski, Nils Wogram, Ernst Reijseger, Cor Fuhler, Matt Penman, Michael Sarin and Simon Nabatov. Leo Records released the recording of this composition in 2005. Together with "Nature Morte" and "Master and Margarita" it completed the "Russian Trilogy", 3 musical projects based on the Russian literature.

In 2009 Nabatov, sponsored by the Cologne culture institutions, completed a 5-day project called "Roundup" (involving M.Schubert, N.Wogram, E.Reijseger and T.Rainey), resulting in 3 CD's released on Leo Records: quintet "Roundup", a trio with E.Reijseger and M.Schubert - "Square Down" and another one with N.Wogram and T.Rainey - "Nawora".

Starting around 2000, parallel to his jazz activities, Simon Nabatov developed a deep interest for the culture and music of Brazil. This led him to study the Portuguese language, travel number of times throughout the country and learn a great deal about a number of different musical genres.

Some of the more structured activities in that field were a CD release "Around Brazil" on the ACT label (2006), and the two-months long Goethe-Institut "Artist-in-Residence" in Porto Alegre, which allowed Nabatov to learn more about the regional "musica gaucha". Since 2007 he often performs his solo program based on Brazilian music.

In the recent years Nabatov also delved into the field of electronic music, learning MAX/MSP programming environment; in April 2013 he premiered his new solo program for piano and computer, developed together with the German composer and electronic music specialist hans w. koch. In December 2016 excerpts from this program made up a half of the program of his most recent CD "MONK 'N' MORE".

Another musical adventure of the recent years was Nabatov's solo program dedicated to the music of the great jazz composer and pianist Herbie Nichols. Leo Records released a highly acclaimed CD of that program, and the PanRec label brought out a DVD.2015 saw Nabatov realize a four-part project "...still crazy after all these years" (celebrating 25 years in Cologne), which resulted in forming 4 new trios: with two young Cologne musicians Stefan Schoenegg and Dominik Mahnig, with Andre de Cayres and Rodrigo Villalon (dedicated to Brazilian music), with two giants of improvised music Barry Guy and Gerry Hemingway, and a trio with two string players, Gareth Lubbe (viola) and Ben Davis (cello). The first documentation of the project - Simon Nabatov Trio "Picking Order" was released August 2016 on Leo Records. Other 3 releases are planned for 2017.

Simon Nabatov performed and recorded numerous pieces of chamber music, some of them written specially for him: "Piano Concerto "Baba" by the American pianist/composer Kenny Werner, "Sonata for violin and piano" by the Irish bassist/composer Ronan Guilfoyle,"Trumpet Sonata", "Cello Sonata", "Trio for flute,cello and piano" by the Swiss reed-player/composer Daniel Schnyder. He also performed and recorded some of the more known "crossover" works, such as "Rhapsody in Blue" by George Gershwin (NDR Symphony Orchestra Hannover,1998) or "Concerto for Jazz Ensemble and Orchestra" by Rolf Liebermann (NDR Symphony Orchestra and Big Band, Hamburg,1996).

Nabatov was among the winners of the 3rd "International Great Jazz Pianist Competition" in Jacksonville, USA (2nd prize) in 1985, and of the "Martial Solal International Jazz Piano Competition" in Paris, France (3rd prize) in 1989. In 1987 he was awarded a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA).

Simon Nabatov made numerous radio productions for most of the major European broadcasting companies: WDR, NDR, HR, BR, SFR, Radio France, Radio Zürich, Radio Ireland etc.

He played on countless international jazz festivals including Paris, Antibes, Helsinki, Zagreb, Nevers, Berlin, Dublin, Cork, Vilshofen, Bergamo, Groeningen, Vilnus, Karlsbad, Genua, North Sea, Brugge, Voss, Bergen, Riga, Vilnius, Ulrichsberg a.m.o.

Simon Nabatov gave concerts and workshops in over 60 countries, he appears on ca. 70 recordings, and his own music and projects are documented on over 25 CD's and 3 DVD's (all DVD's on PanRec).

He has taught at the Folkwang Hochschule (Essen), Musichochschule Lucerne (Switzerland) and at the International Jazz and Rock Academy (Remscheid).2012 - 2014 he was the substitute professor of Jazz piano and Ensemble at the Conservatory of Hannover, Germany.

Since 1989 he resides predominantly in Cologne, Germany, but keeps an apartment and a part of his heart in New York."

"David Helm is a Cologne/Berlin-based composing improviser. He is also the singer-songwriter Marek Johnson.

Multi-instrumentalist David Helm began his musical career with the Limburg Cathedral Boys' Choir. In contrast, during this time he indulged in the sound of noisy bands at muddy small-town punk rock festivals. In 2015, he completed his double bass studies at the HfMT Cologne.

A highly acclaimed double bassist and improviser, he received the Cologne Jazz Prize in 2019. David can be heard on over 70 recordings and performs worldwide with numerous bands in a wide variety of musical contexts, anything goes.

His own projects currently include the free improvising duo with Parisian pianist Jozef Dumoulin, in which David Helm devotes himself to sound art with voice, guitar, objects and electronics. The debut album "No-Eyed Deer" was released in 2022 on the Berlin label Anunaki Tabla.

In the same year, David released the album "At Home Again, Singing" as a singer-songwriter under the name MAREK JOHNSON on the Cologne/Berlin label Paper Cup Records."

"Reza Askari was born in Fulda in 1986 to a father who immigrated from Iran and a German mother. He began playing the piano at the age of five. He discovered the electric bass guitar at the age of eleven and began his musical career early on in local punk and jazz bands.

After graduating from high school, Askari began his music studies in 2006, majoring in electric bass at the Cologne University of Music and Dance with Marius Goldhammer and later also on the double bass with Dieter Manderscheid and Sebastian Gramss. He completed his studies in Cologne in 2012 with distinction. Askari then continued his studies in the Master of Improvising Arts at the Folkwang University of the Arts in Essen with Robert Landfermann, also graduating summa cum laude in 2014.From 2007 to 2010 he was a member of the Landesjugendjazzorchester Hessen, from 2010 to 2011 the Bundesjazzorchester and the European Masterclass Big Band conducted by John Ruocco.

Askari has worked at festivals and club concerts with artists such as Marc Ducret, Lee Konitz, Benny Golson, Hayden Chisholm, Jeff Hamilton, Barre Phillips, Mark Dresser, Peter Herbolzheimer, Mike Herting, Philipe Catherine, Ramesh Shotham, Frank Haunschild, Thomas Rückert , Frank Gratkowski, Heiner Wiberny, Gerd Dudek, John Hollenbeck, Jiggs Whigham, Gary Versace, Max Herre, Clueso, Sophie Hunger, Max Mutzke, Götz Alsmann, Wolf Biermann and Carolin Kebekus together and traveled to countries such as China, Japan, South Korea and Vietnam , Indonesia, India, Turkey, Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, USA, Canada, Colombia, Panama and many countries of Europe with different formations.

With his ensemble "ROAR", consisting of Stefan Karl Schmid, Fabian Arends and Askari, he released two albums in 2017 and 2020 as a trio, and in 2022 in a quartet with the vibraphonist Christopher Dell as band leader."

"Mariá Portugal has been active in the Brazilian musical scene since 16 years old, recording, performing and touring throughout South America, Europe, Asia and Oceania with artists like Arrigo Barnabé, Elza Soares, Metá Metá, Maria Beraldo, Maggie Nicols, Charlotte Hug, Angelika Niescier, Gerald Cleaver, Ute Wasserman, Joëlle Leandre, Billy Martin, Burkhard Beins, Emilio Gordoa, Fred Frith, Jasper van't Hof and Paul van Kemenade.

Among her main projects is the Brazilian instrumental group Quartabê, which is currently promoting their third album. The band has already performed in festivals such as Festival Jazz & The City, in Salzburg, Austria (2017), Moers Festival, in Moers, Germany (2018), Nijmegen Music Meeting, in Nijmegen, Netherlands (2018), Frue Festival in Japan and Festival Internacional de Jazz de Buenos Aires, Argentina (2019).

As a composer, she has been performing and composing original music for dance, theatre and cinema. Her most recent work as a soundtrack composer is the score for the feature film "1976", by Manuela Martelli, which will be premiered at Quinzaine des Réalisateurs in Cannes 2022.

In 2020, Mariá lived in Moers, Germany. as the 13th Improviser in Residence of the Moers Festival, where she played with Angelika Niescier, Gerald Cleaver, Burkhard Beins, among others. She is currently living in Köln.

She is the curator for the city of Duisburg for the Soundtrips-NRW, a project that seeks to promote and connect free improvisers from Nordrhein-Westphalia.

Mariá holds a degree in Composition from UNESP (São Paulo State University) and a M.A. in Communication and Semiotics, from PUC-SP (Pontifical Catholic University of São Paulo)."