TRILOK GURTU
Pioneering figure in contemporary jazz and world music, Trilok Gurtu has collaborated with artists such as John McLaughlin, Jan Garbarek, and Joe Zawinul. Alongside his own projects, he continues to develop new musical concepts that combine Indian rhythmic traditions with jazz improvisation and global influences.
RECORDINGS
GOD IS A DRUMMER2025
OPUNTIA2022
© PHOTO CREDITS: RAINER ORTAG
© FOTO CREDITS: NUHUSSEL ORCHESTRA
NUHUSSEL ORCHESTRA
A large-ensemble project with an extended lineup, focusing on contemporary jazz and orchestral music, combining composed structures with improvisation.
RECORDINGS
THE FOREST2019
KIKI MANDERS
Kiki Manders is an Amsterdam- and Berlin-based jazz vocalist known for her genre-crossing music. Her collaboration with Saudade Bookings intensified following the release of her two major albums.
Originally from Venlo, Manders seamlessly blends contemporary jazz with storytelling in her work, utilising her voice to convey both power and fragility.
LOVE IS YOURS, IS MINE2017
UNIVERSE IN A SHOEBOX2019
© PHOTO CREDITS: KIKI MANDERS
© FOTO CREDITS:NICK FLETCHER
NICK FLETCHER
UK-based fusion guitarist, active in contemporary jazz-fusion projects, combining technical precision with modern electric jazz language.
RECORDINGS
THE MASK OF SANITY2025
A LONGING FOR HOME2024
NDR BIG BAND
The NDR Big Band is the big band of Norddeutscher Rundfunk (NDR) in Hamburg. It has 17 permanent instrumentalists: piano, bass, guitar, percussion, 4 trumpets, 4 trombones, and 5 saxophones. The drummer position is not permanently filled. Nikki Iles has been the band’s principal conductor since 2025.
www.ndr.de/orchester_chor/bigband
Sofia Gubaidulina was much more than just the great mystic of contemporary music. This album demonstrates that. This composer was extremely open-minded; she worked with serial techniques, noise, electronics, chance operations, microtonality, and, as in “Revuemusik,” also with jazz.
RECORDINGS
© NDR, Andy Spyra
© FOTO CREDITS: PC ENERGETIC
PC ENERGETIC
PC ENERGETIC is an international power guitar trio led by award-winning guitarist Philip Czarnecki, blending modern jazz with the raw energy of rock and funk. The trio is characterised by a powerful and multifaceted sound, for which the following musicians, in addition to the band’s namesake, are responsible:
Philip Czarnecki: Guitar and Composition.
Jonathan Ihlenfeld Cuñado: Bass.
Marc Ayza: Drums.
PC ENERGETIC’s music is often described as a mix of the Jimi Hendrix Experience and the John Coltrane Quartet. According to Philip Czarnecki’s official website, the band combines heroic and atmospheric sounds in the style of Pink Floyd, as well as Led Zeppelin-like riffs. Contemporary jazz blends with harmonic dissonance and rhythmic complexity. James Brown-esque funk grooves and fat, modern, urban sounds.
Jazzthing Next Generation Records.
© PHOTO CREDITS: POEMS OF EVE
© FOTO CREDITS: Christophe Schweizer
CURVED TIME
“Curved Time” is a large-scale ensemble project by Swiss trombonist and composer Christophe Schweizer, known for its complex, modern big band aesthetic. The ensemble brings together renowned figures from the New York and international jazz scenes, including drummer Dan Weiss, guitarist Miles Okazaki, and saxophonist Ohad Talmor.
The project follows in the tradition of Schweizer’s innovative big band work, as heard on albums such as *The Broader Picture* (with Billy Hart and the WDR Big Band). “Curved Time” is characterized by the inclusion of musicians like Dan Weiss and Miles Okazaki, both known for their mastery of odd meters and mathematical structures, underscores the rhythmically demanding nature of the compositions.
In addition to the aforementioned musicians, other heavyweights of the scene are often part of Schweizer’s project circle, such as saxophonist Ohad Talmor, who frequently appears as a close collaborator in various ensembles (e.g., Dual Orbit).
Schweizer uses the large ensemble to create dense textures and a “daring modernism” that transcends the classic big band sound.