(photo © Maarit Kytöharju)

Kalle Kalima (b. 1973 in Helsinki, Finland) has worked with trompeters Tomasz Stanko and Leo Wadada Smith, sax players Juhani Aaltonen, Anthony Braxton, bass players Greg Cohen and Sirone, guitarist Marc Ducret, composers Michael Wertmüller and Simon Stockhausen, pianist Jason Moran, drummers Jim Black and Tony Allen and singers Andreas Schaerer, Linda Sharrock as well as with Ensemble Resonanz and Jazzanova Djs 2000-2019 have been busy years for Kalima, touring mostly in Europe but also in Africa, Asia and Americas. Kalima´s latest album “Flying like Eagles” with Knut Reiersrud on guitar, Jim Black on drums and Phil Donkin on bass was released in August 2019 and the record release concert was in the Philharmony of Berlin. Kalima´s Trio “Long Winding Road” with bass player Greg Cohen (Tom Waits, Ornette Coleman) and Max Andrzejewski was touring in 2016 with the “High Noon” album (ACT). With his solo program “Pentasonic” he plays guitar through electronics into 5 amps surrounding the audience. He has a trio “Tenors of Kalma” with Jimi Tenor, Finnish underground pop star. Their first album “Electric Willow” was released in early 2015 and brought Kalima “Echo –Jazz” Prize nomination in 2016.

A musician equally known for his astounding qualities as pianist and drummer, PATRICK GORAGUER also performs on Iranian santour. An extremely humble musician, he accompanies the very best musicians in Jazz, World Music to Chanson Française as well as composing and arranging music for well known films. Residing in Paris, he performs on an international level with renowned musicians such as Femi Kuti, Wasis Diop, French pop star Aurthur H to Mamanie Keita, Juliette Greco and Maxime Le Forestier. Crossing also into the jazz world he also works with saxophonist Bill Evans, George Russel or Liz McComb, Jim Black, Chris Cheek and Jean-Luc Ponty and touring europe with bassist Richard Bona and “Toto Bono Lokau.” Jazz, Afro Beat, Funk, World Music, producing and arranging film music are some of the many diverse circles which keep Patrick Goraguer a highly solicited musician

(photo©joergsteinmetz.com)

Drummer and composer ERIC SCHAEFER lives in Berlin and is one of Germany most recognized drummers, working  with different ensembles of his own and as a sideman. The range of his musical expression is incredibly wide and combines a huge range of influences from Jazz, contemporary music to post-rock, dub and noise. He is commissioned to compose pieces for orchestras, piano-trios and jazz-rock-bands. The use of gongs and small percussion as well as modular synthesis broaden the spectrum of Schaefer’s unique sound possibilities. His work with Michael Wollny, Joachim Kühn or his own formations “The Shredz” and “Kyoto Mon Amour” is documented on numerous albums and is broadcasted in radio-shows and on television.   

Hayden Chisholm is a New Zealand saxophonist and composer. After studying in Cologne with a DAAD scholarship he continued his music studies in Japan in India. In 1995 he developed a new microtonal system he termed "split scales" for saxophone which he revealed on his debut solo CD "Circe". Since then his compositions have been recorded by BBC and WDR radios and he has toured and recorded extensively worldwide. He has created music for several Rebecca Horn installations as well as composing scores for her films. In 2008 he was assistant director in the Salzburger Festspiele. He has taught at Universities throughout the world and gives yearly master classes in Greece. He curates the annual Plushmusic festival in Cologne and Bremen. In 2013 he released the 13 Box Set "13 Views of the Heart's Cargo" and received the German SWR Jazz Prize. In 2015 he was "Improvisor in Residence" in Moers and opened the Moers Jazz Festival. In 2016 he released his second 13CD box "Cusp of Oblivion" on the Moontower Foundation Edition and directed his first short film "Sisyphus Runs".

Hayden has contributed to three Rattle releases: Small Holes in the Silence (with Norman Meehan and Hannah Griffin, 2016), Unwind and Orange (with Norman Meehan and Paul Dyne, 2017, 2018).

(photo © Anna Webber)

Musical diversity has been a defining mark of Rachel Eckroth’s career. The singer and keyboardist grew up around Phoenix, AZ in a musical family, and she was already a well-known jazz musician in her hometown by the time she went on to study music at the University of Nevada (BA) and Rutgers University (MFA). Eckroth’s multi-faceted artistry soon led her to many wide-ranging musical endeavors, including her current roles as the keyboardist for contemporary jazz trumpet player, Chris Botti, and backing vocalist/keyboardist for pop singer-songwriter, KT Tunstall. She was also a member of the house band for NBC’s “The Meredith Vieira Show” and Assistant Music Director for the historic Women’s March that occurred in Washington DC during early 2017. As a solo artist, Eckroth released her debut album titled Mind in 2005, a criticallyacclaimed jazz trio album that positioned herself in the community as “a composer/performer obviously influenced and firmly rooted in the tradition, yet [making] her own statement in a uniquely elegant manner” (JazzReview). Today, her current pursuits include a combination of jazz, pop, and experimental indie rock for her next album When It Falls to be released in the fall of 2018. The album showcases the diversity of Eckroth’s amassed musical lexicon and her fearlessness to make her mark in a large number of music circles.

(photo © Jozef Leitner)

Based in Paris France since 2002, Canadian bassist CHRIS JENNINGS was chosen alongside Christian McBride & Vincent Archer as ‘Best of the Year 2023/24,’ foreign double bassist by France’s main “JazzMagasine/JazzNews”. He has established himself with the Dhafer Youssef Quartet with Tigran Hamasyan and Mark Guiliana, with many bands of guitarist Nguyên Lê including his current “Silk & Sand” Trio with percussionist Rhani Krija, “Streams Quartet,” a quartet with Rita Marcotulli, Danny Gottlieb, ou Karim Ziad and Bojan Z as well as with Turkish ney master Kudsi Ergüner and well known Kurdish singer Aynur Dogan. He is bassist in the Joachim Kühn "New Trio,” the 'El Gusto' Algerian traditional Chaabi orchestra, the Gregory Privat Trio, the Titi Robin "Nargis”, the David Linx Quartet and the Céline Bonacina Quartet featuring Rachel Eckroth & John Hadfield. After 7 extremely varied albums released as a leader before this current project: “5 Ways Home,” his last release: CHRIS JENNINGS “DRUM’N KOTO,” was disc of the month Jazz Magazine, disc of the week FIP Radio France and features Nguyên Lê and Kudsi Ergüner as special guests. Past releases include his self-titled CHRIS JENNINGS QUARTET CD featuring 2 guitars, a trio with renowned American drummer Leon Parker and he has always continued his longstanding “JENNINGS/PERCHAUD ACOUSTIC DUO,” a duo with renowned guitarist Nguyên Lê, a “SOLO DOUBLE BASS” project evolved for over 2 decades now, as well as the “CHRIS JENNINGS STRING QUINTET” featuring musicians of the London Symphony Orchestra.