Elegance, poetry and lots of feeling: With his elegant guitar style, his delicate instinct for melody and fine temperament, this congenial Belgian artist numbers amongst the most outstanding fingerstyle guitarists. He demonstrates this once again on his new solo album “Simple Pleasure”.
Calm as a Zen master, he stages image-laden ballads such as “Christmas in Beijing” or “A Rainy Day In Hokkaido”, memories of his journeys to Far Eastern cultural circles and a musical homage to “respect amongst peoples and the beauty of nature”.
Two examples from an album full of peace and clarity, a rich trove of experience from a musician with a deep sense of melody, space and calm, which invites the listener to pause, idle and daydream. Each individual composition suggests passion, and Stotzem declares: “Music makes my life rich.” How nice of him to let us share this with him in “Simple Pleasure”.

As a welcome guest at all major festivals, this congenial Belgian artist has played his way into an impressive circle of fans, with his elegant fingerstyle, his delicate sense of melody and his fine temperament.
With “Colours Of Turner”, Stotzem has fulfilled his wish for a duo album, here with his friend of many years, the double bassist André Klenes. The two musicians have a notably intuitive understanding of their art: Klenes, who situates himself in the jazz, classical and world music segment, is the perfect complement to the lyrical fingerstylist in their joint compositions, which range from earthy blues to elegant fingerstyle and colorful musical landscapes with a jazzy tradition.
As with all his albums, Stotzem places his virtuosity at the service of the music. He shows a consummate instinct for dynamics, space and silence, and thanks to his delicate articulation, rich chords and elegant solo playing, he has produced an album with enormous expressiveness that will resonate for a long time in the listener’s ear.

This DVD has been recorded in Taipeh (Taiwan) on December 17th, 2004. The 10 featured pieces are a selection of Jacques Stotzem's concert repertoire like Jungle, Traces, Gando, but also some older pieces like Trace of Sorrow or Sur Vesdre.
The workshop section explores some of Jacques' typical techniques like the use of plastic fingerpicks (for example how to shape them, how to use them for strumming), some right hand tips and some percussion effects used in Jungle. There is also a section concerning the equipment he uses on stage.

Jacques Stotzem is one of the absolute favorites for many acoustic guitar music fans. He has the knack as hardly any other acoustic virtuoso to combine sensitive moments and flashes of temperament into an independent style. He has made both the highest technical craftsmanship his focus of attention as well as an unerring feeling for striking the right note at the right time.
“In Concert” documents Stotzem’s joy at playing and once again proves his class as one of the leading European acoustic guitarists. “In Concert” represents guitar music of the highest ranking, with swinging bass lines, rich chords, solid blues articulations, gently plucked arpeggios and a seldom-heard dynamic expressive power. “In Concert” reveals the musical world of a virtuosic artist, a world filled with surprises and wonderful moments.

A new CD by Jacques Stotzem! For many fans of the acoustic guitar, this is a special event. For years, Jacques has been the favorite of listeners who can appreciate virtuosic guitar playing and sensitive melodic lines.
Jacques has recorded eight new works that join romantic sensitivity and a relaxed temperament. A deeply felt melodies contrast with full-bodied blues riffs, gentle arpeggios collide with robust bass lines. The range and dynamics of “Sur Vesdre“ once again prove that Jacques Stotzem numbers amongst the world’s finest fingerstyle acoustic guitarists. “Sur Vesdre“ is virtuosic solo guitar playing  that captivates the listener with its many surprising turns of phrase, superb sonorous colors and swinging rhythms.

His production „Connections“ also reveals the whole range of his sound horizon. In order to get aquainted with his dynamic spectrum, here‘s a tip: try the cuts „Zimmer 13“ and „Une Part De Soi“. The first being a hefty, driving blues piece with muted bass-riffs and substantially phrased melody, the second piece a majestically flowing ballad played on a nylon-string accoustic guitar. Stotzem has been devloping. Not necesarily technically - he‘s already proven his perfection in that area. No it‘s more his personal „voice“ and message upon which he‘s concentrated. There‘s not a superfluous or unmotivated note on „Connections“. Stotzem has penetrated even deeper into the depths of music and reveals not only his talent as a solo-guitarist, but also shows his ability to „communicate“ with his musical partners. „Séquenzes Bleues“ is a beautiful duet with Thierry Crommen on the harmonica and Stotzem on the acoustic slide-guitar. Playing together with the jazz-guitarist Jacques Pirotton, whose floating bell-like riffs weave around Stotzem‘s steelstring harmonies, the Belgian guitarist also shows himself to be an incredibly adept accompanist. „Connections“ is a masterpiece of guitar music that will surely help to further build up his good reputation.

Jacques Stotzem - this name has friends of acoustic guitar music sitting up and taking notice. No wonder, because the Belgian is not just a fantastic steelstring guitarist who knows all the technical tricks of the trade. Even more, he is an excellent musician with an extraordinary hand for exorbitant compositions. On his newest recording Fingerprint, Stotzem once again goes all out to demonstrate his abilities: strong ballads await the listener, as well as powerful acoustic rock music with a touch of blues and jazz. And now and then, ragtime also peers out roguishly between the lines, as in the title piece "Fingerprint." At the same time, despite all this stylistic diversity, one quality weaves through all ten tracks of this CD like a red thread: Stotzem's rare talent of fusing technical brilliance with unbelievable musical perfection. Should the position of ambassador for steelstring guitar ever be created, this post could hardly be filled better than with Jacques Stotzem. If you don't believe it, then listen to Fingerprint - everyone else will probably have already reached for it!

Time passes quickly when Stotzem and Crommen set off a brilliant fireworks of exceptionally well-ripened ideas from melancholic folk, juicy blues, swinging jazz and even driving rock - ideas that they have succeeded in developing during their ten-year professional careers (in part together, but mostly on their individual paths).
While Thierry Crommen - at home on both the chromatic and the diatonic harmonica, as well as in a great variety of music styles - excelled at the world championship for harmonica and participated in countless studio recordings, Jacques Stotzem's star in the acoustic-guitar heavens rose at the beginning of the Nineties. Extensively praised for his inimitably melodious fingerpicking compositions, the spectrum of which ranges from dreamy ballads to snappy jazz and up to practically thundering acoustic rock, Stotzem has in the meantime evoked storms of enthusiasm at festivals on both sides of the Atlantic with his music that is equally exciting and simply beautiful.

On his album „Two Briges“- the third with Acoustic Music Records - the Belgian guitarist Jacques Stotzem resolutely continues his musical work and once again exhibits abilities as a virtuoso guitarist and sensitive composer. Whether playing pop ballads, rock rhythms or ragtime pieces, Stotzem is always convincing in his uncanny sureness.

Particularly because of his gentle melodies, such as in the title piece ’Two Bridges’, he has recently proved that he is increasingly popular with the public. That he can play powerfully, for example, on the rock rhythm of ’Complicité’, but also thoroughly masters the fingerpicking technique - listen to the ragtime of ’Blue Box’ - is demonstrated quite incidentally as well.


"Guitar instrumentals of particularly high compositional and technical quality … his playing is faultless …even the more difficult passages are a pleasure, thanks to his perfect technique and the feeling he gives his play. …a must for friends of acoustic guitar music." (Concerto, April/May 1995)

"A special tip. Stotzem is technically spic and span and minimizes the finger sounds to almost nil in his artistry. He is above all a romantic melancholic." (FAZ, 25 May,1993)