With music that is almost weightless and yet has an intensity that is seldom heard, on its current production "Flavours" the quartet interweaves what initially appears to be incompatible into a highly individual and original musical whole. Like a talented four-star master chef, Badiane combines not only the finest aromas of various styles into an extraordinary and equally choice menu for musical connoisseurs, but the instruments used - five-string banjo, mandoline, violin, contrabass, vibraphone and percussion - also set remarkable accents which are a pleasant contrast to the many "fast-food" productions. Those who understand "worldmusic" to be more than the underlaying of foreign melodies with banal dance grooves, and those who do not consider the egalitarian coexistence of African-Indian rhythms and baroque themes from the pen of Johann Sebastian Bach to be a sacrilege but an expansion of the musical horizon, in short: those who have open ears extending beyond the convenient stereotypical thinking will undoubtedly value Badiane and its current album "Flavours" as one of the most important new discoveries of this year.

The “Quartetto Acustico Latino“ consists of four musicians, who have devoted themselves entirely to the sunny music-making of the Mediterranean acoustic realm. Klaus Lessman (sax, clarinet), Roberto Nannetti (acoustic guitar, cavaquinho), Franco Fabbrini (E and acoustic bass) and Francesco Petreni (percussion) are complete masters at reproduce the feeling for life from the south in radiant sounds. To do so they use elements from Latin American music and sounds from the Mediterranean area. They spice up this highly lively mix with a solid pinch of jazz that comes out especially in the rich harmonies and the virtuoso solos The four musicians are supported by a series of illustrious guests and friends, who give a special flavor to the compositions by adding song, vibraphone, accordion, harmonica, tablas and flute. If you like the light flowing quality of Brazilian music, the dense grooves of samba ensembles, if you like playful melodies and jazzy chords, you will no doubt fall for the “Quartetto Acoustico Latino.”

BLONKER was a Hamburg-based group that experimented with jazz rock and German texts. At the end of the 1970s, they released the hit instrumental “Indigo,” which rose in no time to the top to become a classic of the genre classic almost without the slightest advertising. The composer of the title was Dieter Geike, a guitarist by trade. BLONKER’s newest album “Straight Ahead,” boasts select architecture of acoustic and electric guitar tones, choice melodies and a partly meditative, partly driving musical flow that surpasses conventional song concepts by far. Dieter Geike is a creative sound painter, whose works evolve as fine-spun textures that always allow for the discovery of new details.

The Belgian Thierry Crommen, a professional since 1987, is one of the few musicians with command of both playing styles: the blues harp and the chromatic harmonica. No doubt, the most influential people in his career are Toots Thielemans and Stevie Wonder. “La Nouvelle Donne“, recorded in a trio with Chris De Pauw (acoustic guitar) and Erno (keyboards), provides the harmonica virtuoso with an opportunity to demonstrate his versatility and above all the moving tone of his instrument to the hilt. Crommen always sounds charming, but the soulful depth with which he celebrates the mostly ballad-like titles is remarkable and goes straight to the heart of the listener. Crommen's abilities as a composer are also quite remarkable: Using multifarious musical means, he creates sounds with character, in which melody and harmony engage in a wonderfully intimate relationship.