This week we listen to intimate duo interplay from Mathias Heise and Pelle von Bülow on Repertoire, while Esther Kaiser explores breath, language and connection on Breathing, and Soul Revivers draw Jamaican legends into the contemporary groove of Holding It Down. Adam Bałdych’s European Quartet offers spacious chamber jazz on Endless, while two Intakt releases explore improvisation past and present: Irène Schweizer’s exhilarating 1986 solo set Prelude to a Kiss and More, and Oracle, featuring Co Streiff, Russ Johnson, Christian Weber and Gerry Hemingway.
Repertoire
Mathias Heise & Pelle von Bulow
Chromatic harmonica virtuoso Mathias Heise and guitarist Pelle von Bülow unite for Repertoire, an intimate duo album shaped by instinctive interplay and improvisation. Drawing on jazz, soul, pop and Brazilian music, the pair reimagine songs by Keith Jarrett, Sam Rivers, Stevie Wonder, Ivan Lins and others, alongside Toots Thielemans’s harmonica classic Bluesette. Rooted in tradition yet open to fresh possibilities, it captures two distinctive voices in close musical conversation.
Available formats: CD, Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)
BREATHING
Esther Kaiser
Berlin-based jazz vocalist and composer Esther Kaiser dedicates her ninth album, Breathing, to the most intimate of human experiences. Combining original songs written with pianist Alexander Wienand and elements of spoken word, Kaiser explores how breath connects us through language, movement and touch. Politically and socially engaged, the album reaches towards greater understanding, tolerance, peace and freedom, inviting listeners to become part of the act of breathing itself.
Available formats: CD, Download & Streaming (up to 44.1 kHz, 16 bit)
Holding It Down
Soul Revivers
Following 2022’s acclaimed On the Grove and its dub counterpart Grove Dub, David Hill and Nick Manasseh’s Soul Revivers return with Holding It Down. Rooted in West London’s reggae heritage, the album brings Jamaican veterans Johnny Clarke, Susan Cadogan, Earl 16 and Vin Gordon together with leading London musicians including Sheila Maurice-Grey and Kokoroko’s Anoushka Nanguy. The result draws on reggae’s rich history while sounding fresh, collaborative and contemporary.
Available format: CD
Endless
Adam Bałdych European Quartet
Polish violinist Adam Bałdych introduces his new European Quartet on Endless, joined by bandoneonist Daniele di Bonaventura, pianist Jacob Karlzon and bassist Michel Benita. Recorded at the Krzysztof Penderecki European Centre for Music, the album blends jazz improvisation, classical clarity and contemporary chamber music. Lyrical, fragile and prayer-like, its spacious performances unfold through silence, trust and deep listening, offering a contemplative journey shaped by patience, restraint and beauty.
Available format: CD
Prelude To A Kiss And More (Live)
Irène Schweizer
Recorded live in Zurich in 1986, Prelude to a Kiss and More captures Irène Schweizer at a peak of exuberance, power and improvisational freedom. Fresh from six months in New York, she moves between original pieces and works by Monk, Coleman and Ellington, freely crossing jazz history, South African influences and European improvisation. This landmark solo performance, recorded in the year Intakt was founded, now celebrates the label’s 40th anniversary.
Available format: CD
ORACLE
Co Streiff & Russ Johnson Quartet
On Oracle, alto saxophonist Co Streiff and trumpeter Russ Johnson build on a musical friendship stretching back to 2004. Joined by double bassist Christian Weber and drummer Gerry Hemingway, the quartet revisits the open, pianoless tradition that shaped its 2012 debut, drawing particularly on Ornette Coleman and Don Cherry. Recorded during the group’s 2023 European tour, the album captures a reworked line-up whose decades of shared history translate into instinctive, fully integrated interplay.
Available format: CD
