Jazzanova with Paul Randolph at Eter: Berlin nu jazz in a full live line-up

The acclaimed German production collective will appear in full line-up with a live section at Wrocław's Eter on 5 December. Excellent American singer and bassist Paul Randolph will accompany them. LIONSTAGE Management and City Sounds are concert partners.

Jazzanova is a Berlin collective of DJs and producers and a true institution on the international map of electronic music in its broadest sense.

Its roots go back to 1995, when DJs centred around Delicious Doughnuts club decided to join forces, using their broad musical horizons to create a new sonic quality while respecting genres traditionally considered dance music or closely related to it.

Jazzanova consists of Alexander Barck, Claas Brieler, Roskow Kretschmann, Stefan Leisering, Axel Reinemer and Jürgen von Knoblauch. The German collective are traditionally regarded as pioneers of the style commonly known as nu jazz. Their music is a much richer blend, however, with critics identifying elements of acid jazz, clubjazz, downbeat, house, jazz-house, trip-hop, club/dance and broken beat.

As with many now-acclaimed jazz-funk artists, Jazzanova’s breakthrough came in 1997, when their first single, “Fedime's Flight”, appeared on cult BBC presenter Gilles Peterson’s programme. Remixes for artists such as 4hero, Koop, Men from the Nile and Ian Pooley followed, alongside dedicated DJ careers. With excellent sets, Barck, Brieler and von Knoblauch strengthened Jazzanova’s standing, while Leisering and Reinemer DJed as Extended Spirit and Kretschmann performed alone as Kosma.

The group’s activities have included record-label work from the outset. In 1997, Jazzanova joined forces with Munich label Compost to create Jazzanova Compost Records, responsible for releases by many key nu-jazz artists, including Koop, Victor Davies, the Underwolves and Rima. There is also a Polish aspect to these releases: Jazzanova’s musicians have never concealed their deep fascination with the Polish jazz school of the 1960s and 1970s, resulting in two compilations, “The Polish Jazz” and “Vocal Jazz from Poland 1965–1975”.

The German collective's extensive discography is a collector's labyrinth: countless EPs, studio albums, remix releases, Jazzanova-curated compilations and all manner of other compilations featuring their tracks. It forms a substantial musical collection and a distinctive journey through the many styles mentioned above.

Wrocław audiences will have the opportunity to encounter Jazzanova shortly after the release of “Funkhaus Studio Sessions!”, an album bringing together live versions of the project’s finest tracks, selected by both the musicians and their most devoted fans. It offers a cross-section of the collective’s work, from the previously mentioned debut “Fedime's Flight” to “Look What You're Doin To Me” from 2008’s “Of All The Things”. Interpretations of several Jazzanova remixes also appear. The fourteen tracks include new compositions such as “I Human”, co-written with singer and bassist Paul Randolph, a member of the live band and now also the voice of “The Funkhaus Studio Sessions”. He will fill the same role in Wrocław, treating the audience to his unmistakable vocals.

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