Hoff Ensemble consists of some of Norway's finest jazz and session musicians, fronted by trumpeter Mathias Eick, of ECM renown, who plays a leading role in several of the compositions. The ensemble's basic quartet features legendary veteran bassist Arild Andersen and arranger Jan Gunnar Hoff on piano. The music on Quiet Winter Night is created by film composers Geir Bøhren and Bent Åserud and among the vocalists are some of Norway's top names in popular music: Helene Bøksle, Åsne Valland Nordli, Sondre Bratland, Unni Wilhelmsen, Tomine Harket, Bjørn Johan Muri, Cecilia Vennersten and Bjørn Eidsvåg.

For Lars Danielsson, a consummate craftsman of sound on both cello and bass, the power of music resides in melody. It is the heart from which everything else develops and his Liberetto ensemble has stayed true to this principle again on its third album. The word liberetto, which Danielsson coined for the name of the group, also serves well as a descriptor of his art, a reference both to Western music, the source of his compositions, and to their lyrical, vocal character. But also hidden in the band's name is the Latin adjective liber ("free"). That stands for improvisation, for how individuals can take lines and shapes and adapt them, but above all it refers to Danielsson's musical understanding which acknowledges no boundaries.

Mathias Eick’s intensely melodic trumpet occupies the centre-stage in this album of self-penned tunes which will appeal to an audience beyond “Jazz”. Against the powerful backdrops offered by his sleek, modern band, driven by two drummers, he delivers richly lyrical soliloquies.

In our time and age, a jazz singer from Korea may still seem like an exotic concept. But anyone who knows how much effort Asian countries invest in education and promotion also knows about the growing circle of jazz fans in the region. So with notable exceptions it’s astounding that there aren’t more artists from Korea or Japan whose names are on everyone’s lips. However, Youn Sun Nah could change all that, and as the first Korean artist exclusively under contract with ACT, anyone listening to her debut album "Voyage" will understand why.

Mathias Eick's resumé includes work with musicians of many styles, from Chick Corea and the Trondheim Jazz Orchestra to Norwegian psychedelic rock band Motorpsycho. A primary project in the last ten years has been the jazz/progressive rock ten-piece band Jaga Jazzist: Eick's multi-instrumentalism has been an important part of that group's sound and on The Door he is also heard on vibraphone and guitar as well as trumpet, as he puts it, whatever needs to be played.

'Never change a winning team' – The old sporting wisdom can also be applied to music: When soul mates and perfectly matched musicians find one another, they are well advised to stick together. 'Liberetto II' by the exceptional Swedish bassist and cellist Lars Danielsson is the living proof. Three years ago he found a quartet with the former e.s.t. drummer Magnus Öström, the British guitarist John Paricelli and most of all as a new dream team duo with Armenian pianist Tigran. It interpreted his compositions and realised his musical ideas more precisely than probably any ensemble before it.

Eagerly awaited second ECM album by French-African drummer Manu Katché. Recorded in New York’s Avatar Studio in January 2007, “Playground” picks up where the best-selling “Neighbourhood” left off: in the interim the project has coalesced into a rip-roaring and fully-integrated band. Manu’s group, featuring a Polish/Norwegian confederacy of young players, is energized by his hard driving drums and by his compositions which invite spirited solos… Together, the quintet - whose strong new frontline features Mathias Eick and Trygve Seim - makes exciting, zestful music.

Hoff Ensemble consists of some of Norway's finest jazz and session musicians, fronted by trumpeter Mathias Eick, of ECM renown, who plays a leading role in several of the compositions. The ensemble's basic quartet features legendary veteran bassist Arild Andersen and arranger Jan Gunnar Hoff on piano. Hoff has performed with his own group since 1993, collaborating with such artists as Mike Stern, Pat Metheny, Maria Joao and Alex Acuna. This time in this great Norwegian band he mixes flavours in a "cross-over" setting… The music is created by film composers Geir Bøhren and Bent Åserud and among the vocalists are some of Norway's top names in popular music: Helene Bøksle, Åsne Valland Nordli, Sondre Bratland, Unni Wilhelmsen, Tomine Harket, Bjørn Johan Muri, Cecilia Vennersten and Bjørn Eidsvåg.