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.

Frank Woeste is not just an exceptionally fine pianist and a gifted exponent of the Fender Rhodes, he also has a thorough understanding of his own creative process. If all art is about leaving an impression, then Woeste's mission is to etch a deep mark both as a player and as a composer. His debut as an artist on ACT, then, not only reveals a musician brimming with ideas, but also a fully-fledged composer and an extremely adept arranger. His trio with guitarist Ben Monder and drummer Justin Brown creates a sound which is orchestral in its scale and its impact. The intimacy of chamber music goes hand in hand here with the forward propulsion of a jazz trio, and with the power of a big band. In other words, the title “Pocket Rhapsody” gets it right.

Korean singer Youn Sun Nah is one of the most brilliantly successful artists of our time in jazz and the music related to it. Four years have passed since her last highly successful opus, “Lento”, and now the extremely popular Korean, Parisbased vocal star is back, with a new album. It is a completely fresh project, recorded with a top New York band. Great intimacy, poetry and charm, pure-toned and emotional honesty - you can expect all of that from Youn Sun Nah.

Often compared to Diana Krall and Norah Jones, award-winning Korean singer Youn Sun Nah displays her unique qualities on Lento as she blends different cultural and musical sources in a respectful yet unconventional manner. Besides jazz and related styles, she draws on chanson, pop and folk music. In addition to original compositions by her and her band members, there is a cover of a Nine Inch Nails song ("Hurt") and "Ghost Riders in the Sky", a classic country song made famous by Johnny Cash. And, for the first time, Nah explores European classical music: Alexander Scriabin’s 5 Preludes, Op. 16 was a source of inspiration for the album’s title and it also sets up an intimate, atmospheric and harmonious musical world.

Nguyên Lê is a magician; his art reveals itself not only in his own compositions but also in his celebrations of the music of the past, where his approach to the latter resembles sculptures made of new clay. Remember Purple, his tribute to Jimi Hendrix, or more recently his Songs Of Freedom and its evocations of rock's greatest moments. He's a flamboyant guitarist and, while he shows courteous deference to his source material, he has always expressed the full diversity of an imaginary world engendered by his own history, that of a nomad, self-taught virtuoso: his music feeds on influences embracing all continents, and is painted with colours drawn from jazz, rock, and a kind of world fusion permeated with light.

"Round Nina" is a tribute to Nina Simone. Born Eunice Kathleen Waymon on February 21 st , 1933 in Tryon, North Carolina, Nina Simone led several lives, drifting wherever she triumphed or foundered in her dreams of becoming Clara Haskil, Katherine Dunham, or an American Miriam Makeba, perhaps. Maria Callas, too. While Nina lived, she never tasted the recognition that was offered to her models. Too wild. Bared. Unstable. Agressive.