And some more good news:
Patricia Dräger of Trio Marcela Arroyo, Quique Sinesi and Patricia Dräger is awarded Swiss Culture Prize 2026!
https://www.schweizerkulturpreise.ch/de/patricia-draeger-de
Congratulations! Touring of this wonderful trio will go on in 2027 and 2028!
Björn Meyer: Convergence receives Quarterly PdDS!
ECM 2844 (Universal)
Björn Meyer has a rare ability to fill space with sound while retaining an intimate sense of warmth. He succeeds in »humanising« the electric bass guitar, shaping vivid musical narratives in the very moment of performance. Technically dazzling and constantly extending the expressive possibilities of his six-string instrument, Meyer draws the listener in through the sheer force of his musical imagination. »Convergence« belongs unmistakably to the ECM lineage of great solo bass albums, while speaking in a voice entirely its own. For the jury: Bert Noglik
German Jazz Prize 2026
Aki Takase Receives German Jazz Prize for Lifetime Achievement – A Defining Voice of Contemporary Jazz
Berlin, April 15, 2026
The German Jazz Prize honors one of the defining figures of contemporary jazz in 2026: Aki Takase receives the German Jazz Prize for her lifetime achievement. For decades, the Japanese jazz musician has stood for a distinctive musical language that moves between composition and improvisation, between different cultural contexts and aesthetic traditions.
A crucial step in her artistic development was her move from Osaka to Berlin in the late 1980s. Here, she became part of a scene where improvisation, collaboration, and artistic exchange are central, and which continues to shape her work today.
Takase’s music is often clearly structured while remaining open to the unplanned.
Many of her projects emerge from dialogue with other musicians in long-term artistic relationships. These collaborations focus less on fixed forms and more on shared development
She also repeatedly engages with the history of jazz, for example with composers like Duke Ellington or Thelonious Monk. She takes up their music, gives it her own reinterpretation and continually develops her own sonic languages.
With this award, the jury of the German Jazz Prize honors an artist who understands jazz not as a rigid and inflexible, but as an open, ever-evolving practice. Her influence is particularly evident in her participatory approach and the many musical connections that have arisen from it.
„I am very proud to receive this award, the ‚German Jazz Prize – Lifetime Achievement‘. Even though I am probably on the home stretch of my career, I sincerely hope that my husband Alexander and I can continue our musical activities for as long as possible and stay healthy while ‚Take the AA Train‘.“ – Aki Takase, recipient of the German Jazz Prize for Lifetime Achievement
Björn Meyer Solo
Very happy to welcome an dear old friend of former times: Björn Meyer, bass player par excellence, known from his long lasting cooperations with bands like Nik Bärtsch´s Ronin, Anouar Brahem, Asita Hamidi Bazaar Bla and more, just released his second solo album Convergence at ECM records!