The Jakob Manz Project - The Answer (2024)

Accepted as a young student at the Stuttgart University of Music at the age of 15, multiple awards as a teenager, the ACT debut "Natural Energy" at 19, winner of the Baden-Württemberg Jazz Prize at 21 - is the unstoppable rise of the now 22-year-old saxophonist Jakob Manz over? Not at all, as the new album "The Answer" proves.

Manz has developed and positioned himself as a soloist step by step along the way. On the duo recording "The Gallery Concerts" with pianist Johanna Summer, who shot into the limelight almost in lockstep, he has also mastered the balancing act towards a completely different, classically tinged style and made a name for himself internationally as the frontman of the Groove Connection alongside Roberto Di Gioia, Karin Hammar, Bruno Müller, Tim Lefebvre, Per Lindvall, Paolo Fresu and Nguyên Lê.

"The Answer" is now a return to his roots. To his The Jakob Manz Project. To a matter of youthful enthusiasm, friendship and a kindred spirit. To the band that started it all, that has remained an absolute affair of the heart - and that continues to evolve. "We grew up with groove jazz, with Marcus Miller, David Sanborn and the Brecker Brothers, that's our DNA," says Jakob Manz.

"But we also wanted new inspirations for the second band album that would challenge us and take us further." This was provided above all by a performance at the Papjazz Festival in Haiti. The living conditions and the music of the country, as well as the encounter there with pianist Meddy Gerville from La Réunion, deeply moved and shaped the band.

On "The Answer" we once again hear Jakob Manz's breathtaking virtuosity, which is always at the service of the music. We hear grooves and melodies influenced by American soul and pop jazz. But we also hear new colors and shades that have been brought about by his involvement with music beyond the Western world. Manz conquers these new, expanded sound spaces with his band consisting of Hannes Stollsteimer on piano, Frieder Klein on bass and Paul Albrecht on drums, now joined by percussionist Karl Degenhardt. They are joined by guests from a wide variety of genres: Lionel Loueke adds a West African touch with vocals and guitar, Alexandra Stollsteimer a classical violin sound and Matthias Schriefl trumpet and alphorn.

"The Answer" makes clear the idea of jazz in the current generation of musicians: jazz today is above all a vocabulary with which musicians all over the world express what moves and influences them and allow their audience to experience this.

TRACKLIST
1. The Jakob Manz Project - The Answer
2. The Jakob Manz Project & Jakob Manz Feat. Lionel Loueke - Voyage Sureel
3. The Jakob Manz Project & Jakob Manz - When Weasles Fly
4. The Jakob Manz Project - Ade
5. The Jakob Manz Project - Keep on Burning
6. The Jakob Manz Project - Le Rêve Du Papillon
7. The Jakob Manz Project - Isla Sorna
8. The Jakob Manz Project - Einsatz Live
9. The Jakob Manz Project - Prospering
10. The Jakob Manz Project - Crossroads