In 2006 the composer and arranger Daniel Glatzel founded the Andromeda Mega Express Orchestra in Berlin. The big ensemble consists of 18 young instrumentalists and doesn’t really fit into any ordinary mould. It moves somewhere between jazz and contemporary music but its members are also familiar with afro funk, electronica and progressive rock. Four highly praised albums have already been released by the unorthodox orchestra. The orchestra has already cooperated with ensembles like The Notwist and Efterklang, and artists like Tony Allen, Kenny Wheeler, Robert Wilson and Bobby Hutcherson.
The 39 year-old jazz pianist and ELBJAZZ Artist in Residence, Michael Wollny, is one of the most phenomenal musicians on his instrument and is rated among the few German jazz musicians with the title »world class«. Wollny has been classically trained, so he knows as much about Gustav Mahler as he knows about Thelonious Monk. During the past few years he has consistently taken artistic risks: he leads his own trio, he appears as a soloist, he makes music together with a duet consisting of the French accordionist Vincent Peirani and the saxophone player Heinz Sauer, and he has taken part in countless all-star concerts with colleagues of the ACT-label. Wollny has the ability to produce highly romantic sounds and abruptly engage in a wild frenzy tormenting the keys in the best manner of free jazz artists. He doesn’t know any limitations.
At the age of four Christophe Chassol attended a music school, he studied jazz when he was 17, and at the age of 21 he founded his first band – an orchestra of 24 musicians. In France he is now considered one of the most innovative composers, producers and arrangers. Chassol presents his fourth and latest record »Big Sun« at ELBJAZZ. The record includes a series of experimental tracks and is closely connected with the sights and the sound of New Orleans, India, and Martinique, the birthplace of his family. His compositions follow the patterns of film composers, and »ultrascore« is the title of his audiovisual work.