How does Bigband Jazz sound from Europe? From Germany? From Lübeck?

What's happening in the "real" north of the country? Despite being somewhat of a blank spot on the jazz map, the Lübeck University of Music (MHL) and the local jazz scene consistently surprise with creative disruptions. While the debut album "Timeless Changes - LübeckSounds" by the MHL Bigband in 2014 already received enthusiastic responses from both the specialist press and the audience for its original compositions from the Lübeck big band composer workshop, the new album "Changing Times - LübeckSounds Vol. II" celebrates the diversity of its own language to the extreme. The music on this album points to constant change through its different styles—a transformation of generations, composition techniques, and sound aesthetics. It remains conscious of its roots, ranging from expressionist fanfares to vintage swing, from fusion jazz to electronic club music.
MHL composition professor Dieter Mack (64), known as an unusual new toner in the contemporary music scene, indulges in his passion for fusion jazz on "Changing Times," just like on the first album. His four compositions "Outrageous," "Push," "Ngotek," and "The Second Dark Side" draw from his early musical socialization through 70s fusion jazz, Frank Zappa, psychedelic progressive rock, and Balinese music.
Ilja Ruf, a 17-year-old high school student and pre-student at MHL, and the youngest composer on the album, presents his big band debut with "Magic Moments." Inspired by the rich colors of a large ensemble, Ruf's composition incorporates stylistically diverse influences from funk and Latin, along with an 80s synth sound.
In his thirties, Hans-Christian Stephan, an established and award-winning composer and arranger, studied school music in Lübeck and jazz composition in Bern. He writes "24/7," a highly explosive vintage swing character study about the hustle and bustle of our time, musically bridging the gap to contemporary composition.
Collaborating with performance artist Christopher Hotti Böhm, Stephan presents "Schwarmdefekte," an electro-number played entirely unplugged. Taking a massive step further, MHL students Michael Knarr, Kristoph Krabbenhöft, and Jon Ander Klein, all in their mid to late twenties, create an electro-sound monument with "Till Your Well," incorporating all possible electronic devices. With a length of 22 minutes, it nostalgically recalls earlier vinyl times but could easily find its place in the club nights of international metropolises today, thanks to the fusion of big band sound, choir, and electronic dance music.

The vocal ensemble Vox Mandala epitomizes musical unity in diversity. Songs from around the world, folk tunes, pop songs, and jazz tunes with diverse cultural backgrounds come together with a palette of voices. This diversity is reflected in the languages they sing, including Bulgarian, Chinese, English, Spanish, German, and Low German. The singers perform solo, in sections, as a choir, a cappella, and with a rhythm section. Their voices range from dark and rough to bright, gentle, jazzy, and soulful. They are current or former students of the University of Music Lübeck (MHL) in the "Music Education" program with a major in pop singing. The repertoire consists of covers and original songs that establish a contemporary connection to the respective cultural environment. As soloists, they perform with their own bands or as singer-songwriters. Just six months after its founding as the MHL Vocalband at the University of Music Lübeck, Vox Mandala headlined the closing concert of the Taichung Jazz Festival in Taiwan in the fall of 2018. The young ensemble made its Halle debut under the artistic direction of Bernd Ruf at the Bridges to Classics 2018 in the Galgenbergschlucht.
For more information, visit Vox Mandala's website.