Duo projects are not easy for musicians: giving each other space and at the same time filling the sound space on stage. If these contrasts are mastered well, the music can be melodic and at the same time full of tension. As is the case with these two. The connection between Wülker and Jansen is deep. They have known each other for over 20 years, and in addition to their enormous artistic quality, they have always been united by their love of improvisation, this immediate creativity, through which they determine the moment in their reactions and interactions. ‘Only friends can do it like this’, praised the press on the occasion of their concentrated joy of playing, recognising “weightless jazz dialogues” as well as “virtuosity and balladesque calm”, also because they add plenty of effects and loop stations to their main instruments in this context.

The French singer Céline Bonacina is also a household name in this country. Not only because she has released two albums on the ACT label, but also because her performances are unmistakable. If only because she plays the mighty baritone saxophone with a virtuosity that few can match. But her music also stands out stylistically, as Bonacina lived on La Réunion for seven years after studying classical music and training in Parisian big bands. The mix of European and African rhythms and forms that is common there still characterises her music today.
Her new album Jump! is an unconventional reminiscence of the eighties fusion jazz of the Brecker Brothers or the Yellowjackets. After a first flying visit to the JazzCafé in 2017, she is now returning to the JazzBaltica MainStage with her band.

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