muva of Earth (GB)
muva of Earth, voice, harp, movement; Steve Holmes, keyboards, percussion; Menelik Claffey, double bass; Ewan Moore, drums
Despite having only a handful of releases to her name so far, muva of Earth has established herself as a prominent fixture on the (jazz) festival circuit with her signature croons. The singer’s style – who lists Sun Ra, Alice Coltrane, Sade, Björk and Fela Kuti among her major influences – is redolent both of Erykah Badu’s neo-soul spiritualism and Alice Coltrane’s harp experimentation. Primarily a vocalist, muva began to learn the harp only a few years ago: “I’ve always had a vision of meditative sound for my music, and harp is like a dream.” With just a few singles under her belt, she quickly caught the eye of Gilles Peterson, the widely influential British-based DJ and broadcaster. His label Brownswood is about to release a record which muva calls simply “Afro-punk jazz” – “an expression of my truth, of a woman of African descent, in the language of jazz modulations.”
Charlotte Greve Lisbeth Quartett (DE)
Charlotte Greve, sax; Manuel Schmiedel, piano; Marc Muellbauer, bass; Moritz Baumgärtner, drums
Charlotte Greve is a New York-based alto saxophonist and composer originally from Germany. With a unique concept of tone and composition, she has been making a mark on both the Brooklyn and German jazz scenes. Charlotte has released seven albums as a leader of her bands Lisbeth Quartett and Wood River, two of which received an ECHO Jazz. Moreover, Greve has just been awarded the German Jazz Prize for “Artist of the Year”. Her latest release is marked by sensitive interplay – a collection of stunningly subtle and melodically pronounced songs that are both gentle and powerfully fluid. Even if the musicians are across the world in Berlin or New York City, all traveling and working on their respective projects, they seem to meld and blend with ease because of their history together and their knowledge of each other’s instrumental styles.