The New Tradition Adam Baldych & Yaron Herman

• 1 Riverendings 05:22
• 2 Legenda 07:51
• 3 Sleep Safe and Warm 04:10
• 4 Letter for E. 06:01
• 5 June 04:40
• 6 Quo Vadis 05:29
• 7 Lamentation of Jeremiah 05:14
• 8 Relativities 02:11
• 9 Canticles of Ecstasy 04:52
• 10 Preludium E Minor 02:08
• Total Runtime 47:58

Info for The New Tradition

After his acclaimed ACT debut, for which he was awarded as 'best international instrumentalist' with the german Jazz Echo, Adam Baldych returns with Yaron Herman on the piano as a duo. Together they lose themselves in melodious virtuosity, which always explodes in pure freedom in the end. An unbelievable energy will directly run through your body.

'Without doubt the greatest jazz violinist alive today. We can expect everything from him,' is what the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung newspaper wrote about Adam Baldych ACT debut 'Imaginary Room'. The young Pole is causing quite a stir on the European jazz scene with his music. In Germany he won the ECHO Jazz in 2013. In his homeland he is treading in the massive footsteps of Leszek Możdżer, and the top echelons of European jazz, the likes of Iiro Rantala, appreciate his skills, currently in his string trio. Musikmarkt calls Baldych a 'diabolically divine violinist' and the Süddeutsche Zeitung considers him 'one of the biggest discoveries of contemporary European jazz'.

The Paris-based Israeli pianist Yaron Herman has long been at the spearhead of European jazz, and he is 'one of the most creative minds in the jazz world' (Kulturnews). Baldych came across this pianist 'who can quite simply play everything – and everything always differently' (Süddeutsche Zeitung) quite by chance: Siggi Loch put them on the stage together for the first time at the 'Jazz at the Berlin Philharmonic II' concert in March 2013.

The chemistry was right from the outset. Two big musician personalities had found each other, and they simply had to continue on the same path from that moment on, a path called 'The New Tradition': an expedition that cuts a new trail leading off from the beaten track. With total mutual trust, Baldych and Herman set new standards in contemporary jazz. Seldom has a more intense and natural collaboration been heard. Not in a struggle for supremacy, but instead masterfully and highly emotional, full of depth and soul, Baldych and Herman simply make music. And in doing so they prove that you don't need big ensembles to create magic moments.

Making music has always been a way for me to fulfill my dreams, to challenge myself and to travel through uncharted lands. The stories of those lands, filtered through my personality, is what I share in a musical form with my listeners. After the release of my previous album, “Imaginary Room”, I had the opportunity to share the stage of the Berlin Philharmonic with Yaron Herman. It was an extraordinary, magical moment for me. I felt as if I have taken a deep breath and have found new impulses. A very classic duo of violin and piano turned out to be astonishingly fresh and opened up new creative possibilities for me. By scaling back and using only two instruments I was able to showcase my music in a very detailed view, to focus on the music's structure, its' colour, the vibrations of the strings, the whisper of the bow.

The theme of “The New Tradition” album is a very important one. Tradition is my point of reference. Who am I? Where do I come from? Where do I go? Classical European music, Polish folk-music, Polish jazz – this is my tradition, this is what surrounded me in my formative years and this is what my music refers to. This album is another dream fulfilled, one that I would like to share with you.

Adam Baldych, violin
Yaron Herman, piano

Recorded at RecPublica Studios, Lubrza (Poland) by Łukasz Olejarczyk, September 9 - 11, 2013 and Emil Berliner Studios, Berlin (Germany) by Klaus Scheuermann, November 26, 2013
Mixed and mastered by Klaus Scheuermann
Produced by Siggi Loch

Adam Bałdych
"Without any doubt the greatest living jazz violinist. One can expect everything from him." Ulrich Olshausen from German newspaper „Frankfurter Allgemeinen Zeitung“ about Adam Bałdych’s concert at Jazzfest Berlin 2011. Bałdych was born in Gorzów Wlkp in Poland in 1986.

His outstanding talent was detected early. He was celebrated a prodigy in Poland. “By the age of 9 I decided to visit a school of music” he remembers. He already was well aware of his home country’s music tradition. “Poland has a great music tradition, especially referring to piano music and since Henryk Wieniawski also referring to violin playing.” Only by the age of 11 he decided to start playing the violin with great role models in mind: “I was very much influenced by the famous East-European composers, such as Rachmaninoff, Chopin and Tschaikowski.“ A number of awards for young musicians in classical music proof his talent: In 1999 he became third in Polish national violinist competition in Poznan. The same year he was awarded the first price at regional violinist competition in Szczecin and at Baroque music competition in Gorzow.

By the age of 13 he finally decided to play Jazz. “Jazz offered me the musical freedom, I was searching for.” A noteworthy series of awards followed: In 2002 he won the „Jazz Celebration“ competition in Gorzów. Since 2001 he was annually awarded the „Key for Career Award“ by renowned Polish magazine “Jazz Forum”.

By the age of 16 his international career began. He toured through Europe and Asia. After finishing his jazz degree with merit at Kattowitz conservatory, he got a scholarship at the Berklee College of Music in Boston. Ever since, New York is the place of departure for his musical journey through the world. In recent years he was touring with Grammy-award-winning pianist Jim Beard, other famous violinists like Didier Lockwood, Pierre Blanchard, Jerry Goodman, Krzesimir Debski or Christian Howes and he participated in Jaroslaw Smietana’s project „Tribute to Seifert“. He himself recorded several noteworthy albums in different collaborations –with Singer Mika Urbaniak or the „Groove Razors“. On his album “Magical Theatre“ he also dealt with author Herman Hesse’s famous novel “Der Steppenwolf”. He first gained international attention with his band “Damage Control”.

Besides his regular work for international theatre- and film productions, and even though he partly lives in the US, Bałdych always stays in touch with Polish musicians. It therefore is no wonder that Polish piano star and ACT-artist Leszek Możdżer got to know Bałdych in 2008. Together they wrote the soundtrack to the movie “Sir Arnes Schatz” by Swedish director Mauritz Stiller. Możdżer hereupon introduced Bałdych to ACT head Siggi Loch. Loch did not hesitate to ask Bałdych to join the ACT family.

Together with Loch and Nils Landgren as the producers and a first-class studio band, Bałdych started to record his ACT debut “Imaginary Room” (ACT 9532-2) in March 2012 at Hansa Studios in Berlin. Lars Danielsson, one of the leading bass players in contemporary jazz, drummer Morten Lund and Swedish pianist Jacob Karlzon form the rhythm section. Two of the greatest talents in Scandinavian jazz –trumpet player Verneri Pohjola and Norwegian saxophonist Marius Neset make up the brass section.

Booklet for The New Tradition