Tandem of freedom and spontaneity

If you like soul, you know Motown. If you like jazz, you know Blue Note. These two record labels became household names thanks to the influence they had on the industry. Now if you’re looking for a contemporary equivalent, chances are you’ll land on ACT. Why?, you ask. Because according to the Guardian, «ACT's artists today reflect the planet-wide diversity of 21st-century jazz-making». Sounds like a good enough reason why to us.

If you are a regular visitor at the Philharmonie, then the names of these ACT artists will definitely ring a bell: Youn Sun Nah, Vijay Iyer, Gwilym Simcock, Viktoria Tolstoy, Iiro Rantala,... They all made a stop here. And no later than November 9 you’ll find two more on our stage: Vincent Peirani and Michael Wollny.

Here’s how the story goes: Peirani and Wollny «quite literally got to know each other on stage during the ACT20 Jubilee Night at the New Morning club in Paris in 2012. Before performing together that night, they had exchanged little more than a peremptory handshake.» Once on stage, the chemistry was just right. «It was like we used to play for decades together,» says Peirani. «No need to talk, no need to look at each other, we just breathed together.»

What brings them together is their freedom, the absence of barriers when it comes to their music, they let nothing get in the way of jazz-making. «What I like about [Michael Wollny],» Peirani explained to Deutschlandradio Kultur, «is that everything is permitted! (…) We don’t do just jazz or classical music, we do what we feel like doing and we try to do it as good as we can.»

Now here we are, four years after their first gig together and the duo has just released an album, the aptly titled «Tandem». The album contains original material (two tunes by Wollny and two by Peirani) but also their take on some of their favorite songs. Among those: Björk’s «Hunter», Samuel Barber’s Adagio for Strings, «Fourth of July» by Sufjan Stevens or «Vignette» by Gary Peacock.

The result is highly poetic, just like the album trailer suggested.

--- Julie
Hear Michael Wollny and Vincent Peirani live at the Philharmonie on November 9. Tickets are available through our website or by phone at +352 26 32 26 32.