Hailing from Manchester in the UK, acoustic-electronica trio GoGo Penguin are pianist Chris Illingworth, bassist Nick Blacka and drummer Rob Turner. Drawing on a heady brew of influences from Brian Eno, John Cage, Massive Attack and Aphex Twin to Manchester’s grey rain-streaked urban streets, they create a brave new sound that is wholly their own.

Defined by skittering break-beats, powerful sub-bass, telepathic interplay and a penchant for anthemic melody they create an emotionally rich palate for the listener that has seen them hailed as the most exciting new band to emerge from the UK in years.

Joep Beving has been one with the piano from an early age. He was forced to end his musical studies at the conservatory and instead continued at university to get a degree in public policy and public administration. However, his love for his instrument never perished. Where once his goal was to hit as many notes per minute as physically possible, his style of playing has changed over the years, searching for a particular aesthetic essence. His path was illuminated by a piano that Beving inherited from his grandmother when she passed away in 2009. This German instrument insisted on a more gentle touch and a gracious pace, which eventually led Beving to adapt to a more classical vocabulary to tell his story.⁣⁣
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This story started to manifest itself relatively late in life, when in 2014 at age 38, he was forced to stay home from work and decided to answer the draw of his piano. In search of tranquility of mind and some form of essence, music started to present itself that he had never played before in his life. Minimal pieces that he later once described as ‘simple music for complex emotions’.  Turned down by the only label he approached, Joep decided to self release his debut album Solipsism in 2015.⁣⁣
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The sound of his piano found its way to the ears of Deutsche Grammophon’s A&R manager Christian Badzura when visiting his favorite Bar in Berlin. This led to the signing of Beving to the world's foremost classical label and consequently the release of equally successful sophomore album ‘Prehension’ in 2017, making Joep one of the most listened to living pianists in the world at that time.⁣⁣
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He has attributed much of his music’s broad appeal to the stream of consciousness in which some of the pieces were conceived. Claiming that the music is already out there and that one has to ‘just’ create the circumstances for it to land. In 2018 he took this idea one step further with the release of ‘Conatus’ of which he said:  “If you see music as a living organism then it is not unthinkable that it has its own innate inclination to continue to exist and enhance itself.” On Conatus, Beving sees compositions from his first two albums travel through the minds of artists he admires (a.o. Suzanne Ciani, Collin Benders, Andrea Belfi), resulting in new pieces of music adding new layers and dimensions which would serve as the upbeat to his next major solo project as would become apparent in April 2019.⁣⁣
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As part of the art piece ‘Franchise Freedom’ by acclaimed artist duo Studio Drift, Joep travels to Burning Man at the end of 2018 to perform in the desert of Black Rock City in front of his largest audience to date. Inspired by the display of human creativity and inclusivity he returns home to finish his third solo album.⁣⁣
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April 2019 sees the release of HENOSIS, Joep Beving’s closing chapter in a trilogy of albums – marking the end of an intensely personal four-year spiritual and philosophical exploration.⁣⁣
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On HENOSIS the Dutch composer continues his minimalist and at times romantic style of writing, but this time explores new territories. It sets off where his sophomore album Prehension left us, the warm intimate sound of the Schimmel piano. With the help of producer Gijs van Klooster and through collaborations with Cappella Amsterdam, Echo Collective, and Maarten Vos, Joep Beving opens up new musical worlds using orchestral and electronic sounds alongside the familiar piano.⁣⁣

Four years after his last release as Hauschka, composer Volker Bertelmann returns to City Slang for his new effort “PHILANTHROPY”. While touching on the work of musical innovators, such as Erik Satie and John Cage, Hauschka reimagines the potential of the prepared piano for the 21st century, a technique that involves inserting objects between the instrument’s strings or onto its hammers to expand its sonic and operative possibilities.

Hania Rani is a pianist, composer and musician who splits her life between Warsaw, where she makes her home, and Berlin where she studied and often works. She has written for strings, piano, voice and electronics and has collaborated with the likes of Christian Löffler, Dobrawa Czocher and Hior Chronik. Her compositions for solo piano were born out of a fascination with the piano as an instrument, and her desire to interpret its sound and harmonic possibilities in their entirety and in her own way.

our new EP So Much For Gardening out now 
listen: https://fengsuave.com/music
Pre-order our So Much For Gardening EP on vinyl: https://fengsuave.com/store
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In 2020, Jon Batiste redefined what it means to be productive. 
Recording and releasing two Grammy-nominated albums, check. 
Cultural and social advocacy, check. Band leading and music directing on the Late Show, check. Practicing, learning, sharing, growing, check.
 
Was he done there? Batiste? Nah. 
 
He decided to build a studio in his dressing room at the renowned Ed Sullivan Theater and invited a few talented friends—including singer-songwriter Autumn Rowe and producer Kizzo—to lay the blueprint for what is destined to become a seminal masterpiece of black pop American music, his forthcoming album, WE ARE. Not to mention, he put all of this together in 6 days. Again, redefining productivity. 
 
He ended the year with his music and likeness being centrally featured in the Disney/Pixar film Soul. His composing and songwriting will be featured in his large-scale, genre-melding symphonic work “American Symphony,” set to premiere at Carnegie Hall in 2021 and he has been developing a broadway musical about the life of famed painter Jean-Michel Basquiat.
 
Jon balances a demanding performance schedule—which often includes his signature ‘love riot’ street parades—with public speaking engagements, masterclasses, brand partnerships, community activism, and acting roles. In the wake of George Floyd's murder and in the lead up to the election, he organized several peaceful protest marches, leading thousands in the streets of New York City. He played himself on the HBO series Tremé and appeared in Spike Lee’s Red Hook Summer and Da Sweet Blood of Jesus.

JU is following