Cosmic Ear is a new group bringing together Christer Bothén, Mats Gustafsson, Goran Kajfeš, Kansan Zetterberg and Juan Romero. Their debut album TRACES is released by We Jazz Records on 23rd of May, 2025. Including 6 deep cuts, TRACES is an album that sees Cosmic Ear tracking down the "traces" of the legendary Don Cherry's legacy while paving their own way in contemporary creative music expression.

Christer Bothén, a collaborator with Don Cherry during his Swedish period in the 1970s, brings depth to the history of the band, while his bandmates each belong at the top of the game in Scandinavian jazz. Their music is meditative and deep, much recommended for fans of the likes of Don Cherry, Alice Coltrane, and Pharoah. That being said, listeners should approach Cosmic Ear only with openness and curiosity, without set stylistic boundaries, as it's the group's natural flow and togetherness that brings their music into a fresh territory of their own.

As John Corbett writes in his liner notes:

"The Cosmic Ear. Five souls, sometimes six, on the same road. The pied piper path of Mr. Cherry. Christer Bothén, one of Cherry’s main collaborators in his Swedish period and one of the most beautiful bass clarinetists on planet earth, together with next-gen saxophonist Mats Gustafsson, who has carried so many torches in Cherry’s procession, and younger Swedish stars trumpeter Goran Kajfes, bassist Kansan Zetterberg, and percussionist Juan Romero. Together a tempo is set, a path is charted.  There are global grooves. A berimbau, a karignan (metal scraper from Guinea), donso n’goni. There are ET grooves. Synth, live-electronics, slide flute. The globe is a glove, a hand warmer that radiates with extraterrestrial power, returning the fingers to their place at the center of the galaxy; the Cherry path is a balm that restores essential moisture to the lips that blow life back into the megacosm. Let us all praise warm fingers and moist mouths."

Christer Bothén / Mats Gustafsson / Goran Kajfeš / Juan Romero / Kansan Zetterberg

Cosmic Ear: TRACES

A Few We Remember is the new album by Jonah Parzen-Johnson and Lau Nau. The recording debut for the new duo of Finnish composer Lau Nau, aka Laura Naukkarinen, and American baritone saxophonist Jonah Parzen-Johnson, it cycles between moments of knotty ambience, whispered melody, and innocent tinkering, as the duo improvises over 8 narrative scores composed by Parzen-Johnson. Jonah Parzen-Johnson says:

“For me, telling a story is about more than sharing a set of facts. A well told story is the protective coating around our most intimate and universal feelings. Things too delicate to name. When I want to understand how someone makes me feel, I tell myself our story. There are familiar stories of family and friends, but the story of a quick moment with a stranger can sometimes be the most illuminating. A brief interaction whose fractional reflection helps us understand ourselves in a new way.” 

“A lot of my musical practice is about trying to find that same storytelling sensation in the experience of performing. That’s how I got going on these narrative scores. Each one is a story you can read, but it's more than that, it's a trigger for a sensation. If all goes well, that’s what makes it into our improvisation. It might be tempting to ask to read the scores, but try to resist. This music isn’t about the stories, it's about how it feels to tell them.”

Jonah Parzen-Johnson & Lau Nau are each prolific and celebrated creators on their own, with 22 albums released between the two of them, but in this fresh conversation, something completely new comes to life. In Laura’s words: “I enjoy recording live takes without overdubs, and this album is exactly that - pure first takes, bubbling creative energy happening in the moment. Jonah’s written stories gave a powerful spark and direction for our improvisations, but the album reminds me of a chemical reaction: a result that is impossible without both of our inputs, and a surprise to each of us.”

On the debut single, First Time Viewer, it is almost impossible to tell where Jonah’s fragile baritone saxophone melody begins and where Lau’s live-sampled, processed, and re-synthesized accompaniment ends. As the improvisation develops, a cloud of ethereal fragments forms into a lattice of melody and texture strong enough to support the entire track. We don’t know how this music can sound both delicate and resilient at the same time, but we love it.

Jonah Parzen-Johnson & Lau Nau: A Few We Remember

Talk Show is a new duo collaboration featuring Steph Richards on trumpets and resonating surfaces and Qasim Naqvi on drums, almglocken bells and modular synthesizer. Having worked together on other projects for almost two decades, Miss America, to be released by We Jazz Records on 21st November, marks their first, pure duo collaboration – a space to engage with a sonic language they’ve been cultivating together for years.

The album was recorded live, with Qasim crafting real-time electronics and drum set work, and Steph using trumpets and resonating percussion to summon sympathetic vibrations and otherworldly sounds through timpani, snare and water. The trumpet sounds electronically processed, though every sound is acoustic. Both artists wanted to retain the live nature of their process, so what you hear is virtually untouched.

Sharing an appetite for experimentalism, theatricality and irreverent collisions of sound and image, Qasim and Steph met in 2008 at CalArts, which was a breeding ground for open creative thought and cross disciplinary collaboration. Often working with directors in the theater program, choreographers, or experimental and character animators, Steph and Qasim’s musical language has a rooting in visual performance art. From their first premiere, costumed together inside a giant two-person dress sculpture that consumed a drum set, to their most recent 2025 audio visual nightmare which explores the horrors of 80s daytime reality talk shows, this duo presents a voice of the grimy and the grotesque: a new beauty of questionable acts and character flaws in sound.

Qasim Naqvi is a percussionist, composer and synthesist based in Brooklyn, NY. Along with being the drummer of lauded cult minimalist trio, Dawn of Midi, Naqvi is an accomplished solo artist and his passion for multidisciplinary work has brought him into the world of film, dance, installation art, and the stage of orchestral and chamber music. Naqvi’s love for collaboration originated from his love of improvised music. Having grown up as a jazz musician, and then exploring the experimental music scene of New York in the mid 90’s and onward, Naqvi has been actively involved in the New York improvised music scene as a drummer for almost 30 years.

Hailed by The New York Times as “boldly inventive” and Jazz Times as “a virtuoso of otherworldly sound,” trumpeter and experimental composer Steph Richards bridges jazz and creative music with multimedia performance, integrating electronics, choreography, film, and even scent into groundbreaking projects presented at premier venues and festivals worldwide. As a recording artist, Richards has released five acclaimed solo albums—including Supersense (2019), which combined music with custom scent art, and Zephyr (2021)—both awarded multiple “Best of the Year” distinctions and earning recognition from The New York Times, DownBeat, Jazz Times, and NPR. Her work as an improviser, composer, and conductor of experimental ensembles continues to expand the language of contemporary music on an international scale.

ALBUM RELEASE SHOW

29.11. We Jazz Festival, Helsinki FI

Talk Show: Miss America

Magnus Carlson and The Moon Ray Quintet return with their new album Shadows, released by We Jazz Records on 12 December. Carlson is known as the vocalist of Weeping Willows, and The Moon Ray Quintet features members of top Swedish jazz acts Oddjob, Goran Kajfeš Tropiques, La La Lars, etc. Together they deliver inspired vocal jazz versions of some of their favourite music, their arrangements capturing the beauty of each song while bringing something fresh to the table.

The Moon Ray Quintet was formed in 2009 around singer Magnus Carlson during a break from the band Weeping Willows, his regular musical habitat. In the artistic vacuum he experienced then, he met jazz musician and producer Goran Kajfeš. Their chance encounter gave birth to a brand new band consisting of a number of highly regarded Swedish jazz musicians. With Goran by his side, Magnus could challenge himself in a jazz setting, digging deep with the band to bring out new shades of all of the compositions played.

After being on a break for more than 10 years, the combo of Carlson and The Moon Ray Quintet reunited for sold out shows at the Stockholm club Fasching. Now, they return with a brand new album of 8 new cuts echoing their mutual love of the song.

Magnus Carlson & The Moon Ray Quintet: Shadows

Tenor saxophonist Timo Lassy, one of Finland's leading jazz artists, is back with a new album release "Trio" on We Jazz Records. The album, to be released on 27 August, introduces Lassy's new combo with bassist Ville Herrala and drummer Jaska Lukkarinen – both We Jazz Records roster artists on their own right.

The new Lassy sound is tight, swinging and funky, led by the strong and riff-ready sax of the tenorman. That being said, the album's sound is not limited to that of the swinging trio. As we hear already on the first single "Orlo", Lassy's new vision also brings in some subtle electronics (played on "Orlo" by Lassy and Dalindèo frontman Valtteri Laurell Pöyhönen) and lush strings performed by Budapest Art Orchestra as arranged by Finnish artist Marzi Nyman. It's a new sound for Lassy, but one which keeps true to his no-nonsense cookin' on the tenor.

Timo Lassy, tenor saxophone
Ville Herrala, double bass
Jaska Lukkarinen, drums

All tracks written by Timo Lassy
Produced by Timo Lassy & Abdissa Assefa
Strings arranged by Marzi Nyman, performed by Budapest Art Orchestra cond. Peter Pejtsik (1., 2., 4., 7.)
Synthesizer, keys: Tuomo Prättälä (3.), Valtteri Pöyhönen (7.), Timo Lassy (2., 5.)
Percussion: Abdissa Assefa (5.)
Recorded & Mixed by Abdissa Assefa at Ambience studios, Helsinki
Strings recorded at East Connection Music Recording, Budapest
Mastered by Svante Forsbäck at Chartmakers
Original artwork by Ilari Hautamäki: "Subtropic" (2019)
Original artwork photographed by Jussi Tiainen
Design by Matti Nives

Orlo

LOOMY

UNKNOW / SLICK

midi day job, pt. 4

Love Train

Father and Son

TRACES of Brown Rice

Do It (Again) – For Sofia Jernberg

Right Here Right Now

Longtime Resident

Co-op Association

Flight Attendant

Calming Influencer

First Time Viewer

Bus Driver

Suspicious Commutter

Apologetic Inquirer

Royalties

Miss America

Soft As a Rock

Mom’s Night Out

Death Bed

Black Night

Where Are We Now?

Wich Tai To

Milk and Honey

Who Knows

It's Raining Today

Mystery of Love

Me and My Shadow

Drummer/composer Booker Stardrum (SML) delivers a new powerful solo album, his first for We Jazz Records. Stardrum doubles down on the earthy tactility of human sound and communication while also exploring rich, electroacoustic landscapes. The album involves Stardrum’s close collaborators Anna Butterss, Jeremiah Chiu, Chris Williams, Lester St. Louis, Logan Hone and Michael Coleman.

Third Nature

Drummer-producer Teppo Mäkynen's celebrated alias The Stance Brothers returns with a properly groovy 7"/digi single "Resolution Blue / Where Is Resolution Blue?" on We Jazz Records, 19 June. The source of inspiration here is an original track by Timo Lassy & Teppo Mäkynen found on their self-titled 2019 We Jazz LP. The Stance Brothers mangles the track up into two different versions with crisp drums, catchy vibraphone riffs, distorted guitars and 100% signature Stance Bros groove, like only Teddy Rok can deliver it. The digi version adds a "bonus beats" type of treatment in "Teddy Rok Mass Appeal Edit".

True to We Jazz style, the 7" comes with an old school heat-pressed labels and a generic brown paper sleeve.

Resolution Blue

Label from Helsinki. http://wejazzrecords.bandcamp.com

We Jazz

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