GONDWANA RECORDS PRESENT

In the organizer's words:

As is almost traditional, there will once again be a showcase of works by our tasteful friends from Gondwana Records in the Great Hall of the Elbphilharmonie next Easter Saturday, April 19, 2025. Vega Trails and Svaneborg Kardyb will be joined today by Jasmine Myra, who will be bringing not only her band but also a string ensemble to the Elbphilharmonie stage for this special evening.

Vega Trails began as a project by double bassist and composer Milo Fitzpatrick, a founding member of the Portico Quartet, and saxophonist Jordan Smart(Mammal Hands, Sunda Arc), bringing together two very charismatic musicians to form a powerful duo. Born out of a desire to bring the elements of bass and melody to the fore in their most original form, it quickly became clear that Vega Trails was more than just a side project. After the release of the first album Tremors In The Static in 2022, it quickly became clear that Vega Trails would be on an equal footing with Portico Quartet and Mammal Hands. We are therefore all the more pleased that, after the aforementioned bands, Vega Trails are finally making their way to the Great Hall of the Elbphilharmonie for Gondwana Records Presents! The very special thing about this evening's show: Vega Trails will be accompanied by a string quartet exclusively for this show!

Svaneborg Kardyb are Nikolaj Svaneborg (Wurlitzer, Juno, piano) and Jonas Kardyb (drums, percussion), a multi-award-winning duo from Denmark who won two Grammys at the Danish Music Awards Jazz 2019: New Artist of the Year and Composer of the Year. Drawing on Danish folk music and Scandinavian jazz influences, including Nils Frahm, Esbjörn Svennson and Jan Johansson's seminal recording Jazz På Svenska, their music is an exquisite and joyful blend of beautiful melodies, delicate minimalism, catchy grooves, subtle electronica vibes, Nordic atmospheres and organic interplay, all driven by the sheer joy of playing together.

Superkilen, their forthcoming new album, is named after a public park in Copenhagen's ethnically diverse Nørrebro district. This former wasteland was repurposed by the art group Superflex in early 2010 to bring immigrants and locals together in a spirit of tolerance and unity. The title is emblematic of the group's music, which is equally inventive in creating space and calm as a tonic in the tense and crowded environment of life in 2024.

Jasmine Myra is a saxophonist, composer and bandleader based in Leeds. She is part of the city's vibrant, creative and genre-bending music scene and has surrounded herself with some of the best young talent in the North of England. Her original instrumental music has a euphoric and uplifting sound, influenced by artists as diverse as Bonobo, Olafur Arnalds and Kenny Wheeler, whose music has an emotive quality that can also be heard in Myra's own compositions.

After making a guest appearance with label mate Caoilfhionn Rose last year, she is back on stage with her own band at this year's edition of Gondwana Records presents. But that's not all - she has also thought of something for this special occasion and will be on stage with Streichquintet for the first time to present brand new reworks of her pieces.

Gondwana Records is an independent record label founded in Manchester in 2008 by trumpeter, composer and producer Matthew Halsall and his brother, graphic designer and artist Daniel Halsall.

Inspired by a love of deep, spiritual jazz and British club culture, Gondwana initially focused on releases by Matthew Halsall and saxophonist Nat Birchall, showcasing Manchester's finest jazz talent. In 2012, Gondwana released the debut albums of acoustic-electronic trio GoGo Penguin and folk-jazz minimalists Mammal Hands. In 2018, the Portico Quartet returned to the studio and helped define a strand of progressive electronic and jazz-influenced new music that is one of the label's defining sounds alongside jazz, neo-classical and ambient music. As a result, Gondwana has become home to groundbreaking and progressive new artists such as Hania Rani, Svaneborg Kardyb, Vega Trails and Jasmine Myra.

In 2018, Gondwana Records celebrated its tenth anniversary with a series of multi-artist events, including concerts at Roundhouse London, RNCM Manchester and AB in Brussels. For 2023, label founder Matthew Halsall announced his ninth studio album An Ever Changing View and a major tour including a headline show at the Royal Albert Hall. Gondwana Records Presents has played with artists such as Matthew Halsall, Hania Rani, Portico Quartet, Jasmine Myra, Caoilfhionn Rose, Hanakiv and Mammal Hands in the past.

On April 19, 2025, Gondwana Records Presents will be coming to the Elbphilharmonie's Great Hall for the fourth time to give us an insight into the tasteful label's current catalog.

Price information:

From 30€