Focusyear

16/10/2025

Been celebrating Autumn with these cats: Alice Auclair (voc), Eliott Knuets (g), Wilbur Wittha (p), Eva Serrano (db), Dae Bryant (dr).
We present our work at 19.30 tonight - JazzCampus Club - Basel.

My Way
From Chaos, Anything Is Possible
How To Attract Butterflies *
This Feels Like The End
Never-Ending Strife
Horses In Rain

* Haven’t played this for about 20 years. That would’ve been Human Chain at the original Vortex w. Martin France R.I.P. It’s been both heartwarming and nostalgic to hear it in such capable, fresh new hands.

01/10/2024

This week Linda May Han Oh joins us to coach Focusyear band 25.

Based in New York City, GRAMMY award-winning Linda May Han Oh is a bassist/composer who has performed and recorded with artists such as Pat Metheny, Kenny Barron, Joe Lovano, Dave Douglas, Terri Lyne Carrington, Steve Wilson, Geri Allen and Vijay Iyer.

Born in Malaysia and raised in Boorloo (Perth), Western Australia, she has received many awards including a 2022 Deutscher Jazz Preis and was voted the 2018-2023 Bassist of the Year by the Jazz Journalist’s Association, as well 2022 Bassist of the Year in Jazztimes. Linda also was voted 2019 Bassist of the Year in Hothouse Magazine and was the 2020 recipient APRA award for Best New Jazz Work. In 2023 she received the prestigious Herb Albert Award for music and received an Honorary Doctorate from the Manhattan School of Music in 2024.

Linda has had five releases as a leader which have received critical acclaim, her latest – a quintet album entitled The Glass Hours on Biophilia Records. Her latest commissions include “Littoral Tales” a solo piano piece in two movements for Gloria Cheng, and “Ephemeral Echoes” written for percussion trio and piano trio as well as “Mirrors and Shadows” written for piano and bass duo.

Linda has written for large and small ensembles as well as for film, participating in the Sundance Labs at Skywalker Ranch and composing for several of sociologist/film maker Sabrina McCormick. Linda also composed and produced music for a collaborative film project with non-profit, “Hoperaisers” based in Korogocho, Kenya by film-maker Kizito Gamba and contributed music to his latest documentary “Calling the Shots” co-directed by Kore Abong about aspiring African women in the film-industry.
Linda is currently Associate Professor at the Berklee College of Music in the bass department and is also part of the Institute for Jazz and Gender Justice led by Terri Lyne Carrington. Linda was featured on bass in the 2020 Pixar movie "Soul" under the musical direction of Jon Batiste (The Late Show with Stephen Colbert) alongside drummer Roy Haynes and was the model for the character in the film - bassist “Miho.”

October 3, 2024 Focusyear Band 25 feat. Linda May Han Oh live at Jazzcampus Club.

"The Imperative" by Linda May Han OhRecorded at The Bunker Studio in April 2022 for the Chamber Music America Consortium Livestream.From "The Glass Hours" (J...

22/06/2024

On the 27th of June, Porgy & Bess and Wolfgang Muthspiel present Focusyear band ‘24! Composed of four saxophonists and a five-piece rhythm section, you’ll hear featured selections by each band member from their latest album release!

Tickets:
https://www.porgy.at/en/events/order/6426/

Baptiste Stanek -🎷
Finn Vidal - 🎷
Marta Wajdzik - 🎷
Katie Webster - 🎷
Wes Georgiev - 🎹
Jure Slapar - 🎸
Thiago Duarte - 🎻
Janis Jaunalksnis - 🥁
Juan Ibarra - 🥁

16/06/2024

his week joins us to coach band 24.

Based in New York City, GRAMMY award-winning Linda May Han Oh is a bassist/composer who has performed and recorded with artists such as Pat Metheny, Kenny Barron, Joe Lovano, Dave Douglas, Terri Lyne Carrington, Steve Wilson, Geri Allen and Vijay Iyer.

Born in Malaysia and raised in Boorloo (Perth), Western Australia, she has received many awards including a 2022 Deutscher Jazz Preis and was voted the 2018-2023 Bassist of the Year by the Jazz Journalist’s Association, as well 2022 Bassist of the Year in Jazztimes. Linda also was voted 2019 Bassist of the Year in Hothouse Magazine and was the 2020 recipient APRA award for Best New Jazz Work. In 2023 she received the prestigious Herb Albert Award for music and received an Honorary Doctorate from the Manhattan School of Music in 2024.

Linda has had five releases as a leader which have received critical acclaim, her latest – a quintet album entitled The Glass Hours on Biophilia Records. Her latest commissions include “Littoral Tales” a solo piano piece in two movements for Gloria Cheng, and “Ephemeral Echoes” written for percussion trio and piano trio as well as “Mirrors and Shadows” written for piano and bass duo.

Linda has written for large and small ensembles as well as for film, participating in the Sundance Labs at Skywalker Ranch and composing for several of sociologist/film maker Sabrina McCormick. Linda also composed and produced music for a collaborative film project with non-profit, “Hoperaisers” based in Korogocho, Kenya by film-maker Kizito Gamba and contributed music to his latest documentary “Calling the Shots” co-directed by Kore Abong about aspiring African women in the film-industry.

Linda is currently Associate Professor at the Berklee College of Music in the bass department and is also part of the Institute for Jazz and Gender Justice led by Terri Lyne Carrington. Linda was featured on bass in the 2020 Pixar movie "Soul" under the musical direction of Jon Batiste (The Late Show with Stephen Colbert) alongside drummer Roy Haynes and was the model for the character in the film - bassist “Miho.”

03/06/2024

Starting Today, will join us to coach band 24.

“My aim as an artist was always simply to find and explore my own natural voice, my own conception of playing my instrument, and my music within the very generous but still style-founded field we call ‘improvised music’.”

Anders Jormin, born 1957 in Jönköping, Sweden, has been hailed by Down Beat as “a treasure – everything a bassist should be”. The son of a jazz musician, he graduated from Gothenburg’s Musikhögskolan with diplomas in double-bass and improvisation/pedagogy in 1979. He was influenced not just by his classical and jazz training, but also Sweden’s folk tradition; he recalled to John Kelman: “I always had those three things going on in my head. I take all my inspirations and influences into some kind of melting pot inside my heart, and what comes out is, I hope, my personality.”

By the mid-80s Jormin was firmly established on the Swedish scene. He arrived at ECM thanks to pianist Bobo Stenson, who showcased him in his trio and brought him into the groups of Charles Lloyd and Tomasz Stanko.. Albums under Jprmin’sown name for the label include Xieyi (meaning “to write”), which juxtaposes pieces for solo bass with compositions for brass ensemble; the song cycle In winds, in light, for a group whose personnel includes US pianist Marilyn Crispell and Swedish folksinger Lena Willemark; Ad Lucem, which includes settings of Latin verse composed by Jormin; and Trees of Light with Willemark and koto player Karin Nakagawa.

For almost 30 years Jormin has been a teacher of double bass and improvisation at Gothenburg’s Musikhögskolan, where he has played a key role in building up a leading improvised music department. In 2003 he was given an honorary doctorate at Finland’s Sibelius Academy. He is four-times winner of Sweden’s annual award for the best jazz recording and is the first contemporary improviser ever to become a member of the Swedish Royal Academy of Music.

22/05/2024

Miguel Zenon will perform with Focusyear tomorrow evening at 19:30 in the Jazzcampus club.

Miguel Zenon - 🎷
Baptiste Stanek -🎷
Finn Vidal - 🎷
Marta Wajdzik - 🎷
Katie Webster - 🎷
Wes Georgiev - 🎹
Jure Slapar - 🎸
Thiago Duarte - 🎻
Janis Jaunalksnis - 🥁

20/05/2024

Focusyear Band 24 plays live at beautiful Jazz Club A-Trane Berlin on June 11 feat. Julia Hülsmann, and June 12, 2024.
Come by! Tickets: https://a-trane.de

08/05/2024

Top-call bassist Doug Weiss will perform with Focusyear tomorrow evening at 19:30 in the Jazzcampus club. Please come support this superb group of musicians:

Doug Weiss - 🎻
Baptiste Stanek -🎷
Finn Vidal - 🎷
Marta Wajdzik - 🎷
Katie Webster - 🎷
Wes Georgiev - 🎹
Jure Slapar - 🎸
Thiago Duarte - 🎻
Janis Jaunalksnis - 🥁

05/05/2024

Thank you to all who came to support Focusyear Band ‘24 & Kurt Rosenwinkel last night. In case you missed them, there will be another concert this Thursday, 9th of May with coach Doug Weiss !

03/05/2024

Tomorrow at 19:30, Kurt Rosenwinkel & Focusyear Band ‘24 will grace the Jazzcampus club stage for a mesmerizing concert of original compositions!
Kurt Rosenwinkel - 🎸
Baptiste Stanek -🎷
Finn Vidal - 🎷
Marta Wajdzik - 🎷
Katie Webster - 🎷
Wes Georgiev - 🎹
Jure Slapar - 🎸
Thiago Duarte - 🎻
Juan Ibarra - 🥁