Freedom Trail

A fine musical trio is always more than the sum of its individual parts, and over two decades the grouping of pianist Michel Reis, bassist Marc Demuth and drummer Paul Wiltgen has developed a distinctive character that hasn’t simply yielded a number of fine recordings, but has helped to set Luxembourgish jazz on the international map. Now, working with an orchestra conducted by Vince Mendoza -- who also penned some of the arrangements -- and with guest saxophonist Joshua Redman, they have delivered Freedom Trail, a powerful new musical statement that raises the group to a new level of creative ambition. Thoughtful and sensuous by turns, it shows how a group that plays as a whole can address the listener as a whole. Essential modern listening. (Brian Morton)

Recorded in July 2022 at Luxembourg Philharmonic by Tijmen Zinkhaan and Werner Pensaert

Mixed in July 2025 at Huizen (Netherlands) by Tijmen Zinkhaan, and mastered by Nathan James at Vault Mastering Studios, Phoenix (Arizona – USA)

Photos by Alfonso Salgueiro and Marlene Soares - cover photo by Marlene Soares