Saphrane
news

14 June 2010
• Benjamin Hulett is a rising star in the classical music field. This great tenor has recorded a second album for Saphrane together with piano player (and conductor) Alexander Soddy, another rising star. The works on the cd Departures (S 62611) are all by English composers and have a relationship with travelling. The Joys of Travel by contemporary composer Giles Swayne was commisioned by Benjamin Hulett for this programme and is a world premiere.

27 May 2010
• Umbral is the duo that will release a new cd on Saphrane. The two classical guitar players Ignacio Correa and Sebastián Segarra hail from Uruguay and New Guitar Music from Uruguay (S 62608) will be their first album. The modern classical compositions by composer Sergio Fernández Cabrera have a distinct South American flavour. The release of these works is a world premiere and is scheduled for later this year.
• Mama Africa, the project initiated by the Brussels Jazz Orchestra, will be released in South Africa in a few weeks. The album will be released by Jassics, the label that also released the two Tutu Puoane cds.

19 April 2010
• Friday 16 April Sun City hosted the 16th edition of the South African Music Awards cremony and we are happy to say that Tutu Puoane's cd Quiet Now definitely has won in the category 'classical jazz'. We congratulate Tutu and her band and we would like to thank Dorothea Photinidis of Jassics for her efforts in making this possible!

5 March 2010
• Today it has been made public that Tutu Puoane's album Quiet Now has been nominated for the South African Music Awards (SAMA) for best traditional jazz album. We are looking forward to the ceremony!
• Friday 26 February Mama Africa was presented at the beautiful Antwerp venue De Roma. The Brussels Jazz Orchestra with lead vocalist Tutu Puoane suprised the audience with their renditions of South African songs. The artists had decided to donate the entire entrance fee to the Miriam Makeba Center for Girls in Midrand /Johannesburg.
• The first designs have been made for an album by the Uruguyan guitar duo Umbral. This duo performs contemporary guitar music from Uruguay. Most of the tracks were composed by Sergio Fernández Cabrera. The release is scheduled for later this year.

10 December 2009
• This week the new album Mama Africa has been send of to the pressing plant. Mama Africa is the new album by the Brussels Jazz Orchestra. They invited Tutu Puoane to put together a program of songs from her homeland South Africa. She was invited, because earlier they had a succesful cooperation in a project about Billy Holiday. While in the process of selecting songs for this new release, Miriam Makeba suddenly died, so Tutu decided to choose songs from Miriam Makeba's repertoire. Seven arrangers were invited to make exciting new jazz versions of these songs. The new cd will officially be presented on friday 26 february 2010 in the Roma Theatre, Antwerp.
• The cooperation between Benjamin Hulett and Saphrane while recording Visions Fugitives was very pleasant, therefor we decided to record a new album with this talented English tenor, whose name is rising rapidly. The recital with pianist Alex Soddy features five different composers who have written songs about travelling or departure, hence the working title for this album, Departures. The cd will hold a world premiere as well, The Joys of Travel. A piece in three parts by composer Giles Swayne.

28 October 2009
• Small changes in the general lay out of this site have been made. It should make the navigation easier.
• All cds are now available worldwide available as digital download through all major downloadshops.

14 October 2009
• We have some more links to artists' videos. Visit our linkpage to see Tutu Puoane and 440Hz.

7 October 2009
• Muzak in Japan has also released Tutu Puoane's album Quiet Now. The first response of Japanese press was astonishing. Other reviews are trickling in from South Africa and the UK, all very positive.
• Due to the simultaneous release of an ECM cd featuring Amina Alaoui and our solo album Gharnati. En Concert the cd receives a lot of attention. Most of the reviews highlight the beautiful recording and the fact that this splendid voice has all the space to make ornamentations and improvise in this small instrumental ensemble. It goes without saying we are very happy about this.
• Belgian classical radio stattion Klara has nominated the same album for the 2009 Klara Awards. We keep our fingers crossed.

14 July 2009
• Saturday 12 July Tutu Puoane's new album Quiet Now was officially released at Brossela Jazz. The song Baby, Baby, Baby has been captured on video and can be seen here. Unfortunately the sound quality is not too well. It was my first video and I was standing too close to the speakers. We will do better next time. And if you are curious about Mpho (one of the tracks on the album is dedicated to her), here is how she looks like.
• The cd Song is now officially released on Muzak and it already received a lot of attention. Quiet Now will be released in August and iTunes Japan wants to make the title track Single of the Week.

11 June 2009
• Recordings have been made from Brazilian accordion player Renato Borghetti. If they are satisfactory the album will be released early 2010
• Tutu Puoane's new album Quiet Now will be released in South Africa by Jassics. Also the Japanese label that is releasing Song is interested in releasing the new album in Japan.
• The first Dutch reviews on Gharnati. En concert by Amina Alaoui are very positive. Especially the intimate acoustic setting is very much favoured in this recording

21 April 2009
• Our first classical album, Visions Fugitives with compositions by Benjamin Britten and Sergei Prokoviev, is almost ready and will be released this spring. Both the tenor Benjamin Hulett and the string orchestra 440Hz did a great job during the live recording at the Gergiev Festival in Rotterdam.
• Also nearly finished is the new album by Amina Alaoui. It is her first album in almost 10 years, a beautiful live recording of Arabo-Andalusion songs and melodies. This beuatiful singer from Morocco is a real treasure.
• Song, the debut album of South African jazz singer Tutu Puoane, has been an unexpected succes. It will be released in Japan and Thailand and other parts of the far east soon. The new album, which will be called Quiet Now, has been recorded and will be officially presented at Brosella Jazz this summer.

13 March 2009
• We created a new page, where you can find video and audio links to our artists and the albums they made for Saphrane. New links are welcome, but for a start you can go here >>

11 March 2009
• Concerto Rotterdam has decided to change its name into 440Hz. The album Visions Fugitives in cooperation with tenor Benjamin Hulett will be the first with their new name.
• Tutu Puoane is getting quite succesful in Asia. Her debut album Song will probably be released in Japan. In the mean time preparations for the new album have started. If all is well it will be presented to her audience at Brosella Jazz in Brussels, Belgium, this summer.

22 january 2009
• Here is a first review of Lisandro Adrover's album.

20 january 2009
• There is a lot of work in progress. The studio has been working hard on our first classical production, compositions by Prokoviev and Britten, performed by the young and upcoming tenor Benjamin Hulett and Concerto Rotterdam. The album should be released this spring.
• Also in april we expect an album by Moroccon singer Amina Alaoui. It has been a long time since she recorded her last album. We registered her live during a concert in 2008 in Belgium.
• At a later stage we are planning a series of authentic early tango from Uruguay and an album with Gnawa crossover. Check back regularly to keep updated.

13 november 2008
• The Toyota Center in Houston hosted the Latin Grammy party. It was a wonderful experience to be there. Too bad Pablo and Quique didn't win the Latin Grammy though :)

12 september 2008
• Today the nominations for the US Grammy's, America's most important music award, were announced. We are extremely proud that Buenos Aires Report by Pablo Ziegler & Quique Sinesi has been nominated in the category 'Best Tango Album'. In november the winners will be known.

2 september 2008
• During the Gergiev Festival in Rotterdam we will record a chamber concert by Concerto Rotterdam and English tenor Benjamin Hulett. On the program are compositions by Sergej Prokoviev and Benjamin Britten. Visions Fugutives will be released early next year, if the recording is approved.

16 july 2008
• On August 1 Music & Words (the company that owns the Saphrane label) celebrates its 25th anniversary. Rather then give away free cds or release cheap samplers, we decided to donate €100 for each year of its existence (is €2500) to a good cause. We decided on 5 possible organisations, but you can decide who the final recipient will be. The 4 other organisations will get a smaller donation too. Go now to www.musicwords.nl and vote before October 1, 2008!

7 July 2008
• Gustave Pazos and the guys from Art-Sound has made hours of recordings at the Gnawa Festival in Morocco. They are now listening through the material to decide which is worthwhile to release.

26 April 2008
• Tutu Puoane proves to be a great succes in her homeland South Africa. After her appearance at the Cape Town Jazz Festival the crowd was cuing at the festival stand to get an autograph. Jassics, our distributor, has decided to license the album for release in southern Africa. We wish them good luck.

10 March 2008
• In 2003 Argentinian bandoneon player Lisandro Adrover was recorded live with the Metropole Orchestra from the Netherlands for the Dutch broadcast society NPS. Gustavo Pazos has made a selection and with the help of our studio partner Art-Sound a very nice master has been made. The release of Lisandro Adrover meets the Metropole Orchestra is scheduled before the summer.
Also expected before summer is the album Gnawa Crossroads. This special project features traditional gnawa musicians from Morocco in a musical meeting with jazz musicians. This will be an interesting release!

15 January 2008
• Pablo Ziegler's cd Buenos Aires Report has been licensed to MDR Records in Argentinia and will be availble in South America soon. In North America (+ the Caribbean) the album is released by ZOHO from New York. The first great reviews are coming in and can be read here. Hopefully this album will receive a Grammy too, like the one before on the same label.
• Upcoming is an album by ethno/world/jazz group CaravanSarail, based in France.

2 July 2007
• The first reviews for Tutu Puoane's debut album Song are trickling in. Here you can read them. The cd will be distributed in South Africa via Jassics.

30 May 2007
• Tutu Puoane presented her cd to an enthusiast crowd in the Arenberg Schouwburg in Antwerp, Belgium. The first reviews are starting to appear and you can read them on this website.
The Pablo Ziegler album is getting more and more reviews too, which you can find here. The album will be released in Argentinia and South America soon.

20 April 2007
• The second release has been mastered and send of to the pressing plant. 5 May South African jazzsinger Tutu Puoane will officially launch her debut album Song in Antwerp.

12 February 2007
• March, 2007 marks the official launch of the new record label Saphrane. The label is owned by Music & Words from the Netherlands, a well established company for world and roots music. The first album will be a live recording by famous tangojazz pianoplayer Pablo Ziegler and his companions Quique Sinesi (guitar) and Walter Castro (bandoneon). Buenos Aires Report was recorded at the Bimhuis in Amsterdam by Art Sound, one of the partners in the label.