Virtuosic vocalist/composer and international performer, Michael Mayo establishes himself as one of the most acclaimed and versatile voices in music today, with his label debut, Bones on Artistry Music/Mack Avenue Music Group. Produced by Eli Wolf (Norah Jones, J Dilla, Robert Glasper, Maceo Parker). Michael is a gifted singer and arranger who is only the third vocalist ever accepted into the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz (now the Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz) in its 20-year history. Michael moves with ease between interpreting classics with a small group or big band, to creating experimental and improvisational solo compositions that can have as many as 250 looped and layered vocal lead and choral harmony parts. Michael has toured internationally with Herbie Hancock and he’s been the featured vocalist on the following artists’ releases: Kneebody, Scary Pockets, Amber Navran

The youngest of Hagenlocher's sidemen Nate Smith (born 1974) showed his talent at an early age. He already played in the band of Betty Carter when he was a student, and later in various bands of Dave Holland – as Alex Sipiagin did – and Chris Potter. He can also be heard on the CDs of Jason Moran, Craig Taborn and Joshua Redman.

The first ECM leader date for Shai Maestro (following his label debut with Theo Bleckmann on Elegy) features the gifted pianist fronting his superlative trio with fellow Israeli Ofri Nehemya on drums and Peruvian bassist Jorge Roeder, and also playing alone. A solo interpretation of Matti Caspi’s “My Second Childhood” opens the curtain on a programme of characteristically thoughtful Maestro originals, each one with a story to tell. “Hearing the Shai Maestro Trio is like awakening to a new world”, All About Jazz has suggested. “Expressions of joy, introspective thoughts and heightened intensity all come to the fore.” Maestro’s differentiated touch is special; he can convey a range of fleeting emotions in a single phrase. A deconstruction of “These Foolish Things”, the album’s sole standard, serves as a prelude to “What Else Needs To Happen”, a sombre meditation on inner city violence and its aftermath. The Dream Thief was recorded at Lugano’s Auditorio Stelio Molo RSI in April 2018, and produced by Manfred Eicher, and issued on the eve of a European tour with concerts in Spain, Germany, Netherlands, Sweden, Belgium, Italy, France, and Switzerland.