Horst-Michael Schaffer & Jazz Big Band Graz
An enrichment of orchestral jazz with an extremely pop-savvy and groove-heavy album. Successful lyrics and strong melodies, enriched with spoken word and rap, describe social conditions and sensitivities.

With “The Space Between Us”, the JBBG – Jazz Bigband Graz, which was founded 25 years ago in Graz, Austria, presents its eleventh CD production. Now under the sole direction of the Austrian trumpeter / singer and composer Horst-Michael Schaffer, the JBBG - Jazz Bigband Graz is once again enriching orchestral jazz in a unique way with an extremely pop-savvy and groove-heavy album with strong melodies and great soloists. Among other things, the almost entire A-league of the young Austrian jazz and pop scene is there.

John Heitzmann (JH) and Horst-Michael Schaffer (HMS) in conversation:

JH: “Tell me a little about the making of this album!”

Horst-Michael Schaffer (HMS): A few things happened in 2019 that made me think about how things should continue - and that it's not that easy to do something new without repeating yourself. I thought a lot about the different approaches and possible styles. In addition, I began to notice a phenomenon that was new to me: namely, that in the family and especially in the social sphere there is not only a coexistence, but that we are also increasingly moving away from each other. During Corona, this was of course a major downturn in all areas.

It suddenly became clear to me that the space between people, between you and me, but also between you and your neighbor, is a precious one that should be cherished and cared for. This is sometimes easy and sometimes difficult; on various levels. People don't talk to each other anymore, people just post in cyberspace, etc. Where does this lead? –

And it was in this context that the first pieces such as 'Becoming' and 'Praslin' were created. In Praslin, for example, a wonderful island in the Seychelles, I noticed that nothing comes to the island that could destroy society. The people seem happy, on the streets a lot, without crime and generally in a great mood. Isolation can take place, but not in the way we are currently doing it. Who knows what things would be like on this island if a lot of migrants suddenly landed there?

These questions of interpersonal relationships on all levels occupied me greatly during the composition process. I notice a strong social camp formation, certainly also fueled by the Internet! I then took on this topic through composition and went in search of the differently perceived spaces of closeness and distance.”

JH: “The line-up has changed – in some cases decisively. Heinrich von Kalnein, for example, is no longer in the big band. Who are these new people and why did you choose these colleagues?”

HMS: “The rhythm section has been there for a long time now - both toms have played wonderfully together for years and are also part of our joint project 'JBBG Smål - Gran Riserva'. The two of us and I all come from Murtal in Styria and we have a certain common and very familiar way of communicating with each other. I spent a long time thinking about the keyboard line-up with Heinrich, who is still on the band's board. The loss of Uli Rennert was a great loss for me, for us and for the entire band. Musically, I'm always drawn to the FENDER Rhodes and the young Austrian pianist and keyboardist Philipp Nykrin has found his own way to reflect the pop aspect in my music. He also leaves enough space for the electronic and pop sounds of Philipp Sageder and guitarist Phil Maier, who is also a “Steirerbua”.

Philipp Sageder is a “sunshine kid”. Cool things are always happening around him. We are good friends and of course he only has limited space in the big band. He sings great, can beatbox great, can produce himself great and offers things well that then fit perfectly into a larger context.

Unfortunately, Corona prevented some of our international colleagues from attending. With the trumpeters Dominic Pessl and Gerhard Ornig, the trombonist Daniel Holzleitner and the woodwind players Fabian Rucker, Christoph Pepe Auer and Patrick Dunst, the leading brass players of the young Austrian scene are now on board. It wasn't easy to replace Heinrich, but I think it works pretty well that way