S:E

The birth and debut of s:e Part of the newest wave of creative jazz improvisers coming out of Vienna, with a tradition that goes back to the early 1950s and avatars such as Austrians tenor saxophonist Hans Koller and pianist Joe Zawinul, are the members of the Anna Sophia Defant Quartett s:e. The group, whose debut disc, the uniquely and oddly named s:e, on Unit records, is led by Saalfelden native pianist Defant. Based on mutual listening, Defant explains that 'the aim is to create a collective sound and musical style that doesn''''t need sensationalism or bold solo spots. It emphasizes the idiosyncrasy of improvised music and free jazz but still finds a place for very elegant, creative and at times surprisingly harmonic sounds.'