CREDITS
About /
Sascha Ley and Laurent Payfert have been performing as a voice and double bass duo
with a wonderfully insolent approach on international stages for the past dozen years.
Four years after the release of their last album, they are breaking away from the duo
formula for an experiment in instant compositions with long-time friends and colleagues
Jean Pascal Boffo et Murat Öztürk.
With vocals, double bass, piano and live sound processing as well as their intuitive spirit,
the four virtuoso artists play with a high degree of freedom to invent sounds and
melodies that reflect both their individuality and the universality of being in the present.
Their music is an experimental blend of jazz, progressive rock, classical and
contemporary music and poetry.
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THE ARTISTS
SASCHA LEY, adventurous multidisciplinary artist, vocalist, improviser, actress, polyglot
poet and performer with a penchant for offbeat projects, explores stylistic boundaries at
the intersections of jazz, free improvisation, imaginary folklore, classical and new music,
creating a complementary blend of improvisation and composition. Her performance
work also touches on visual and narrative art.
www.saschaley.com
LAURENT PAYFERT, 1970*
is a musician, double-bassist/bassist, composer and improviser.
Since the 1990s, he has been a fixture on the local and international jazz and improvised
music scenes.
www.laurentpayfert.com
MURAT ÖZTÜRK, pianist and composer, thanks to his Franco-Italian-Turkish origins, has
immersed himself in the enormous European culture that has been developing in East
and West for centuries. He studied at the Bill Evans Piano Academy in Paris. Encounters
with musicians such as Bernard Maury, Clare Fischer and Michel Petrucciani led him
increasingly towards jazz, in which he has established himself as a subtle virtuoso.
www.murat-ozturk.com
JEAN PASCAL BOFFO is a guitarist, composer, and sound engineer. He has produced 14
own albums, mixing progressive rock, folk, world, and jazz. With each album, he unveils
a constantly renewed sonic universe. Being a sound engineer as well, he has produced
some 300 albums since its creation, and co-produced or worked as arranger/guitarist
with a dozen local artists at Studio Amper since 1990.
www.jeanpascalboffo.com
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FIRST ECHOES
Another great cd from the brilliant vocalist Sascha Ley and her wonderful musician
collaborators.
Shelley Hirsch, NY
This musical meditation aims at going with the flow of total improvisation and instant
composition. The quartet digs deep into the soul, helping it rise above the subconscious.
Axis Mundi is more than a mere musical reflection.
Whether progressive or experimental, cosmic or Avant-Garde Jazz, this music mingles with
Sascha Ley’s vocal performance, at times both sensual and raw, pure and alluring.
Jacques Prouvost, BE
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“Axis Mundi" - a captivating album.
Quite mysterious and mystical in the face of a sound cosmos that grew out of the moment. In fact, the ensemble around the Saarbrücken-born singer, poet and actress succeeded in creating an impressive work that resonates. The symbiotic relationship between voice and instruments is captivating; how Sascha Ley, Laurent Payfert (double bass), Murat Öztürk (piano) and Jean Pascal Boffo (live sound processing) exchange ideas across a broad spectrum of emotions and how a wide variety of musical eras and styles flash across a long arc of tension. The centrepiece is Ley's almost magical vocal artistry - it includes the spoken word (in this case self-penned) and is a sign of self-confident femininity. Saarbrücker Zeitung
Stefan Uhrmacher, DE
