LISTEN:
declanfordemusic.com
https://michaelattias.com/
https://www.rbb24.de/kultur/beitrag/2025/07/berlin-jazzpreis-musiker-tobias-delius-saxophonist.html
https://www.instagram.com/de_dae_day/?hl=en
https://jamesbanner.com/
Michaël Attias - Alto Saxophone
Tobias Delius - Tenor Saxophone
Declan Forde - Piano
James Banner - Bass
Dae Bryant - Drums
"This international quintet brings together musicians with shared roots in Jazz tradition and a common interest in stretching its boundaries. The music moves between original compositions, standards, and open improvisation — sometimes swinging, sometimes spacious, always shaped by close listening and a flexible, collective approach. Expect warmth, energy, and moments of surprise.
Michaël Attias has earned a reputation as one of the most questing and keenly collaborative figures on the 21st-century New York jazz scene, with a background and outlook that make him “an emphatically cosmopolitan saxophonist and composer,” according to The New York Times.
Migrations spanning North Africa, the Middle East, Western Europe and the American Midwest ultimately brought Attias to New York City in 1994, where he continues to pursue his muse as improviser, composer and bandleader. The Village Voice described Attias’ music-making as, “perpetually shifting tunes, richness of timbre and a singular personality—you can almost see his music expanding and contracting.” As a leader, he has released eight critically-acclaimed albums, including the 2019 Out Of Your Head release échos la nuit (featuring Attias solo on alto saxophone and piano), and the 2017 Clean Feed debut of Attias’ Nerve Dance quartet. As a sideman, he has performed and recorded all over the world alongside some of today’s most original and compelling musicians, luminaries such as Anthony Braxton, Paul Motian, Oliver Lake, Anthony Coleman, Ralph Alessi, Tony Malaby, Kris Davis and countless others.
Tobias Delius is a central figure in European Jazz and a towering presence in Berlin’s improvised music scene. Born in England and raised between the UK, Mexico, and the Netherlands, Delius is known for his earthy, present tone on tenor saxophone and clarinet, as well as his stylistic openness and elegant restraint. Whether as a soloist or with one of his many longstanding ensembles, his playing is marked by a deep sense of listening and an improvisational imagination that bridges past and present. Drawing on fragments of swing, bop, Latin and folk traditions, Delius constructs expansive musical scenarios that surprise and delight, always leaving space for collective expression. His compositional and improvisational approach has made him a role model for a younger generation of musicians. In 2025, he was awarded the Berlin Jazz Prize in recognition of his outstanding contribution to the music.
Declan Forde is a Scottish pianist based in Berlin since 2014. His work focuses on the intersections of Jazz tradition and contemporary improvised music. He performs regularly as a soloist and in collaborative projects, and has appeared with artists including Han Bennink, Tony Malaby, Michael Attias, Doug Weiss, Andrea Parkins, Tobias Delius, and Jeff Williams. The duo Practically Married with bassist James Banner has released seven recordings, including Practically Married (2023), recorded direct to analogue tape at Emil Berliner Studios, and a live album with Bennink and Delius. Forde also leads a trio with Igor Spallati and Ugo Alunni, recently joined by Bill McHenry and Kurt Rosenwinkel for performances in Berlin. Outside Jazz, he has collaborated with Scottish singer-songwriter Rachel Sermanni for over a decade, contributing to several of her recordings.
James Banner, improvisor-composer based in Berlin, presents a sonorously rich improvised solo bass programme exploring long forms and short bagatelles, grating scordatura and aggressive tidal movements that come as much from his punk and heavy metal background as the improvised and contemporary experimental music scenes of which he is now a part. In March 2022 he self-recorded, designed and released his debut album digitally and on limited edition cassette and CD, which was featured in a profile by SWR2 (German national radio), and in the years since has been touring Europe performing solo and collaborating with local artists.
As an improvisor and soloist he has also been invited to be part of sound installations, festivals and performances with artists and collectives such as Outernational’s Songs of Wounding (with Mariana Sadovska), PODIUM Esslingen (#bebeethoven Festival), IMPULS Festival (Leipzig/Halle), Paula Doepfner (for the trees to drop), Berliner Festspiele (Miya Masaoka: Cubistics) and many more. He is also active as an instigator of original improvised music projects, commissions new pieces and collaborates with composers – in 2023 he workshopped/premiered works by Nick Dunston, Yaz Lancaster and Jamie Elless, presented his workshop on creating music for solo bass and improvising musicians at Leeds Conservatoire and Sheffield University, and premiered a new work by composer James Thomas.
Dae Bryant is a Harlem, NYC raised artist and drummer. Having obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology and a Masters of Music in Jazz Studies from Portland State University Dae is about transmuting the binaries of language through music, writing, and philosophy."
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