It is now two years since Leipzig double bassist Carl Wittig was awarded the Leipzig Jazz Newcomer Prize as part of the Jazz Days. Wittig has not rested on his laurels since then: instead, he has developed a new program in the meantime, which he will present on this evening.

In it, he explores Robert Schumann's idea that people should be both free and lonely at the same time. This romantic notion became a reality during the coronavirus pandemic, but as we know, it did not put people in a blissful state of happiness - on the contrary.

Wittig and his three fellow musicians negotiate this contradiction between fiction and reality in "FAE" (Frei Aber Einsam). In this virtuoso interplay, he once again proves himself to be a congenial border crosser between jazz and classical music, tradition and the new, composition and improvisation - Carl Christian Wittig (b, comp), Franziska Ludwig (vc), Fabiana Striffler (v), Philipp Frischkorn (p) - AK 20/15 €

LUCA GLENZER