Blue Garden – Anton Mangold

Blue Garden is not just a title that feels good, sounds good, and is easy to remember. It is the title of Anton Mangold’s new album, which says a lot about the music of this versatile jazz musician from Wurzburg. An award-winning virtuoso who plays saxophone, flute, and sometimes even harp, Mangold compares the cultivation and arrangement of his wide range of musical influences to the art of gardening – planting, transplanting, and combining plants of many different types and origins. He tends to this musical garden with great attention and care, and the results are compositions with a stunning spectrum of colors, combinations, and juxtapositions. And Mangold is more than ready to welcome any unplanned surprises that emerge in the process. Blue Garden – the first release from Treasure Records, Rebecca Trescher’s new label – has the same effect on our bodies and spirits that we feel when contemplating carefully tended gardens or unbridled nature. The music on this album calms and excites us, bringing both solace and delight. It blossoms from the fertile imagination of an artist widely considered one of the best and most creative jazz musicians in Europe. Anton Mangold is a brilliant performer, whether on flute or alto flute, alto or soprano saxophone. He is a dazzling storyteller whose flexibility and improvisational fantasy take your breath away.