Alex Ventling, Rafał Jackiewicz, Greg Foat, Out Of/Into & More

It's time to say goodbye to the old year—not by recapping 2025, but by finally wrapping up our roundup of last year's standout new releases. The first New Year's edition of the show (episode 121) will focus primarily on December premieres, with a handful of overlooked gems from the autumn slipping in as well. This time, we're highlighting six exceptional live albums (two of them archival treasures) alongside a truly international lineup spanning three continents, with a strong European presence (Polish and Scandinavian artists shining particularly brightly). North America brings plenty of jazz heat too, while the icing on the cake comes from a New Zealand-born Swiss artist based in Norway and a mesmerizing Moroccan musician. Expect cool, wintry sounds to suit the season—crisp, crystalline, and atmospheric—yet, as always, I'll thread in just enough warmth to keep everything inviting and gently uplifting. (In Polish—broadcast on Bemowo FM.)

Playlist

• Intro: Hank Levy "Whiplash" from Whiplash: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (Varèse Sarabande)
• Host talks
• Oscar Peterson "L'impossible" from Around The World (live) (Mack Avenue Music Group / Two Lions Records)
• Yusef Lateef "Straighten Up and Fly Right" from Golden Flower: Live in Sweden (Elemental Music Records)
• Host talks
• Grzech Piotrowski / Eivind Aarset / Terje Isungset "Heartawake" from Horizon (Alchemik Records)
• Scandinavian Art Ensemble with Tomasz Stańko "Morning Ballad" from The Copenhagen Session Vol. 2 (April Records)
• Host talks
• Dave McMurray "7 Wishes 4 G" from I LOVE LIFE even when I'm hurting (Blue Note Records)
• Greg Foat (The Greg Foat Group) "Zalfa's BBQ" from 6 Days In Leysin (Ameritz Music)
• Marcel Barta "Welcome Here!" from Episodes from the Spinning Ball (Animal Music)
• Host talks
• Rafał Jackiewicz Quartet "Lighthouse In The Rain" from Sea Poetry (self-released)
• Wojtek Mazolewski "Slavic Forest" from Solo (Soliton)
• Paweł Biliński / Krzysztof Maciejowski "Saint-Exupéry's dream " from Self-portraits: live impressions (EP 2025) (self-released)
• Host talks
• Ismail Sentissi "Todo Es Presente" from Todo Es Presente (self-released)
• Out Of/Into (Joel Ross / Gerald Clayton / Kendrick Scott / Matt Brewer / Immanuel Wilkins) "The Catalyst" from Motion II (Blue Note Records)
• Host talks
• Max Ionata Special Edition "Naru's Waltz" from Tivoli ((Mingus Records,)
• Alex Ventling "Four Refractions" from Wavemakers (Particular Recordings Collective)
• Host talks
• divr "In The Valley" from Live At Cully Jazz (2023/ 2025) (We Jazz Records)
• Al Foster "Simone's Dance" from Live At Smoke (Smoke Session Records)
• Trondheim Jazz Orchestra / Ole Morten Vågan "The Far Out Suite" from This is Wuppertal! (Jazzland Recordings)
• Outro: Hank Levy "Whiplash" from Whiplash: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (Varèse Sarabande)