Pirouet Records Is Taking A Break

The German label Pirouet Records will release two more albums before it will take a break after 13 years. Ralph Bürklin, the label founder and manager, said in a statement that the label started out by releasing great pianists and that he wants to wrap it up with a piano-led album, too. Frank Kimbrough‘s “Solstice” will be released on November 25th.

"Lineage", cover of the 2016 Pirouet Records album by German pianist Pablo Held and his trio.
“Lineage”, cover of the 2016 Pirouet Records album by German pianist Pablo Held and his trio.

In the 13 years of its existence, Pirouet has come up with some wonderful pieces of art, not only acoustically, but with the cover artwork as well. Albums by Kenny Werner, Marc Copland, or Larry Goldings still rank among the best releases the label has put out. Also, more than one national and/or international career has started with Pirouet: think Pablo Held or Jochen Rueckert.

It is hard to pick out personal highlights and I haven’t heard all of the 98 albums up until now, but there are a few which are still popular on my own playlist: “The Sky Inside” by bassist Drew Gress for example, or the magical solo piano album “Variations” by Kevin Hays. There is also a fantastic album by vibraphonist Jorge Rossy called “Stay There” where the Barcelona-born musician meets Mark Turner, Peter Bernstein, Doug Weiss, and Al Foster. I also remember the heartbreakingly beautiful duet album “Poesia” by Brazilian singer Joyce Moreno and pianist Kenny Werner (check review on these pages). And there is a lot more to explore.

The label will still be distributed and in the meantime, Bürklin and artistic director, saxophonist and producer Jason Seizer will think about “new possibilities for production and distribution”.

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