Mark Lotz - Freshta (2023) [Hi-Res]

With his new album „Freshta”, Mark Lotz confirms his reputation as a composer and improviser who always comes up with surprisingly haunting music. Freshta is the result of a commission from the Association of Dutch Jazz Venues and Jazz Festivals (VNJJ) and the Dutch writers’ organization BUMA. He dedicated the commission to the women of Afghanistan. The album title commemorates Freshta Kohistani, an Afghan women’s rights activist and fighter for democracy. In 2020, when she was 29 years old, she was murdered near her home north-east of Kabul. He put together a new ensemble especially for these new compositions. „A dream team of top European musicians” he says proudly, „musicians who are able to give complex music an emotional level„.

„Mark Lotz is more than just a big voice in the European jazz scene. He is at the forefront of jazz, classical and world music and is obviously enjoying every minute of it!” (Tomas Pena, Jazz, USA). Raised in Thailand, Uganda and Germany Marks appetite for musical adventures takes him all over the globe ever since.

Freshta is an album presenting eleven compositions performed by a brand-new dream team of top European musicians consisting out of Claudio Puntin (clarinets), Jörg Brinkmann (cello), Jeroen van Vliet (piano), Dirk-Peter Kölsch (drums) and myself on flutes (Mark Lotz).