Ed Partyka and Julia Oschewsky make music that is original and unique. To wit: Is there another vocalist who writes deep, probing, singable songs about life and love arranged for a thoroughly modern, 18-piece jazz ensemble with a beefed low end of tuba, bass trombone, baritone saxophone and contrabass clarinet? [...] As fans are aware, Hold Your Fire is their fourth album, preceded by two other recordings as co-leaders, Hits (2014) and Kopfkino (2017), and Partyka's In the Tradition (2018), which featured Oschewsky on two tracks. Their musical acquaintance goes back to 2008, when Julia played in the German National Youth Jazz Orchestra, BuJazzO, which Partyka conducted. When Julia sang Tom Waits' Time, Ed was knocked out. She sang it so great, I put a little mental check mark next to her name, he recalled. When my vocalist left the band in 2012, the first person I thought of was Julia. They've been collaborating ever since. Ed Partyka is a bass trombonist/tubist, composer/arranger and conductor. Originally from Chicago Illinois, he received a BA degree from Northern Illinois University before moving to Germany in 1990. He completed a master's degree in jazz trombone performance at the Conservatory of Music in Cologne, where he was also a member of the G.E.M.A. Jazz Composers Workshop, led by Bob Brookmeyer. He was recipient of the 2000 A.S.C.A.P. / I.A.J.E. Commission Honouring the Centenary of Louis Armstrong. He was 1st prize-winner of the 1998 NDR Musikpreis (Hamburg), 1st prize winner of the Jazz Composers Alliance 1998 Julius Hemphill Composition Awards (Boston) and finalist in the 1996 HR Emerging Composers Competition (Frankfurt). As a recording musician Ed Partyka can be heard on over 60 albums, including 11 released under his own name. Most notable of these are the recordings of his Ed Partyka Jazz Orchestra, the Vienna Art Orchestra, WDR Big Band and Bob Brookmeyer's New Art Orchestra.
