From New Orleans to Coltrane, from Schumann to Hip-Hop and beyond: award-winning guitarist Torsten de Winkel, fed up with the music biz machine, joined forces with New York cultural exiles from all continents to establish the new york jazz guerrilla international artist network. This collaborative effort of some of the worlds most gifted young musicians, sought-for contributors to the works of many leading artists (among them Pat Metheny, Joe Zawinul, John McLaughlin, Airto, Dave Holland, D'Angelo, and Tina Turner, to name but a few) provides a platform for creating a broad scope of exciting and heartfelt music inspired by a multitude of contemporary styles.
The nyjg does not stand for or against any tradition, but promotes an enlightened pleasure principle, sets its own standard based merely on the artists intuition. It does not conform to the narrow confines neither of the traditionalist nor the avantgarde camp - anything goes, provided it is authentic to the artists. It represents the open-mindedness of a new generation of jazz musicians who grew up with the Beatles and Hip-Hop no less than with Trane and Bird or Bartók, musicians who feel little urge to perpetuate hostility towards other stylistic 'camps' but instead embrace these for inspiration.