“Live at Porgy and Bess” is Moncef Genoud’s fourth live album, this time in duet with acclaimed saxophonist Seamus Blake. Recorded at Vienna’s staple jazz club Porgy and Bess, the record features three standards and three compositions by Moncef, including the brand-new “Hochelaga,” named after the famous neighborhood in Montreal, one of Genoud’s favorite travel destinations over the years. The album showcases an evident complicity between the two musicians, who met on stage in Thailand a few years back and have since frequently performed together. Both lyrical and equally expansive, they bring their own language throughout this hour-long conversation, at times intense and other times light-hearted, much to the delight of the sold-out crowd that heaps praises in the form of enthusiastic applause. The album cover is a throwback to the old Blue Note Records artworks from the 1960’s.

Today marks the release of Moncef Genoud’s new album titled “Introspection” in digital format. While the pandemic was paralyzing the music world, Moncef didn’t remain idle. At his chalet in the Swiss Alps, he carried out an “introspection” over this time period where daily life was seemingly interrupted. In September 2022 he celebrated his return to the stage with a solo concert part of the famed Crans-Montana Classics. The album that resulted is the fruit of a deep, intimate reflection on his Covid years. More than ever, Moncef is eager to share his inner world, both intense and melancholic, with his listeners. He remains truthful to his ability to combine his own creations with rearrangements of classic songs. He brilliantly succeeds in this endeavor simply because he doesn’t try to transform or reinterpret these original works. Instead, he shares the emotions and perceptions to which they give rise within him, like a prism decomposes light that goes through it into a spectrum of colors. Following Crans-Montana, Moncef captivated live audiences in Monaco and Geneva with the content of this new record. You can check out snippets of it on the “Music” section of this site and download or stream the full album on all your favorite platforms. Happy listening!