Germany × United States · Contemporary Jazz

North Atlantic
Jazz Alliance

Seven distinctive voices. Two continents. One unmistakable sound — where European lyricism meets the pulse and spontaneity of American jazz.

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Across the Atlantic

One ensemble.
Two continents.

Conceived by pianist-composer Markus Burger with support from the Goethe-Institut, the North Atlantic Jazz Alliance brought together three German and four American musicians — seasoned improvisers whose backgrounds range from bebop and hard bop to classical music, avant-garde jazz, funk and European traditions.

Jazz writer Scott Yanow heard something remarkable in the debut recording: musicians who sounded as though they had been playing together for years. That chemistry became NAJA’s signature — memorable original compositions, strong individual voices and a conversational ensemble sound that moves naturally from lyrical ballads and chamber-like textures to Latin-inflected grooves, adventurous improvisation and hard-driving bop.

7Original voices
2008NAJA album
USA + GermanyTransatlantic roots
North Atlantic Jazz Alliance performing live
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The Ensemble

Seven distinctive voices

NAJA unites musicians whose individual careers span Miles Davis, Ray Charles, European improvisation, film and television, major orchestral recordings and international jazz education — yet, as Scott Yanow observed, they came together with the chemistry of a long-established band.

Markus Burger

Piano · composer · founder
German-born pianist, composer and educator whose work bridges jazz, classical music and improvisation. A Bösendorfer Artist, Burger’s recordings range from solo piano and Spiritual Standards with Jan von Klewitz to the Accidental Tourists with Peter Erskine and Bob Magnusson.

Jan von Klewitz

Alto saxophone
German saxophonist and longtime Burger collaborator with a musical language extending from straight-ahead jazz to adventurous European improvisation. Their collaboration reaches back decades, including the internationally touring Spiritual Standards project.

Jim Linahon

Trumpet · composer · producer
Award-winning producer, composer and trumpet artist credited on more than 400 projects for film, television, radio, musical theater, games and recordings. His production work ranges from jazz and classical projects to major film and orchestral sessions.

Dr. Marshall Hawkins

Bass
Veteran bassist whose career includes Miles Davis, Shirley Horn, Joe Henderson, Freddie Hubbard and Pharaoh Sanders. Founder of the jazz program at Idyllwild Arts Academy and co-founder of Jazz in the Pines, Hawkins is also an acclaimed mentor and educator.

Paul Kreibich

Drums
Southern California jazz drummer whose credits include Ray Charles, Carmen McRae, Gene Harris and Maceo Parker. Kreibich brings decades of touring, recording and ensemble experience to NAJA’s rhythmic core.

Bill Yeager

Trombone · composer
Studio and jazz trombonist, composer-arranger and longtime jazz educator. Professor Emeritus at San Diego State University, Yeager’s extensive performance and recording credits range from Ray Charles and Frank Sinatra to Ella Fitzgerald, Dizzy Gillespie and Stevie Wonder.

Michael Schiefel

Voice · composer · improviser
Berlin-based vocalist, composer and improviser known for treating the human voice as melody, language, sound and electronic texture. A Professor of Jazz Voice at the Jazz Institute Berlin, he works across jazz, contemporary music, song and live-looping performance.

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North Atlantic Jazz Alliance NAJA album cover
The Album

NAJA

Eight original pieces capture NAJA’s range: haunting lyricism, bebop energy, Latin-tinged grooves, adventurous ensemble writing and spontaneous dialogue.

In his liner notes, jazz historian Scott Yanow singled out the ensemble’s immediate chemistry and distinctive group sound. He described Beginning of a Love Affair as a composition with the potential to become a standard, highlighted the wistful piano–trombone dialogue of The Truth Is Spoken Here, and heard echoes of Horace Silver in the boppish, Latin-tinged Night Flight.

  1. Kalimba
  2. River Child
  3. Bangkok Bop
  4. Beginning of a Love Affair
  5. Bonk
  6. Night Flight
  7. The Truth Is Spoken Here
  8. Mr. In-Between
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Watch

NAJA on video

Concert performances and selections from the North Atlantic Jazz Alliance video archive.

North Atlantic Jazz Alliance performing live
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Watch the NAJA video archiveOpen the continuously updated YouTube playlist
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Live

Concerts

Upcoming performances are updated through the concert calendar.

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History & press

“Its own sound.”

“Even this early in its development, the North Atlantic Jazz Alliance had its own sound.” — Scott Yanow

Yanow’s original liner notes emphasize what makes NAJA unusual: seven accomplished musicians with very different musical histories sounding less like a newly assembled project than a long-established band. He points to the group’s versatility, individuality and ability to fit into the music without sacrificing their own voices.

That idea remains at the heart of NAJA: a genuine musical conversation across the Atlantic, built around original writing rather than geography alone.

Villa Aurora archiveMarkus Burger
North Atlantic Jazz Alliance original ensemble group photograph
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