Nestico: More Than Just Friends

The collaboration between the SWR Big Band and Sammy Nestico began in 2004, when Sammy Nestico was already 80 years old. It soon developed into a true friendship. No fewer than five albums were released in the years leading up to his death in 2021, all bestsellers that significantly helped to sharpen the international perception of Nestico's late creative phases.

The music that Sammy Nestico wrote for the SWR Big Band sounds funky, has fusion elements as ingredients, but also swing, a touch of soul, and the pathos of orchestral expression. It can pull back, down to stripped-down combo moments, only to soon give way to the other extreme of sonic opulence. But this is only possible because over more than a decade of collaboration between the composer and the SWR Big Band, a foundation of mutual understanding was created that, alongside the sheet music, relied on intuition. The present album is a tribute to Sammy Nestico, created a few months after his death.