Serious music served with a wink and garnished with a shot of genius. Four voices, four individuals weave melodies in the space to unite and form a homogeneous sound, much more than the sum of its parts. This is Phoen, a saxophone quartet consisting of Viola Falb, Christoph Pepe Auer, Arnold Zamarin and Florian Fennes, in a quest through their diverse repertoires for new approaches in the broad field between jazz and contemporary improvised music with classical elements. Since each member has the urge to compose and write arrangements for the group, the four Phoener with their quite different characters, sharing only a common love for the saxophone, take good care for variety and diversity of their music. The selection includes cabaret pastiche, free songs, folk, twisted romanticism and ballads, as well as songs that tell stories or just create moods – sometimes nice, sometimes bizarre, but always displaying the characteristic sound of the ensemble.

The members are prominent, award-winning figures of the colourful Austrian jazz scene, who all have their own projects as well, in addition to their participation on a wide range of festivals and concerts in their home country and abroad, in theatre productions, or even running a record label.