Decades after the landmark 1967 studio album Noon in Tunisia, George Gruntz brought his visionary project back home to Switzerland for an electrifying 1994 concert in Basel. Bringing together original Tunisian master musicians and American jazz heavyweights, this previously unreleased live performance captures a magic moment of reunion and cultural encounter. Where the historic studio album was a careful, pioneering work, this Basel concert is the live, explosive version. An essential document of Gruntz’s enduring legacy and a glorious celebration of sound—proof that when music is played with this much heart and fire, borders simply evaporate into air.

Chris Wiesendanger

In Memory of George Gruntz

As a young musician, I had the opportunity to play in the George Gruntz Workshop Big Band, where every section was packed with “cats” from the famous Concert Jazz Band. These were deeply unforgettable experiences. Later, during my music studies at the conservatory, I wrote a paper on George’s jazz opera “Cosmopolitan Greetings.” For this pur pose, he personally made the score available to me for my research and invited me to his home for the handover. From his apartment in Allschwil, high up and bordering Basel, you could see far across the national borders into France and Germany … His generosity and open nature made a profound impression on me, and these encounters remain in my memory to this day with the greatest respect. It is therefore a special honor for me, as a producer of Hat Hut Records, to release this previously unreleased live recording and thus contribute to his musical legacy.

Marco von Orelli