Until We Meet Again
Avin Ahmadi & Lorenz Widauer
Release: 28. November 2025 | Hideout Records
We don’t include many new releases on this site. But this one seemed very appropriate, as it’s an excuse to draw attention to a scene which we have had contact with every year, bringing in one or two concerts through the support of the Austrian Cultural Forum.
The Viennese jazz scene with many similarities to London in terms of attitude. It lies pretty far from other major cities, and indeed was the easternmost outpost of Western Europe until the end of the Iron Curtain in 1989. Given no other musical centres for jazz nearby, it inspired perforce a strong local scene, most notably with the likes of the Vienna Art Orchestra. This self-sufficiency continues today, with a great diversity stylistically from free improv through to quite a bit with classical influences. One recent musician we know who has relocated there is Mark Holub, of Led Bib. And particularly influential has also been Peter Herbert whom we know from collaborations with the likes of Huw Warren and Phil Robson over the years. And the band Namby Pamby Boy led by alto Fabian Rucker released an album on my own label Babel
In recent years, an interesting addition to the mix has been a group of Iranian musicians, originally invited through the Austrian Cultural Forum, who give an oriental flavour to the younger scene, such as the guitarist Mahan Mirarab, singer Golnar Shahyar and clarinetist Mona Matbou Riahi.
To these should now be added Avin Ahmadi, an oud player aged just 22, who originally studied in Teheran, enrolling at the music conservatoire at just 10 years old, before relocating to Austria to continue studies in jazz improvisation in Linz.
This album is a duo release with trumpeter Lorenz Widauer, himself born in 2998. It is a carte blanche given to the artists by the new label Hideout Records, which has been set up by three musicians, intriguingly all bassists such as Clemens Rofner. So there is every sympathy for the musical quality.
The result is an album which crosses between classical and chamber jazz. The Iranian musical influences are there but not overpowering. There is a sensitivity between the two musicians with various guests on bass and drums. Mainly from the young Austrian scene but also including Mona Ratbou Riahi, a very charismatic player which comes out in the opening track Still Here
Generally the music is intense and thoughtful. Longer pieces are interspersed by short interludes by Ahmadi, who also sings, by Widmauer and by Widmauer and Riahi. Particularly stand out, for me were the tracks which focussed just on the duo, such as Encore and Not Without You, where Ahmadi’s wordless voice intertwines with the trumpet.
Oliver
Carte Blanche: Until We Meet Again by Avin Ahmadi & Lorenz Widauer