She’s done it all. Aimee Mann first played in a punk band, then a new wave band, before she became a singer-songwriter influenced by country music. In 1993, she released her solo debut ‘Whatever’, after which she was celebrated by the critics as a new female Paul McCartney. This woman from Richmond has the same instinct for simple, yet profound pop songs as the ex-Beatles songwriter. Inspite of the critical acclaim, Aimee’s label wanted her to write nice little songs for the masses, so she left and started her label ‘SuperEgo’. The record company must have been quite irked when, soon after, Aimee received an Oscar® nomination for the magical song ‘Save Me’, the title song of the film ‘Magnolia’. Since then, Aimee has achieved a kind of iconic status: The woman, who could already play all of Neil Young’s songs as a teenager, has developed into Young’s female counterpart: rough around the edges, but loveable and above all, a brilliant songwriter.

As a singer of the rock band The Frames, Glen Hansard was highly regarded in the indie scene. In the meantime, he performed in the classic movie ‘The Commitments’ as the band’s guitarist. Then he was awarded an Oscar® for the film music for ‘Once’ with his then partner Marketa Irglová as The Swell Season and was suddenly famous. The former street musician with his modest beginnings was overwhelmed by all of this excitement. For two years, he hid out in the anonymity of New York before going back to his roots. Hansard was once called the ‘most Irish of all Irish singers’, by ‘Rolling Stone’. He is also an outspoken disciple of Van Morrison. Hansard came back home and released his first solo album last year: ‘Rhythm And Response’ is the work of a profound poet, who knows what he wants and what not.

Heather Nova was raised on a sailboat, where she spent years sailing the Atlantic with her parents. She would sit at the bow of the ship and contemplate the endless sea and the freedom of the birds while she sang and played her guitar. This enrapture continues to influence her poetic songs which seem as fragile as the delicate singer herself. When she sings of longing in her elven voice with her feet planted on solid ground, she does not sing of the sea, and yet, somehow, she is always in the middle of the sea. Fittingly, her 2011 album was called ‘300 Days At Sea’. It is about the Bermudas, where she was born and where she has been living again after years of commuting between Los Angeles, New York and London.

The collective ‘Incognito’ has been existing for about thirty years. Almost 1000 musicians have played in his band since then as bandleader Paul ‘Bluey’ Maunick proudly explains. The most important thing is that Maunick told each one of these 1000 musicians exactly what he has to do. No one would imagine that this discreet gentleman with the guitar is the boss behind the scenes. The people up front seem to be calling the shots, the singers and the lead male vocalist, the extremely precise horn players and the rhythm machine, that mercilessly nails every beat. In the nineties in London, it was named acid jazz: jazz harmonies over funk beats that get your toes tapping.

Steve Miller’s parents taught him to love jazz, his friends were hippies and he liked rock. And he wanted to bring all of that together, so he skipped his final literature exams to become a professional musician. In 1967, at the tender age of 24, Steve founded the Steve Miller Band, where he fusioned the blues, psychedelic music and rock with reverb and echo effects to pioneer a new music form that music critics labelled blues rock. Six years later, after making Texas his new home, the guitar hero put his blues sentiment in a nutshell: «Some people call me the space cowboy, some call me the gangster of love». He called the track «The Joker». He’s been filling stadiums in America ever since and he rarely finds the time to come to Europe. It’s great that Steve Miller is finally «headed down» to Switzerland and to the AVO SESSION Basel.

Mavis Staples and Nick Lowe join forces to define the dichotomy that blues musicians mean when they sing «Standing At The Crossroads» – and the two could not contrast more as a duo. Mavis is an established American gospel singer. Englishman Nick performed in pubs and was as a punk rocker before he discovered country music. They are united by their love for the blues.

A pivotal figure in UK pub rock, punk rock and new wave, Lowe has recorded a string of well-reviewed solo albums. He is best known for his songs “Cruel to Be Kind” (a US Top 40 single), and “I Love the Sound of Breaking Glass” (a top 10 UK hit), as well as his production work with Elvis Costello, Graham Parker and others. Lowe also wrote “(What’s So Funny ‘Bout) Peace, Love, and Understanding”, a hit for Costello. Nick Lowe rocked English pubs in the 70s, then produced punk greats like the Pretenders and finally found the blues by way of the country band Little Village. Nick explores the dichotomies in the classic blues motifs: fear of God, pact with the devil, domesticity and wanderlust and partying on a Saturday night before the Sunday morning church service.

With her new album «Today», the young Basel soul singer Nubya takes a daring solo departure and has truly come into her own and won over the hearts of her fans. With her beautifully arranged songs, all written by the artist herself, she is a powerhouse.