Urban Quartet, the new album “Live in Europe” comes out on February 20, 2026.
The recordings of the Urban Quartet’s European tour flow into the album Live in Europe, out now in digital format and in aspecial edition of 300 copies on vinyl, the first record release issued during Saint Louis’ 50th year of activity. The Live in Europe album is the discographic outcome of the project “Urban Quartet – Live in European Conservatories,” created by Saint Louis as part of the SIAE Call “For Those Who Create” (section “Live and National and International Promotion”), with the support of the Ministry of Culture and SIAE.
Urban Quartet, the European tour
Recorded during the project’s planned European tour – a journey of concerts in European conservatories’ auditoriums, accompanied by afternoon master classes – Live in Europe captures Urban Quartet at a moment of full artistic maturity: a quartet that has moved beyond the initial research phase to consolidate a recognizable, cohesive and conscious musical identity.
The repertoire alternates between original compositions and selected jazz standards. Not mere tributes, but living matter to be reread through a contemporary European sensibility. Opening with That Old Feeling immediately defines the direction of the project; tracks such as Sofa, (the title track of their first album, with special guest Max Ionata, Jazz Collection 2023), Very Late, Blues for Dannie and 51 highlight the different souls of the group: lyricism, rhythmic elasticity, formal clarity and strong collective cohesion.
At the center of the disc is Skylark, featuring two guests from the Helsinki jazz scene, vocals and trumpet. The collaboration is neither an isolated episode nor a performance moment: it is naturally integrated into the quartet’s aesthetic, privileging space, sound and interaction.
An ensemble that grew up on stage
The live dimension is not a detail, but the essence of the project. Live in Europe restores the experience of an ensemble, born among the classrooms of Saint Louis – the 4 musicians met while attending the Jazz courses at Saint Louis – and grew up on stage: dynamic control, internal balance and confidence come from a shared journey of concerts and touring. Improvisation remains central, always serving the musical form and narrative.
Urban Quartet presents itself as a self-sufficient formation: any guests are expansions, not structural necessities. This vision defines the record and the artistic horizon of the group.
Urban Quartet, new projects
Live in Europe marks the closing of a first chapter and opens to the next phase: a new record project of unreleased works, which will further expand the quartet’s compositional language while keeping its identity intact.
Urban Quartet does not approach tradition with nostalgia nor modernity as rupture. He moves between the two with lucidity, measure, and a clear European sensibility.
Live in Europe tour stops
The disc was recorded during concerts held in November 2025 at the Conservatories of Aalborg (Denmark) – The Royal Academy of Music (RAMA); A Coruña (Spain) – Conservatorio Superior de Música de A Coruña; Leuven (Belgium) – Lemmensinstituut, LUCA School of Arts; Helsinki (Finland) – Metropolia University of Applied Sciences; Budapest (Hungary) – Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music; Gdansk/Gdańsk (Poland) – Stanisław Moniuszko Academy of Music in Gdańsk; Iași (Romania) – “George Enescu” National University of Arts.
