New Amsterdam Records announces WATERBODIES, the debut solo album from German-born, Brooklyn-based saxophonist, composer and singer Charlotte Greve. Praised by The New York Times as “definitely her own artist,” and featured on two of the publication’s “best of” lists, Greve has drawn acclaim from Pitchfork, MOJO and The Wire for a sound that moves fluidly across jazz, classical and experimental traditions. A sought-after sidewoman for artists including Chris Morrissey, Laura Veirs, Cass McCombs and Matt Pavolka, she recently premiered Breathe for the award-winning vocal ensemble Lorelei, as well as Continuing, a saxophone-and-choir piece presented by Carnegie Hall that debuted at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum.
Produced by Shahzad Ismaily, WATERBODIES features an expansive cast, including the New York-based vocal ensemble KHORIKOS and the Bratislava Symphony Orchestra, spanning styles from jazz and ambient to classical, power ballads and ‘80s-inspired dance pop. Unbridled and unapologetic, the album is a deliberate rejection of stylistic cohesion, a defiant journey through Greve’s most cherished musical worlds, and her most personal work to date.
Questions and Answers
3 FACTS
1: creating community around music & food is important
2: being a freelance musician with an ever changing schedule and ever changing obstacles trains you for being a parent
3: its never too late to change your perspective on something or someone and its never too late to learn something new
11 QUESTIONS
1. What is the biggest inspiration for your music?
A single note / drones and different forms of repetition
All my music starts basically from one note
2. How and when did you get into making music?
I started learning classical flute at the age of 9 and started improvising shortly after, recording cassettes with my brother
3. What are 5 of your favourite albums of all time?
Erykah Badu – Mama’s Gun
Wayne shorter – Night Dreamer
Wayne Shorter – High Life
Joni Mitchell – Hejira
Young, Gifted and Black – Aretha Franklin
4. What do you associate with Berlin?
A sense of home, although I moved away 14 years ago and only lived there for five. Deep friendships & music roots and the smell of Linden Trees in the summer.
5. What’s your favourite place in your town?
Right now, Kosciuszko Pool , a free public pool around the corner from my house.
6. If there was no music in the world, what would you do instead?
I would probably be a farmer
7. What was the last record/music you bought or listened to?
Clay by Momoko Gill & Matthew Herbert
8. Who would you most like to collaborate with?
Brooklyn Youth Chorus
9. What was your best gig (as performer or spectator)?
Hard to say but a recent & special one was this April playing at the Guggenheim Museum with KHORIKOS, premiering a new piece of mine.
10. How important is technology to your creative process?
Its good that its there and around but I mostly use it for making rough demos in Logic, which ultimately helps me to envision the music more clearly.
11. Please tell us about the making of your latest album ‘Waterbodies’.
I recorded this record mostly in 2024 across several studios & places, with many different ensembles & bands – I was pregnant with my daughter and had a real sense of “everything is fine, this is going to work” and somehow was more focused and calm in the studio than I had ever experienced before. Its my tenth record and the first one to carry my name, so it feels like a very personal & vulnerable thing. My hope is that this music, that is sometimes contrasting, appears and can be perceived as one.
