playground4 is an international quartet of top-class musicians from Austria, Germany and Switzerland. Active as band leaders and composers in numerous independent projects, the two Viennese musicians Gina Schwarz and Ingrid Oberkanins, Stephanie Wagner (GER) and Esther Bächlin (CH) joined together to form a ‘composers collective’ in 2017. The result of this fruitful collaboration can now be heard on their debut album “hit the ground running”, released by JazzHausMusik. The meaning of the CD’s title – “hit the ground running” – is programmatic. Their music surprises with carefully orchestrated extraordinary sounds and playing techniques, with colourful harmonies, gripping grooves and filigree melodies. Sometimes aesthetic, sometimes lively, the musical playground offers space for an intelligent collective interplay and contrasting solo passages. The four jazz musicians and award winners thus create a rich ‘melting pot’ of sounds and rhythms – a music that makes you feel the pull of the creative moment! (Pressetext)