Rise and Shine: Veda Bartringer releases new album with string quartet

Veda Bartringer © Mara Lippolis

Luxembourg’s jazz scene has never been afraid to dream big and with Rise and Shine, Veda Bartringer has created a expansive and emotionally rich work.

Set for release on 6 June, the new album marks the arrival of Veda & the Strings Machine, a bold new project that sees the Luxembourg guitarist and composer expanding her acclaimed jazz ensemble with a full string quartet. The result is a sweeping, deeply personal record that blends jazz improvisation, chamber music elegance and soundtrack-worthy storytelling into something both intimate and epic.

While Bartringer’s 2024 album Deep Space Adventure looked outward, drawing inspiration from NASA imagery and the mysteries of the cosmos, Rise and Shine turns inward. This time, the focus is memory, identity, relationships and resilience. Each composition feels like a chapter from a musical diary, transformed into lush arrangements full of movement and emotion.

The opening track “Ancestors” sets the tone immediately with grounding rhythms and a sense of emotional weight, paying tribute to the generations that came before us.

Elsewhere, “Lost In A Toybox” drifts through hazy childhood nostalgia via delicate music-box textures, while “Farewell” quietly explores the bittersweet calm that follows the end of a relationship.

One of the album’s standout moments is undoubtedly “Rue de l’Étuve”, a love letter to Brussels inspired by Bartringer’s student years living near the Manneken Pis. Featuring Belgian pianist Margaux Vranken, the track pulses with urban energy while still carrying the warmth of personal memory.

Then there’s the title track itself , “Rise And Shine”, featuring celebrated Syrian-French flautist Naïssam Jalal. Built around irregular rhythms and soaring melodic lines, the piece channels optimism and perseverance, inspired by a personal mantra that has followed Bartringer throughout her life.

Veda Bartringer © Alena Massen

And because no great jazz album should end too politely, the record closes with the wonderfully titled “Too Much Coffee”, a playful, caffeinated whirlwind of rhythmic chaos and groove that eventually dissolves into dreamy atmospheric passages. Essentially the musical equivalent of your third espresso hitting all at once.

The album also highlights the strength of Luxembourg’s thriving jazz ecosystem. Alongside Bartringer on guitar, the project features Julien Cuvelier on saxophone, Laurent Peckels on bass, Maxime Magotteaux on drums, and a string quartet made up of Julien Gillain, Laurène Schuller, Marie Ghitta and Beatriz Jiménez.

To celebrate the release, Veda & the Strings Machine will perform an official launch concert at the Philharmonie Luxembourg on 6 June, a fitting stage for music that feels designed to fill large spaces while still hitting deeply personal notes.

With Rise and Shine, Bartringer crossing jazz with classical music, but not for novelty value. She’s building emotional landscapes, cinematic, vulnerable and alive with detail.

It’s ambitious without losing warmth, sophisticated without becoming distant, and proof that Luxembourg’s contemporary music scene continues to evolve in exciting directions.

You can preorder the album Rise and Shine already on Bandcamp, just click the image below.