Lui Mafuta presents This Ain’t Jazz, a boundary-pushing new EP that fuses live musicianship with electronic sensibility—an exploration of jazz influence through a deeply personal and collaborative lens. The release is available on digital platforms and as a limited vinyl edition.

At the heart of This Ain’t Jazz is a long-gestating idea: to bridge electronic music with an organic, band-oriented aesthetic. Lui Mafuta reunited with four longtime friends and collaborators—Paul Janoschka, Felix Roos, Jonas Esser, and Benedikt Jäckle—who all studied music together in Mannheim before scattering across the globe. Under the loose collective name Weiller, they came together once again to create a sound that lives between genres.

The EP is a globe-spanning production. Piano was recorded on Paul Janoschka’s Steinway in his Frankfurt apartment; trumpet and clarinet were tracked in a rural French studio with Felix Roos; drums came from New York via Jonas Esser; and saxophone was laid down in Lui’s own studio in Mannheim alongside Benedikt Jäckle. All elements were finally assembled and shaped into a cohesive vision back in Mannheim.

“There’s less synth work on this one than usual,” Lui says. “Most of the textures come from the instruments themselves and a lot of sample mangling. I wanted it to feel raw, human, and alive.”

Despite its title, This Ain’t Jazz is a love letter to jazz’s influence. “I called it that just to be safe,” Lui jokes. “It isn’t jazz—but it’s coming from that space.” The project also serves as a reconnection to his roots: two of the four featured musicians are teenage friends from his earliest days making music.[info sheet from distr.]