Songs
Without
Words
WHO
We Are
Gilda Razani – theremin, soprano saxophone
Hanzō Wanning – piano, synthesizer
Songs Without Words is an album that moves through the world without needing a passport. Drawing on Persian folk traditions, jazz, chamber music, synth-pop, and electronic textures, the duo Gilda Razani and Hanzō Wanning create something entirely their own: a work that doesn’t merely blend genres but dissolves their boundaries altogether.
They shift between dreamy lightness and deep longing, between careful composition and spontaneous flight, between intimacy and vastness. The pieces reveal a dynamic interplay of precisely arranged passages and free jam sessions, often interwoven with melodies rooted in Razani’s Persian heritage. Together, the two move effortlessly between these poles, having found a shared language to carry the contradictions of the world within a single phrase.
Razani performs the extraordinary combination of theremin and soprano saxophone, while Wanning shapes harmonic spaces on piano and synthesizers that flow seamlessly between acoustic warmth and electronic depth. In some pieces, the duo expands into a trio with percussionist Fethi Ak, whose darbuka playing—rooted in Turkish and Kurdish traditions—adds a third rhythmic layer to the ensemble’s rich sonic fabric.
Each piece on Songs Without Words tells a story—sometimes mythical, sometimes deeply personal. There’s turmeric placed on a newborn’s head. The Persian New Year, with its sacred worms emerging from the earth. A dancer whose movements demand their own symphony. A brief, courageous life remembered in melody. A shadow-weaver watching over the sleeping world.
Songs Without Words is more than a soundtrack for multicultural urban life. It’s a multilayered sonic tapestry—an invitation to drift, to dream, and to travel through distant parts of the world, as well as to return to one’s own inner landscapes.
Whenever possible, the lineup expands into a trio formation with percussionist Fethi Ak.
Gilda Razani is widely regarded as one of the most innovative theremin players of our time. Using the world’s oldest electronic instrument, she creates immersive soundscapes that merge the boundaries between poetry, science fiction, magic, and deep emotions—most clearly heard on The Manhattan Transfer’s Grammy-nominated album Fifty. Razani holds a master’s degree in saxophone performance of the Detmold University of Music.
Hanzō Wanning is recognized for his distinctive musical style, seamlessly blending classical influences with jazz-pop harmonies and expressive improvisation. His piano playing is marked by a lyrical, often melancholic tone shaped by complex harmonic structures and dynamic rhythmic shifts. Wanning studied piano and classical composition in Hilversum, Netherlands, and won the European Jazz Award in Belgian 2010. He also brings extensive expertise in electronic music and teaches at the University of Dortmund and the Glenn Buschmann Jazz Academy.
Fethi Ak precise and stylistically open playing combines traditional rhythms with modern musical approaches and complements About Aphrodite organically. Ak began playing the darbuka at Turkish weddings during his childhood. Today, he is considered one of Germany’s most virtuosic darbuka players and is a highly sought-after musician for studio recordings and live performances within the Turkish, Kurdish, and international world music scenes. In 2017, he won the WDR Jazz Award with the Transorient Orchestra and has twice been a laureate of the world music competition “Creole.”
Together, Gilda Razani and Hanzō Wanning compose and produce original film scores and radio play music for the German broadcaster WDR, in addition to releasing their own albums, including Bazaar (Traumton Records, Berlin), Ocean Lily, Faktor X (Atzek Electronic Music, Melbourne), Polaris, Future Memories, and Little Deep Miss Strange(Floating World Records, London). They are also the founders of the sound-branding agency Honeysounds.
Their current musical projects include Honey Bizarre, About Aphrodite, and Amaryllis.
Festivals Fusion (DE), Skandaløs (DE), Les Digitales (CH), Spirit of the Woodstock (I), Tropentango (DE), Jazzprovence (RU), Klangtherapie (DE), Zurück zu den Wurzeln (DE), Summerjazz( DE)
Songs
Without
Words
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Mehr Informationen
Ocean Lily, vinyl
Double limited LP 2014
