Germany's ACT Record's 25th birthday concert in early April this year in Berlin was a vibrant live summation of the diversity of its roster of leading European musicians, as well as its founder's burgeoning legacy. Indeed, having witnessed this concert first hand, the Berlin crowd greeted label boss Siggi Loch like a local hero, who, at 75, has much to be proud of. The music here stealthily occupies a space between the urge to party and a serious, yet joyful, exploration of jazz, folk, classical, funk and pop. The resulting live album reflects this, yet curiously kicks off with a downbeat, but affectingly emotional take of Sondheim's ‘Send in The Clowns’. If this is a hint at the never-ending struggle to balance art and commerce, then it's to usually exuberant trombonist/singer Nils Landgren's credit that his emotionally cracked vocals sound utterly sincere with Wollny's sublime chords accentuating the mood. With this reflective moment given its due, things kick up a gear, with Langren turning on the shuffling funky grooves he's known for, the strutting ‘Walk Tall’ the perfect showcase for his swaggering trombone to lead the soloistic charge. As technically impressive as the duelling basses of Lars Danielsson and Dieter Iig are on ‘Savannah Samurai’ the rush of adrenalin coursing through their fingers pushes them, and others, into some comradely musical combat. Likewise, Joachim Kühn and Émile Parisien's debut live duo, ‘Missing A Page’, leaps from the stage in a tumble of thrillingly chaotic phrases. Violinist Adam Baldych arrived on crutches on the night but his playing on the aptly titled ‘Suffering’ is full of fearless fire. With both Wollny and Rantala deeply impressive throughout, the one big name missing from this party, and one that played such a key role in ACT's ascendance, is of course Esbjörn Svensson, and it's his ‘Dodge The Dodo’ and Rantala's ‘Tears For Esbjörn’ that invoke the late pianist's indefatigable spirit. With all 30 musicians on stage for the rowdy soul send-off of ‘We Are Family’, you can perhaps forgive the shaky vocals – with Parisien et al bringing out their finest ‘function band’ horn chops to the fore. Not the final word on this excellent label's output, but a fittingly fun sign-off to one hell of a night.