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The first part of the new album, Session Tapes 4, was recorded in June 2019 in the Netherlands with Riad Abdel Nabi from the Van Sonic Sound Collective. The recordings were completed in the hallowed halls of Amsterdam’s Studio 150, which has also hosted great like Al Jarreau. The multi-instrumentalist and film composer Abdel Nabi had invited Boutari to Amsterdam, the two having played together in various bands twenty years ago. The two wanted to use their past to create a new present while reflecting on their multi-national backgrounds (Abdel Nabi is Syrian/German, while Boutari is Egyptian/German). Their collaboration generated a foursong cycle inspired by the streets of Damascus and Cairo and even though some of those streets no longer physically exist they live on in memories; the cycle then reaches out across the seas towards Amsterdam and Hamburg. It is a story that tells of beauty and memory, new beginnings, crisis and redemption. During the recordings, Catharina was supported by the young jazz double bassist Nathan Wouters from Rotterdam. August saw the recording of Session 5, a Session Tapes special edition, in Hamburg’s legendary live venue Logo. Sparring partners on that occasion were the guitarist and singer Ben Schadow (Rhonda, Dirk Darmstaedter, Bernd Begemann), jazz singer Ulita Knaus and vocalist and actor Katrin Ost (August, August). The club was turned into a temporary home where Catharina and her gang rehearsed during the day and played their material live at night. On the penultimate day of their residency, their performance was recorded before a live audience. The session produced another seven songs rooted in the present day that provide a fascinating outlook into the future. Power to the people. A class reunion with friends. A new blueprint for the world that grapples with the big questions: What kind of people do we need in the world? How should we be? Where do we want to go?