
Beate Reiermann und Edith Lettner wurden beide durch ihre Reisen, internationalen Studienaufenthalte und Projekte mit hervorragenden MusikerInnen aus aller Welt, auf die sie unterwegs und in Österreich trafen, geprägt und inspiriert.
Edith Lettner pendelt- nach zahlreichen Aufenthalten in Westafrika, Nordafrik und Armenien- mehr als zehn Jahre lang zwischen Wien und New York. Vor ca. vier Jahren eröffnete sie ihre neue Basis auf Sizilien. Beate Reiermann lebte ein Jahr in Venezuela und bereist seither vor allem Südamerika und Spanien, wo sie ein Flamenco- Studium absolviert hat und ihr Können auf diesem Gebiet immer wieder ausbaut.
In Ihrem 2015 gegründeten Duoprojekt TRAVEL DIARIES, spielen Edith und Beate eigene Kompositionen, die ihre vielfältigen musikalischen Erfahrungen widerspiegeln und eine farbenfrohe Basis für Improvisation und dynamisches Zusammenspiel bilden. In ihre Jazzkreationen haben sich Elemente aus afrikanischer, lateinamerikanischer, spanischer, anatolischer und kaukasischer Musik eingeschlichen- wie Düfte, die am Reisegepäck hängengeblieben sind.
2020 haben die beiden die hervorragende Perkussionistin und Schlagzeugerin Maria Petrova eingeladen, ihre Musik mit ihrem vielfältigen Instrumentarium zu bereichern. Maria Petrova ist eine der vielseitigsten und gefragtesten SchlagzeugerInnen in und außerhalb Österreich und ideal für dieses Projekt, in dem ein breites Spektrum an Rhythmen und Grooves zur Anwendung kommt. Sie ist auch auf der Mehrzahl der Tracks der 2021 erschienen Debut- CD von Travel Diaries zu hören. (art dialogue, Vertrieb: Preiser Records).
Beate Reiermann and Edith Lettner were both shaped and inspired by their travels, international studies, and projects with outstanding musicians from around the world, whom they met both on their journeys and in Austria.
After numerous stays in West Africa, North Africa, and Armenia, Edith Lettner had been commuting between Vienna and New York for more than ten years. About four years ago, she established a new base in Sicily. Beate Reiermann lived in Venezuela for a year and has since traveled extensively, primarily in South America and Spain, where she completed a degree in flamenco studies and continues to refine her skills in this field.
In their duo project TRAVEL DIARIES, founded in 2015, Edith and Beate play their own compositions, which reflect their diverse musical experiences and form a vibrant foundation for improvisation and dynamic interplay. Elements of African, Latin American, Spanish, Anatolian, and Caucasian music have crept into their jazz creations—like scents lingering on luggage.
In 2020, the two invited the outstanding percussionist and drummer Maria Petrova to enrich their music with her diverse array of instruments. Maria Petrova is one of the most versatile and sought-after drummers in and outside of Austria and ideally suited to this project, which employs a broad spectrum of rhythms and grooves. She can also be heard on the majority of the tracks on Travel Diaries’ debut CD, released in 2021 (art dialogue, distributed by Preiser Records).

Stephan Brodsky – marimba, percussion
Edith Lettner – alto & soprano saxophone
Jovan Torbica – bass
Sascha Strohmaier – percussion
Phone 3 Phone is an Austrian ethno-jazz band founded in 1993 and lead by Stephan Brodsky. The band, centered around the warm sound of Brodsky’s marimba, is well known in insider circles for their unconventional music. Their colorful original compositions combine influences from Africa, Asia and the Caribbean blended together into polychromatic sound mosaics. Their jazz is subtly removed from the mainstream – sovereign, sometimes minimalist. always personal and singular, and yet groovy, appealing, intoxicating to all.
Stephan Brodsky and Edith Lettner perform this music also in duo formation (Marimba and saxophone) and as a trio with percussion.
http://www.phone3phone.com/

Edith Lettner and Dafna Naphtali met in New York in 2017, performing in larger ensembles, led by saxophonist Ras Moshe. Meeting up for a duo session, they found instant common language and constant surprises with Lettner on soprano and alto saxophone and duduk, and Naphtali on her created electro-acoustic instrument for live sound processing of Lettner’s instruments as well as her own vocal work.
Their work and experimentation together since then led to an Austrian tour in summer 2019, a performance at Experimental Intermedia in NY in March 2020, and has now culminated in this explosive recording.
We Q mines the duo’s mutual musical attractions – finding rough-cut gems in high-energy jazz, cross referenced with electro-acoustics, hardcore-meets-early-music, ghanawa-laced polyrhythms and Armenian/Balkan double-reed drone/beat-frequency noise-fests.
Recorded on May 31, 2019 at the A4 Performance Space in Bratislava, Slovakia
Recorded on June 4, 2019 at Stiegenhausmusikin in Innsbruck, Austria

Voyagers is a New York based trio of world class musicians, who perform traditional African themed music as well as their own compositions.
This unique acoustic trio features kora maestro Yacouba Sissoko from Mali, Austrian saxophonist Edith Lettner, and American guitarist Banning Eyre. Yacouba is a musician in the Griot tradition from the renowned Sissoko family in Mali. Lettner is a veteran collaborator with West African musicians, both in Austria and Senegal. And Eyre, besides being senior editor of Afropop Worldwide. has a long history of forays into Africa & African guitar. All three are seasoned, respected musicians who have long had their own separate musical careers.
Since first meeting in New York in 2013, they have delighted in performing together whenever all three were in town, and for good reason: they make magic – lively, enchanting, grooving without drums – the magic of three melody instruments – their melodic and rhythmic lines and patterns linking in perfectly. Theirs is music deep with tradition and alive with improvisation and spontaneity, to the delight of audiences whenever they perform.