With Dark Horse, Susanne Alt confirms her ability to transform improvisation into pure art. Recorded in New York with a freshness that only spontaneity can give, this album marks a turning point compared to the previous Royalty For Real: no longer a tribute, but a free search, a sound journey that embraces soul, funk, latin and bop with disarming naturalness.
The title, Dark Horse, evokes that dark horse that bursts in unexpectedly and changes the fate of the race. So Alt’s music: born from listening, from the encounter with the musicians and with the city, and it becomes the spokesperson of an energy that rewards courage and openness. The sound is warm, immediate, with a rhythmic section — James Hurt on the keyboards, Gerald Cannon on the double bass and the drums — that draws elastic grooves and buttons, leaving room for each gradient.
Among the songs, the irresistible Jazz Biotic, the overwhelming Dark Horse and the tribute to Charlie Parker in Au Privave, suddenly captured, stand out. There is no shortage of dedications to fellow travelers, such as Cannonballin’ and Jonesin’, and moments of pure collective energy, such as Kalunga Dance.
Dark Horse is an album that celebrates the unexpected, the music that is born when technique merges with instinct. A work that reminds us how, sometimes, it is precisely the least beaten roads that give us the most authentic emotions.
on 29/01/2026