Guitarist ARNE JANSEN and cellist & bassist STEPHAN BRAUN are established figures in the scene. Jansen comes from jazz, Braun from classical music. Together they tell musical stories – Short Stories. Live, their highly acclaimed adaptations of Dire Straits songs have already caused a stir.

The live concert for the album Going Home also found a large and enthusiastic audience at the Tonne in 2024.

The program for the now-released follow-up album Short Stories takes things one step further: it is more personal, more narrative, with a new resonance.

In the new live program, each song is connected to a short personal story that Jansen and Braun introduce themselves. This creates images in the minds of the listeners – for example with Song for Issa, inspired by an Africa tour and long-standing collaboration with the Senegalese Orchestra Baobab. The piece is dedicated to their saxophonist Issa Cissokho, who passed away in 2019.

Short Stories leaves much room for the unsaid and opens up long-resonating spaces for interpretation. On stage, there is complete equality between Jansen and Braun: both take turns leading, solo virtuosically, step back to give the other space. A strikingly alert way of playing. The sound often seems larger than two string instruments – one thinks one hears synthesizers, drum brushes, or clubby beats.

The narrative thread that holds everything together is friendship. You hear in every note the deep connection between the two. Jansen says: "Genre boundaries are not our thing. It's only about playing together – about making the other sound better."

Alongside the new pieces, ARNE JANSEN & STEPHAN BRAUN will also play some Dire Straits songs from the last album again. A musical event.