RISING STARS SHUTEEN ERDENEBAATAR AND NILS KUGELMANN
CONVERGE ON UNDER THE SAME STARS –
A LOVE STORY FOR PIANO AND CONTRA-ALTO CLARINET
OUT SEPTEMBER 12, 2025 via MOTÉMA MUSIC
Motéma Music is pleased to announce Under the Same Stars, a captivating jazz-meets-classical duo album by Berlin-based rising jazz stars Shuteen Erdenebaatar and Nils Kugelmann. The album releases digitally, on CD and Vinyl on September 12, 2025 on CD, digital and vinyl, with singles on June 20, July 18 and August 15.
Following her internationally acclaimed and multi-award-winning 2023 debut Rising Sun, Mongolian-born piano star Erdenebaatar surprises again on this exquisite duo with acclaimed ACT artist Nils Kugelmann on contra-alto clarinet and upright bass. As partners in life and in sound, Kugelmann and Erdenebaatar draw here on their shared love of jazz, classical, and cinematic music to create a poetic and thrilling musical adventure to stir the soul.
Under the Same Stars brings together two remarkable young artists whose musical connection is both intuitive and profound. “From the moment we paired the piano with the contra-alto clarinet, something clicked. It felt intimate, unexpected, and deeply alive,” says Erdenebaatar. Indeed, , their natural chemistry, honed through six years of collaboration so far, is a wonder to behold. ,. While Kugelmann is best known as a bassist – he’s been a core member of Erdenebaatar’s quartet since its founding in 2021?, and has released two acclaimed albums as a bassist/composer on the ACT label – he makes a remarkable debut here on the rarely heard contra-alto clarinet. Between duo concerts, and their collaboration in Eredenebaatar’s quartet, the depth of their artistic rapport has been shaped by over 300? performances since they first met in 2020, and over 100 concerts across Europe and Asia in the past year alone.
Now on this duo debut,, the warm, sonorous tones of the contra-alto clarinet entwine with Erdenbaatar’s evocative piano lines, reaching toward the same stars that brought the two together as students in Munich, where he began playing bass with her, and where she serendipitously discovered his hidden talents as a clarinetist and idea for this duo was born Erdenebaatar explains that they “searched for existing repertoire that gave voice to the contra-alto clarinet in a chamber music setting” but came up empty. “That absence became our inspiration,” so they began composing. “After years of performing together in ensembles, it felt natural, perfect, to explore this musical journey in duo,” reveals Kugelmann. “Each song became a new conversation, and a new celebration of all that we’ve built together: our shared love for music, our growing relationship, our individual musical voices and careers that have somehow effortlessly intertwined.”
The album features many highlights, including three carefully selected singles. The luminous Erdenebaatar-penned first single (out June 20) “Mirror Under Water” is both quiet and thrilling, with Kugelmann’s warm contra-alto clarinet accompanying the lilting lyricism of Erdenebaatar’s pianism. The second single (July 18), “Tiny Wonders”, one of two tracks composed by Kugelman for upright bass, iplifts and surprises as the two instruments dance together in joyous flight. The final single,“What Will Remain”(August 15), features Shuteen’s compatriot, Dalaijargal Daansuren morin khuur, Mongolia’s iconic horsehead fiddle. On this haunting Kugelman composition, Erdenebaatar’s piano offers a gentle ostinato beneath the morin khuur’s heart-rending melody, while Kugelmann’s dulcet contra-alto clarinet tones weave around it with near mystical beauty. Erdenebaatar’s “Whispers Beyond Time” also spotlights a special guest: the soulful Jakob Manz on alto recorder. Like a forgotten lullaby echoing across centuries, this delicate composition carries the weight of ancestral memory.
Under The Same Stars is the second in a trilogy of Erdenebaatar debuts from the Grammy-award winning Motéma label. Drawing inspiration from sun, moon, and stars mythology from her Mongolian homeland, Erdenebaatar titled her 2023 quartet debut “Rising Sun” to evoke the vitality, positivity and optimism – a fitting choice for the album’s bright sonic landscape. Stars – representing hope, dreams and destiny – inspired this duo debut, and the mystery and emotional depth of the moon will provide the thematic core for for volume 3, the anticipated debut of Erdenebaatar’s 21-piece chamber jazz orchestra coming in 2026, “We are so honored at Motema to present Shuteen’s brilliant trilogy to the world. Only once before did an artist sign to Motéma with a complete trilogy in mind. That was the great Geri Allen. When I first heard and then met Shuteen in 2022, I was struck by a certain kinship she had to Allen, partially in her playing, but more so in her calm yet fiercely personal and unique musical vision. Rising Sun became a successful breakout debut in 2023, and now this lovely project that she and Nils have delivered has far surpassed my expectations which were already strong. These two young artists from different cultures amaze me in their wisdom, their firm love and support for each other, and most importantly in their ‘beyond their years’ musical depth. Personally, I can’t get enough of the music Under the Same Stars, it’s been on constant rotation in my office since I received it, and my guess is that many around the world will feel the same way. ”
MORE ABOUT THE ARTISTS:
SHUTEEN ERDENEBAATAR
Motéma recording artist, Shuteen Erdenebaatar, born in the Mongolian capital of Ulaanbaatar in 1998, is one of Europe’s fastest rising jazz stars. Classically trained from age 6 to 20 at Mongolia’s national Gonchigsumlaa Conservatoire, she earned her degree in classical composition in 2020, and then left homeland to pursue her passion for jazz at the Musikhochschule in Munich. There she began to cultivate her musical voice, met her true love, and earned double masters degrees in jazz piano and jazz composition. Soon after graduation, here debut album, Rising Sun, came out to international acclaim in September, 2023.
She has received numerous accolades, including the 2024 German Jazz Award for “Ensemble of the Year” (as well as a nomination for “Pianist of the Year”), a 2024 “Mungun Mod,”(Mongolia’s highest cultural honor), the BMW Young Artist Jazz Award, and top prizes from the Young Munich Jazz Award, the City of Munich, and the Biberach Jazz Prize. Her work has been commissioned by leading ensembles in both Germany and Mongolia, and her compositions have been performed by the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra and the Bayerischer Rundfunk.
Currently, a documentary on her life is in production in Mongolia and she leads three innovative projects: a dynamic jazz quartet, a jazz/classical chamber duo with Nils Kugelmann, and a 21-piece classically influenced Chamber Jazz Orchestra. Recordings of these ensemble comprise an Erdenebaatar album trilogy being released by Motema.
NILS KUGELMANN
Bassist, composer, clarinetist and ACT recording artist, Nils Kugelmann has quickly established himself as one of Europe’s most compelling young jazz voices. His acclaimed debut album Stormy Beauty (ACT 2023) earned a nomination for the German Record Critics’ Award, landed in the European jazz charts, and was named one of the top ten international jazz albums of 2023 by BR Klassik. Praised by Süddeutsche Zeitung as “a brilliant album by one of the most universal musicians in this country,” Stormy Beauty showcases Kugelmann’s lyrical compositional voice and his striking command of the double bass, which he elevates far beyond its traditional role. He released his second trio album in 2025.
At just 28, Kugelmann has performed with jazz luminaries such as Benny Golson, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Johannes Enders, and Trio Elf. He has received numerous honors, including the European Young Artist Award at Jazzwoche Burghausen, the BMW Young Artist Jazz Award, and the German Jazz Prize 2024 for ‘Ensemble of the Year’ as a member of The Shuteen Erdenebaatar Quartet. In his teenage years, Kugelmann balanced his passion for classical clarinet and for film music with his growing passion for jazz bass, and then sidelined the for mer to pursue his masters degree, in jazz performance and composition for upright bass. For Under The Same Stars he happily rekindled his burning love for the mysterious sounds of the contra-alto clarinet, and makes his recorded debut with the instrument.
Learn more at: : shuteenerdenebaatar.com. nilskugelmann.com
Press Representation:
US & UK: Lydia Liebman PR (lydia@lydialiebmanpromotions.com)
DUO TOUR DATES 2025
July 3 – Pavillon, Krefeld, DE
Aug 9 – Schloss Kempfenhausen, DE
Sep 12 – A-Trane Jazzclub in Berlin, DE (TBC)
Sep 13 – Unterfahrt, Munich, DE
Sep 14 – Stadthaus, Ulm, DE
Oct 8 – NDR Kultur EXTRA, DE
Oct 10 & 11 – Doubletime Club, Hameln, DE
Oct 26 – Filmburg, Marktoberdorf, DE
Oct 30 – Theaterhaus, Stuttgart, DE
Nov 1 – Jazzfestival Brebl, Nijmegen, NL
Nov 7 – Jazztage Erding, DE
2026
Jan 23 – Bibliothek, Bielefeld, DE
Feb 19 – Jazzclub Regensburg, DE (TBC)
Dec 04 – Schloss Kapfenburg, Lauchheim DE
Dec 05 – Schloss Seefeld, DE