The first recording in the cpo SYMPHONIC JAZZ SERIES with the WDR Radio Orchestra of Cologne is entitled American Connection. Concertos for jazz clarinet by Jorge Calandrelli, Daniel Freiberg, and Jeff Beal are heard in performances with the world-famous clarinettist Andy Miles. Andy Miles is one of the youngest representatives of a guild whose members received posts as solo clarinettists in German orchestras (in his case with the Hamburg Philharmonic). Later he made his way to Cologne as the principal clarinettist of the WDR Radio Orchestra. Thanks to his ‘wild past’ as a saxophonist in rock bands, a tin whistler in folk bands, and a clarinettist in various jazz bands, Miles is among the few genuine crossover musicians who succeed in mediating between classical and jazz music because they feel at home in both of them. The press has called him ‘the Marco Polo of the Clarinet’. It should also be mentioned that the famous Alan Silverman was in charge of an additional mastering of the recording in the United States. Alan has worked for artists like Norah Jones, Chaka Khan, The Rings, Dolly Parton, and Keith Richards and received more than fifty Grammy Awards. His Art! Mastering, one of the largest and best-equipped mastering studios in New York City, offers first-class analogue and digital outboard equipment and an excellent monitoring system.