Poetry and music inform and inspire each other. Gregor Frei's compositions turn words into melodies. The Asmin Sextet presents a personal musical statement, animated by stories and poems. Frei's extraordinary musicians personalize his band's sound with their unique personalities and soloistic capacities, creating a modern and accessible jazz. The ASMIN SEXTET was founded in 2006 by the young Swiss composer, saxophonist and bass clarinetist Gregor Frei who won the Friedl-Wald-Foundation jazz award in 2008. This unique jazz sextet combines accessible elements of rock and pop with the harmonic and rhythmic finesse of comtemporary Jazz. Textually based, Frei's compositions represent a multi-dimensioned musical world. Frei's debut-CD "Land Of Refuge" (Altrisuoni, AS265), a coproduction with Swiss Radio DRS2, created an enthusiastic audience that began in Switzerland and reached out beyond. In September 2010 the ASMIN SEXTET, again in collaboration with Swiss Radio DRS2, recorded a new set of compositions in Leipzig's FWL studios based on a poem and stories of everyday life enmeshed in primitive, rock, and jazz styles. The emerging presence of the ASMIN SEXTET in the young Swiss jazz scene led to its nomination for the Zürcher Kantonalbank (ZKB)'s jazz award at Moods jazz club as well as the "Suisse Diagonales Jazz" festival's choice as one of ten bands to tour throughout Switzerland in January and February 2011.