Record Reviews

IMMERWEITER ~ IN ITS OWN PACE BOOMSLANG 9120011930859 (Barcode: 9120011930859) ~ GERMANY ~ Free Jazz / Improvised Music Recorded: 2023 Released: 2023 This is the debut album by German Jazz quartet ImmerweiterFind albums by this artist, led by pianist / composer Julius WindischFind albums by this artist, with trumpeter Pascal KlewerFind albums by this artist, bassist Sofia EftychidouFind albums by this artist and drummer Marius WankelFind albums by this artist. Violinist / violist Maria ReichFind albums by this artist guests on four tracks. The album presents ten tracks, all original compositions by Windisch. The music, although based on short composed themes, is mostly freely improvised, representing the current preferences of the young Berlin scene, which is exploding with talent and activity. Windisch himself is a highly prolific Artist, leading several ensembles in parallel and recording frequently. This album is a natural development in his recording career, moving consistently towards extended improvisation, rather than strictly composed music, which can be observed by listening to his recordings. He chooses his companions carefully and the level of musicianship is nothing less than spectacular. The music is definitely complex and demanding, but flows coherently and stimulates the listener to use more gray cells that usual, which is always a good thing. Overall, this is another step in the coherent development of Windisch as a pianist / composer / bandleader, offering uncompromising, challenging, but at the same time fascinating music, which is always worth to be listened to. It might require several attentive listening sessions to be digested in full, but the effort is definitely worth it. Highly recommended!

Updated: 05/11/2023Posted: 05/11/2023

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WINDISCH QUARTET ~ MEANDER FUN IN THE CHURCH 029 (Barcode: 4260437157692) ~ GERMANY ~ Avant-Garde Jazz Recorded: 2021 Released: 2022 This is the second album by Windisch QuartetFind albums by this artist, led by German pianist / composer Julius WindischFind albums by this artist with Icelandic saxophonist Solvi KolbeinssonFind albums by this artist, German bassist Felix HenkelhausenFind albums by this artist and Austrian drummer Max SantnerFind albums by this artist. The album presents nine original compositions, all by the leader. The quartet represents well the wonderful contemporary burgeoning Berlin Jazz scene, which in recent years became one of the main centers of young European Jazz, full of international talent, which is incredibly creative and prolific. The music on this album is a fascinating amalgam of many contemporary Jazz trends, and although based on loosely stated melodic themes, offers mostly very open almost-Free improvisations, expressed by the various exchanges between the quartet members. Windisch utilizes several keyboards, including a synthesizer, which create an interesting diversity as the music develops. Kolbeinsson adds a gentle, almost romantic side, Henkelhausen cements the entire quartet sound with his superbly intelligent and steady bass lines and finally Santner ornaments the proceedings with his often irregular drum sequences. As usual in European jazz, it is the ensemble sound that matters here, carrying the message, rather than individual soloing, although there are plenty of great statements by each of the participants. It seems that Windisch is spearheading a very personal new Jazz stream, as shown by several new recordings released almost simultaneously in the last couple of years, and that feverish activity portrays the volcanic musical energy he is able to create, which is quite phenomenal. Overall, this is a brilliant album, full of unexpected twists and turns, innovative creativity and fascinating sound-weaving, which deserve to be heard. He is certainly a musician that is worth being followed and I eagerly wait to hear him in person performing live. It certainly seems like Berlin being the place to visit more often than I managed to do in recent years. Absolutely brilliant stuff!

Updated: 01/10/2022Posted: 01/10/2022

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WINDISCH TRIO ~ PROS & CONS CHALLENGE 71389 (Barcode: 608917138924) ~ GERMANY ~ Jazz Recorded: 2020 Released: 2021 This is the debut album by the Windisch TrioFind albums by this artist led by young German pianist / composer Julius WindischFind albums by this artist and also including Italian bassist Igor SpallatiFind albums by this artist and Argentinean drummer Fermin MerloFind albums by this artist. The album presents nine original compositions, all by the leader. The music is brilliant modern Jazz, which takes the classic piano trio format to completely contemporary and even innovative platform, producing a sophisticated amalgam of melodic themes with highly individual soloing by the trio members. In contrast to the established piano trio concept of piano / rhythm section balance, but trio offers a unity of three individuals improvising concurrently, with no obvious leader, each of the instruments playing at times as if it existed only in its own world, but amazingly sounding overall as a perfectly synchronized ensemble. The result is pretty stunning, especially to conventional Jazz listeners, who might, at least during the initial listening, experience a slight dizziness / confusion, which hopefully should transform into pure amazement and aesthetic joy. Despite the external appearance of being mostly Freely improvised, the music does have a perfectly coherent structure and modus operandi, which perhaps needs some time to get used to, but the initial effort leads to a most rewarding satisfaction. The concept works only thanks to the perfectly combined talents of these instrumentalists, which for the entire duration of the album stand shoulder to shoulder with their partners. There is intentionally no leader as such in this music, despite the fact that the piano is able to play vivid notes, as this music would lose its meaning without any of the instrumental ingredient missing in any given time. I must admit that this album made a much stronger impression on me than expected and so far it definitely is the most exciting new album that landed on my desk this year. I have yet to hear the quartet album Windisch recorded a while back, but if it is as good as this one, he is certainly one of the bright young European musicians worth following closely. He certainly is a proud representative of the burgeoning Berlin Jazz scene, that returned to its former glory of decades ago, now in the hands of the new generation. Anybody interested in contemporary European Jazz at its best should grab a copy of this gem immediately and don’t forget who told you about it :) Kudos to these young Lions! And no, there are co Cons whatsoever herein…

Updated: 11/08/2021Posted: 11/08/2021

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