As the by-line of this blog infers, I’m an obsessive, I’m also terribly fickle. I have a new favourite pianist this week. So what’s his name today Paul? Benedikt Jahnel. It just gets better and better in Germany – as if Pablo Held, Jurgen Friedrich, Tim Allhoff and others weren’t enough along comes Benedikt (Bene) and his trio with the equally amazing Antonio Miquel – bass and Owen Howard - drums. With jazz trio X Factor (X as in the irreverent but majestic convergence of technique, swing, soul, tradition, time, vision and ‘the muse’) by the truckload, this is a masterpiece – and amazingly Jahnel’s first trio record although he has been very active in Europe and Stateside. On this blog I’ve chosen to review only music I love – it’s all 5 or more stars here. This can lead to a shortage or repetition of superlatives. This is a problem. The way Benedikt plays the piano is not.
I’m reminded of cascading waterfalls, early dawns, the pull of memory, the echoes of time and long vistas of what ‘might be’ when they play. Don’t be put off by the dull title - this music is far from that. It catches your ear, pulls at your sleeve and whispers sweet somethings in your ears to gain your attention long after the music has stopped. Compositionally it’s incredibly strong and memorable; the trio interacts in conversation at the highest levels of musical architecture and tripolar expression. At home with proto-classical/new age and folk forms, modal excursion and romantic exposition, the songs are both complex and simple, alluring but predictable, layered but accessible, romantic but cerebral. I’m finding it difficult to focus on one track as the programming order is so incredibly well finessed that it’s sounding like one suite of nine pieces seamlessly connected in time and space – a musical continuum of 50 minutes intense listening pleasure.
Something truly special has arrived on the trio scene. Immaculately recorded, glistening through the bytes, you’ll find many avenues to explore in this collection Buy it, don’t hesitate – this is where it’s at.
(Big thank you to J. Lennart Bastert of Paderborn, Germany for the recommendation).
