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European Jazz, Jazz, Kruse, Schaefer, Wollny

Featured Album of the Week

Wollny - Kruse - Schaefer - em Live

Wollny / Kruse / Schaefer -][- em Live – [ACT, 2010]

After the critical acclaim that accompanied their two previous albums for ACT and the widespread praise that always follows their live performances – last year the trio played concerts in 13 countries and appeared at major festivals in France, Holland, Germany, Italy, and Canada – the Berlin trio Michael Wollny / Eva Kruse / Eric Schaefer proudly present their third album: [em] 3.

At its best, and in its greatest moments, jazz is the art that unearths the universal elements that lie buried in each individual. The ad-hoc arrangements of many jazz recordings unfortunately stand in stark contrast to this aspiration. To escape the curse of the lowest common denominator, it’s necessary to have a fixed formation, and yet – especially in German jazz – groups with longevity are certainly the exception rather than the rule. With the simple title [em] 3, the trio [em] with pianist Michael Wollny, bassist Eva Kruse, drummer Eric Schaefer take a swing at one of the most complex statements in sound.

With their third album not only do these three Berliners break with the ground rules of jazz, they also find a brand new starting point for themselves. The bond within the group is so obviously strong that there is enough room for individual members to elaborate on their various and often disparate standpoints. This requires a high degree of trust and the ability for exceptional communication. And it is by daring to wage this discourse that [em] brings back to jazz what has lately been sorely missed: immediacy and relevance.

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