Robert Landfermann. Night Will Fall. press release PRESS CONTACT:

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1 Robert Landfermann Release date: January 1, 2016 Christian Weidner alto saxophone Sebastian Gille tenor saxophone Elias Stemeseder piano Robert Landfermann bass Jim Black drums 1. Motettu de Tristura 2. Berg 3. Katarrh Rot 6. Randnotiz 7. Zehn und Acht 8. Arabesque 1

2 Sensitivity vibrating on thick strings Much sought-after as a playing partner, bassist Robert Landfermann takes over the role as leader on his quintet CD. Five masters of co-operation practice the art of empathy; saxophonists Christian Weidner and Sebastian Gille, pianist Elias Stemeseder, drummer Jim Black, and the subtle-toned bassist and occasional bass viol player form an alluring ensemble. Bassist Robert Landfermann is a musician who leaves a deep imprint wherever he lands. He has played with some of the most exciting top-level groups in jazz, including Pablo Held s internationally renowned trio, (newest release on Pirouet, Recondita Armonia, August 28th, 2015). As early as 2009 the German radio and TV World Service found that, with his amazingly flexible, self-assured, dynamic style of bass playing, Robert Landfermann is the man of the hour. He has received ample critical praise, and works with some of the best bands in the music, so it was definitely time for Robert Landfermann to record the with his outstanding quintet. Often the 2

3 cement that secures the foundation in other bands, Landfermann has also been a bandleader for some time, and has released some eight albums under his own name on the JazzHausMusik, PAO, Clean Feed, and Klaeng Records labels. This last is the label of the Klaeng Jazzkollektiv in Cologne a musician-run initiative of which Robert is a co-founder. On Landfermann s first appearance on Pirouet and first time in this quintet formation he displays his impressive qualities as player-composer. Looking back at the long list of recordings he has contributed to, it s amazing to realize that Robert Landfermann was born in 1982, and thus looks back at a relatively short career. He has played in dozens of groups, often with very different musical viewpoints, from Matthias Schriefl s Shreefpunk to Christian Lillinger s Grund und trumpeter Frederik Köster s quartet, on through to harpist Kathrin Pechlof s trio und the trio-formation Grünen with drummer Christian Lillinger and pianist Achim Kaufmann. Landfermann has also played with such jazz luminaries as Joachim Kühn, Tomasz Stanko, Django Bates, John Taylor, Lee Konitz, and John Scofield. He has won an assortment of awards, among them the WDR Jazz Award, the New German Jazz Award, and the SWR Jazz Award. At the same time that he was celebrating his successes he completed his contrabass studies, taking his concert exam in Cologne under the direction of bass professor Dieter Manderscheid. Robert had already been taking classical guitar lessons at the age of seven, and played e-bass up until With all his experience, his desire to take on new challenges, his subtle touch and intense feel, he is a player who has all of his senses primed for interaction. Priming the senses for the sensitive cooperation ahead: that could be the maxim for this quintet with alto saxophonist Christian Weidner, tenor saxophonist Sebastian Gille, pianist Elias Stemeseder, and drummer Jim Black. They all have known Landfermann for a number of years in a variety of contexts. That made the situation crystal-clear for Robert: This has to be the lineup. Born in 1967, American Jim Black is the oldest musician of the group. After crossing paths at various festivals, Black and Landfermann would occasionally play together. It came to the point where they began to hire each other for their own respective bands. Black is esteemed not only for his technical ability to play any kind of music, but also for his playing passion. Concerning the two saxophonists, Landfermann underscores their highly individual sounds: One tone, and I m in the middle of the music. They are two of my favorite musicians 3

4 on their instruments, and I wanted to bring them together; before this band, they had never had that pleasure. Born in Salzburg, Austria in 1990, pianist Elias Stemeseder is the youngest in the quintet. Landfermann likes the fact that He has a very unusual way of employing the instrument s possibilities, but his intention is always crystal-clear. What is most important for Landfermann is that all the players possess a strong sense of empathy. He wants to involve his band members as equal partners in the musical process rather than relegate them to the role of accompanists. You can only develop an interesting conversation between equal partners, says Landfermann. At the same time it is important that no musician plays in the foreground: The music comes first, and everyone works on that assumption. Landfermann holds three elements as esstential: melody, improvisation, and emotion. For him, emotion means that the player should let himself go, in order to reach a flow in which the listener s emotions are also awoken. For Landfermann, improvisation plays a distinct role; he writes compositions that fit the improvisational styles of the participating musicians. He also wants his band to try out new ways of interpreting the compositions, so that each piece has its unique moments. Thus, improvisation is an explicit basic element of the pieces. You could say that s self-evident in jazz, but there are other approaches. And then there is melody; for Landfermann it is important because it holds the music together. There is a reason why he chose two saxophonists who have a special ability to let melodies sing and converse so that they have meaning. The first piece, Mottetu de tristura, is a group improvisation over an old Sardinian folk melody that the Italian composer Luciano Berio also took up (in a very different way). It s a recording that demonstrates in slow-motion how this quintet can develop various moods. Berg mirrors Landfermann s love of mountain climbing, for rugged nature, but it is also dedicated to the twelve-tone music of Alban Berg. Katarrh is a premiere in which Landfermann plays in duo with saxophonist Christian Weidner. Instead of bass, he plays the Violone, an instrument of the viol family tuned an octave below the viol de gamba; it corresponds with the double bass in the violin family. It sounds as if it has a slight cold, thus the title. At least in jazz, it is an exotic instrument, and is usually used for performing early classical music. Landfermann loves its sound; with floating harmonies and shimmering overtones he catapults the instrument into the 21st century. Randnotiz (side-note) highlights the rhythm section; Jim Black s unusually airy-elastic drumming along 4

5 with the bass and piano form a fantastic organic unity, as the saxophones repeatedly play in unison two closely spaced tracers lighting the way. Rot was written in the airplane on the return trip after having visited pianist Joachim Kühn on Ibiza. Landfermann is a fan of this master of swirling energy and transparent precision. One can hear how being a fan along with the visit had musically floored him. As for the title piece, Robert would only reveal that it is composed of three sections that are dedicated to extremely personal experiences that I carry with me every day. This ten-minute-long piece is an intimate trip into the interior, with tonalities that seem to arise from a dream-world, ecstatically building into powerful contours, with plucked and bowed bass lines probing the shadow worlds of sound. Neither does Landfermann air the secrets of the piece, Zehn und Acht. The elegiac voices of the two saxophones develop an unusual expressive power that is both fluid and explosive. The final piece draws on a composition by the great drummer Paul Motian, Arabesque, I have a lot of admiration for Paul Motian, and this is probably my favorite piece of his. The piece was done in one take; with captivating melodies and intense improvisations, the quintet clearly demonstrates its ability to get into the flow on the first go. Throughout, the five play as one, creating atmospheric magic on Robert Landfermann s deep, multilayered CD. 5

6 Discography Robert Landfermann on Pirouet Records As Leader 2016 (PIT3088) As Sideman 2015 Christian Lillinger: Grund (PIT3086) 2015 Pablo Held Trio: Recondita Armonia (PIT3085) 2014 Pablo Held: The Trio meets John Scofield (PIT3078) 2013 Pablo Held: Elders (PIT3075) 2013 Kathrin Pechlof: Imaginarium (PIT3073) 2012 Pablo Held: Trio Live (PIT3066) 2011 Pablo Held: Glow (PIT3053) 2010 Pablo Held: Music (PIT3045) 2008 Pablo Held: Forest of Oblivion (PIT3032) 6 design and photography: Konstantin Kern