A trio with a difference maybe, but one that yields many rewards for the curious and well worth checking out.
Selmabird Records
Nicole Johänntgen (alto & soprano saxophone, voice); Jon Hansen (tuba); David Stauffacher (percussion, drums)
Recorded July 29 & 30, 2024
Second album from German saxophonist Nicole Johänntgen’s Labyrinth trio and in retaining the same musicians the development in the sound and concept of the group has grown significantly with the altoist continuing to discover how to get the maximum out of the music with such an unusual instrumentation.
Maybe this is just how Johänntgen hears the bassline with the brass bass of the tuba taking her back to the early days of New Orleans jazz yet with the flexibility that a musician as skilled as Jon Hansen can bring to such an apparently cumbersome instrument the music moves in a fluid and relaxed manner
How Johänntgen makes this work within the framework of her compositions is by abiding by the less is more rule. The arrangements for the trio are often pared down to the basics and tuned finely to make the compositions work. If there is the impression that the lead voice is that of the saxophone, then that fits the more familiar sax, bass, drums line up that we now take for granted. What makes this music so beguiling is how the saxophonist weaves her alto sound in and out of the tuba and percussion and the sheer expressiveness of her tone.
Johänntgen’s studies for the saxophone take in a multitude of techniques not necessarily deployed in more straight ahead settings, and it is the fine attention to detail in each note in terms of placement, dynamic and nuance that brings the music to life. This trait is immediately evident in the lovely lilting melody of ‘With Love’ played over gentle percussion and tuba, with Johänntgen’s wordless vocals occasionally to be heard faintly in the mix as if accompanying the melody line.
‘Elephant Walk’ gently sets the tempo with a lazy gait laid down by tuba for the alto, and Nicole is heard in an excellent sax and percussion dialogue before stepping out with her own impressive excursion in a solo that is full of delightful little twists; while Stauffacher’s clever use of percussion introduces ‘Bluebird’ in which the alto explores long notes, space and use of intervals in a solo that refuses to be rushed.
Livening proceedings up is the wonderful ‘Pandeiro, Sing It Baby!’, with the tuba and percussion giving the saxophonist a solid basis from which to develop her solo. It is this variety within what appears to be narrow parameters that sustain the trio over the course of a full album from the ballads, gentle tempos to the lively and infectious ‘Muchas Gracias’ and the tremendous ‘In Honour of Arthur Blythe’ with superb solos from both alto and tuba.
A trio with a difference maybe, but one that yields many rewards for the curious and well worth checking out.
