Ergo Jazz Session vol 12: Tingvall Trio
Martin Tingvall comes from Sweden – hence the Nordic folk melodies here and there in the trio’s collective improvisations. The Swedish-German-Cuban group also values rock music’s rhythmic simplicity – that winning combination has won them the title “Best German Jazz Group”.
Tingvall Trio create melodies so beautiful that they would be hard to trust if they weren’t so disarmingly authentic. They alternate with eruptive flashes of energy in which Jazz and Rock are cheerily blended. The music suggests images almost instantaneously, whether it’s Scandinavian landscapes shrouded in fog, waves crashing in the surf or lifelike character studies.
The TINGVALL TRIO was founded in 2003 by the Swedish pianist and composer Martin Tingvall. The pieces composed by him are characterized by catchy melodies which sweep along not only jazz lovers quickly and tend to stay with you long afterwards. Not only the technical ability of the musicians carries away. The three Hamburgers play Scandinavian jazz with Cuban reminiscences and an easy rock'n'roll attitude. In the expressive ballads also Nordic melancholy and liveliness resonate, however. Listening closely one can recognize traditional Swedish folk songs as one of the elements of the compositions.
The trio from Hamburg receives 2010 Germanies biggest jazz music award JAZZ ECHO as "Domestic Ensemble Of The Year" .
Over the last two years the Tingvall Trio has played itself straight to the top of young European Jazz ensembles, groups with no fear of presenting Jazz while making contact with the tools of Pop music. The result is that the Tingvall Trio is winning over a completely new listening audience for Jazz. Having grown beyond the Jazz scene in Hamburg with “Skagerrak”, their debut in 2006, the follow-up album in 2007, “Norr”, allowed them to reach for the stars in Germany. The international breakthrough came at last with “Vattensaga” in 2009, and not only because the ensemble received an ECHO JAZZ award in 2010 as “Best German Jazz Ensemble”: The ceremonies were followed by countless appearances ranging from Madrid to Moscow, Amsterdam to Zurich, and even Dubai. Tingvall Trio delighted the crowds at renowned festivals in Berlin, Stockholm and Warsaw, then ‘tripped the lights fantastic’ on a 14-day tour across Spain. The spring of 2011 saw the trio onstage at South Africa’s major concert halls in Cape Town, Johannesburg and Pretoria.
Compared many a time with the legendary E.S.T. due to the exuberant energy and clarity of their music, first and foremost it’s the breathtaking ensemble work with which pianist Martin Tingvall sets off time and again on rollercoaster rides between poetry and party together with the unstoppable rhythm section comprised of bass player Omar Rodriguez Calvo and drummer Jürgen Spiegel. “With the well-oiled Formula One engine of a Ferrari” (Finance Week, South Africa), Martin Tingvall continues to be responsible for all of the trio’s compositions. Melodies so beautiful that they would be hard to trust if they weren’t so disarmingly authentic alternate with eruptive flashes of energy in which Jazz and Rock are cheerily blended. Unlike E.S.T., the distinctive factor is that TT makes exclusive use of acoustic means to create an unmistakeable sound all their own. Music by the Tingvall Trio generates images almost instantaneously, regardless of whether it’s Scandinavian landscapes shrouded in fog, waves crashing in the surf or lifelike character studies.
“VÄGEN” (‘The Way’), the new album, retraces the trio’s impressions on the way taken over the last few years. For example, “Sevilla”, the opening track, took birth on the extended tour of Spain in 2010, and “Shejk Schröder” (‘Schröder the Sheik’) could easily provide the backdrop for a camel race. The title tune, “Vägen” is one of those compositions where you literally hear the stardust swirl, offering space for reflection and looking inward at what was, what is and what just might come to pass. The emotions driven equally strongly by “Den Ensamme Mannen” (‘The Lonely Man’), for instance, were set to music after reading a novel by Swedish bestseller Hakan Nesser, and with the hymnal “Efter Livet” (‘After Life’) Martin Tingvall outlines a different path that each of us will have to take when the time comes. e Tingvall Trio was founded in 2003 by Swedish pianist and composer Martin Tingvall and consists of Tingvall on piano, German drummer Jürgen Spiegel and Cuban bassist Omar Rodriguez Calvo.
Thanks go to:
