Andi Voelk Quartet
When thinking of guitar/piano quartets one realises quickly how rare an article these are. Historically speaking, this is easy enough to understand: Being reduced to a merely supporting role as 'the rhythm group' in the more traditional varieties of jazz, the guitar and the piano usually went separate ways when playing in hornless formations. But naturally – and over time – there were exceptions: John Abercrombie and his famous quartet with Richie Beirach comes to mind as well as – well – the first edition of the Pat Metheny Group. And in fact, Andi Voelk's new quartet sits well between the two musically. Having the knack of composing beautiful, yet never kitschy melodies like the latter while being sonically more explorative and formally more open like the former, the only 22-year-old Voelk definitely has some potential to become one of the leading voices of the melodic jazz of European extraction, steeped in rock, jazz and classical music alike. His teaming up with the seasoned and well-travelled pianist Laurenz Gemmer, whose playing knows neither stylistic boundaries nor technical confines, and the formidable drum / bass unit of Thomas Sauerborn and Kenn Hartwig forms a band which has it all: space, groove, inventiveness, energy – you name it.
Their new record, 'Dreamsuite', encompasses a vast variety of moods, ranging from dreamy bossas of the kind Arto Lindsay would love to breathe some tender subtleties over to free-flowing, heavy beaters of the sort that whip crowds into a real frenzy. The record's sonic coherence and artistic maturity is mind-boggling and definitely owes to the particular chemistry between the members of the band who have, in other formations, travelled as far as China together. 'Dreamsuite' is a four-star album that sticks out of the flood of new releases with its laid back mood and its fresh and crisp sound, stripped bare of any unnecessary embellishment. And the Andi Vølk Quartet is a band that has all of the heat, drama and high-quality improvising that makes a jazzband worth listening.
Lars Manzeschke
Their new record, 'Dreamsuite', encompasses a vast variety of moods, ranging from dreamy bossas of the kind Arto Lindsay would love to breathe some tender subtleties over to free-flowing, heavy beaters of the sort that whip crowds into a real frenzy. The record's sonic coherence and artistic maturity is mind-boggling and definitely owes to the particular chemistry between the members of the band who have, in other formations, travelled as far as China together. 'Dreamsuite' is a four-star album that sticks out of the flood of new releases with its laid back mood and its fresh and crisp sound, stripped bare of any unnecessary embellishment. And the Andi Vølk Quartet is a band that has all of the heat, drama and high-quality improvising that makes a jazzband worth listening.
Lars Manzeschke
