In his second ECM appearance (following a critically-acclaimed duo recording with Markus Stockhausen) pianist Florian Weber leads a strong cast through a programme of his compositions and sketches.  Whether paying tribute to mentor Lee Konitz on “Honestlee”, impressionistically conveying the glittering “Melody of a Waterfall” or generating impactful drama out of fragments of sound on “Butterfly Effect”, Weber continually draws fresh responses from his players.  “I wanted this project to be as open as possible”, he says. “It’s the idea of exploration that is important here, and the differences between the players.” The strong, grounded bass of Linda May Han Oh contrasts strikingly with Nasheet Waits’s fleet, fluid drumming, setting up new contexts for Ralph Alessi’s elegantly inventive trumpet and the leader’s highly creative piano playing.  Lucent Waters was recorded at Studios La Buissonne in the South of France in September 2017, and produced by Manfred Eicher.    

Alba is the premiere recording of trumpeter Markus Stockhausen’s duo with pianist Florian Weber, a formation in existence for some six years now. Though very different in their connections to the language of jazz, both musicians share a deep interest in the process of creative expression: of looking inwards and outwards with intensity at things, for echoes, resonances, insights.

Initially, the duo experimented with electronic sounds, also to create the “opening sounds” that have attracted Stockhausen since he first played with Rainer Brüninghaus’s trio in the early 1980s. But with Weber, the realization soon came that the duo sounded stronger playing acoustically. “Florian has this incredible touch and possibilities to modulate the sound of the piano. There are so many colours available”. Alba is Markus Stockhausen’s first ECM recording since Karta was released in 2000. Florian Weber, a German Jazz Critics prize winner who has played with Albert Mangelsdorff, Lee Konitz and many others, makes his ECM debut here.

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In New York, einer seiner „Biosphären“, hat Florian Weber mit dem Bassisten Thomas Morgan und dem Schlagzeuger Dan Weiss ein Trio formiert, das sich – mit Lionel Loueke als Gast – als kompakter Klangkörper präsentiert: ineinander geschachtelte Rhythmen, verwoben in einen vorwärts treibenden Beat, der bei manchen Stücken – wie bei Webers „Cosmic“ – ins Rocken gerät und Piano und Rhodes sich gegenseitig befeuern. Mit Morgan und Weiss, einem der angesagtesten Drummer der Improvisationsszene des Big Apple, zimmert Weber auch aus Popsongs – Coldplay, Jamiroquai, Clapton – kraftvolle Grooves mit starken Breaks, aber ohne Muskelspiel der Beteiligten: Morgans Solopart etwa bei dem Coldplay-Hit „Clocks“ ist ein Musterbeispiel dafür, wie gut dieses Trio funktioniert. Louekes Gitarre mischt sich bei einigen Songs mit perkussiven Tönen ein. Mittendrin dann gibt’s eine sphärische Einlage, Louekes „Mivakpola“ als Interludium, mit samtenem Gesang und lyrischem Gitarre-Piano-Duett.
(Uli Lemke)

Piano, Electric Piano [Rhodes] – Florian Weber
Double Bass – Thomas Morgan
Drums, Tabla – Dan Weiss
Guitar – Lionel Loueke

Liner Notes – Ralf Dombrowski
Mastered By – Peter Mew
Producer – Matthias Winckelmann
Recorded By – Joe Marciano, Max Gross  December 2011

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