Pablo Held - Piano
Robert Landfermann - Bass
Jonas Burgwinkel - Drums
Beethovenhaus Bonn, February 26, 2011:
1. Forest of Oblivion (Pablo Held)
2. Nostromo/ Korelia/ I Have a Dream/ Music (Held/ Held/ Hancock/ Held)
3. Diana (Wayne Shorter)
4. Directions (Joe Zawinul)
Recorded live at Theater Gütersloh, March 5, 2011:
Nearness/ I Have a Dream/ Corellia/ Directions/ Klartraum/ Phasen/ Forest of Oblivion/ Phase II
"Pablo Held and his fellow musicians present piano trio music that leaves a lasting impression on the audience instead of going for short-dated effects. Despite his young age - when recording his debut album in 2008 he was only 21 years old - Held is already surprisingly confident in his style. His music has a mysterious and introverted quality, but at the same time manages to engage the listener with great tension without being withdrawn. The nearly instinctive sureness in playing with Robert Landfermann and Jonas Burgwinkel only serves to enhance this effect.
Held's first two albums—Forest Of Oblivion (Pirouet, 2008) and Music (Pirouet, 2010)—helped put him on the map, but his latest release Glow (Pirouet, 2011) might go down as his real breakthrough record. Held leaves the trio format behind, though he retains the services of drummer Jonas Burgwinkel and bassist Robert Landfermann, and makes a quantum leap forward with ten far-ranging works for this expansive, ten-person ensemble.
While each piece on Glow resides in its own orbit, certain commonalities exist. First and foremost is the focus on instrumental blending. While Held utilizes the usual mixture of horns and rhythm section that are all-too-common, he also works cello, celesta, harmonium and harp into the mix, expanding the combinatorial possibilities within each piece. He proves to be a brilliant sonic chemist, capable of mixing any instruments in balance, making it difficult on occasion to distinguish one instrument from the other, but easy to revel in the aural concoctions—whether stormy or sublime—of his creation. The second element in play on many of these pieces is the rhythmic-to-arrhythmic duality that arises throughout. Landfermann and Burgwinkel help to constantly reshape and refocus the music, using everything in their arsenal from funk to relative freedom, in a continuous effort to mold Held's music to his liking."
Held's first two albums—Forest Of Oblivion (Pirouet, 2008) and Music (Pirouet, 2010)—helped put him on the map, but his latest release Glow (Pirouet, 2011) might go down as his real breakthrough record. Held leaves the trio format behind, though he retains the services of drummer Jonas Burgwinkel and bassist Robert Landfermann, and makes a quantum leap forward with ten far-ranging works for this expansive, ten-person ensemble.
While each piece on Glow resides in its own orbit, certain commonalities exist. First and foremost is the focus on instrumental blending. While Held utilizes the usual mixture of horns and rhythm section that are all-too-common, he also works cello, celesta, harmonium and harp into the mix, expanding the combinatorial possibilities within each piece. He proves to be a brilliant sonic chemist, capable of mixing any instruments in balance, making it difficult on occasion to distinguish one instrument from the other, but easy to revel in the aural concoctions—whether stormy or sublime—of his creation. The second element in play on many of these pieces is the rhythmic-to-arrhythmic duality that arises throughout. Landfermann and Burgwinkel help to constantly reshape and refocus the music, using everything in their arsenal from funk to relative freedom, in a continuous effort to mold Held's music to his liking."
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