Jazz at JAKI: Julian Hesse Trio "Troubleshooter"

The Munich trumpeter Julian Hesse has made a name for himself in recent years as a technically adept and "incredibly stylistically confident" (SZ) improviser and sought-after soloist. Now, with his latest album Troubleshooter, he presents his idea of a trio without a harmony instrument and does what he does best: telling stories in an instant.

The fact that Julian Hesse is looking for challenges and new paths has been clear at least since his melody-centered and atmospheric debut album Wheel of Life as a duo and "deep soul relationship" (Rondo Magazine) with pianist Stephan Plecher - released by HBGS Blue, based at the legendary MPS Studio, and highly praised by the press (Album of the Year, Bayerischer Rundfunk).

Now, with his newly formed trio and a new program, he focuses on rhythmic interaction, further explores the art of playing together and creates an independent sound that benefits equally from formal rigour and free-spiritedness.

The renewed collaboration with "Pirouet" mastermind Jason Seizer is more self-confident and riskier than the previous album, which certainly has to do with a certain maturity that Hesse has been able to acquire in recent years. Through extensive studio and performance work, as well as his extensive activities as a teacher, Hesse's sound, vocabulary and accuracy have clearly gained in profile. If you follow his art of improvisation, you can actually hear a composer at work. Because troubleshooting is exactly that: looking for and finding ways and solutions in the moment.

On a total of 12 pieces, the perfectly coordinated trio with Slovakian bassist Peter Čudek and drummer Sebastian Wolfgruber creates a kind of hypermodern hard bop. Čudek and Wolfgruber in particular, successful worldwide with LBT and Trio Elf, are real experts when it comes to trio music and more than make up for the lack of a harmonizing instrument with their stringent interplay. With regular nods to the jazz tradition, the three musicians create an atmospheric arc that seems nonchalant thanks to their inspired and precise interplay and yet goes into the depth of detail that fans of improvised music desire.

The compositions - mainly penned by Hesse and Čudek - provide an ideal breeding ground for the bubbling art of improvisation, which rejects any superficiality and increases in urgency with every note thanks to a great willingness to take risks.