He may be better known internationally to ECM fans for his participation in the pan-cultural Cyminology, but German pianist Benedikt Jahnel has been devoting just as much attention to his multinational trio featuring Spanish bassist Antonio Miguel and American drummer Owen Howard. Releasing the trio's debut in 2008 on Viennese guitarist Wolfgang Muthspiel's Material Records imprint, Jahnel's work with Max.Bab has rendered superficial comparisons to Esbjorn Svensson, but if the world is looking for someone to pick up the mantle left by the late Swedish pianist, it'll have to keep on looking. Beyond being relatively young and leading a piano trio with a strong penchant for lyricism, there's little else with which to compare Jahnel's trio and e.s.t.
A truth already apparent on Modular Concepts (Material, 2008), but even clearer with Equilibrium, the trio's long overdue follow-up and ECM debut. If anything, there are some similarities in Jahnel's approach to fellow label mate, pianist Nik Bärtsch and Ronin, most recently heard on Live (ECM, 2012). But if Bärtsch and Jahnel share a certain rigor when it comes to rhythmic constructs and, more importantly, rhythmic placement, Jahnel is more intrinsically driven by song form—even, as is the case with the opening "Gently Understood," if he takes a long time getting there. Through the first three of its five minutes, Jahnel's trio collectively explores a modal, pedal toned vamp, building to an extemporaneous climax only to fade to a near-whisper and the introduction of the pianist's chordal theme—albeit one where Howard both holds down the form and explores further, a tasteful meshing of delicate cymbals and reverb-drenched, rim shot-driven drums.
What gives Jahnel's trio some of its personality is the way that it plays with conventional roles. Howard—whose 20-year career has included collaborations with everyone from saxophonist Chris Potter to guitarist Ben Monder—is, himself, a deeply melodic player; one who can, at times, leave more rhythmic concerns to Jahnel. In the opening minutes of Equilibrium's longest track, "Moorland & Hill Land," Jahnel's pulsating exploration of the lower register of his piano almost blends into a single voice with Miguel's resonant arco. Ultimately unfolding into a spare, Erik Satie-like passage, Jahnel gradually shifts to an arpeggio-driven piano a cappella that finally, eight minutes in, leads to a full trio treatment. Filled with unrelenting forward motion, Jahnel shifts that very propulsion between left and right hands, while Miguel's spare anchor supports Howard's strong thematic foil for Jahnel.
If Jahnel's trio often operates in keyboardist Joe Zawinul's long-held "nobody solos/everybody solos" ethos, that doesn't mean there aren't shining moments for its members. The gently majestic "Sacred Silence" is defined largely by Miguel, and the bassist's strong allegiance to motivic development also features near the end of "Moorland," while Howard is the clear melodist alongside Jahnel in the latter half of "Augmented." It's all about embedding the piano trio tradition into a new context where things aren't always as they seem. With Equilibrium, Jahnel has carved his own evocative space on a label that may seem loaded down with piano trios, but for whom, in the case of Jahnel, there's clearly room for one more. - John Kelman
A first ECM session for this very conversational trio led by German pianist Jahnel, with Spanish bassist Antonio Miguel and Brooklyn-based Canadian drummer Owen Howard. Jahnel's parallel life is as a maths academic, and – though he doesn't like simplistic comparisons of his two worlds – he's undoubtedly an advanced investigator of provocative rhythmic numbers-games. Subtle grooves figure extensively, from the dense, guitar-like bass strummings that open the set, to the faintly sinister tapping of damped, low-end piano notes that build to a percussion-powered finale on Moorland and Hill Land. The set is full of eloquent, poppy melodies: the insistent hook of Wrangel builds out of airy beginnings much as the late Esbjorn Svensson or Michael Wollny would do, while the quietly playful Hidden Beauty sounds like an accompaniment for an ethereal episode in a ballet. The title track builds an Avishai Cohen-like folk theme over Miguel's unison line and Howard's typical mix of cymbal tickles and light drum-hits. - John Fordham / theguardian.com
Benedikt Jahnel's day job may be as a researcher in mathematics at Ruhr university in Bochum, Germany, but he has also had time to accumulate an impressive curriculum vitae in jazz after having studied at the University of Arts in Berlin and selected as a member of the National Youth Jazz Orchestra, directed by Peter Herbolzheimer. His performing credits include the likes of Phil Woods, John Abercrombie, Dave Liebman, Wolfgang Muthspiel, and Charlie Mariano, plus his own trio, and as a member of Cyminology, Das Cactus 6tett and the quartet Max Bab. A thoughtful and convincing pianist on his ECM debut as a leader (he had previously appeared on ECM as a member of Cymin Samawatie's group Cyminology on Saburi in 2011), as well as an accomplished composer, this 32-year old pianist seems to have Jahnel does not feel the need to flourish his technical accomplishments and is content for technique work in service of the composition. The centrepiece of the album is an almost 14-minute composition ‘Moorland & Hill Land’, which gradually unfurls through varying textures and dynamics and unhurriedly makes its point, while perhaps his most impressive composition is ‘Sacred Silence’. - Stuart Nicholson / jazzwise.com
Tracks
1. Gently Understood
2. Sacred Silence
3. Moorland & Hill Land
4. Wrangel
5. Augmented
6. Hidden Beauty
7. Equilibrium
ANTONIO MIGUEL double bass
OWEN HOWARD drums
BENEDIKT JAHNEL piano
Music composed by Benedikt Jahnel
Recorded At Auditorio Radiotelevisione Svizzera, Lugano
ECM Records – ECM 2251 (Germany)