Copyright: Patrick Essex

STEFAN KARL SCHMID | MUSE

With "Muse" Stefan Karl Schmid releases only one year after the octet album "Pyjama" another recording that puts him as a saxophonist and improviser in the center of the action. Personally and musically closely interwoven with its predecessor, seven original compositions as well as an Icelandic folk song and the Warne Marsh title "Background music" can be found here. Together they form a multi-faceted, nuanced body of work.

Once again David Helm on double bass and Thomas Sauerborn on drums are on hand, who together with Schmid elicit an intoxicating energy and diversity from the saxophone trio lineup. Lovingly fleshed out and colored, they maneuver through complex forms and harmonic structures with great creativity and soloistic virtuosity. In doing so, they effortlessly oscillate between free, unbound soundscapes and powerfully driving passages.

Schmid emphasizes the inclusion of the individual voices. Thus Shannon Barnett (trombone), Bastian Stein (trumpet) and Pablo Held (piano) complement the trio to a quartet in selected works that are carefully composed in advance for this purpose. The players thus become muses, correlatively and selflessly shaping and mutually interpenetrating the compositional and interactive shadings. Once again Schmid confirms his role as a farsighted bandleader and impresses with his emotional and virtuoso saxophone playing.