What a pleasure it is to see another outcome coming from those two well known to me musicians ,long time friends and collaborators. Both of them are also most fresh and well recognised personalties on the German music scene.
This set up however is much different that any other before. First of all it is the 1st duo session those two recorded together. Secondly also conceptually, in regard to the fact it was registered in Canada, some touch of melancholy had been in-printed into this project.
Set contains 10 tracks, eight of which are artists’ originals and remaining two are tributes to artists they both admire and cover music written by them First is Kenny Wheeler (For Jan). Furthermore Joni Mitchel (A case of You). Worm and melancholic trumpeter’s tone shows long time admiration for his master and these inspirations remain present in his music today. Joni, equally demands similar attention from anyone who values highly poetic virtues in her songs lyrics.
In fact it all took place just a jump from where she was born and grown. In addition both artists learnt making a trip there, that she remains completely unknown and forgotten. That experience significantly added ingredients to the touch of an isolation that this music possess.
Strike of the nature’s vastness in its unrestricted glory makes a main motive of this sensual dialogue. Cover picture equally speaks for itself. One can imagine the feeling of an open space. The scale of the mountains around. And the quietness which surrounds you once you leave our noisy civilisation with its constant urban traffic.
Even the way that music sounds in an open air and fades undisturbed. That describes the best to me the level of concentration there. Even without pointing particular tunes. There is no rush. The notes are all well respected and there is a lot of silence and reverie.
Tune like Calgary, which I remember from Sternal’s Symphonic Society I reviewed for you earlier this year have completely different feeling. I can sense the higher level of meditation in the conversation with trumpeter. There is no tension at all. Every single note comes so enforced that an overall balance of the piece appears completely different. They both communicate really close here and are listening to each other carefully. Sternal is exquisite accompanier, and he puts wonderful sonic carpentry under trumpeters invocations. On the other side the way Koster sounds here is mesmerizing too. He controls his expression beautifully and sounds fully and reach all the time, with the same blossom on the long notes as well as on the edgy blasts. Just listen to his trumpet on wonderful Lullaby to understand what I mean.
Pieces like Into the Wild and Prayer have an incredible emotional density and inevitable fire-power I would say. I simply can not stop listening to them all over again. There must be some therapeutic properties spell into this music and it makes me immediately feeling great.