After the “musical overload” had evaporated from the convolutions of the brain and ears with a glass of wine, a beer, or another cold beverage, and the reset button had been pressed, one could return to the concert hall relatively unprepared to embark on another musical journey.
Cuban pianist Omar Sosa, trumpeter Joo Kraus, and South American drummer Diego Pinera took the stage to take the audience on this multifaceted musical journey.
The magical musical journey to hip-hip beats and vibes
Just as the almost always smiling Sosa strode across the stage to his piano, the spell was broken, and a good mood flooded the hall. As always in an extravagant outfit, Sosa also made a striking visual impression.
In contrast, trumpeter Kraus seemed rather introverted and reserved. Sosa immediately takes command. Kraus and Pineira remain discreetly in the background, accompanying the piano playing with soft tones and beats.
Pineira gently caresses his drum skins, letting his cymbals sound softly, while Kraus breathes into the trumpet rather than blows. The structural design already offers a certain ingenuity, with drum sounds, polyrhythms, and hip hop beats combining to create groovy vibes.
The flow that develops between the three musicians is palpable from the very beginning. Kraus has an enormous musical range, which he is able to fully embrace this evening.
Almost twenty years ago, he founded the duo Tab Two with Kraan bassist Helmut Hattler and released three commercially successful albums.
Years later, his first encounter with South American music came with the album Sueno, which he recorded in Havana, Cuba. And so it’s no surprise that Kraus is the perfect musical “missing link” between a Cuban pianist and a Uruguayan drummer.
But sometimes Kraus overdoes his electronic experiments a bit, and one wishes for a bit more “normal” trumpet playing. Sometimes less would have been more.
Rhythm is always at play
But the rhythm is always perfectly orchestrated by Diego Pineira, who displays incredible creativity in his short solo.
At times he pounded his drums with powerful barbarism, only to resume playing with a loving thump seconds later.
After the devil’s drummer Niggli, as vocalist Schaerer called his fellow musician an hour ago, Pineira, along with Curt Cress, Wolfi Schmidt, Triluk Gurtu, and Wolfgang Haffner, is another drumming highlight at the Jazz Days in the Theaterhaus.
The trio’s music feels like a continuous musical meditation loop, occasionally interrupted by Sosa’s dynamic piano eruptions, which rarely happens. Everything is quite chilled and smooth, as the saying goes.
Towards the end of the concert, Sosa finally encourages the audience to sing along and clap rhythmically, which is reasonably successful. Most of the listeners seem so immersed in their chilled-out sound meditation that it’s difficult to be active.
Nevertheless, after almost three hours of high-quality music interspersed with a great deal of diversity, the audience leaves the theater satisfied and relaxed. Chilled, in fact!
Joo Kraus (trumpet, electronics)
Omar Sosa (piano)
Diego Piñera (percussion)
