Parvaneh

Of course, you have already heard all of that: sometime, somewhere, somehow.
Of course, it is again a piano trio, the most traditional, most often used, but also the most common collection of band members grouped together in one category in jazz. The guys constantly have to go out of their way a bit to counter all the prejudice. "The isosceles triangle", "exciting interaction" and "dignified swing": meaninglessness phrases like this really run riot, but also demonstrate a certain helplessness against a phenomenon, which is increasingly numbing in itself.
 
The fact that Thomas Rückert has been going against the tide passionately since the beginning of his career has earned him a lot of recognition and an extraordinary form of attention. The pianist from Cologne searches incessantly far from trodden paths for tones previously unheard, mixes new sounds and does not push to the foreground in an affected manner even at the risk of being perhaps ignored. The 45-year-old could start actually get going immediately based on his talent and skills. However, he prefers to insert moments of silence when most begin to plonk away, creates complex harmonious structures rather than houses of cards, brooding where others swagger. Thomas Rückert does not take from the repertoire of dead music, but instead searches for material that lives beneath the surface. His philosophy of a piano trio runs in opposition to expectations of quickly consumed excitement. Such serenity has matured over many years.
 
A quiet rebel who knows exactly what he wants, including on his new CD "Parvaneh", the Persian word for "butterfly". Rückert has consequently succeeded in consistent updating of his personal fantasy world, which he began to construct in his previous album "Meera" in an artful and subtle manner. The slowness of the unconventional thinker on the piano as well as his partners Reza Askari (bass) and Fabian Arends (drums), which has already become his trademark, develops an unusual form of dynamics in 11 pieces this time, which is more directed inward. It creates spaces in the soul like a mighty river, in which poetry, intensity and freedom can develop fully.
 
The trio pays careful attention to structures and nuances, without wanting to plan everything down to the last detail. The music should evolve from bar to bar in dark areas of sound and reveal its hidden secrets. Rückert thereby does without borrowing from contemporary classical music, but instead presents a bunch of his own works ("Isaac", "Sweet Death", "Giulia", "Morning Rise") as well as compositions by Ennio Morricone ("Jillʼs Theme"), Cole Porter ("Everything I Love"), Paul Motian ("Arabesque") and Jakob Bro ("Swimmer"). The wonderful Reza Askari is once again responsible for the theme of the title song presented in two variations as well as for "The Emptiness At The Heart Of Your Hope".