Republic of Jazz: Niels Klein Tubes and Wires - Life in Times of the Big Crunch (TRAUMTON RECORDS 2017)

Monday, May 1, 2017

Niels Klein Tubes and Wires - Life in Times of the Big Crunch (TRAUMTON RECORDS 2017)

Niels Klein has been challenging conventional genre boundaries for years. His interest in music and sound is much too widely spread, for him to limit himself. Born in Hamburg in 1978 and based in Cologne since studying there, Klein has made a name for himself as a composer and leader of various formations; among them also large ensembles, like the Metropole Orkest, the European Jazz Orchestra or even the EOS Chamber Orchestra. Through this work at the latest, Klein got into the habit of looking beyond the usual horizons.

While Niels Klein has been awarded many prizes for his ingenious compositions and his expressive, colorful playing (ECHO 2015 as saxophonist, WDR Jazz Prize Composition, European Composer Award from the city of Berlin), his quartet Tubes & Wires is going in a slightly different direction than his other projects. Here especially the tension between naturally and electronically created sounds, the encounter of wood and electricity, is explored in a very individual way. The approach of the four experienced jazzers reveals their background, but at the same time displays their knowledge of the quality of clear lines and transparent structures. Of course the quartet can interact spontaneously, especially since the variable pulse is coming from ECHO-award-winner Jonas Burgwinkel and not from a circuit board. Just listen to the piece “Grid”, with its rhythmic finesse. In the music of Tubes & Wires, solos and sounds are equally predominant, the latter often being developed in interplay. That is why Klein doesn’t play any saxophone here but rather concentrates on different clarinets in many different and also some unusual pitch ranges. “Clarinets have a very clear linear sound, which in my opinion is much more suitable for electronic manipulations than any saxophone, “ Klein explains. Even when he multiplies his sound electronically, the synthetic doublet seems very similar to the original.

When Niels Klein composes for Tubes & Wires, he thinks of the participating musicians, of the world of science fiction and of alternative rock. The fact that some “fiddly jazz” still comes out in between - like in “Moonbender”, which exhibits some expressive solos - just adds to the appeal of this unconventional project.

With the second album of Tubes & Wires, Niels Klein once again demonstrates his sense for extraordinary concepts. The dazzling fusion of woodwinds and electronics, the mix of atmospheric, elaborate band sound and gripping improvisations amounts to self-willed and likewise entertaining Sci-Fi-Jazz.