Актуальный джаз

Morricone Stories

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

SALT

From Tobias Meinhart's "The Painter" (4/30/21) on Sunnyside Records.

The creation of music shares much in common with creation in the visual arts. Both musicians and visual artists speak of and deal in colors, hues and textures in their compositional processes. Saxophonist/composer Tobias Meinhart has developed near synesthetic visualizations as he performs and hears music. His new recording, The Painter, presents his recent work of diverse, brilliant pieces meant to brighten the world’s canvas. 

The German born Meinhart has engrained himself in the New York City jazz scene over the past decade. His beautiful tone and catholic tastes have allowed the saxophonist to fit into an abundance of musical settings. Meinhart’s vision and thoughtful composing have attracted top-flight collaborators since his professional beginnings. 

The past year has provided a time of introspection and development for many. Meinhart is no exception. He found himself especially drawn to his friend, Igor Sokol, a painter. The two spoke of art and music, listened and appreciated and collected inspiration from the events that were affecting the world. Meinhart was drawn to the idea of composing and improvising as a sort of aural painting and he began to see colors and pictures when he reached a certain zone while playing.

With much to think about in craft and inspiration, Meinhart began to compose pieces that would be recorded on The Painter. The inspiration for the pieces drew from a number of sources: from the COVID-19 pandemic and the Black Lives Matter movement to meteors and Michael Jordan, all presenting hopeful messages of healing and progress. 

The ensemble that Meinhart assembled to record these new pieces consists of a number of the saxophonist’s favored collaborators, including pianist Eden Ladin, bassist Matt Penman and drummer Obed Calvaire. Since his recent release and collaboration with Kurt Rosenwinkel, Berlin People (Sunnyside 2018), Meinhart has been drawn to the sound of guitar, thus the addition of his neighbor and friend, Charles Altura. These musicians, in this and similar configurations, have been the saxophonist’s regular associates on stages like the 55 Bar and Birdland in New York City over the past two years. 

The frontline is completed by Meinhart’s longtime mentor and friend, trumpeter Ingrid Jensen. The two first met in Austria in 2003 at a jazz workshop, Jensen allowing the young saxophonist an opportunity to sit in with her band. They remained in contact in the subsequent years, performing together when opportunities presented themselves.

The Painter

White Bear

Tobias Meinhart - White Bear

From Alex Kautz's "Where We Begin" (7/5/24) on Sunnyside Records.

As drummer Alex Kautz sees it, there are two parts to his musical brain: the Brazilian side, developed while growing up in São Paolo, and the jazz side, which came later, opening his ears to a wide world of musical possibilities. Those two approaches developed separately for Kautz and were initially fueled by different inspirations. Upon moving to New York City in 2007, though, he found a musical community that encouraged both, soon pushing him to new heights. “New York makes you find your uniqueness as a musician,” Kautz explains. “You really need to find a voice to fit. There are so many people playing so well and so many artists with their own ideas.”

Kautz’s approach to drumming now manifests his popular and traditional Brazilian influences and his jazz experience—steeped in foundational greats like Roy Haynes, Elvin Jones, and Tony Williams—as well as the intrepid melding of those worlds found in the music of Airto Moreira. His work as a side musician reflects his varied interests, and since embedding himself in the New York scene, Kautz has landed gigs drumming alongside artists including Tim Ries, Magos Herrera, Nilson Matta, Lenny Andrade, Fabio Gouvea, Chico Pinheiro, Robert Rodriguez, Steve Wilson and Helio Alves among others.

On Where We Begin, the drummer’s debut recording as a bandleader, Kautz has assembled a band that includes saxophonist John Ellis, pianist Helio Alves, bassist Joe Martin, and his frequent collaborator Chico Pinheiro on guitar. Vocalist Magos Herrera—with whom Kautz has worked extensively—serves as co-producer and contributes vocals on two tracks. Together, the ensemble explores the musical common ground between New York’s jazz and Brazilian musical communities. “Sometimes it goes more jazz and sometimes more Brazilian,” he says of the record. “Without changing anyone’s sound, we found a way to play within the different influences of different cultures.” He attributes this to each of these veteran musicians’ “openness” and adds, “Within the jazz language, everything can come together.”

Tobias Meinhart - White Bear

Sunnyside Records

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