Helene Glüxam is a Viennese double bass player, vocalist, and composer. Her solo practice explores the contrast between the double bass’s deep resonance and her high singing voice. She combines minimalist orchestration with unconventional, extended techniques, creating a personal musical language that incorporates elements from modern jazz, free improvisation and melodic song forms. She is also a member of the Kurdish-Iranian-Austrian quintet Kurdophone and the Wednesday Night Prayer Orchestra, inspired by the work of Duke Ellington, Carla Bley, Gil Evans, and, of course, its namesake Charles Mingus.

Nachtvogel (night bird or night owl in German) is Glüxam’s debut solo album. It features eight genre-defying pieces that rely on the tension between the direct, earthy, and deep-toned double bass, including her unconventional, exploratory approach to the bull fiddle, often using the bow to transform the double bass into a percussive instrument, and Glüxam’s more abstract yet fragile and emotionally charged, soaring wordless voice and whistling. The minimalist, economic orchestration stresses the richness of every note and vocal gesture, and intensifies the clear, skeletal lines and grooves of her intimate songs.

Glüxam has an independent sonic vision for the genre-defying role of the double bass in her modern music. The expressive songs of Nachtvogel were inspired by nature imagery but often adopt the syntax and linear progression of alternative-rock songs, with their immediate, dramatic impact. Nachtvogel lasts only 31 minutes, but it is an impressive statement by a promising musician and composer.

Eyal Hareuveni

Helene Glüxam (double bass, vocals)