German, Wiesbaden-based bass trombonist-composer Maxine Troglauer thinks that classical music, jazz, and contemporary music are not genres that can be meticulously separated, but an organically interconnected resonant space. Her debut solo album, Hymn, supports such an approach and features a chamber quintet, with American trumpeter, double bass player Robert Lucaciu, keyboard player Julius Windisch, and drummer Wouter Kühne. The album was recorded at the Deutschlandfunk Kammermusiksaal in Cologne in June 2024.
Troglauer has created the album in a pyramidal form, with nine pieces, eight composed by her and one by her Greek-Cypriot, Stockholm-based pianist Joel Lyssarides, with her bass trombone acting as a dramaturgical compass. Hymn begins with her solo («Prologue»), moves to a hauntingly beautiful duo with Lucaciu («Cantus Primus»), and only on the fifth title piece, we first hear the full, hymn-like quintet, before the album concludes with another haunting duo with Lucaciu («Pas à deux») and another fine bass trombone solo («Epilogue»). The recording at the Kammermusiksaal in Cologne highlights the subtle timbres of each instrument and allows them all to unfold and flow organically and thoughtfully in the spirit of chamber music.
Canadian trumpeter Ingrid Jensen contributed liner notes and calls Troglauer’s trombone playing «rich and prophetic». She concludes that Troglauer is «an adventurous composer… with a deeply rooted gorgeous sound, balanced intellectually with creative ideas built to endlessly fly around the world with». When you listen to Troglauer’s ecstatic brass interplay with Evans on the playful «The Chant featuring Peter Evans», the title piece, and the intimate «Prana featuring Peter Evans», you have to agree. Evans counters cleverly Troglauer’s lush, thoughtful, and unhurried playing with urgent, piercing ideas, and pushes her out of her comfort zone into fiery dialogues.
The Fun in the Church label adds another insightful perspective. As the author Marcel Proust once said so beautifully about his profession: «The writer always stands on the threshold between memory and oblivion, a realm in which past and present collide and ultimately form a timeless harmony». Troglauer does the same, but with a bass trombone.
Eyal Hareuveni
Maxine Troglauer (bass trombone), Robert Lucaciu (double bass), Julius Windisch (piano, prepared piano, synthesizer), Wouter Kühne (drums), Peter Evans (trumpet, piccolo trumpet)
