The Silent Jazz Ensemble - Memories of the Future (2022) [Hi-Res]

It all started in 1984 - with a daring idea: Three flutists founded a jazz trio! No bass, no drums, no piano. Helmut Engel-Musehold, Gebhard Ullmann and Volker Heller played purely acoustic - and called their project "The Silent Jazz Ensemble."

Yet the three were not purists; they rather experimented and were open to many styles. At concerts, percussionists played along, and keyboards and saxophones were used. The distinctive line-up for the years 1988-1996 was then complete with Martin Lillich on the bass and Ulrich Moritz as a percussionist. It was this line-up – along with various guests – that the CDs "Silent Jazz Ensemble" (1989), "Kashina" (1991) and "Birds of Passage" (1996) were recorded and released on Biber Records.

After a period of rest, Helmut revived the "Silent Jazz Ensemble" in 2010 as a trio that would now include both bass (Roberto Badoglio) and drums (Ray Kaczynski). The result was the live-recorded CD "Nightwalker" published in 2014, which sounds rougher and pays greater tribute to improvisation than the earlier albums.

After winning the Berlin studio competition once again in 2019, a new and still ongoing phase of the "Silent Jazz Ensemble" started when Helmut and Roberto decided to relaunch the project: On the one hand, this contains a return to sound ideals of the early days and is therefore reminiscent of these times. Fittingly, Ulrich re-joined as a representative of the “old guard” of the early years. On the other, Helmut at the flutes and saxophones as well as Roberto on the bass were also joined by Simon Rainer (guitars) as a new member. In that combination, they jointly prepared and developed the new album "Memories Of The Future," for which studio recordings were accomplished in 2021. Hence, after some fine-tuning work to finalize it, Unit Records could release the album in 2022.