Joe Krieg Quartet - Beau Gosse (2023)

The melody is always in the foreground for the guitarist Joe Krieg, and he also composed eight songs for his new album "Beau Gosse" in this sense, whose melodies should remain present to the extent possible in the ears of the listeners. But first one should explain the title of the album for all those who do not speak French; Krieg's mother is French and he grew up bilingual. "The title stands for 'beautiful child' in slang," the guitarist explained. "My deceased cousin, to whom the song is dedicated, used to greet us as children with this expression. I didn't really understand it at the time, but instead I thought he said 'gros gosse'', i.e., 'fat child'. We cleared up the misunderstanding later. I wrote the melody in memory of him."

Krieg recorded the album with his quartet, which has included drummer Uli Kleideiter since time immemorial, but the band also has a new addition with Simon Ort on bass. "I grew up musically with Uli, and we have been playing together since our youth," Krieg recalled. "On the other hand, Simon is new to the band because I like his sound and his way of thinking about pieces." Matthias Bublath plays the piano, and he recently released the album "Orange Sea" with his own trio. The bandleader does not like doing without a second harmonic instrument. "When I write my pieces, I always hear the sound of a piano," Joe said, "probably because I can play a little myself. That's why I always have a pianist in the band."

A guest joined the quartet in most of the songs, the trombonist Nils Wogram, who has long been one of the most influential European musicians on his instrument as a winner of the renowned Albert Mangelsdorff Prize and whose fluid style fits well with the music of Joe Krieg. "I always try to discover something new," the guitarist explained his philosophy. "On the last album I worked with a complete wind instruments section, which sounded very powerful. But I generally like the idea of another soloist as a guest. At the jazz festival in Wurzburg, I approached Nils Wogram because I thought he was a good fit for my pieces."

Krieg's subtle and sparkling style contrasts superbly with Wogram's trombone, which can be heard in the unison passages of "In Tricle Finie", for example. Wogram's dramaturgically cleverly designed solo is then accompanied by the guitarist with soft-sounding high tones, while the rhythm group forges ahead powerfully. In the ballads "Brother Jacques" and "Sugarboat", the band finally mutates into a quintet, in which all cogs set in motion by the five musicians mesh perfectly. Another Jacques is dedicated to the short "Prelude", which introduces the sweeping and impressive "Music Superspreader". "I had various mentors on my way to jazz," Joe Krieg stated, who grew up near Wurzburg. "Jaques was a connoisseur of classical music and a big Bach fan, with whom I spent a lot of time. That's why I dedicated this piece to him, which sounds very much like Bach." With "Beau Gosse" ,the band of Joe Krieg has succeeded in an album that has conquered a cultivated soundscape with stylish taste assurance. "It is just as important to move freely within your own musical boundaries and to expand and re-position them again and again as it is to accept and embrace those boundaries," the bandleader said. The guitarist has come a bit closer to this goal on his new album with his varied and dynamic music.