Philipp Van Endert Trio - Presence (2014)

“Presence” is the title of guitar player/composer Philipp van Endert´s latest production. It accentuates the “here and now” as never before. Recorded during a tour in 2013, this production is the reflection of the beauty, intensity and intimacy of a band on tour. The band takes the listeners on a journey across sparkling sound streams and quietly flowing ballads and guides them with fascinating poetry and ease through these musical soundscapes.

After three highly appreciated CDs (including a nomination for the Deutscher Schallplatten-preis), “Presence” brings home the message of how PVE3 has been winning jazz fans´ hearts for the last ten years. The band has truly evolved into an important voice of the scene. With his fourth trio CD Philipp van Endert creates another milestone of his straightforward route to the Who´s who of German and European Jazz guitar players. He is a truly outstanding player with an infallible sense for the multi-facetted sound potential and scope of his instrument which includes not only a very own balladic and pointed string touch but also a characteristic way of playing up-tempo compositions. His songs continue to wallow in fine harmonic structures and delicate melody lines. Complex rhythmical unisono passages face cunning solos. With his compositions, his wayward affecting adaptations of standards and his outstanding guitar technique Philipp van Endert is moving right up in front of contemporary Jazz trends.

Bass player André Nendza and drummer Kurt Billker are his congenial and equal trio partners who have played with him since the beginning. They are not only van Endert´s well attuned foundation, they also weave outstanding solos into the compositions. “… this idea of greatness, this idea of maturity and reflection, without being crude or bland…” as the Jazzpodium accurately stated for his recent recordings.