Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Trio Elf: Music Box Music

9

Trio Elf: Music Box Music

By

View read count
Trio Elf: Music Box Music
German pianist Walter Lang leads something of a double life, musically. On the one hand, he fronts standard piano trios with an impressionist bent—in the mode of a Marc Copland—on recordings like Softly As In A Morning Sunrise (Hagel Neyer Records, 2005) and Eurasia (M & I Records, 2009); on another hand, he heads up Trio ELF, a group with very modernized approach to the piano trio format, one that incorporates synth-like grooves and dance club beats, and staccato hip hop rhythms.

Music Box Music is the group's sixth album, and in keeping with the precision aspect of actual music boxes—eighteenth versions of the contraptions were crafted by Swiss watchmakers—ELF's sound incorporates an often machine-like rhythmic precision, due in large part due to the inputs of bassist Peter Cudek and drummer Gerwin Eisenhauer.

Though precise, the sounds of music boxes were/are delicately pretty sounds. Lang produces that atmosphere on the opening of "Danca Da Fita," with a light plinking of the keys on a deliciously coy melody, before the bass and drum come in to supply a relentless momentum. On "Stadium," Lang opens with deep, bell tolling notes that shift—with the entry of his band mates—into a dance club groove.

Unrelenting, inflexible rhythms are often backdrops for Lang's gentler, more pastoral, more impressionist side. "Emptiness" begins with a brooding piano reverie, backed by softly mechanistic, D.J.-esque brushwork from Eisenhauer. "Tripolis" features Lang laying down a catchy melody, then changing gears to slip into an electric music box, plugged-in-at-the-club trio mode. "Salutation To the Sun" radiates hope, optimism.

Music Box Music walks a line, with perfect balance, between the modernistic, hyper-rhythmic piano trio, and the more lyrical, traditional side of the format.

Track Listing

Emptiness; Prelude To ELF Police; The ELF Police; Tripolis; Salutation To The Sun; Usain; Lullaby For A Weakling Child; Danca Da Fita; Suq.

Personnel

Walter Lang: piano; Gerwin Eisenhauer: drums; Petr Cudex: bass.

Album information

Title: Music Box Music | Year Released: 2017 | Record Label: Enja Records

Tags

Comments


PREVIOUS / NEXT




Support All About Jazz

Get the Jazz Near You newsletter All About Jazz has been a pillar of jazz since 1995, championing it as an art form and, more importantly, supporting the musicians who make it. Our enduring commitment has made "AAJ" one of the most culturally important websites of its kind, read by hundreds of thousands of fans, musicians and industry figures every month.

Go Ad Free!

To maintain our platform while developing new means to foster jazz discovery and connectivity, we need your help. You can become a sustaining member for as little as $20 and in return, we'll immediately hide those pesky ads plus provide access to future articles for a full year. This winning combination vastly improves your AAJ experience and allow us to vigorously build on the pioneering work we first started in 1995. So enjoy an ad-free AAJ experience and help us remain a positive beacon for jazz by making a donation today.

More

Tramonto
John Taylor
Ki
Natsuki Tamura / Satoko Fujii
Duality Pt: 02
Dom Franks' Strayhorn
The Sound of Raspberry
Tatsuya Yoshida / Martín Escalante

Popular

Old Home/New Home
The Brian Martin Big Band
My Ideal
Sam Dillon
Ecliptic
Shifa شفاء - Rachel Musson, Pat Thomas, Mark Sanders
Lado B Brazilian Project 2
Catina DeLuna & Otmaro Ruíz

Get more of a good thing!

Our weekly newsletter highlights our top stories, our special offers, and upcoming jazz events near you.

Install All About Jazz

iOS Instructions:

To install this app, follow these steps:

All About Jazz would like to send you notifications

Notifications include timely alerts to content of interest, such as articles, reviews, new features, and more. These can be configured in Settings.