Florian Weber

Florian Weber: Imaginary Cycle

by Alberto Bazzurro
November 29, 2024

Una musica molto composta--nella doppia accezione--suddivisa su quattro suites centrali più un prologo e un epilogo, è quanto ci giunge da questo nuovo lavoro, certamente ambizioso, del quarantasettenne pianista e compositore tedesco Florian Weber, già allievo di John Taylor a Colonia, Joanne Brackeen e Paul Bley a Boston, Richie Beirach e Lee Konitz a New York. Il contesto, qui, è in realtà squisitamente classico contemporaneo, nel segno di una scrittura molto rispettosa delle tradizioni--non certo di rottura, o ...

Matthieu Bordenave: The Blue Land

by Mike Jurkovic
February 7, 2024

Getting across the great open land beneath big sky country is full of epic moments. The Blue Land, French saxophonist Matthieu Bordenave's second for ECM, is that migrant's diary. As he so skillfully rendered on his 2020 ECM debut La Traversée, Bordenave again enters the studio conjoined with the assertive mood swings of bassist Patrice Moretand the rapidly moving divertimentos of pianist Florian Weber. Only this time he adds to that valorous energy the meatier, Art Blakey-like sentiments ...

Matthieu Bordenave: La Traversée

by Friedrich Kunzmann
December 19, 2020

The French word La Traversée may equally refer to a crossing, a passage or a journey. Surely related yet with disparate meanings, the three terms have a sense of motion in common. How defined that motion is and whether it's backward, forward, or even sideways, remains unknown. The only thing for certain is its determination to lead from one point to another, much like a river flowing from its source to the ocean--"River" being the title that bookends French saxophonist ...

NDR Big Band with Michael Moore: Sanctuary

by Angelo Leonardi
October 5, 2020

Sanctuary rilegge in formato orchestrale dieci composizioni di Moore, già incise in precedenza con sue formazioni; brani che acquisiscono nuove identità grazie agli arrangiamenti dello stesso leader e di tre colleghi: il prestigioso orchestratore olandese Henk Meutgeert e i pianisti/compositori Christian Elsasser e Frank Calberg. Quest'album realizzato con la famosa big band tedesca è un'occasione per riaffermare il valore di Michael Moore sia come solista che come compositore, come fanno altre recenti produzioni discografiche: Cretan ...

Bob van Luijt's Square Orange: The Core

by Bruce Lindsay
March 3, 2014

What's the appeal of a square orange? Place it on a table and it stays put. That's about it. The musical equivalent, in the shape of Dutch bass guitarist Bob van Luijt's Square Orange, has much greater appeal. The quintet's debut album, The Core, features van Luijt's original compositions: a set with impressive stylistic range. The review copy of The Core was beautifully packaged in a distinctive black cover with a bright orange band. Information was scant, however--the ...

Florian Weber / Jeff Denson / Ziv Ravitz: Minsarah

by Glenn Astarita
November 8, 2006

The members of this young and well-schooled, multi-national piano trio convened at Boston's Berklee College of Music--and the rest is history, so to speak. They recorded Minsarah in Germany, on which youth, vigor and invention come to fruition.

The title of this release refers to a prism, where translucent glass is used to separate the wavelengths of light, and these musicians likewise spin a multihued vista on the sometimes formulaic piano trio format. Pianist Florian Weber lifts notions ...