HNH

HNH: HNH

by Glenn Astarita
December 23, 2010

Three well-versed progressive jazz musicians from Germany, now calling New York City home, inject a starkness that uncannily transmutes into an upbeat program on HNH, the debut recording, led by drummer Joe Hertenstein. The differentiator here pertains to Thomas Heberer's use of the quarter-tone trumpet; by working with a horn that cuts a pitch halfway between notes in the chromatic scale, he executes an edgy and gruff overlay, linked with jazz-centric improvisation. Moreover, Hertenstein and bassist Pascal Niggenkemper paint a ...