Triosence: Stories Of life

The German trio Triosence have been developing their highly distinctive sound since the release of First Enchantment, their debut in 2002 (Mons Records). Their combination of jazz and cinematic soundscapes puts melody first and foremost in a song-based approach that has broad appeal to jazz listeners and beyond.

The trio, led by pianist and composer Bernhard Schüler, includes bassist Omar Rodriguez Calvo and drummer Tobias Schulte. Their egalitarian approach ensures the lead can be taken up by any member, with all three clearly listening and responding to each other. This attention to detail gives their music a subtle ebb and flow and an elegance of expression.

Shuler bases his compositions for Stories Of Life on everyday experiences, giving his pieces a strong narrative quality as evidenced by the delightful opening track, "Lale Minna." Opening with a nursery music-box-like tune, the track features Schulte's superb kalimba playing weaving through a bright, uplifting piano melody and exploration before Calvo's arco bass enters. The track is inspired by a new birth, but happiness and grief often walk side by side, and "Little Lost Wonder" explores the loss of a pregnancy. Calvo's arco bass and Shuler's irresistibly poignant melody, backed by the ever-creative Schulte, make this one of many album highlights.

The loss of Shuler's uncle, the painter Rainer Hoffmann (whose artwork adorns the album cover), is the subject of "Dear Rainer." His life is explored through percussive drive, lyrical bass and piano melody and counterpoint, as Shuler demonstrates his own use of color, light and shade to vary his textures. "Tamina's Lullaby" is a short solo piano piece offering another captivating melody before the title track takes center stage. Calvo and Schulte provide the creative drive for a piano exploration that simply flies.

Elsewhere, there are funky basslines and tight drum interventions on the lively "Tomato Party" and Latin tinges on "These Simple Things." The album closes by revisiting "Like The Wind," a song from their album Where Time Stands Still (Sony Music, 2010), this time in a flowing instrumental format.

Throughout the album, Schüler explores both the ordinary and the more weighty moments that are life-changing. As he explains, "I sit down at the piano and play everything off my chest. Beautiful and sad experiences, observations, feelings -writing music is my way of thinking about life." Those moments are transformed into memorable, well-crafted compositions with clear melodic structures exploring a variety of moods through exemplary performances from all three musicians.