The trio around composer and pianist Julia Kadel already looks back on an eventful history: it released its first two albums in 2014 and 2016 on the legendary Blue Note/Universal label, which generated a great deal of media coverage. In 2013, the trio won the HFM Jazz Prize, and in 2015 Kadel and her trio were nominated twice for the Echo Jazz as Instrumentalist of the Year (national) and the trio as Newcomer of the Year.
Numerous national and international concerts followed in countries such as Hungary, France and Norway, as well as concerts at Hamburg’s Überjazz Festival Kampnagel, the NDR and the Philharmonie Essen. In 2018, the trio was among the few acts to perform at the exclusive Piano Day Festival at the Elbphilharmonie. In the same year, Jazzthing portrayed Kadel as one of the 10 German ›Keys Top Ten‹ as part of the ›new German jazz piano miracle‹.
The trio then recorded their third album ›Kaskaden‹ on the German jazz label MPS, in the legendary analog Black Forest studio. With this, the traditional label had brought on board a new act that did not feel obliged to emulate the great names of jazz history, but stood completely in the present. Dynamic, unconventional and authentic. The trio also received a tailwind from a grant from Initiative Musik, which supported the trio in 2019. ›Cascades‹ was not only recorded in analog, but also in a place that could not be more fitting. A location that may be a minor sensation for many an MPS fan, as the Julia Kadel Trio’s recording marked the label’s first production in the historic MPS studio in the Black Forest in 35 years. An event that Spiegel Online also reported on in an article.
Since the fall of 2020, Kadel now plays together with Greek-German contrabassist Athina Kontou and U.S. drummer Devin Gray. With this, the trio is once again soaring to new sonic horizons with distinctive repertoire and an open, curious spirit that allows the three strong musical personalities to work together on multidimensional levels. Most recently, the trio performed at Essen’s Grillo Theater when Kadel was awarded the Jazz Pott 2020 for their innovative artistic work, Heidelberg’s Enjoy Jazz Festival and Stuttgart’s BIX Jazzclub. The fourth album is already in planning, it will again be released on the band’s own label MPS. For the album production as well as promotion and touring, Julia Kadel and her trio will again receive the scholarship of the Initiative Musik in 2022 and 2023!
BOOKING
Booking: Moritz Holzkamp
T +49 (0)30 6981 4840
Production: Leya Toth
T +49 (0)30 6128 7726
BESETZUNG
Julia Kadel (piano)
Athina Kontou (bass)
Devin Gray (drums)
| KASKADEN (2019) | MPS / EDEL |
The Julia Kadel Trio announces its now third album for September 6, 2019 and proudly presents itself with MPS (Musik Produktion Schwarzwald) as a new label partner at its side. In doing so, the traditional label has brought on board a new act that does not feel obliged to emulate the great names of jazz history, but stands completely in the present. Dynamic, unconventional, authentic. Because the three self-confident ›free spirits with great sound imagination‹ (AZ) consistently pursue their eight years of joint playing experience and their idiosyncrasies. They are bursting with new ideas, ›original timbres (…) on the fine line between harmony and atonality‹ (FAZ). This time Kadel and her companions Steffen Roth (drums) and Karl-Erik Enkelmann (bass) go a step further in living the reality of their experiences in their music. The trio also receives recognition and support from the Initiative Musik, which will promote the trio in many ways this year.
Cascades was not only recorded in analog, but also at a location that could not be more fitting. A location that may be a minor sensation for many an MPS fan, as the Julia Kadel Trio’s recording marks the first production of the MPS label in the historic MPS studio in the Black Forest in 35 years.
»It was rich in artistic spirit, comparable to legendary concert stages that were often played,« Kadel said. "I sat down at the piano and realized how I was swimming in history«
BUY ›Kaskaden‹ (Vinyl / CD / digital)
| ÜBER UND UNTER (2016) | BLUE NOTE / UNIVERSAL |
When ›Im Vertrauen‹ by the Julia Kadel Trio was released four years ago, some album reviews read almost like film reviews. There was talk of images that passed by the inner eye, sometimes as sketches, then again as very large panoramas. An unusual reaction to the debut of a young jazz trio.
Julia Kadel and her two fellow musicians handled the laurels and the associated pressure of expectation as casually and confidently as their music sounded right from the start. They know what they want: »As a trio, we have remained true to our preference for playing my compositions on the one hand and improvising freely on the other, while also developing playing concepts that move somewhere in between,« says Kadel. The three dove even deeper into this interplay on the second album, whose range has audibly expanded as a result: »There are very different moods and sounds this time. We’ve explored ups and downs in the process, and we’ve always reoriented ourselves in them.« And about the album title: »If you were to draw an imaginary horizon, the things our music tells about would be above and below it. That is the theme for me this time.«
For her and her bandmates Karl-Erik Enkelmann (bass) and Steffen Roth (drums), Julia Kadel’s compositions represent sounds developed from images and experiences. »My compositions always have their own story from which they concretely emerged,« says the Berlin native. »I’m influenced by so many things. At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter to me what you call what I’m playing at the moment." Comparisons with ensembles like e.s.t. or the Tingvall Trio also tend to leave Kadel a little perplexed: »The three of us are united above all by a great passion for playing. It’s less about performing in a specific way or fulfilling formatted expectations.«
In their live performances, the audience witnesses the amazing spontaneity of the three, which manifests itself not only musically, but also in physical interaction such as the exchange of glances. This can be heard, seen and felt by everyone*, no matter what musical background or orientation. »I don’t want to claim that I really want to understand my music through and through,« says Julia Kadel, »it’s just what I love and what feels good to me. It happens.«
Currently, the trio is preparing its third album, which will be released in 2019 on the new label! So it’s worth coming, there is a whole new repertoire to listen to!
