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Sonntagsregen (Sunday Rain)
For sure, this trio presents their “Sonntagsregen” CD in no ordinary line-up. Following a host of experiments in a broad range of Balkans and World Music genres, the trombonist and tubist Michael Bergbaur now returns unmistakably to the sphere of Jazz in his debut album. He is accompanied by long-time musical companions Dušan Novakov (drums) and Christian Koppensteiner (guitar). This formation is a promise of the extraordinary – a promise that the trio keeps right across all 12 tracks: with unorthodox and intriguingly new arrangements of Jazz standards and their own compositions in which the “deep brass” takes centre stage, assuming different roles and functions, be it as a contrabass, a dialogue/exchange of ideas between two trombones, or as a foreboding cloud (of sound) above which the acoustic guitar floats. Alternatively, simply to relax and create atmosphere with a puff of air.
Relaxation is also a kind of leitmotif of “Sonntagsregen”. The three musicians are not in a hurry, neither when recording in different places in Graz and Vienna, nor at the production itself. You can sense that in the way the instruments are deployed and how they complement one another. Fine nuances in the instrumentation and interaction generate acoustic images that sound familiar, but still may not have been heard that way before. Ultimately, “Sonntagsregen” is refreshingly new and astonishingly multifaceted. And, what it definitely not does is “drag on”.
