TINGVALL TRIO

In 2023 the Tingvall Trio is celebrating 20 years together as a band. What’s particularly remarkable is that from the time the trio was created right up to the album being presented here, BIRDS, their ninth, the lineup has always remained the same. Alongside Martin Tingvall on piano, who gave the trio its name, we have Omar Rodriguez Calvo on double bass and Jürgen Spiegel in his realm of drums and percussion. These three musicians based in Hamburg, Germany have managed to write a success story over all the years that is hard to match: multiple ECHO JAZZ Awards as ensemble and Live Act of the Year, a total of six JAZZ Awards in Gold, two Impala Awards for international sales, a whole series of No. 1 Jazz Chart albums, and four times with high rankings on the German Top 100 Album Charts. In the world of German Jazz, outstanding is the word that comes to mind. With BIRDS this evolution is now reaching its tentative zenith.

Martin Tingvall explains the title: “As the name implies, the album BIRDS is dedicated to them. They’re nature’s musicians. They envelop us with their music day in, day out, and can be incredibly inspiring. You just have to listen closely. Sadly, we don’t seem to do that very often anymore. Too many other sounds surround us and we get distracted. I hope this album can be an incentive to perceive the environment around us differently. Personally, I can already see changes in the birds’ behavior that stem from global warming. SOS, it’s high time to stop for a moment, to listen to nature and to act.” 

As always, Martin Tingvall is responsible for all the compositions, but in terms of the arrangements and voicings the pieces were developed jointly by the trio in rehearsals and concerts until they were “ripe for recording.” And naturally there are catchy tracks to be found on this album once again, for instance Woodpecker, Hummingbird or Air Guitar. Wonderful ballads like The Day After with Omar Rodriguez Calvo displaying his bowing prowess on bass alternate with tunes like Africa, whose lightness instantly threads its way into the auditory channels. SOS, the call for help to finally provide our planet Earth with a perspective for survival, offers the Tingvall Trio Sound at its finest and a touching composition to boot. With his solo piece entitled Call For Peace, Martin Tingvall concludes by contributing an especially introverted moment.

For this event we offer discounted tickets to give people with less money still access to culture. These quotas are limited and only available at TixforGigs. We trust in your self-assessment: If you can, please book standard tickets and leave the reduced tickets to those who have to save money at the moment.

Photo: Steven Haberland