Vincent Meissner / piano
Josef Zeimetz / bass
Henri Reichmann / drums
"A new hope in German jazz" was German broadcaster mdr kultur’s verdict on Vincent Meissner's debut album "Bewegtes Feld" (2021). Deutschlandfunk went further, predicting that his band “will take off like a rocket." Downbeat (US) wrote of an "excitement” running through the album, which was produced by Meissner’s mentor Michael Wollny. The pianist was only twenty at the time, and already garlanded with prizes. Praise and an armful of awards are what they are...but at that point, because of Covid, Meissner’s young acoustic piano trio with bassist Josef Zeimetz and drummer Henri Reichmann had scarcely had any chances to perform live, to explore the richness of their bandleader’s compositions, or indeed to let this material develop properly.
Things have now definitely moved on, and the wait may even have increased the fun they can now have. You hear that on the new album: the trio has become much more closely integrated, their joy in playing is palpable. Immediately after the first recording, they tried out new pieces, tested out ideas and just went on as if following a natural continuation of what they’d done before. However, when you’re around 20, life does have a way of moving on: Josef is now studying in Basel, Henri has moved to Leipzig to continue his studies at the city’s Hochschule, where Vincent's main piano teacher is now former WDR Big Band legend Frank Chastenier. Vincent calls his two mentors Wollny and Chastenier "a great combination".
The trio has developed its interplay, and the way it approaches the pieces is much freer now. Through leaving space for more open sections and extending them, the sound and the concept have changed. The trio can access far more emotional experiences. They evidently love the more complex forms in which they now play, these structures and allow ideas to develop as they are shared around the musicians. This has resulted in a compact band sound........ more