STRIFFLER,FABIANA - Sweet And So Solitary (Sealed) (CD)

„When Fabiana Striffler takes bow in hand, a magical process begins.“ (Greg Cohen) In Classical music the violin is one of the representative instruments, whereas in jazz and pop it appears much more rarely. Fabiana Striffler at first also played in Classical ensembles and orchestras, before she made a name for herself in the jazz-scene. Funded by the Yehudi Menuhin Association from 2013 to 2018, Striffler has been poaching through various styles with the Andromeda Mega Express Orchestra for more than a year now. In addition, the 30-year-old Berliner-by-choice has been regularly playing side-by-side with Greg Cohen (Tom Waits, John Zorn, et al.) for years. Furthermore she has worked with John Hollenbeck and Kurt Rosenwinkel, Kwabs and Awa Ly, Sarah Connor and the afro-beat band Polyversal Souls. In 2016 Striffler was engaged by the British pop band Travis for their album Everything At Once. In 2017 the violinist released a duo-CD with the Argentinian guitarist Quique Sinesi, about which Jazzpodium wrote: “A mutual breath, a sparkling musical treasure, which captivates from the first sound on. Now Fabiana Striffler presents Sweet And So Solitary, the debut album of her trio. As the composer and producer, she pulls all the strings herself here. At the same time, the artistic individuality of singer Friederike Merz and pianist Johannes von Ballestrem is essential for Striffler and she gives them creative space accordingly. Reciprocal inspiration brings about unconventional sounds and exciting interactions. Like Striffler, Merz and Ballestrem are deeply rooted in Classical music, but have left their marks mostly in the jazz scene in the past years. Friede Merz in the choir of Max Andrejewski’s H??tte for example and Ballestrem alongside Anna-Lena Schnabel and with his own band. Sweet And So Solitary smartly and cunningly overrides style boundaries. The compositions and approaches of playing are all different and reveal influences of modern Classical music, jazz, song and contemporary art song aesthetic. In their improvisations, the young trio sounds very aware and concentrated and they all share the joy in individual sounds. For instance, to produce mysterious sounds, faintly reminiscent of gamelan, pianist Johannes von Ballestrem let small magnets bounce around on the piano strings, which can be heard on “Hemme nicht deiner Seele Flug” [Don’t Hinder Your Souls Flight] and “Raumschiff ??ber Nusa Penida” [The Spaceship Over Nusa Penida]. Here Fabiana Striffler plays with techniques creating floating sounds that rarely appear in western music tradition. The arrangement for “Abend” [Evening] consists of ten ceramic bowls; in other places mandolin, electric guitar and synthesizers were used. “Although we have worked hard on perfecting our playing all our lives, I deliberately wanted to incorporate the un-academic side of each individual.” The singing is an equally important facet of Striffler’s cosmos of sound. At the center stands the idea of conveying emotions less through words, but rather through musical expression. “The voice is perhaps the most direct instrument and I wanted to use it in its primal form,” Striffler says. She thus had not so much words but rather melismas in mind for singer Friederike Merz. Known for her impressive, precisely controlled strong voice power, Merz is predestined to master the colors and shades, unforeseeable twists and onomatopoeic capers. In the dynamic, at times jubilant piece “Eigensinnig” [Self-Willed], which Striffler had originally conceived as a parody of flamenco, the vocals and instruments are bursting with joy of playing. Here suspense and wit form a decisive symbiosis. Besides suggestive pieces, there are also those with poetic texts. The subtle “Hemme nicht deiner Seele Flug” is based on the philosophical poetry of S?¶ren Kierkegaard. In “Tollheit einer Vollmondnacht” [Madness of a Full Moon Night] Merz sings a poem by Diego L. Monachelli with a spectacular range of two and a half octaves. Other lyrics were penned by Striffler. Although she has been composing continuously for about ten years, she wrote lyrics to her music rather sporadically at first. For about three years now however, she’s been delving into it deeply. “Instrumental music is open and offers the listener various possibilities of interpretation. Words are more definite, specify the topic and leave less room for the listener’s own interpretation. Working out this difference is very exciting to me.” Consequently Striffler herself sings her most recent piece with lyrics, the intimate song “Black & Purple”, with a clear, touching and variable voice.