Canada - land of mountains, lakes and moose. Although the maple leaf adorns Canada's national flag, the moose is the secret national symbol of this large, wide country. "In some regions the number of moose even exceeds that of the inhabitants," smiles Florian Hoefner, who found his new home in Newfoundland a few years ago. The pianist has dedicated a composition that is as humorous as it is straight to the likeable, sometimes somewhat idiosyncratic pair hoofed animals. And so the "Moose Blues" is both title track and finale of the new album of the five-piece collective Subtone. A kind of musical diary of a two-week Canadian tour that the band completed last spring. From Vancouver in the west across the country to St. John's in Newfoundland. But Hoefner and his playmates Magnus Schriefl (trumpet), Malte D?rrschnabel (saxophone, clarinet and flute), Matthias Pichler (double bass) and Peter Gall (drums) have long been used to long distances. Almost all of them studied in New York. But with a time lag, so that one part of the ensemble was always at home on this side, the other on the other side of the Atlantic. This didn't harm the musical cooperation, even though the band took more time than usual to record their fifth album. "Since then we have realized our own projects. In the meantime each of us - in other formations - is active as a bandleader. So we have all matured and become stronger personalities, which also benefits the sound of Subtone. The new tracks are more versatile, richer in colour and contrast", drummer Peter Gall looks back on the time that has passed since the release of "Roswitha's Revenge" (2014, Laika Records).
