Dreisam - Upstream (2019)

Dreisam is not only the name of the river that flows through Freiburg, it is also the name of a young jazz trio that has its roots in the city. Meanwhile, the two musicians and a musician from Germany, France and Brazil play mainly in France. Five years ago her first album "Source" came out, now the second work is available. "Upstream" is called, against the current. That sounds like challenge, not smooth, easy-to-listen jazz. Even the first album is hardly suitable for background music. Too demanding are some solos in the piano (Camille Thouvenot, France), too penetrating the saxophone (Nora Kamm, Frankfurt), to driving the percussion rhythms (Zaza Desiderio, Brazil).

In this regard, Dreisam remain faithful - and yet go new ways. For the first time you can hear synthesizers in the background, on whose sound carpet the soloists let off steam. Depending on the composer - all three contribute their own pieces - it is sometimes driven, sometimes melancholic, sometimes South American. Nora Kamm's saxophone weaves the red thread of the album with its sonorous sound. The melodies are sometimes difficult, sometimes playful, at any rate always highly imaginative. The further development of Dreisam has something in it for itself. Dreisam: Upstream (Jinrikisha Production / Inouïe Distribution).