Joe Haider Trio & The Amigern String Quartet - Rosalie's Dream (2024)

"As Time Goes By"... that was the name of one of the previous Joe Haider albums, released in 2020. Time continues to treat the German pianist, composer and arranger from Switzerland well. "I have been at the forefront of jazz since 1958. In other words, for 66 years,“ Haider stated objectively. He then added with short laugh: “Let someone else try to duplicate that!” The fact that he turned 88 at the beginning of this year is not heard in any sense on his latest album, which is thoroughly fresh and with its own sound... apart from the fact that you can feel the overwhelming amount of experience that resonates in the music and piano playing.

“I have never made compromises. I still consistently make my music, and I have always developed further doing this." Many stages, many stations of Haider are documented on well over 30 albums. It is really astonishing that his creative power has not diminished in recent times. To the contrary: while "Rosalie's Dream" is being released and celebrated with a tour, he already has plans for a Miles Davis project. Recent releases include a tribute to the classic Bill Evans trio and a special Slide Hampton project with an extensive lineup. Music keeps the passionate jazz man constantly on the move – and how!

With "Rosalie's Dream", recorded a few days after his 88th birthday in Zurich, Joe Haider builds on previous productions with string quartet, this time in combination with one of his current trio lineups. Bassist Lorenz Beyeler and drummer Tobias Friedli are in their mid-40s, almost half the age of the leader. The Amigern String Quartet was recommended to him by a trusted source. After a concert visit, it was clear: the perfect choice. Even the opening arrangement of "Caravan" underlines this realization. There is the supple set sound, but there is also the wonderful lead voice of cellist Valentina Velkova and the inspired solo of first violinist Vincent Milloud.
Joe Haider is not a man of excessive explanations. Why does he frame his own compositions on this album with two completely different classics by Duke Ellington, including "Caravan" one of his most popular? “Duke Ellington is the master!” There is deep-seated reverence in this concise sentence. "Nobody can ignore him in jazz. He is one of my great role models: Ellington, Bill Evans, Miles ...". Joe Haider would not be Joe Haider if he had not put his own, respectfully guided stamp on the evergreen "Caravan" with his original arrangement. His own solo is a shining example of clarity and dynamic development. The gentle "The Single Petal Of A Rose", originally a solo recording by Ellington, has been carefully transformed into an extended form, creating a deeply atmospheric ending for the album.

Six new Haider pieces are in between, specially created for this album. We meet women in three of them: "Josefa in Palermo", "Marcellas Granddaughter" and that Rosalie who dreams – of eternal love. "They are all imaginary people." He doesn't reveal much more. These warm-sounding "women's dreams" (Haider) introduce us to very different appearances and characters. This is another facet of the artistic imagination of the Swiss national by choice, who has been at home in Bern since 1984.

The fact that Joe Haider has returned to work with a string quartet closes the circle to his very early years. He points this out himself. At that time, the Darmstadt native, who grew up in Stuttgart and studied music in Munich, had in-depth classical music studies as a pianist and composer. The encounter with jazz made him a turncoat. In the course of the sixties, he developed a strong personality as a musician. Today, he is one of the outstanding elder statesman of jazz in Europe.

With regard to "Rosalie's Dream", he once again stresses that he was of course not interested in putting two ensembles (trio and string quartet) together, but instead in creating music for a seamlessly acting, swinging septet through arrangements in which the strings are an integral part of the creative whole. He has once again succeeded in a captivating way.