Henning Gailing, Billy Test, Malte Dürrschnabel - Con Alma (2024) [Hi-Res]

Malte Dürrschnabel – tenorsax
Billy Test – piano
Henning Gailing – bass
Dennis Mackrel – drums

The band's name is as simple as it is self-confident: in a city like Cologne, which has become a widely recognized jazz hotspot thanks to its musical diversity, simply calling yourself the "Cologne Jazz Quartet" is kind of cool. Although "cool" definitely doesn't apply to the jazz style of Malte Dürrschnabel, Billy Test, Henning Gailing and Dennis Mackrel: the wonderfully well-rehearsed quartet plays passionate straight-ahead jazz, which draws on the large repertoire of bebop and hard bop, always swinging soulfully, sometimes atmospherically intimate, when it captures the cozy atmosphere of nights out in ballads.

The Cologne Jazz Quartet celebrates the high art of grooving jazz with stylistic confidence, delicacy and captivating impulsiveness, carried by solo highlights and rhythmic impulses. Whereby double bass and drums are completely equal players in the stylistically confident cooperation of all four musicians and thus far more than just decorative and stabilizing accessories!

The first Malte Dürrschnabel Quartet was formed back in 2013 and already included Henning Gailing on double bass. The Cologne Jazz Quartet was then joined by Billy Test, the pianist of the WDR Big Band, another luminary of contemporary jazz, with the three Cologne-based musicians Dürrschnabel, Test and Gailing inviting none other than New York drummer Dennis Mackrel for their quartet debut. The drummer, composer, arranger and music educator became famous through his collaboration with the Count Basie Orchestra, and now he fits seamlessly into the band structure of the Cologne Jazz Quartet with a lot of esprit and positive energy.

The debut album was recorded in Cologne's Riverside Studios and radiates the freshness and spontaneous intensity of a live performance - which is no surprise: most of the pieces are actually first takes, and the remaining tracks were never recorded more than twice. The Cologne Jazz Quartet promenades stylishly through highlights from the Great American Songbook and occasionally docks onto established jazz compositions. Programmatically, Dizzy Gillespie's jazz standard "Con Alma" stands for the symbiosis of bebop and modern jazz, which the quartet succeeds in achieving with its entire album.

Tracklist:
1.01 - Henning Gailing - Who Cares (7:29)
1.02 - Henning Gailing - Visitation (6:57)
1.03 - Henning Gailing - Con Alma (6:01)
1.04 - Henning Gailing - I Don’t Stand A Ghost Of A Chance (6:37)
1.05 - Malte Dürrschnabel, Billy Test, Henning Gailing, Dennis Mackrel - Come Rain Or Come Shine (10:13)
1.06 - Henning Gailing - Cabu (4:58)
1.07 - Henning Gailing - Sno' Peas (5:20)
1.08 - Henning Gailing - Willow Weep For Me (5:03)
1.09 - Henning Gailing - It’s All Right With Me (6:21)