Over het album
Imagine an exhibition of large-format photos compiled by the same photographer from all over the world. Some are sharply outlined, others are blurred, some are coarse-grained, others are finely outlined, color photos and subdued black and white ones are hung in subtle contrast opposite each other, and landscapes alternate with portraits. They share the honesty of their point of view and the emotionality of expression. Jonas Timm's new album "Narcis" produces an impression similar to this imaginary photo exhibition.
The Leipzig pianist and composer Jonas Timm and his seven-piece band not only captivate the listener with all his senses, but also take him along in the variety of his emotions. What seems to begin like an acoustic film noir, becomes more cheerful as the album progresses, and continues to go through more and more emotional states without ever becoming predictable. Much is reminiscent of Latin American dances, French chansons, soundtracks from old films and sometimes jazz. But wherever Timm goes with his band, his distinctive characteristic as a composer and bandleader is always maintained. Like a director, he stages his characters to get a maximum of expressiveness and group-dynamic individuality from each of them. But just as confidently as with the voices of his co-musicians, he plays with the expectations and memory of his audience.
Jonas Timm deliberately avoids committing to a certain idiom or a continuous mood. It corresponds to his personal disposition that moods and emotions can swing very suddenly to the left and right, up and down. Since nothing in his music is more important to him than sincerity, he sees no reason to close the door to this variety of his feelings. "If I have such a range of colors available to me, why not take advantage of them," he confessed frankly. "Especially since there are seven of us. This results in a lot of potential for tiny nuances, but also bigger leaps. If I have such a big band, then I want to get everything out of it."
Timm gathered a collective of hand-picked individualists around him with trombonist Johannes Lauer, guitarist Bertram Burkert, accordionist Tino Derado, bassist Lorenz Heigenhuber, drummer Diego Pinera and percussionist Robby Geerken, . Each of them already brings a huge collection of personal experiences from a wide variety of musical contexts. And yet, without exception, they put themselves fully at the service of Timm's compositions. This does not mean that they stubbornly play what Timm tells them, but they all enrich the overall context in that they actively shape the music thanks to their unmistakable personal vocabulary. Johannes Lauer remains Johannes Lauer, Bertram Burkert remains Bertram Burkert, and this also applies to all other musicians involved.
Jonas Timm also succeeds in expressing another basic need with this line-up. When you listen to his music, it is no surprise that he describes himself as needing harmony. In this way, he manages not only to forge a perfect whole for the entire album with his musicians, but also to formulate a new and completely different perfect whole with each song in the sense of the imaginary photo exhibition mentioned above. The images unfold their effect independently of each other and yet form a uniform network of relationships. Each song is a gem that only works exactly as it is heard on "Narcis". Precisely because of their different backgrounds, which range from free improvisation and chamber jazz to various musical ethnicities and orchestral formations, the seven musicians can change the focus in each piece and move in a different direction as needed. The compositional framework finds its completion only through the spontaneous input of the whole band.
The music on "Narcis" is of touching liveliness, not because the music would never come to rest, but because it draws fully from life with all its facets. The individual and the collective, the fully formulated and the timidly hinted at, humble restraint and boundless exuberance – all these contrast pairs that Jonas Timm makes audible in his music testify to sensitive powers of observation and unsparing self-reflection. By openly telling what moves him, the Leipzig keyboard poet spares no risks and exposes large areas of contact.
When an artist accesses life with both hands without omitting anything, then the highest degree of artistic freedom imaginable is achieved. Jonas Timm, whose new album impressively demonstrates this, is such a genuine and dedicated jazz musician.
