Tingvall Trio
Birds
The Tingvall Trio is celebrating its twentieth band anniversary this year. This kind of continuity is already rather remarkable on the jazz scene; however, the truly astonishing aspect is the fact that the Trio's line-up has not changed ever since its inception. Besides the Swedish pianist Martin Tingvall after whom the band was named, it consists of the Cuban double bass player Omar Rodriguez Calvo and the German drummer and percussionist Jürgen Spiegel. In the course of their long collaboration, they have created a distinctive sound shaped not only by the virtuosity of the individual musicians but also by their interdependent style of playing, which is responsible for the Hamburg-based Trio's almost unequalled success story: it has won several ECHO-JAZZ awards, a total of six Gold JAZZ Awards, two Impala Awards, has produced one jazz chart-topping album after the other, as well as four albums that have made it into the top ranks of the German top 100 album charts – a sensational achievement for jazz made in Germany.
In July this year, the band released their latest album, entitled Birds. Martin Tingvall's explanation of the title: 'The album is dedicated to birds. We are surrounded by birdsong every day, and it can be incredibly inspiring. You just have to listen intently. Unfortunately, we no longer seem to do that a lot these days. I hope this album will inspire people to perceive their environment in a different way.' Once again, Martin Tingvall's seemingly simple melodies turn out to be jazz masterpieces, not least also due to the inspiration provided by the rich melodies of Swedish folk music. The Trio soon disabuses anyone who considers jazz abstract and intellectual of that notion.
