NILS WÜLKER QUARTET - Zuversicht - live
“You are as young as your optimism, as old as your doubts.” This quote comes from “Youth,” a poem by the rabbi, civil rights activist, and entrepreneur Samuel Ullman. “In the last months, when the state of the world and societal developments have, like probably for many others as well, weighed on my mind, this quote has resonated with me,” says Nils Wülker. “It has become a guiding principle for me; I also used it as a guideline for this album production.”
This is his fifteenth album, for which the “sound-genius trumpeter and exceptional composer” - as the trade magazine Crescendo describes the 47-year-old Wülker - has assembled a fantastic quartet:
AARON PARKS from Seattle, now based in Lisbon, is one of the defining pianists of his generation, who won a Grammy early in his career for his work with the trumpeter Terence Blanchard and has shone as a sideman with Joshua Redman and Terri Lyne Carrington, among others.
Live, OMER KLEIN will perform in place of Aaron Parks at the Christuskirche. The Israeli pianist and composer, a multiple ECHO Award winner, has played solo as well as with his trio in major concert halls and festivals in London, Vienna, Berlin, Hamburg, and more; The New York Times describes his music, influenced by both modern jazz and oriental culture, as “limitless.”
LINDA MAY HAN OH, an Australian bassist from New York and also a Grammy winner, performs worldwide alongside Pat Metheny, Kenny Barron, and other big names.
GREG HUTCHINSON, “the drummer of his generation,” as the Jazz Magazine describes the man from Brooklyn, who plays alongside Joe Henderson and Wynton Marsalis, as well as Diana Krall and Maria Schneider and other luminaries of the music world.
“A wonderful lineup,” says Nils Wülker, “we put everything on one card.” 3 ½ days in the studio, the legendary Hansa Studios in Berlin, “that was when we really met for the first time, we had never played together before and then we had these 3 ½ days to record an entire album.”
With this condensed framework, Wülker wanted to create a space for interaction and spontaneity; he was - very much in the spirit of the album title - confident that something beautiful would emerge together, that decisions could be made in the moment, more intuitively, less pre-planned. That Wülker's compositions could evolve from themselves in this way, “that for me is the essence of jazz.”
The result: “Zuversicht” has become a very organic album, alive in every note. It unites grandeur with elegance, dynamic tension like in the opener “All Hands On Deck” with touching ballads like “Time Will Tell” or “Alpenglow,” the funky “Forces At Work” with the catchy “Second Nature,” where flugelhorn and bass initially play in unison, supporting each other on their own paths, ultimately coming together melodically at the end. An always surprising arc:
“The melodies that Nils writes are simply beautiful.”
Says Linda May Han Oh, “having such strong melodies in the music is a real gift to hold onto when improvising as a musician.” Aaron Parks speaks of the intense feeling, “that Nils wants to achieve something with this music. Sometimes just with the power of a small gesture, with small variations. This is exactly what really interests me; I want to have no fear of aiming directly at the heart.”
The final word goes to Greg Hutchinson. “I had no idea what would really happen in the studio,” he says, “but in exactly this way, something very special has emerged, allowing us to truly be ourselves.”
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The album “Zuversicht” is set to be released on January 30, 2026, by Warner Music.
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The evening is presented at the Christuskirche by KARSTEN JAHNKE Konzertdirektion GmbH | JAZZthing | KULTURNEWS | BYTE FM
Hallo, ich bin Maya.
