Best of 2019 #08: Rebecca Trescher – “Where We Go”

Not all recordings are finished products.  Some albums intentionally capture the beginning stages of a concept, where the musicians are fleshing out new compositions in the studio.  Some albums capture a transition phase, where recent works are given new perspectives in a live setting, or while on tour.  Other albums reflect other stages of creative development, either encapsulating old ideas in new ways or providing glimpses of a view from the next plateau.  The 2019 release from Rebecca Trescher is a landing spot.  Following thirteen performances over two years during her concert series at Tafelhalle Nuremburg, the clarinetist went into the studio and captured every bit of that creative trajectory into an expansive statement of stunning beauty.  The richness of the music reflects not just that time of regimented experimentation, but also of the diverse collaborators of musicians, instruments, dancers, writers, and filmmakers who contributed to that concert series.  This large ensemble work possesses a huge sound, as if flirting with the epic, but adheres to a chamber music sensibility, where the subtlest nuance can resonate like a thunder storm.  Trescher’s 2012 debut Sud was one of the best things to come out that year; that it was just the starting point makes the success of Where We Go that much more dramatic.

Your album personnel:  Rebecca Trescher (bass clarinet, clarinet), Sebastian Strempel (trumpet, cornet), Joachim Lenhardt (tenor & soprano saxophones, clarinet, flute), Markus Harm (alto sax, clarinet, flute), Anton Mangold (concert harp, flute, sax), Juri Kannheiser (vocals), Andreas Feith (piano), Tim Collins (vibraphone), Peter Christof (bass) and Silvio Morger (drums).

Released on Enja Records.

Music from Nuremberg, Germany.

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