Keep (it) Swinging: Wolfgang Maiwald Trio

Wolfgang Maiwald Trio - Two Faces ( Nederlands ) - Wolfgang Maiwald Trio - Two Faces (English)

Great accessible jazz for a wider public.
WOLFGANG MAIWALD TRIO - TWO FACES
HANS KOERT

Later this year the German piano player and composer Wolfgang Maiwald will release his first album at his own account. The album, entitled Two Faces, contains ten tracks played by his trio, featuring Wolfgang Maiwald at the piano, Guus Bakker on bass and Joost Kesselaar on drums. I love to introduce it to you.

Wolfgang Maiwald Trio: f.l.t.r.: Guus Bakker - Wolfgang Maiwald - Joost Kesselaar ( photo courtesy: Paul Lehwald)
Wolfgang Maiwald, who learned himself to play the piano as a teenager, studied music at the University of Oldenburg in the late 1980s and was honoured at the Jugend Jazzt Niedersachsen as the best upcoming young talent of the region. He decided to become a professional piano player after his studies at the Amsterdam School of Arts and the Hilversum Conservatory of Music (summa cum laude).

( MMP CD 1001)
Since the 1990s he performed with dozens of Dutch and international famous musicians like Ferdinand Povel, Joe Lovano, Jesse Van Ruller,

Benjamin Herman, Tineke Postma, Jasper Blom and Rick Margitza ( to list some). Rick Margitza played several times with Wolfgang Maiwald and his Trio, which was the regular house band of the weekly jam sessions at the Old Quarter hotel in Amsterdam for years and remembers these concerts: I heard colours and levels of expression that I had not heard before. He has a real voice as a composer and has managed to create an environment for his playing that serves his voice as an improviser. Rick Margitza impressed a half year ago at the Porgy en Bess Jazz club in Terneuzen (The Netherlands). I found a fragment of a concert in which Rick Margitza plays with the Wolfgang Maiwald trio at one of the Old Quarter jam sessions in Amsterdam.

Wolfgang Maiwald ( photo courtesy: Klaas Fopma)
It seems as if Wolfgang Maiwald and his Trio don't play often in public. Wolfgang Maiwald is part of several other formations. He accompanied the Dutch singer Eric Beekes who had

a program especially for children and is active in formations like Beatsclassics, a collective of experienced live musicians, deejays and veejays. They merge vocals, visuals, live mixed beats, percussion, saxophones, keys and only the best dance tracks during their act into a dynamic, audio visual spectacle with a high jam factor. Classics from a.o. Moloko, Technotronic, Spiller, Basement Jaxx are transformed into pumping, grooving, live performed floor fillers as its website reads. This kind of music will especially attract young people who love music to relax and dance in clubs or disco's. The music on the album Two Faces will appeal to a wider public, I guess. Listen to the title tune Two Faces as played by the Wolfgang Maiwald Trio:

Guus Bakker ( .... as a member of the Clazz Ensemble) ( photo courtesy: Hans Koert)

The album contains ten tracks; seven own compositions and tunes like Herbie Hancock's Chan's Song, known from the film Round Midnight and standards like Summer Night and I Fall In Love Too Easily. The music could best be described as easy listening or jazzy lounge music - music to relax. The three musicians form a solid based group; lyrical but rhythmical improvisations on the piano; a well sounding bass and sensitive brushes - great elements for a jazz record. The most jazzy tune is Conduction, a Wolfgang Maiwald composition. Enjoy it:

Joost Kesselaar ( also active in the Clazz Ensemble) ( photo courtesy: Paul Lehwald)

Two Faces is an album that will be appreciated by a large group of jazz fans, who love to hear well sounding easy accessible piano trio music, as played by skilled musicians who know how to play it.

The record will be presented on the 10th October, 2010 at the Bellevue theatre in Amsterdam. The album can be ordered at Wolfang Maiwald's website or can be downloaded

Hans Koert
keepswingingg@live.nl

The Wolfgang Maiwald Trio will release, in its own account, its first record, entitled Two Faces. The album contains almost a dozen tracks, most Maiwald's own compositions, played with a solid piano trio. The music will be appreciated by a large group of music fans. Keep Swinging loves to spotlight this kind of releases. If you don't want to miss any contribution, ask for its free newsletter.