David Helbock Trio - Into the Mystic (2016)

The Austrian pianist David Helbock belongs to the generation of jazz musicians who are heading off in their own individual directions, pushing the boundaries, radically re-configuring our understanding of what old and new music is, re-aligning composition and improvisation, and challenging common pre-conceptions about style and personality. 'These days jazz musicians often take pop songs as their point of departure, says Helbock. 'Speaking frankly, it doesn t matter what you cover, whether it s pop, classical music, world music - whatever. But what does matter is what you then make of it.' Helbock draws on a wide range of sources of inspiration to make his music. Incidents in everyday life and nature are in there, but also a wealth of musical influences, and written texts of all kinds. Now, however, the musical storyteller Helbock feels he has reached the point when it is right to tie all these threads together, and to concentrate on the mystical heart of what it is to make music. In this trio recording with Raphael Preuschl, on the very rare bass ukelele, and Reinhold Schmölzer on drums, Helbock is adventuring 'Into the Mystic' on several levels. The album is enriched by all kinds of mythology, from sagas about the gods of ancient Greece, to the cosmology of the earth, and a multitude of literary, filmic and artistic inspirations.

Tracklist:

1. Beethoven #7, 2nd Movement ( Beethoven, Ludwig van) 02:45
2. The Soul ( Helbock, David) 04:43
3. Spiritual Monk ( Helbock, David) 05:17
4. Exodus To Star Wars I ( Gold, Ernest / Williams, John) 02:09
5. Louverture ( Preuschl, Raphael) 04:17
6. Eros ( Helbock, David) 04:52
7. Exodus To Star Wars II ( Gold, Ernest / Williams, John ) 02:44
8. Mother Earth ( Helbock, David) 05:04
9. Into The Mystic ( Helbock, David) 06:25
10. Exodus To Star Wars III ( Gold, Ernest / Williams, John) 02:34
11. A Child Is Born ( Jones, Thad) 04:16
12. Masks ( Helbock, David) 03:40
13. Star Wars Theme ( Williams, John) 05:01
14. The World Needs More Heroes ( Helbock, David) 03:07

Personnel:

David Helbock / piano
Raphael Preuschl / bass ukulele
Reinhold Schmölzer / drums