 In spite of her youth, this is a kind of balance sheet for one of the great new talents of German jazz: Anke Helfrich’s debut album, You’ll see! The pianist studied at the Hilversums Conservatorium in Holland. Then she went to New York for a half-year on a Dutch scholarship in 1996, took lessons from Larry Goldings and Kenny Barron and played in clubs and cafés. Anke has been a member of various bands since the time of her studies, for example, Carolyn Breuer/Fee Claasen Quintet, Saskia Laroo’s Color, Irrational Logic (N.Y.), Jürgen Seefelder Quartet, etc. She has played gigs with her own band at clubs and festivals and had radio and TV recordings in Germany, Spain and Turkey. She now gives workshops and lessons at Mannheim College, among other places. Anke Helfrich has won two impressive, highly competitive prizes since the founding of her trio in the middle of 1996: the European Jazz Competition 1996 in Leverkusen and the Hennessy Jazz Search 1998 in Munich.The fruit of all these experiences can now be heard in this well-rounded, multifaceted production in which Anke Helfrich cultivates the tradition of an integrated piano trio with humor, occasional program-musical accents and dazzling artistry. Jerky bebop phrases of the revered Thelonious Monk, the gracious lyrics of Bill Evans, memories of the Stride piano of the thirties in Pannonica, shrill dissonances for displaying the big city aesthetics in Upper Westside (she lived next to fire department station in New York for a while), the “New Orleans groove” in You’ll see, blues feelings, noble ballads, which never degenerate into the triviality of hotel entertainment, and vigorous swing – Anke Helfrich’s music is composed of all these elements. Johannes Weidenmüller is sophistical bassist, who has studied under Dave Holland, Cecil McBee and others. He has played with Kenny Werner, Hank Jones, Joe Lovano, Joshua Redman, etc. and teaches at the New School of Music in New York. He is an accompanist and soloist with the control of a chamber musician and without any vain commotion. Jochen Rueckert is ”the” shooting star of German jazz. He has been awarded many prizes, and at only 24 years of age is in demand as hardly any other German drummer before him. His mastery of structural and stylistic challenges demonstrates flamboyant intelligence. Anke Helfrich has demonstrated a fantastic feeling for a largely unknown talent in Germany with the engagement of Mark Turner for three pieces. Insiders consider Turner as one of the most interesting new tenor saxophonists, because he does not come from the sphere of influence of Michael Brecker, but instead plays an exciting interplay between a cool-abstract melody flow that reminds us of Warne Marsh and the hot-bloodedness of a Ben Webster.
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