Rebecca Trescher Quartet

With a deep curiosity and a fearless drive to experiment between jazz and contemporary, symphonically influenced music, composer and clarinetist Rebecca Trescher has become a distinctive voice on both the German and international jazz scenes. Her music often draws inspiration from nature, creating sounds that feel grounded yet full of air and openness. Her compositions form a unique, imaginative soundscape – subtle, associative, and organically unfolding.

In 2022, Trescher received the prestigious German Jazz Prize for “Composition of the Year” for her Paris Cycle. That same year, she was named a Rising Star in the Clarinet category by the critics of the iconic American magazine DownBeat. She regularly performs on renowned international stages and now releases her ninth album, Changing Perspectives, recorded in co-production with Germany’s public broadcaster Deutschlandfunk in Cologne.

For this project, Trescher brings together three exceptional musicians with whom she has cultivated a deep musical rapport over the years: pianist Andreas Feith – a longtime artistic companion and trusted collaborator; Cologne-based bassist Lukas Keller – known for his subtlety and sharp musical instincts; and drummer Jan Brill from Nuremberg – a highly creative and expressive voice behind the kit. Together, they reimagine Trescher’s compositions in ever-evolving ways, constantly pushing the boundaries between written music, improvisation, and interpretation.

About the new album

Together, Rebecca Trescher’s troupe created intoxicating soundscapes, plots with striking twists and turns, and scenes that those who follow them will long remember. Take, for example, a piece like “Farn” [fern], which is dedicated to these beautiful plants. The music begins with sounds that seem to harbor a secret, then moves on to a dramatic sequence that somehow heralds impending doom. As she was composing, Trescher was animated by an awareness that nature sometimes takes back what civilization has stolen from it. With slow but inexorable force, plants are then able to entwine buildings that were once inhabited by humans. 

Many of the other pieces on “Changing Perspectives” also possess this almost cinematic quality that international critics have repeatedly noted in Rebecca Trescher’s music. Listeners quickly find themselves in an “enchanted garden” – which is also the name of a two-part composition on the album inspired by the music and personality of the Brazilian musical sorcerer Hermeto Pascoal.

(Liner Notes, Ssirus W. Pakzad; English translation by Richard Rieves and John Patrick Thomas)

Line-Up

Rebecca Trescher – clarinet, bass clarinet, composition
Andreas Feith – piano
Lukas Keller – double bass
Jan Brill – drums