Rebecca Trescher Tentet
Throughout human history, the number 10 has helped bring order to many aspects of daily life and has been a symbol of transformation, completeness, and perfection. Rebecca Trescher also had a certain kind of perfection in mind when she founded her Tentet in 2019. She was conscious of her ideal sound mix when choosing the instrumentation and asked herself which combinations would best allow her to experiment with various musical textures. She then filled her miniature big band with saxophones, clarinets, trumpet, concert harp, piano, cello, bass, and drums.
To achieve her vision of subtle sound painting, Trescher knew that the personal chemistry within the band would be just as important as the instrumental combinations. Her Tentet is a group of individualists who trust each other completely and are always ready to embark with her on musical journeys through the landscapes of jazz, avant-garde, and symphonic music as well as new, previously unexplored terrain.
Her ten-piece band brought the impressions to life that Trescher had translated into musical form after spending several months as Artist in Residence at the Cité internationale des arts in Paris. Her “Paris Cycle/The Spirit of the Streets” was named “Composition of the Year” by the German Jazz Prize in 2022.
The bond between Rebecca Trescher and her fellow musicians is evident in the program “Character Pieces.” The bandleader asked the players to share their ideas for new pieces. They challenged her by sometimes suggesting just a little melody, a short sketch, a fragment of a theme, or a tiny motif. Out of this basic material, Trescher was able to create larger forms that do justice not only to the individuals in the group but also to the collective ensemble sound for which the Tentet is rightly celebrated around the world.
By the way, since the founding of the Tentet Rebecca Trescher has worked with a permanent sound engineer, himself a musician and producer, who always goes on tour with the group and mixes the live sound at concerts.
Line-Up
Rebecca Trescher – clarinet, bass clarinet, composition
Julian Hesse – trumpet, flugelhorn
Joachim Lenhardt – tenor saxophone, bass clarinet, flute
Markus Harm – alto saxophone, clarinet
Anton Mangold – concert harp, alto saxophone, flute
Juri Kannheiser – violoncello
Andreas Feith – piano
Roland Neffe – vibraphone
Christian Diener – double bass
Silvio Morger – drums
Friedrich Betz – sound, live mixing
Press
„One of the most interesting ensembles of the current German jazz scene.“ (SWR2, Thomas Loewner 03/2022)
„Clarinetist, composer and bandleader Rebecca Trescher offers not only a personal memory of her days spent in Paris. With her tentet, she delivers a masterpiece.“ (Jazzpodium)
“May we simply declare that no one has ever composed for jazz the way Rebecca Trescher does?” (Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung)
“Rebecca Trescher is a name to bear in mind – her music should be making its mark on ears on both sides of the Atlantic.” (Münchner Merkur, 01/2023)
“Not only the way this music is executed, but also its dramatic composition reaches perfection” (Nürnberger Nachrichten, Stephan Schwarz-Peters, 11/2022)
“A harp, a cello and flutes play prominent roles in the unusual line-up of this ensemble; symphonic poems by impressionist composers such as Debussy may have been just as important an influence on Trescher’s ideal sound-world as medium-sized groups in the Afro-American tradition such as those, say, led by Charles Mingus.” (Münchner Merkur, 01/2023)
„As much as she takes her time for the detailed, sometimes intricate expositions of her themes, she lets the improvisors have their freedom. In most cases, she has invented backings that are tailored to the respective soloist. The composition offers a common framework for both conception and freedom, and the excellent improvisors turn the respective piece into a well- shaped, logical tone poem. The compositions have the character of “works” in the classical meaning of the word.“ (Benno Bartsch, Jazzpodium Feb 2022)
