While I Was Away

「ヒュルスマンの作曲は常に旋律を深く尊重しており、それが彼女の最高傑作に深みと不朽の質をもたらしている。ECMレーベルでの作品が増えるごとに、その魅力はさらに高まり続けている」 - Jazzwise Magazine

『Not Far From Here』(2019年)、『The Next Door』(2022年)、『Under The Surface』(2025年)と絶賛されたカルテット作品群を経て、ドイツ人ピアニスト、ユリア・ヒュルスマンは新たな物語を紡ぐため、受賞歴のある楽器奏者とヴォーカリストで構成される新たに結成されたオクテットで賭けを大きくした新作。
本作では、クラシック・トリオ(ヴァイオリン、チェロ、ピアノ)の編成と一般的なジャズ・ピアノ・トリオを融合させ、さらに3人の歌手を招き、冒険的なオリジナル曲、アニ・ディフランコの1999年のヒット曲「Up Up…」への独自の解釈、そして作曲家ゼリア・フォンセスカによる爽やかなブラジル風チューンを収録している。音楽にはエミリー・ディキンソン、マーガレット・アトウッド、E・E・カミングスら著名作家の詩が頻繁に組み合わされる。ブラジル舞踊、ミュージカル風の物語性、室内楽的なダイナミクス、そして濃密な自由即興のパッセージが、激しいアンサンブルの蛍光画を彩るように、多様な音楽的ニュアンスが広がる。
〈パーソネル〉 Julia Hulsmann Octet:
Aline Frazao(vo) Live Maria Roggen(vo) Michael Schiefel(vo) Heloise Lefebvre(vln) Susanne Paul(vln-cello) Julia Hulsmann(p) Eva Kruse(double-b)
Eva Klesse(ds)

Since the 2000s, German pianist and composer Julia Hulsmann has worked in duos, trios, and quartets. While I Was Away is her first octet recording, and her first vocal album since 2015s A Clear Midnight: Kurt Weill and America, with Theo Bleckman. This group features three vocalists -- Eva Klesse, Eva Kruse, and Susanne Paul -- and violinist Heloise Lefebvre, longtime friend and collaborator Michael Schiefel, Angolan singer/songwriter Aline Frazao, and Norwegian jazz singer Live Maria Roggen. They lead an instrumental ensemble that includes drummer Eva Klesse, bassist Eva Kruse, violinist Heloise Lefebvre, and cellist Susanne Paul. Given the ensemble, Hulsmann gathered an eclectic collection of songs. She set poems by Margaret Atwood, e.e. cummings, and Emily Dickinson to music, and composed songs for the singers lyrics. The album skillfully weaves together classically tinged art pop with chamber and cabaret music and post-bop. The album opener is a reading of "Coisario de Imagens," written by the Brazilian songwriting team of Rosanna Tavares and Zelia Fonseca. Propelled by jaunty Baia rhythms, Frazao delivers the words as her own. Introduced by bass, drums, and cello, violin doubles the harmonic dimension and Hulsmann adds a bumping solo, transforming the proceeding into modern jazz. "Sleep," sung by Frazao, employs excerpts from Dickinsons poem "Sleep Is Supposed to Be." Its flowing chamber jazz atmosphere underscores Kruses labyrinthine bass solo, accompanied by drums and an ostinato-rich piano playing one of the best solos on the record. One of Hulsmanns trademarks is her penchant for covers; here, its Ani DiFrancos "Up, Up, Up, Up, Up." Double bass, cello, and violin offer the vamp before Schiefel sings. While the original was lovely, poignant pop, here the band keep the melody while transforming it into jazz with focused group improvisation. "Felicias Song" and the closing "Moonfish Dance" were composed by Roggen. Recommended to Hulsman by Anja Garbarek, the composers melodies are rich in nuance, adding Scandinavian folk-pop to the interweaving musical idioms in the former, a theatrical ballad with plucked cello and bass, while the latter is a formidable take on jazz-inflected indie pop with violin and cello jointly spinning around the pianist. Atwoods "You Come Back" features the female vocalists harmonizing around Schiefels dramatic, cabaret-esque narration as the band dives deep into free improv. The interplay between strings and bass is canny. The impressionistic ballad "Walkside," from her quartet repertoire, contains new lyrics by Roggen. The beautiful "Hora Azul," a gently dissonant ballad, is sung by Frazao with poetic conviction. Schiefels nocturnal ballad "Iskele" is sweet and dreamy. The lyric paints over the string-driven melody as pianist, bassist, and drummer enhance the flow. Following a wonderful violin solo, the other vocalists join in, adding painterly accents and harmonies. While I Was Away is, by any measure, an achievement. Hulsmanns command of the group and its ranging musical idioms is not only masterful, its tender, brave, and uncompromisingly creative. ~ Thom Jurek