Quotations about the music of Matthias Broede:

"This is a very interesting and different approach to using the harmonica in jazz. With a giant like Toots around, it is hard to escape the shadow but Matthias has accomplished that admirably on this recording." Dave Liebman

"The world of Matthias Broede – schooled musician pianist composer harmonica virtuoso: I can only applaud Matthias and his friends. I enjoy and I learn. What more to expect from a recording…?" Toots Thielemans

Stirringly played, contemporary jazz in an extraordinary, chamber-music-influenced combo that attests to an influence by traditional jazz and the classical music of early-20th-century Europe. Rhythmically, the music is also broadened by the use of uneven meters, inspired by the traditional music of Eastern Europe.

On the one hand, the programme consists of a great many of Matthias Broede’s and Ralph Beerkircher’s own compositions. On the other hand, there are also arrangements of two bagatelles by Bartók and of a prelude by Debussy.

Music that – both through its powerfully intense and lyric performance and through its extraordinary sounds and beautiful strains – inevitably leaves listeners spellbound.

Along with numerous concerts both in Germany and abroad, the trio has also already recorded two radio productions for Bayerischer and Westdeutscher Rundfunk, as well as a CD (From East To West: Strange Beauty Of The World).

Outstanding and unique in this combo are the sound, expressiveness and playing style of Matthias Broede on the chromatic harmonica – an instrument that has very recently been discovered with growing enthusiasm as an instrument for contemporary jazz.

The excellent, original piano playing of Matthias Broede is also featured in this programme.