On the occasion of the 75th birthday of jazz legend Richie Beirach in May 2022, we are releasing a 3-CD box set that captures the musical work of siblings Gregor and Veit Hübner, who have been working together with the US jazz pianist for almost 25 years. It is a true gift to the growing musical partnership and friendship, which Dave Liebman describes as follows: “Truly a family affair with two brothers, Gregor, Veit and “Uncle” Richie! This music transverses 20th century and jazz. You can hear the brotherhood especially on the “free” pieces. Listening to the variety of idioms the performances are both intimate and soulful, performed by musicians who know the history.”

TESTAMENTS – DUOS AND TRIOS is a chronicle of the musical relationships of these three musical personalities. The material on these 3 CDs is a combination of short classical pieces with extensive improvisation, jazz standards, show tunes, completely free improvisations and our own compositions.

Excerpt from the liner notes: “I met Gregor and Veit Hübner over 25 years ago. At that time I was still living in my flat in SoHo, New York City, at Spring Street and Hudson. Gregor started as a jazz piano student with me and Veit became part of my weekly jazz ensemble class at the New School’s jazz programme. There was always something special about these two brothers. Aside from Gregor being an outstanding jazz violinist and composer and Veit being a truly excellent jazz bassist, they had wonderful qualities as people, brothers and more. Eventually I also got to know their little sister Fee and their great parents. I became something of an older brother to the boys, “Richie Huebner” was the little joker we always laughed at. The reason I talk about this personal background is that jazz, unlike classical music, is 90% improvised, and when you’re improvising for hours on stage or in the recording studio, a lot of it is about personal relationships between the improvising musicians.” Richie Beirach

Tracklist:
CD 1 ” Testament” Richie Beirach – Gregor Huebner Duo
1. Fantasy on Kachaturian’s Andantino (Richie Beirach – Gregor Huebner Duo) 6:45
2. Gaia – composed by Richie Beirach (Richie Beirach – Gregor Huebner Duo) 6:19
3. Fantasy on Bartok’s Bagatelle Nr.3 (Richie Beirach – Gregor Huebner Duo) 6:57
4. Fantasy on Faure’s Pavane (Richie Beirach – Gregor Huebner Duo) 4:54
5. Testament – composed by Richie Beirach (Richie Beirach – Gregor Huebner Duo) 5:19
6. Fantasy on Mompou’s Impressiones Intimas (Richie Beirach – Gregor Huebner Duo) 6:11
7. Ground Zero – composed by Gregor Huebner (Richie Beirach – Gregor Huebner Duo) 9:11
8. Fantasy on DeFalla’s Nana (Richie Beirach – Gregor Huebner Duo) 5:12
9. What Are the Rules? – composed by Richie Beirach (Richie Beirach – Gregor Huebner Duo) 4:12
10. Fantasy on Bach’s Es ist genug (Huebner – Beirach – Huebner Trio) 3:57

CD 2 “This is New” Richie Beirach – Gregor Huebner Duo with guest Veit Huebner
1. Love In The Garden – composed by Zbigniew Seifert (Richie Beirach – Gregor Huebner Duo) 5:29
2. This is New – composed by Kurt Weil (Richie Beirach – Gregor Huebner Duo) 6:02
3. Waltz for Fee – composed by Gregor Huebner (Richie Beirach – Gregor Huebner Duo) 4:20
4. Transition – composed by John Coltrane (Richie Beirach – Gregor Huebner Duo) 3:17
5. Kathmandu – composed by Gregor Huebner (Richie Beirach – Gregor Huebner Duo) 8:05
6. Rectilinear – composed by Richie Beirach (Richie Beirach – Gregor Huebner Duo) 3:59
7. Zal – composed by Richie Beirach (Richie Beirach – Gregor Huebner Duo) 6:31
8. Summer Night – composed by Harry Warren (Huebner – Beirach-Huebner Trio) 6:51
9. Peace piece – composed by Bill Evans (Richie Beirach – Gregor Huebner Duo) 6:47

CD 3 ” For George Mraz” Richie Beirach – Veit Huebner Duo
1. If I Were A Bell – composed by Frank Loesser (Richie Beirach – Veit Huebner Duo) 4:57
2. Green Dolphin Street – composed by N.Washington and B.Kaper (Richie Beirach – Veit Huebner Duo) 6:43
3. For Heike – composed by Veit Huebner (Richie Beirach – Veit Huebner Duo) 8:42
4. Moor – composed by Gary Peacock (Richie Beirach – Veit Huebner Duo) 4:04
5. There is No Greater Love – composed by I. Jones and M. Symes (Richie Beirach – Veit Huebner Duo) 6:20
6. For George – composed by V. Huebner and R. Beirach (Richie Beirach – Veit Huebner Duo) 4:56
7. For Isolde – composed by Veit Huebner (Richie Beirach – Veit Huebner Duo) 6:45
8. Nardis – composed by Bill Evans (Richie Beirach – Veit Huebner Duo) 6:29
9. My Romance – composed by R. Rodgers and L. Hart (Richie Beirach – Veit Huebner Duo) 5:34
10. Life on Mars – composed by V. Huebner and R. Beirach (Richie Beirach – Veit Huebner Duo) 7:46
11. Footprints – composed by Wayne Shorter (Richie Beirach – Veit Huebner Duo) 4:56
12. Sunday song – composed by Richie Beirach (Richie Beirach – Veit Huebner Duo) 8:10

Press:

“Richie Beirach is a master of the delicate balance between musical material and spontaneity, between composition and improvisation. (…) With this triple album, Richie Beirach has a well-deserved chance to finally ascend to the Olympus of jazz pianists.” – JazzPodium

“The (…) 3-CD set ‘Testaments’ announces (…) this musical connection and contains, one has to say it so euphorically, pure musical magic.” – Jazzthetik

“Beirach is a sensitive interpreter of ballads, but also a shrewd experimenter” – Jazzthetik