After their major international “25 years anniversary tour” with over 50 concerts, the band triosence
will release their 10th album “stories of life” in 2025.
The new songs by pianist and bandleader Bernhard Schüler are personal life stories transformed into
touching music. He uniquely combines catchiness with musical depth and sophistication.
Like life itself, the new album connects highs and lows: titles such as “Little Lost Wonder” and “Dear
Rainer” deal with strokes of fate and loss, while “Marakesh Swing” and “Tomato Party” reflect
exuberant, cheerful, and funny moments.
Fearlessly, the band merges genres such as jazz, pop, folk, Latin, and world music into unmistakable
soundscapes. Melody and the song are always at the forefront. Appropriately, the band refers to their
musical style as “songjazz.”
About triosence’s anniversary tour:
One of the most successful piano trios around pianist and bandleader Bernhard Schüler with Omar Rodriguez Calvo on double bass and Tobias Schulte on drums and percussion celebrates its 25th anniversary.
On their big anniversary tour the three musicians present a best-of program from 25 years of band history. You can hear numerous “triosence classics” that the band hasn’t played for many years – newly arranged and in a new guise. At the same time, triosence already gives a preview of the long-awaited tenth album with many brand-new songs.
triosence: giulia – thoroughly inspired and optimistic jazz trio sound paintings
On their new album giulia (released: 04.02. on Sony Masterworks), the jazz trio triosence featuring pianist Bernhard Schüler evokes the beauty of life in eleven colourful pieces that could hardly be more diverse, optimistic and virtuosic.
With their unmistakable style, which the musicians call “songjazz”, the trio convinces and inspires both the audience and the press in this country and all over the world. “Wonderfully catchy music! You don’t have to be an expert to recognise the beauty of triosence’s melodies.” “A highlight that gets under your skin!” and “Exemplary musical trinity” are just some of the press comments celebrating the trio on an international level.
The music of triosence is characterised not only by the equality of the instruments, but above all by the strength of its melodies. A catchiness that never comes across as banal or even simple-minded, but rather allows the listener to dive into the depths of the music through its clear structure and beauty, giving them plenty of room for emotions, thoughts, even dreams. Coupled with the stylistic range of jazz, fusion, folk, pop and world music, this convinces not only die-hard jazz connoisseurs, but also those who are discovering jazz for themselves anew.
On their new album giulia are 3 songs with the talented trompeter Paolo Fresu. Paolo Fresu is winner of a wide array of awards, professor and director of various Italian and international institutions. He has performed around the world with the most important names of Afro-American music over the past 30 years and has participated in over 350 recordings. Spring 2022 they were on an extensive release tour.
About triosence:
The band project of pianist Bernhard Schüler has existed since 1999, has gone through several line-ups and looks back on nine album releases. Musically and by name, triosence (word creation, derived from trio-essence) refers to the approach of equality of instruments, modelled on the US pianist Bill Evans. Schüler studied at the “Hochschule für Musik” in Cologne, won numerous national and international competitions and was nominated for the German Record Critics’ Prize, among others. In the meantime he lives again in his native town Kassel.
About Paolo Fresu:
Winner of a wide array of awards, professor, and director of various Italian and international institutions, Paolo Fresu has performed around the world with the most important names of Afro-American music over the past 30 years.
He has participated in over 350 recordings, some as a leader, others as a sideman, and still other projects mixing ethnic, jazz, world music, contemporary, and ancient music.
Mr. Fresu is artistic director of the Berchidda Festival Time In Jazz and – as teacher – leaded for 25 years the Jazz Seminars in Nuoro (Sardinia).
He is also involved in the production of numerous multimedia projects, cooperating with actors, dancers, painters, sculptors, and poets, as well as writing music for film, documentary, video, ballet, and theater pieces.
Mr. Fresu lives between Paris, Bologna and Sardinia. His unique trumpet sound is recognized as one of the most distinctive in the contemporary jazz scene.
He was honored with the important honoris causa degree in Social Psychology at Università Bicocca of Milano, Italy and the historical “Sigillo di Ateneo” by Urbino University.
“…the new faces of German jazz” stern
“when Bernhard Schüler (piano), Omar Rodriguez Calvo (bass) and Tobias Schulte (drums) make music, their melodic playing carries us off into extraordinary poetic worlds of sound” SWR2
“For more than 20 years, pianist Bernhard Schüler has been the mastermind of the ensemble triosence, composing the pieces with that certain something that is so unique in the German jazz scene. For this new release, he has again strung 11 of his little masterpieces on a string of pearls.” SWR2, CD of the Week
“Feel-good jazz that remains artful enough…” Schwäbisches Tagblatt
“At a concert of “Triosence” you bring some sunshine to your soul in the gloomy winter weather. And enough sun, not only for the ears, there is with the new album “Giulia”.” MAZ
“[One is] longing for such a feelgood album as “Giulia”.” kulturnews
“With their new album Giulia, the three musicians are at the height of their art.” Jazzthetik
“All three musicians and their guest Paolo Fresu make Giulia an album that raises lightness and transparency in sound to a new level and radiates a joie de vivre that is good to have, especially in these times, but actually at any time.” Jazzthetik
“A life-affirming sign of confidence, lightness, fullness. (…) In the best piano trio manner, the voices of piano, bass and drums flow equally into each other, always emphasizing melody and in transparent, cheerful lightness.” Jazzpodium
“The latest album by the long-lived piano trio around mastermind Bernhard Schüler is an inspired sonic journey through some of Italy’s most beautiful spots, flooding melancholy souls with optimism by the hectolitre. But never at the expense of quality.” Jazzthing
“Giulia” breathes confidence and lightness, creates the feeling of physical closeness of a loved one, of the happiness of finally seeing the sun again, a glass of red wine in hand and boundless optimism.” Jazzthing
“[The music] caresses the soul” Piano NEWS
“The compositions, which the trio itself wants to be understood as “song jazz,” are always immersed in warm melodies.” STEREO
“[…] wonderful, sparkling, only seemingly light, but always light-footed music like a summer breeze[…]” drums&percussions
“They celebrate the dolce vita quite uninhibitedly.” Fono Forum
“Triosence led by German pianist Bernhard Schüler are one of the leading piano trios in Germany – they play excellent modern jazz with a distinct cinematic touch – Schüler is a very likeable frontman as well as musician and bassist Omar Rodriguez Calvo is one of the best European bassists around at the moment.” Jazzwise
triosence: giulia – thoroughly inspired and optimistic jazz trio sound paintings
On their new album giulia (release date: 04.02. on Sony Masterworks), the jazz trio triosence around pianist Bernhard Schüler evokes the beauty of life in eleven colourful pieces that could hardly be more diverse, optimistic and virtuosic. Special guest trumpeter Paolo Fresu also contributes to the album’s sonic diversity.
An inspiring sense of “dolce vita” pervades the album, which the German-Cuban trio of Bernhard Schüler (piano), Omar Rodriguez Calvo (bass) and Tobias Schulte (drums) recorded in the picturesque Italian region of Friuli Venezia in June 2021. giulia is a musical liberation after the enforced break of the past months, full of confidence and lightness. The emphatic opposite of a time of fear, uncertainty and lethargy and at the same time a homage to the attitude to life of this picturesque Italian region, which until 2001 was still called “Friuli Venezia Giulia”.
The emotional images set to music by mastermind Bernhard Schüler conjure up the happy, carefree moments of life – the physical closeness of a loved one, a trip to Tuscany or watching squirrels transform the garden at home into a madhouse. “The whole thing has a positive sense of optimism that reflects none of the dreariness of the past year. And that’s a good thing,” says Schüler. This is also reflected in the music: giulia combines diverse jazz styles, tempos and moods. Pieces like Odd Times or Little Big Steps seem nostalgic and dreamy. Others, like Armando’s Farewell or the title track, have something boundlessly optimistic – while Squirrel’s Rock and Ambiguity seem downright rocky. Two tracks on the album (Quiet Sense and Your Nearness) are new arrangements of familiar triosence pieces. First and foremost is Quiet Sense from 2001, which now shines with Latin vibes. “It’s got a whole new intro and a completely different groove,” says Schüler, “with percussion, a bossa nova solo and an outro that really goes samba. So the theme is the same, but the approach is completely different. I’m very happy with it.” Bernhard Schüler feels similarly about his two tribute pieces: One for pianist Chick Corea (Armando’s Farewell), the other for his idol Bill Evans, to whom he dedicates Needless To Say. On the latter, his admiration for the influential modern jazz pianist shines through in every note: “I studied him like crazy. I would say he has the biggest influence on me.”
Bernhard Schüler also has the greatest respect for his guest on giulia – the legendary Italian jazz trumpeter Paolo Fresu, who plays on three pieces at once and has a decisive influence on them: “He is one of my favourite musicians,” says Schüler. “I had contacted him before, but unfortunately it never worked out. Then last year he replied to me that he wouldn’t actually enter into any collaborations, but that he found the style and vibe of triosence so great that he would make an exception. I was extremely pleased and inspired by that.”
Recorded by renowned engineer and producer Stefano Amerio, giulia was recorded in the summer of 2021 at his Artesuono Recording Studios in Udine. A place that Schüler raves about as much as the entire Friuli Venezia region. Bernhard Schüler’s compositions are also inspired by the region’s flair of harmony, warmth and confidence, and he creates shimmering sound paintings with his music, which he sometimes calls “song jazz”: “We are interested in singable melodies with song-like structures. This focus on melody and songs is what distinguishes us from other jazz trios”.
triosence will embark on an extensive concert tour in February 2022.
