Timo Vollbrecht
FLY MAGIC
TIMO VOLLBRECHT sax, clarinet
KEISUKE MATSUNO guitar
ELIAS STEMESEDER piano, synth
DAYEON SEOK drums
TETHER TRIO
TIMO VOLLBRECHT sax, clarinet
THEO BLECKMANN voice
HARMEN FRAANJE piano
Timo Vollbrecht’s warm-timbred tone shows unpretentious elegance.
FAZ
On Tour – verfügbare Daten
Tether Trio: 15. – 22. Dezember 2024 | 06. – 20. Januar 2025 | 22. – 30. März 2025
Fly Magic: 07. – 18. Mai 2025
FLY MAGIC
Based in Brooklyn and rooted in Berlin Timo Vollbrecht moves preferably at the interface between composed and improvised music. According to the New York City Jazz Record, he is a “brilliant German saxophonist and bandleader whose music shines with rhythmic finesse and elegant modulations.” Musically, Vollbrecht follows his very own path, pursuing a carefully conceived vision of sound. It balances emotional expressiveness and lively energy with marvellous simplicity. The result is a sound that comes across as nuanced rather than boldly boastful and creates strong emotional images in its restrained persistence. His melodious compositions transcend genre boundaries by combining jazz with elements of post-rock, indie, new music, experimental and instrumental songwriting. Vollbrecht is celebrated for his warm-timbred sound, in which “you can wrap yourself up like in a warm blanket” (JazzThing).
FLY MAGIC is the name of his band, which has released two albums, tours the globe and performs at festivals in Europe, the USA, Asia, Australia, the Middle East and South America. It consists of four outstanding improvisers from the New York / European line-up of the New York and Berlin scenes. Their creative drive stems from the explosive intersection of different styles and cultural origins, as their latest album Faces in Places (Berthold Records) shows. The album tells the stories of ten acquaintances the musicians made during their worldwide concert tours and takes the listener on a journey to encounters with Mala from Malaysia, Muhammad from Syria and Tiffany from Singapore. They previously released a record of the same name, Fly Magic (Berthold Records), which Jazzpodium magazine categorised as “one of the outstanding recordings by a German musician in 2016”.
This quartet’s joy of improvisation, its sharpness of detail and its desire to explore unexplored paths help this music to the forefront of contemporary improvised music.
TETHER TRIO
TETHER TRIO is the new, genre-crossing project of the renowned jazz singer Theo Bleckmann and the internationally active saxophonist Timo Vollbrecht (both from New York). Together with the Amsterdam pianist Harmen Fraanje, they combine explorative improvisation and melody-led songs in a deeply personal trio sound. They expand the natural timbres of their acoustic instruments with the subtle use of live electronic processing, while giving their music enough space to breathe and unfold. After a joint performance at the Fair International Music Festival Tehran (Iran) in 2021, Bleckmann and Vollbrecht decided to further develop their immediate synergy and work together on new music. The resulting Tether Trio derives its name from the fusion of musical ideas that allow these three free-thinking musicians to merge into a whole.
Timo Vollbrecht was born in Lower Saxony and studied saxophone at the Jazz Institute in Berlin and at New York University. His teachers included Mark Turner, Joe Lovano and Stefon Harris. He performed with Branford Marsalis at the Village Vanguard and played with Kenny Werner, Randy Brecker, Carlos Bica, Mike Mainieri and pop icon Robbie Williams. In addition, he has been celebrated in numerous international media and the New York jazz bible Hot House presented him as Featured Artists Of The Month. He regularly plays for tours for the Goethe-Institut and has performed at the Winter Jazz Fest New York, Jazz at Lincoln Center, Blue Note and Jazzwoche Burghausen. He has also written music for dance for the Emergences Festival in Luxembourg and composed a string quartet for the renowned New York JACK Quartet. He is Adjunct Professor of Jazz Studies at NYU and wrote his doctoral thesis on the artistic process of ECM Records producer Manfred Eicher.
Elias Stemeseder was born in Salzburg, Austria, in 1990 and studied jazz piano at the Jazz Institute in Berlin. There he was taught by Greg Cohen and John Hollenbeck, among others. Since 2008, he has been working closely with the New York avant-garde drummer Jim Black. With Philipp Gropper’s band “Philm” he won the German Jazz Award 2021 as national band of the year.
Guitarist Keisuke Matsuno is a true sound artist. Born in Berlin to Japanese parents, he studied guitar at the music academies in Weimar, Lucerne and New York and has made a name for himself on the international music scene with his talent for creating soundscapes. Since moving to New York in 2010, he has worked with a number of exciting artists: With John Zorn, he performed his Bagatelles collection at the Village Vanguard and played with Jim Black’s Guitar Quartet at the National Sawdust, The Stone and other New York clubs. He also collaborates with electronic artist Lars Graugaard and was featured in Misaki Matsui’s short film “With Kenji and Keisuke”. Blow Up magazine described him as “most extravagant, mind-blowing, and unheard-within-the-unheard.”
Dayeon Seok is an internationally sought-after drummer who has made a name for herself in the New York jazz and improvisation scene through her work with Dave Douglas, Michaël Attias, Ralph Alessi and Adam O’Farrill. She grew up in South Korea and began her musical career as a classical pianist before switching to drums. She received her bachelor’s degree in jazz drums at Berklee College of Music in the USA, followed by a master’s degree at New York University. She can be heard on numerous albums, such as the release “Mute” by her own ensemble (Fresh Sound New Talent Label, 2018). Since 2021 she has been a professor of jazz drums at the Dong-ah Institute of Media and Arts in South Korea. In her progressive sound, she combines deep roots in the jazz tradition with an almost boundless power of innovation.
It may be due to the choice of pieces, the sharpness of detail and the joy of improvisation of the well-rehearsed quartet that Fly Magic develops an unexpected and lasting intensity in the factory alongside many colours of sound.
FAZ
A Berlin saxophonist in New York, whose sparkling sound is greatly enhanced by guitarist Keisuke Matsuno.
DIE ZEIT
Belonging to the “who’s who” of Brooklyn-centric stars.
DOWNBEAT MAGAZINE
Above all, however, a powerful sound can be heard from the saxophone. And thus a musician who is very aware of his ancestors and forefathers, but at the same time knows very well that only he himself can ensure his own distinctiveness […] A real discovery.
NDR
With ‘Fly Magic’, Timo Vollbrecht has recorded an album that will certainly be counted among the outstanding recordings by a German musician in 2016 at the end of the year.
JAZZPODIUM
Vollbrecht’s sound is like wrapping yourself in a warm blanket.
JAZZTHING