Tour D'horizon David Helbock

• 1 African Marketplace 04:22
• 2 Seven Days of Falling 06:08
• 3 Concierto De Aranjuez - Adagio 01:29
• 4 Spain 03:30
• 5 In a Sentimental Mood 05:16
• 6 Mercy, Mercy, Mercy 02:19
• 7 Blue in Green 03:19
• 8 Watermelon Man 03:38
• 9 My Song 05:10
• 10 Utviklingssang 05:30
• 11 Bolivia 04:07
• 12 Take Five 05:12
• Total Runtime 50:00

Info for Tour D'horizon

Austrian pianist David Helbock has been called “a consistent trail-blazer” and “a gifted story-teller at the piano” (quote from 3sat Kulturzeit). In his ACT debut album “Into the Mystic” (2016), he left his personal and individual imprint on well-known compositions from Beethoven to Thelonious Monk and John Williams, setting them in a context of mythology, legends and the spiritual.

For this new outing with the Random/Control Trio, Helbock concentrates mainly on pianists who have been his musical role models. His new album is a “Tour d'Horizon” – as the title suggests – of the greats of the jazz piano. “For this album I have chosen pieces by my favourite jazz pianists, the ones who have expanded my artistic horizons.” His 12 interpretations form a broad arc, ranging beyond the jazz sphere to include Spanish classical composer Joaquín Rodrigo, with the popular second movement of the “Concierto de Aranjuez” – reminds us of Helbock's background in classical music. Carla Bley is included with “Utviklingssang”, a tune based on just one melodic fragment. The piece proves, as Helbock explains, that she “is a complete master of the simple but ingenious melody that stays in the listener's ear and immediately establishes a mood.”

When it came to songwriters, two fellow musicians who were both hugely influential composers in their time proved shoo-ins for this album. Naturally, Duke Ellington is there. His “In A Sentimental Mood”, says Helbock, “occupies the middle ground somewhere between his epoch-defining suites and his danceable chart-toppers, and feels like a good choice.” And there is Esbjörn Svensson, who died exactly ten years ago, far too early. Svensson’s innovative combination of dynamics, groove and melody brought into being a new and broad stylistic movement in jazz. Here David Helbock gives an impressive and vivid account of “Seven Days of Falling”.

There is also a pianist whose influence Helbock absorbed extraordinarily early: “I have a very special and emotional relationship with Keith Jarrett’s music,” he says, “because my mother listened to his music through her pregnancy, so I suspect that the first music I ever heard, even before I was born, must have been ‘My Song’.”

Herbie Hancock's “Watermelon Man” stands for Helbock's musical awakening as a teenager: “The first album I bought for myself was one of his Greatest Hits compilations”. Joe Zawinul is not to be overlooked either, as he is an illustrious forerunner for Helbock, an Austrian who conquered the world of jazz. Miles Davis' “Blue In Green” and Paul Desmond‘s “Take Five” are two pieces not actually composed by pianists, but which are nevertheless indelibly associated with the giants of the piano who played in the bands that first recorded the tunes, Bill Evans and Dave Brubeck.

‘Covers’ is an inadequate word to describe the way Helbock interprets and adapts these pieces, his approach to the classics of jazz piano history is far too individual for that. And originality begins with the instrumentation he uses: Helbock has entrusted the project to his percussionless Random/Control Trio with two multi-instrumental wind virtuosi Andreas Broger and Johannes Bär. These friends from the Vorarlberg region of Austria have already made a name for themselves as humorous sound anarchists at the ‘Holstuonarmusigbigbandclub’ (HMBC), and have even climbed up the pop charts. This pair of one-man bands brings a particular brand of anarchy. They always follow a pre-conceived plan, whether it be in the bands of Matthias Schriefl or Phil Yeager. This approach is to the fore in Abdullah Ibrahim's tune “African Marketplace”. It bursts with joie de vivre, and provides the ideal entry point into this “Tour d'Horizon”. Using over 20 instruments including a didgeridoo and a tuba, they make sense of the title quite literally. Helbock doesn’t just play the keys of the piano, he also hits the strings directly and plays percussively on the piano’s wooden case.

Shrill flutes, beatboxing voices or synthesizer sounds... this trio of whirling dervishes use everything imaginable – and more – in a rousing power trip through Helbock's highly personal musical history. The jazz spirit of “Tour d'Horizon” fires up the glowing embers of tradition and turns them into a blazing beacon for the future.

David Helbock, piano, electronics, percussion
Andreas Broger, saxophones, clarinets & various reed instruments
Johannes Bär, tuba, trumpet & various brass instruments

Recorded by Klaus Scheuermann at Hansa Studios Berlin, December 11 & 12, 2017
Mixed and mastered by Klaus Scheuermann in February & March 2018
Produced by Siggi Loch

David Helbock
Zweimal Preisträger und der Publikumspreis beim weltweit größten Jazz-Piano-Solo-Wettbewerb des Jazzfestivals Montreux, begeisterte/internationale Kritiken für seine CDs und der wichtigste Förderpreis des Bundes Österreich 2011 - der "Outstanding Artist Award" - der aus dem kleinen österreichischen Dorf Koblach stammende Pianist David Helbock ist zweifellos auf dem besten Weg zu einer internationalen Karriere.

Helbock ist aber nicht nur ein hervorragender Pianist, sondern auch ein eigenwilliger Denker, der in seine Projekte nicht nur außerordentliche Fingerfertigkeit, sondern auch jede Menge Hirnschmalz investiert.

David Helbock, am 28. Jänner 1984 geboren, begann im Alter von sechs Jahren Klavier zu spielen.

Er studierte am Konservatorium Feldkirch bei Prof. Ferenc Bognar Klavier, wo er 2005 sein klassisches Konzertfach-Diplom mit Auszeichnung abschloss und nahm seit 2000 zusätzlich Unterricht beim New Yorker Jazzpianisten Peter Madsen, der sein Lehrer, Mentor und Freund wurde.

David Helbock spielte Konzerttourneen und Aufnahmen in Länder wie den USA, Australien, Mexiko, Russland, Kasachstan, Kirgisistan, China, Mongolei, Südafrika, Äthiopien, Kenia, Senegal, Marokko, Indonesien, Malaysia, Indien, Brasilien, Argentinien, Chile und überall in Europa.

David Helbock ist seit Beginn seiner Musikerlaufbahn außerdem als Komponist sehr aktiv. Zu seinen Werken zählt ein großes „Jahreskompositionsprojekt“ in dem er für ein Jahr lang jeden Tag ein neues Stück geschrieben hat (Anfang 2010 ist das "Personal Realbook" mit über 600 Seiten Musik erschienen)

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Booklet for Tour D'horizon