Arnold/Martin/Rom: Happily through the night

Minimalism as a contrast to abundance. Three musicians in search of a new sound language: these were the sparse keywords about the Arnold/Martin/Rom trio that aroused our author Robert Wenzel's curiosity after reading the Leipzig Jazz Days program. Now, after attending the concert, he is smarter - and happier.

My concert evening begins with the search for the entrance. The midnight concert takes place in the Moritzbastei. Just as it is the only concert of these Jazz Days to be hidden in the witching hour, the entrance is also hidden at the side of the extensive complex. It was built during the Renaissance as part of Leipzig's city fortifications. A long corridor leads down to the upper cellar, which alternates between steps and terraces with seating. Once downstairs, the architecture is intricate and massive. The instruments - drums, bass, guitar and a case of effects equipment - are placed right there in front of the monumental vaulted ceilings. I wonder how many bricks were used here? 

Around 40 people are sitting on the various levels. The atmosphere is calm. The three musicians are introduced. Mapping Music - the theme of this year's Jazztage. Local players are also given a stage here. These include Hans Arnold, Philipp Martin and Markus Rom, who are playing their first concert in this line-up today. Musically, they can't be pigeonholed. They move in many bubbles. One piece of information that is quite relevant for me: this is my surprise concert. I only know the first movement from the program booklet about them and remain curious.

Photo: Lukas Diller

The three musicians enter the stage and immediately start playing. No welcoming words to the audience. The music is supposed to take care of that. I have to think of the program booklet: Klangsprache. 

The bass sounds unusually high, the guitar plays repetitive patterns, the drums provide discreet support. Everything is played with reverb. A pleasant carpet of sound spreads out in the upper cellar. Slightly driving, but not demanding. The advertised minimalism only applies from the outside. The music invites you to lose yourself in it and dream. Again and again, the music rises up like a gust of wind that gives direction to a landscape. I kept thinking about landscapes during the concert. Radiohead's "In Rainbows" buzzes around in my inner ear. 

The second piece: repetitive bass that sets a kind of time signature. 5-6 notes in a row, from bottom to top. Different speeds. Time is not so strict. The musicians all wear very similar glasses. They look at each other very little through them. They communicate via their ears. The guitar partly follows the riff of the bass. Then it becomes more spherical again. Hans Arnold enjoys the freedom of not having to dictate the beat and uses the drums far beyond the skins. 

He also operates various effect devices that are set up next to him. He repeatedly modifies the sound of his drums by placing various metal objects on the drum heads. Philipp Martin and Markus Rom also take their instruments and effects devices far beyond the ordinary. As a result, they repeatedly create passages in their compositions in which the music seems to submerge under water or change its aggregate state. 

The song is over. Or is it not? A moment of silence could well be part of an arrangement. There is no applause. But the audience is by no means averse. Again and again I can see people with their eyes closed, absorbed in the music, swaying back and forth. There is prolonged applause before and after the encore. There are occasional calls for the concert to start again. But we are not that far yet. 

Stripped down, or restrained and simple, are actually only the audience and the artists. The music is not overloaded, but sounds big in a different way due to its spherical nature. There they are again, the sound bodies. Everything sounds mechanical. Like in a place near the desert, where people are working in the distance. Sounds from a forge.

Guitar and bass now play in unison with the same attack.

Applause. Apparently the song was over. The musicians smile briefly at the audience. It's not turned up in the evening here, but reverently midnight.

Hans Arnold places a sound body that looks like a cymbal on the snare. Sometimes he mutes it with his hand. Then again he rubs it with the stick and a small metal rod. Strange, beautiful sounds. It gets psychedelic again and again. The cymbal-like body of sound is bounced on the tom. A deep beat. Not loud, but it clearly passes the baton to the guitar. A repeating pattern. We've gone a bit further. The music itself is not big and pompous, but it gives the listener a sense of grandeur or space to feel it.

Photo: Lukas Diller

The light is now clearly visible through the remaining sheet of music on the music stand. Hans Arnold plays a solo on the drums. He plays synthesizer and drums together and creates his own pattern. The guitar picks it up and takes over almost imperceptibly. Elegant! "One two three four" - the first time! Words! The song has a joyful and positive resonance. Suddenly again: "one two three...", and the drums become driving. Hans Arnold has a big smile on his face. Philipp Martin and Markus Rom with eye contact to their drummer. Something is happening. The audience is there and the energy is overflowing. Everyone is under the spell of the music. As if the three of them on stage had led us right there with their songs. Guitar and drums at the same pitch again. Then bass and guitar with the same attack. The drums stop briefly. Then all three together again. Awesome. The sound seems rougher. Hans Arnold drives the drums again. Bass and guitar continue to play with the same attack. The drums change their playing style from jazzy and playful to driving and back again. 

It is broken open. There are sheets of music everywhere. The climax. The finale. It gets big. Bigger and bigger. And the end.

In my enthusiasm, I find myself at the merchandise stand and buy Hans Arnold's solo record. Unfortunately, there is no record by all three of them. I recommend Markus Rom in conversation to make up for it. Then I drive home happily through the night.