Who Manatee

Barnett and Helm open "a field between advanced jazz and quirky songwriter sound, groping and fragile, bold and radical."

The Australian trombonist Shannon Barnett, who lives in Cologne, could already be experienced at the Leipzig Jazztage 2020 as part of the Cologne-Leipzig-Berlin concert "Hearts on hold" together with Robert Landfermann and Eva Klesse at the UT Connewitz. For MusikZeit 2021, the musician will present herself with one of her own projects. The duo Who Manatee, with the participation of the enterprising Cologne bassist David Helm, celebrated its premiere on Deutschlandfunk in the series "Cologne Duets". There it was said afterwards: Barnett and Helm open "a field between advanced jazz and weirdly touching songwriter sound, groping and fragile, courageous and radical." With her band Wolves and Mirrors, also new, Barnett released an eponymous album in March of this year. The trombonists wrote the piece "Martyr" that appeared on it after their first visit to the Hambacher Forst forest, which was fought over by the energy company RWE and environmental activists and has since been temporarily saved from lignite mining. Barnett's dynamic and thoughtfully somber compositions are eagerly awaited.