Uri Gincel Trio: Love Through the Stained Glass Review

Uri Gincel is a vital pianist in the Berlin jazz scene and is releasing his second album as a leader with bassist Paul Kleber, and drummer Tobias Backhaus called Love Through the Stained Glass. Founded on jazz standards and classical piano trio sounds, the three set out in search of new forms, sounds, and colors. With mutual trust, great joy in playing, and always willing to take risks but never losing focus on the common language, the Uri Gincel Trio creates an intense, multifaceted world of musical improvisation, sound, and tradition. Gincel says of the trio’s second album, “We tend to look at our past loves through the filter of our memory; we reshape them and invent a romantic image, an almost perfect ideal that shows how much beauty our soul is capable of. When we look at the same love through music, we can go to a safe haven and enclose that feeling in a frame so that other people can look at it and create their own realm out of it. This album is a portrait of my attempt to walk along the corridor of my past loves in different periods: from hope and infatuation, moments of depression, and deep regret, to beautiful realizations of truth after soul searching and the fragrance of love that remains in me, in music.”

“Rising Up” has a gentile opening with Gincel using space to pull the listener into his musical world of jazz meets classical. The trio listens intently to each other’s playing, building a musical story of drama and flowing phrases. Kleber and Gincel converse melodically as Backhaus swirls in a rhythmic world of polyrhythms. Gincel creates each of his phrases with both activity and dynamics, making for a very expressive style.

“Light Through the Stained Glass” is the most energetic composition of the set, opening with Kleber and Backhaus building the feel before Gincel enters with the lively melody. Backhaus keeps the pulse steady as he plays with polyrhythms and adds interest, tension, and release. Gincel’s solo is built around a chordal motif that he shapes and develops until the end.

Love Through the Stained Glass contains six compositions that offer a classical meets jazz sound that is fresh and elegant. The trio works together to create a space for each song, molding and shaping the music with dynamics, melodic motifs, and rhythmic playfulness. Gincel continues to offer the jazz world exciting albums, and as his catalog grows, so will his reputation as a performer and leader.