Tini Thomsen ‘The Long Ride’.
The title describes it quite well: a lot has happened since the first CD ‘MaxSax’ which
appeared late 2014 and gave the band it’s name. Numerous performances inside and out
of Germany have given Tini Thomsen and her band the chance to perfect the new genre of
music that she has created. This was not an easy task and was in fact - a long ride indeed.
Thomsen (as the youngest of 5 children) requires much attention, and her beloved
baritone saxophone is no different. In order to make this instrument come alive without
simply turning the volume up it requires a great deal of imagination in terms of composition
and arrangement. But she likes challenges and in tandem with her baritone was awarded
the "Jazzbaltica" prize in 2015 and the GEMA Musician Prize in the Jazz / Crossover
category in 2016. One of her favourite quotes about her music comes from music mag
Jazzthetik: "Why didn’t anyone come up with this before?"
But back to the challenge. It’s accomplishment has led to new material and has produced
music that is attributed to this strange instrument.
Bassist Mark Haanstra and guitarist Tom Trapp have become specialists in the creation of
baritone-friendly grooves, as well as accompanying the catchy melodies, fragile ballads or
high-energy solo passages. The search for the band’s sound was found in the extremes,
but then it happened: at a jazz festival she met her youth hero of the alto saxophone-
Englishman Nigel Hitchcock, who had been touring with (amongst many) Mark Knopfler
and Tom Jones. After a short conversation it was clear that they wanted to make music
together. A short time after their first encounter the reunion and celebrated performance of
the legendary saxophone quartet "Itchy Fingers" was held, with Nigel on alto and Tini on
baritone sax. It was obvious to her- Hitchcock had to be in her band MaxSax. But hadn't
Tini Thomsen been loudly advertising her first cd with the words "forget the also sax",
"deeper is better"?
But to err is human and the sound of Hitchcock and Thomsen together as a great supersax
is divine.
On the new CD ‘The Long Ride’ one can hear the typical MaxSax catchy melodies, but
also broader phrases with longer set-ups and more time for solos. The sound of the CD is
a rendering of their live sound. For Thomsen it feels like a great improvement from the first
studio produced CD to ‘The Long Ride’ as a well captured band sound.
Guitarist Tom Trapp has contributed three compositions that are seamlessly integrated into
the sound concept. His high energy solos can be found on the tracks ‘Lightning Girl’ and
‘Equalizer’. ‘Chicago’ is one of the hookier melodies on the album, ‘Say It Quietly’ is a
great alto feature for Nigel. Tini's favourite moments of the live performances have made it
on to the album as well- the ‘Petal’ - a concept that has evolved since the first CD.
Until now the interludes were only played by the baritone. Now she adds Hitchcock and
the duo plays dreamy sounds or pushing grooves à la Itchy Fingers.
The CD ‘The Long Ride’ is Thomsen's attempt to realise what was written in the Hamburg
newspaper: "she will play the stages of the world".
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