Reis/Demuth/Wiltgen
Reis/Demuth/Wiltgen
Laborie ***
This has got New Melodic written all over it from the opener ‘Mirage’ onwards. Little known beyond the Benelux although that may well change swiftly, Luxembourg pianist and composer Michel Reis studied at the Conservatoire de la Ville de Luxembourg, later Berklee, and the New England Conservatory. So he’s studied hard and long, and the effort has paid off (he must have lived a bit as well as this is not a bookworm’s record). As a leader Reis put out four albums of his own and here teams engagingly with relative newcomer Marc Demuth on bass and Paul Wiltgen, drums. I love the beginning, a headspinning circular motif taken at a great clip by the drummer, and by the second track ‘No Stone Left Unturned’ the band is well and truly into its own space. Drummer Wiltgen sounds a bit like Magnus Öström a bit, no bad thing, but Reis is his own man. Brahmsian at times, there’s a grandeur to Reis’ playing, and the trio manages to carve a style that’s in keeping with EST. That’s unavoidable. When Demuth plays the bass all exposed on the ballad ‘A Clock Apart’ it’s big Dan immediately! This trio is a real discovery. Pick of the set? The beautifully aching ‘If Only You Would Know’ a tune Brad Mehldau would be proud of and the middle eastern folkloric ‘Straight Circle’ is rather lovely. SG
Reis/Demuth/Wiltgen above. [Review first published in 2013.]