Elbphilharmonie / Moritz von Oswald Trio feat. Laurel Halo & Heinrich Köbberling

The trio of the German dub and techno legend Moritz von Oswald is back in a new form. Von Oswald now explores the space between improvised music and electronica with the experimental sound researcher Laurel Halo and the free-jazz drummer Heinrich Köbberling.

When you drop, of all things, the electronic beats in the music referred to under the umbrella term »electronic beats«, a fascinating musical reinterpretation emerges. Heinrich Köbberling on the drums gives the trio an organic rhythmic framework. Where you might otherwise expect a solid foundation of beats and bass, you find here a lively play with accents and impulses. In contrast, Moritz von Oswald lays the atmospheric basis of the tracks with abstracted expanses that sound like endlessness, while Laurel Halo steps in ever so sparingly with retro electric piano sounds, which is still enough to give the music its direction.

Even though this new line-up recorded »Dissent« as an album in 2021, the trio thrives on the constant flow of improvisation and change. After the death of the Afrobeat star Tony Allen, who played drums in the trio, von Oswald has managed to completely restructure the project. Another chapter of improvised electronic music – so close to jazz and yet boundless as never before.