|
 PROFILE: The Esther Kaiser Quartet by Michael Rüsenberg
As Europe’s frontiers have opened, the opportunities for musical interaction have increased – much to the benefit of German jazz. Nowadays, its development is firmly rooted in the wider continental experience – and the recent emergence of “hot new female talent” in Germany is part of this trend. Wherever you go, you find growing numbers of female jazz musicians, especially vocalists – even in Germany.
Esther Kaiser – born in Freiburg in 1975 – is one of these hot new artists. Inspired in her youth by jazz funk – her idols were Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan and Billie Holiday – she chose to pursue her passion for jazz at university instead of going it alone (and perhaps wasting her talent). Jazz may sometimes be the Cinderella of Germany’s musical scene, but there is no lack of opportunity to learn about it. Over the last two decades, a wealth of opportunities to study jazz has opened up for young musicians feeling its lure. And the list of A-list jazz artists adding “professor” to their stage names in their later years is growing longer all the time.
Esther began her studies at the Hanns Eisler Academy of Music in Berlin in 1996, where her tutor was Judy Niemack: “At the beginning, she taught me a lot about sound, style and phrasing. But after a while, her work as a lyricist became very important to me as well. It was thanks to her that I found out that jazz singers write their own lyrics. She sets very high standards in terms of the quality of her work and she taught me a great deal.”
Esther Kaiser has a clear youthful soprano voice. She writes her own lyrics, not just for her own compositions but also for instrumental works by other writers.
“The lyrics reflect a lot of what I am about. I keep them fairly abstract, so there is a lot of scope for the listener to use their imagination. Part of my style is that I don’t force my stories on people. I prefer to keep it simple and leave room for interpretation.” Two good examples are her lyrics to “Milonga del Angel“ and “La Muerte del Angel“ by Astor Piazzolla – the world’s greatest composer of tango music – which feature on her debut album “Jazz Poems” (2004). She tells us what these songs mean to her: “In this instance, I was inspired by something quite specific: the sad story of a friend of mine who died. He had been very unhappy all his life. He had never felt good about himself and never really coped with life. At the time I wrote the lyrics, it was all very fresh in my mind. But I can’t say what made me write the songs about it; it just happened.
“Superficially, 'Milonga' is a story about an angel. But it could just as easily be about a person – a soul who falls to Earth and finds it cold and grey, but stays anyway, like rays of sunshine which sometimes come and sometimes go. And this person, or angel, is looking for something – for answers, for words, for intimacy and warmth. And he doesn’t find what he’s looking for. So he withdraws completely. And sometimes he emerges from this withdrawal, but only briefly – because he suddenly discovers his voice. I mean a voice – singing – in a metaphorical sense too. But he doesn’t come to depend on it.”
Esther Kaiser sings lyrics, but like any typical jazz singer, she is also an expert in scat – a form of improvisation in which the singer becomes an instrumentalist by using nonsense syllables instead of words. It has become her interface to the instruments in her band.
Esther belongs to the vocal ensemble “Berlin Voices”, but she is also the leader of her own quartet which is named after her. But she emphasizes that this is not a backing group. In songs like “Milonga”, when the vocalist takes a break, and old jazz classics like “Bye Bye Blackbird”, which feature instrumental solos, the band takes on a fascinating life all of its own.
Although she rarely departs from mainstream jazz, her conceptual approach is very modern. This especially applies to her rhythmical interpretations. Marc Muellbauer (bass), Jens Dohle (drums), and especially Carsten Daerr (piano and harmonica) have a firm grasp of what constitutes “broken swing”. Without interrupting the flow of the music, the baseline rhythm is often “felt” rather than conveyed openly, and the musicians play around with different variations which do much to heighten the sense of tension in this part of the arrangement.
Rhythmic flexibility and layering are closely related to harmony and the creative use of form. The quartet does not go in for traditional interpretation – although like many other jazz ensembles, they mainly perform works by other composers, including classics from the Great American Songbook (“Over the Rainbow” and “Bye Bye Blackbird”, folk (“Black is the Colour” from Ireland), pop classics (“Fragile” by Sting, “Eleanor Rigby” by the Beatles), light classics (“Waltz” by Chopin), and even a lullaby by German cabaret artist Hanns Dieter Hüsch (“Der Tag ist aus”). And this is where the arrangers – including Esther Kaiser herself – come in. Listeners familiar with the originals can judge the performers’ creative abilities for themselves – and the Esther Kaiser Quartet has a lot to offer here.
Esther’s arrangement of “Eleanor Rigby” is a case in point. The Beatles’ classic becomes a musical drama, swinging from crescendo to contemplative mood and back again. The lyrics are familiar, but the rhythm is very different, moving smoothly from strains of bossa nova to funk. Here, the lead instrument is the melodica as a counterpoint to the piano. “Eleanor Rigby” shines through, but it is a very different – and innovative – type of performance.
Fans who catch up with the quartet on their tour of South-East Asia will have the chance to hear most of their repertoire, which will also be released on CD in early 2006 (“The Moment We Met”).
Translated by Hillary Crowe.
Esther Kaiser Quartet:
Esther Kaiser - Vocals
Carsten Daerr - Piano, melodica
Marc Muellbauer - Bass
Jens Dohle - Drums
Press reviews:
This first release is warm and sympathetic – a wonderfully well-balanced mix of intellect and instinct, melancholy and playfulness, featuring cello, flute and sax, with a fantastic rhythm section led by star pianist Carsten Daerr and outstanding lyrics ...
- Jazzthing
Through her voice, with its light timbre and perfect intonation, she conveys all the nuances of poetry –most of which she penned herself– creating an intensive but relaxing listening experience.
A not-to-miss new voice in German jazz. At her sold-out show at Freiburg’s Jazzhaus –which
she performed while still at school– the vocalist, now based in Berlin, showed that she is a class act. Supported by a trio which broke all the swing clichés usually associated with backing groups...
-Badische Zeitung
The thirteen tracks are exquisitely arranged, creating a sense of excitement, both rhythmically and melodically ... heartbreakingly beautiful. With her unerring phrasing and sense of timing, the 29-year-old vocalist neatly sidesteps the usual clichés.
- Stereoplay
To sum up: gorgeous vocal jazz – and I’d say her version of Sting’s “Fragile” is even better than the original!
- Jazzpodium
|
