01. А Тhоusаnd Кissеs Dеер
02. Тhе Fifth оf Вееthоvеn
03. Nightfаll
04. Nоbоdу Еlsе Вut Ме
05. Аir
06. Sсrеаm & Shоut
07. Wеttеrstеin
08. Еlеаnоr Rigbу
09. Реng! Реng!
10. Воdу & Sоul
11. Асh, blеib mit Dеinеr Gnаdе

Till Bronner - trumpet, flugelhorn
Dieter Ilg - bass

With only a single melody instrument and a bass, you’ve not only got instant minimalism but also the musical tension that is usually created by the absence of a harmony instrument: as a listener, with just the scales and the bottom notes to go on, you have to supply the implied harmony yourself. In short, it’s a challenge for both the players and the audience. This German duo – Till Brönner on trumpet/flugelhorn, Dieter Ilg, bass – make it work by drawing upon a range of techniques and a wide range of sources.

They wrote three of the tracks themselves. The rest range from standards (Body and Soul, Nobody Else But Me) to contemporary pop (will.i.am’s Scream and Shout), '60s pop (Eleanor Rigby) to classical (Bach’s Air) and even renaissance church music (Melchior Vulpius’s Ach bleib mit deiner Gnade – ‘Abide among us with your grace’).

Of course, in the space left where the harmony should go there’s room for thinking about other things, such as the groove and the dynamics. Take Ornette Coleman’s The Fifth of Beethoven, which starts with flugelhorn and bass playing the lines in unison, as on Coleman’s original, after which the two separate to play successive solos. But it works because of the impeccable groove established from the start. As for dynamics, these are present not so much within individual tunes as across the album as a whole, from the mellow Body and Soul to the neurotic Wetterstein to the austerity of Air.

On the Brönner/Ilg-penned title track, recording technology comes into it too, with both reverb and plate echo helping to make it less stark, along with Ilg playing bass chords here and there to lighten the mood.

Scream and Shout is perhaps the most accessible tune to modern ears. Here, they allow themselves some electronic pad sounds at the start, and Ilg’s bass has been double-tracked, whilst Brönner’s trumpet has been put through some sort of electric guitar emulator. On the gorgeous, evocative Ach bleib mit deiner Gnade serenity is achieved by laying sparse flugelhorn lines on top of a bowed bass and pad drone. By contrast, the self-written tracks Wetterstein and Peng! Peng! are avant-garde fragments, without melody or time.

Brönner has moved on a long way since the late '90s, when he was hailed as the feathery-toned reincarnation of Chet Baker. Nightfall is a darker, more mature and more experimental piece of work. ---Peter Jones, londonjazznews.com

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1. Bumpin'
2. Love Theme From Chinatown
3. In My Secret Life [feat. Carla Bruni]
4. The Peacocks
5. I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry [feat. Madeleine Peyroux]
6. Subrosa
7. Pra Dizer Adeus [feat. Luciana Souza]
8. It Never Entered My Mind
9. River Man [feat. Till Brönner]
10. Danny Boy
11. A Distant Episode
12. Tarde

Alto Saxophone – Gary Foster (tracks: 2, 4, 6)
Bass – David Piltch
Drums – Jay Bellerose
Guitar – Dean Parks
Organ [Hammond B3], Piano – Larry Goldings
Trumpet, Executive Producer – Till Brönner

For those in America who hadn't previously heard of Germany's most famous contemporary jazz musician, it would only take a few notes from his crisp, distant trumpet to elicit a comparison to Chris Botti. Beyond his tonal approach and penchant for relaxing, atmospheric, and lushly arranged standards, Till Brönner has much in common with his American counterpart: an extensive catalog (Oceana, originally released in Germany in 2006, was his ninth release), work with top pop producers (in Botti's case, Bobby Colomby; in Brönner's, Larry Klein), and a résumé that includes being a radio personality. Like Botti, Brönner draws from the sly and shy Chet Baker school of crooning trumpet and flügelhorning, but he goes a step further; on a silky chillout cover of "This Guy's in Love with You" and the more obscure Nick Drake tune "River Man," the horn takes a back seat to his soothing lead vocals. Though much of Oceana -- which begins with a tender and seductive blues-flavored twist on Wes Montgomery's "Bumpin'" -- is lovely, romantic, and sweetly atmospheric, it falls short when it comes to Brönner's vocal guest list. Carla Bruni is billed as a French chanteuse, but her colorless voice on "In My Secret Life" is nowhere near as sexy as any of her legendary work as a supermodel. Madeleine Peyroux fares a bit better on "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry," but the most authentic guest voice belongs to Brazilian singer Luciana Souza. None of the vocals are as compelling as Brönner's straight instrumentals, which don't exactly push the envelope but are well-produced and make for good romantic mood music. --- Jonathan Widran, Rovi

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