Pianist Florian Hoefner leads a quartet with Mike Ruby/ts-ss, Sam Anning/b and Peter Kronreif/dr through a collection of well thought original compositions on this release. Hoefner’s touch and heart seem to lean towards classical romantic, with a serenading flow to tunes like “Cross Hill” and “Sometimes.” Ruby’s fuzzy tenor is a nice gadfly and alter ego as he gives a bit of muscle to the gentle “Ivory” and trudging “Behind The Sun.” The rest of the rhythm team can go from agitated assertive (“Ankunft”) to exotic middle eastern moods (“Distraction”) and seem right at home, making a nice melding of different personalities. Subdued, subtle and satisfying.
OA2 Records