MALSTROM
MALSTROM
MALSTROM – BREMEN
Jazz began on the stage, rock music began on the stage. And that means in interaction with an audience. Jazz, rock, and ever more enthusiastic people who cheer along with the music – all flow together on Malstrom’s new album, BREMEN. This was the band’s second live recording. It took place at a concert in 2024, marking the close of their three year tour and was also the conclusion of a 3-year-grant which gave Malstrom the freedom to experiment whilst playing at numerous live performances.
During this final concert, the trio played their way through their catalogue of songs. The band’s anthem Malstrom, from their debut album Enter the Malstrom, a joyful piece, is here deconstructed in its middle section and stretched out to be nearly nine minutes long. Like every track on the album, it sounds fresh and different—not only transformed with new improvisational sections, but also, in a sense, turned inside out.
When listening to Malstrom it is hard to distinguish between the composed and the improvised, but ultimately, it doesn’t matter. The fluid fusion of improvisation and composition shows that the musicians share an almost instinctive sureness in playing together. Malstrom’s music is about energy, connection, and variety. The band fuses together – sounds, genres (from the New York downtown jazz scene of John Zorn and Jim Black, to metal and classical improvisation), references, melodies and breakneck rhythms. The results are simply unique. The effect is immediate. In Hallo Katze (“Hello Kitty”), for example, the drums and guitar slide in and out of each other with precision, while the saxophone improvises melodically on a theme, together drawing an immediate reaction from the audience. The concert at which BREMEN was recorded took place at the Freaques de-la-Musique-Festival, which brings together avant rock, noise, math rock, and jazz, and takes place in a small room in the Bremer Güterbahnhof (Bremen Goods Station). Followers of different genres are brought together who wouldn’t typically attend the same concert. Malstrom attracts jazz enthusiasts, metal fans, and those who enjoy avant-rock or experimental music. It amounts to total energy and contact between stage and public. While applause is common on live jazz albums—especially after a standout solo—BREMEN offers something more. The audience cheers and whistles spontaneously, energising the band even further, especially during the crazily constructed sections. Is Malstrom a rock band or a jazz trio? The answer is a resounding „yes“.
„So much energy comes back from the audience. It’s like a ping-pong effect: we hurl it out, the people love it and hurl it back, and we catch it and turn it into something even bigger. That’s when music that happens on stage is magical. Through all the live performances, we’ve developed an unspoken understanding of what works and what doesn’t. We now play together on a completely different level than we did at the beginning. We don’t just play the piece—we play with it.“
(Jo Beyer, drums)
„The material that we write is very complex, which is not untypical in jazz. What’s unusual is that we’ve played these songs for years, almost like a rock band. The more we engage with this material, even the complicated parts, in an exuberant way, the more freedom we gain. It adds a whole new layer of depth.“
(Florian Walter, saxophone)
„Playing with risk comes with a lot of responsibility towards the other band members. That responsibility creates a lot of energy as a band. We feed off each other as a band on stage. It’s even cooler when the audience reflects that energy back to us. The concert hall becomes a sort of melting pot.“
(Axel Zajac, guitar)
