Piano, bass and drums. The audience is used to it. Because that’s how the classic jazz trio is usually defined. But what happens if you just leave out one of these instruments? One thing is clear: it takes courage and the willingness to take risks.
The two Munich musicians Nils Kugelmann and Sebastian Wolfgruber dared to take this step. Your duo Wolfgruber Kugelmann consists of piano and drums. The two have known each other for a long time and have often jammed together in this constellation. A studio recording was actually not planned. It came about by accident.
In June 2021, Nils wanted to make studio recordings with his jazz trio, in which he plays the double bass. But the pianist fell ill. Nils didn’t want to lose the studio slot. So Sebastian jumped in spontaneously with his drums. Without rehearsal. “But that was somehow the nice thing about it,” says Nils. “Because everything was very fresh.” Two jazz musicians who by chance find themselves in the studio spontaneously and record an EP without rehearsing.
This background story, this “feeling of freedom in playing together”, as Nils calls it, can also be felt in her songs. Drums and piano enter into a dialogue. They respond to each other, always find each other again. There are sometimes gentler, sometimes more dynamic sequences, but all of them are somehow harmonious.
Their EP “Dancing Rhapsody” was released in September of this year. In terms of genre, the five songs are somewhere between Chilly Gonzalez and modern jazz. Within a very short time, the music landed on renowned Spotify playlists such as “Jazz Today”, “Jazz X-Press” or “Swinging Piano”. This brought the duo a total of around 10,000 clicks from around 100 countries. “That was a nice feeling. To see that our music is also heard,” says Nils.
One question nevertheless arises: Is something missing? The jazz listener is actually used to the fact that bass is always there. If Nils doesn’t play anything in the lower registers on the piano, then there really isn’t anything. That in turn generates space. “There is a wide range of design options when the bass is gone,” says Nils. “But it’s a challenge. The sound foundation can’t be there at all. We just wanted to see how we can still shape it with our natural playing styles in such a way that you don’t have the feeling that something is missing. And that’s how you get it Music maybe also a certain lightness. ” Nevertheless: Going to the studio without a rehearsal could of course have gone wrong, says Nils. “It’s all the better that it worked out well after all. Risks are sometimes creative after all.”
Wolfgruber Kugelmann
- Occupation: Nils Kugelmann (piano), Sebastian Wolfgruber (drums)