Tales from the Edge Marcus Klossek Electric Trio

• 1 Way In 03:42
• 2 Life After Smile 04:58
• 3 Long Time No See 04:37
• 4 Get Going 05:43
• 5 Industrial Escape 09:37
• 6 Quite Evident 05:00
• 7 Tiptoe Cat 04:19
• 8 Explanation of a Lie 03:30
• 9 Save Your Space 04:50
• 10 Last Step to Lightness 03:37
• Total Runtime 49:53

Info for Tales from the Edge

Guitar, drums and bass – sometimes it doesn't take more to create great music. The Berlin-based guitarist Marcus Klossek has been keeping his electric trio alive for 10 years now, and the new album "Tales from the Edge" was also recorded in the tried-and-tested line-up.

"It is the platform that lets me realize my songs," Klossek stated in a lapidary way. “For some reason, I keep returning to this formation. It is simply the ideal line-up for my compositions."

Klossek composed 10 new songs for the album, and most of them are slimly structured and live from a transparent sound. But Klossek is by no means a purist. "I've been trying to integrate other sounds for some time now," he stated. "Our bassist Carsten Hein contributes spacey effects in a completely improvised way in ‘Industrial Escape’. He can provide quite a lot in that respect. For me, this is an important extension of the sound, including the fact that the guitar is not in the foreground all the time."

Klossek does not exclude his own instrument from the expansion of the range of sounds; his Fender Telecaster also breaks out from well-known timbres here and there. "I also incorporated some delay effects in 'Save Your Space’," Klossek said as an example. "I try to get away from sounding as dry as a typical guitar trio, and I like these echo effects and loops quite a bit."

The already mentioned Carsten Hein is still at his side. The bassist is just as at home in rock and pop as he is in jazz and has already worked with artists as diverse as Neneh Cherry, Ivy Quainoo, Mellow Mark and Kristiina Tuomi. Marcus Klossek appreciates him for many reasons.

"When I send him new pieces, Carsten always prepares meticulously," the guitarist stated. "He notices where his spots are and comes up with something for them. The pieces take more shape after two or three rehearsals, and he is a very important partner, because he thinks a lot. Many passages are also completely improvised, and I depend on his creativity there."

Derek Scherzer sits behind the drums, who is also a sought-after musician and has already played with Ken Norris, Herb Geller, Ulita Knaus, Roger Cicero, Don Friedman and Dusko Goykovich. He is of course essential for electric trio. "Derek is super important," Marcus Klossek emphasized. "He plays very vividly and is much more than just a timekeeper. He improvises with Carsten and me, but still keeps the sound from getting out of hand. He is good at reading notes and grasping the music, but above all he is a gifted improviser."

Together, the three musicians repeatedly set accents that let the vitality and freshness of Klossek's songs shine. The guitarist is a productive composer who can't precisely name from where his inspiration comes.

“I have some small ideas, but I don't even know where they come from,” Klossek shrugged, but then related in more detail: "I then try to make a piece out of small melodies and chords. But I don't compose all the time, but instead do it in phases.”

Only the album title was not chosen by chance by Klossek. "Tales From The Edge" illustrates something of the tension of the musicians, who fly over small abysses and large gorges like in a wire rope act – a tension that you don't even hear from the casual music of the trio, because they actually work together like clockwork.

They avoid crashes in the process, but they are always possible in principle. "The title expresses the adventure of improvisation," Klossek said, "in which you always take a certain risk, because it can also backfire."

Marcus Klossek, electric guitar
Carsten Hein, electric bass
Derek Scherzer, drums

Marcus Klossek
gehört zu jener Gruppe von Gitarristen, die Jazz auf einer Fender Telecaster - sozusagen der Urform der E-Gitarre - spielen.

Eine Gruppe, in der jede Menge unverkennbarer Individualisten zu finden sind, man denke an Ed Bickert, Bill Frisell, Mike Stern, Jim Campilongo oder Jakob Bro.

Marcus Klossek ist eine etablierte Instanz der Berliner Jazzszene, der es versteht, mit seinem Electric Trio auf den Punkt zu kommen.

Das brandneue Album „Time Was Now“, seine 8. Veröffentlichung als Bandleader und die erste für Double Moon/ Challenge Records ist ein weiterer Beweis für die aussergewöhnlichen Fähigkeiten des Gitarristen als Songwriter und Geschichtenerzähler.

Seit seinem Studium an der Hochschule der Künste in Amsterdam tourt Marcus Klossek auf zahllosen Club und auf Festival-Marathons in Deutschland und Europa. Ausserdem arbeitet er seit vielen Jahren als gefragter Dozent für Gitarre, Ensembles und Workshops weltweit.

Ganz nebenbei hat ihm sein virtuoses Spiel zu einem der meistbeschäftigten Musikern mit dutzenden Gastbeiträgen bei Aufnahmen von Bands und Projekten der deutsche Jazzszene gemacht.

This album contains no booklet.