Changing Landscapes

Oene van Geel – Viola/Cajon/Voice
Pau Sola Masafrets – Cello/Voice
Philipp Rüttgers – Piano
“Top trio paints with breathtaking sounds”
“Was this classical music, was it jazz, was it chamber music, was it world music?
The answer is simple: it was all and this trio created an elusive concept. That got under your skin, allowing you to take it home as a present and let your mind float on it for days on end.”
“….the performance was distinguished by the craftsmanship and the endless imagination of the three musicians.”
JAZZNU 2021 Rinus van der Heijden
“… a concert by three top improvisers !”
“communication takes place at a top level and the result often has the character of a kind of complex dance”
“A unique concert at one of the most beautiful locations in the Netherlands!”
Jazzenzo 2021 Cyriel Pluimakers
New music that moves from chamber music and metropolitan jazz to cinematic vistas. As put by Rinus van der Heijden in jazznu.com : “Was this classical music, was it jazz, was it chamber music, was it world music? The answer is simple: it was all and this trio created an elusive concept. That got under your skin, allowing you to take it home as a present and let your mind float on it for days to come.
Oene van Geel (viola, vocals / cajon), Pau Sola Masafrets (cello / vocals) and Philipp Rüttgers (piano) love performing challenging compositions and improvising through them. They use a wide array of different influences and glue them together with their unique sound of a classical chamber trio, jazz trio or a contemporary ensemble. It all comes down to the unique distinguished craftsmanship each of one of them developed throughout the years combined with their very strong urge of communicating and improvising, seeking the unknown moment of truth all together.
A truly rewarding experience for the audience who loves to get surprised and fooled into expectations.
All three musicians live in the metropol area of Amsterdam, received numerous awards and compositional grants and are part of the roaring jazz, improvised and theater scene in Holland.

Trio Changing Landscapes started out as a Duo of Oene and Philipp

Oene van Geel – Viola        Philipp Rüttgers – Piano

Philipp and Oene are both composers and players in various settings (including Estafest, Phil’s Music Laboratory, Shapes of Time, Twists of H.C. Andersen Fairy Tales) and they share the love for improvisation.

They create challenging music where you will be taken along by both classical chamber music and grooving compositions on a journey to the unknown.

The digital album can be purchased at the store of  Native DSD Music.

A Special Recording, It Started With A Jam….

It started with a spontaneous jam at Splendor in Amsterdam, to which Oene van Geel had invited me. We both brought different compositions to the table, but also improvised freely. From the first moment it felt familiar and special. I felt that I had found a musical friend. When we play together we make music from sound and space. Intuition and curiosity are our characteristics.

On the first day of the recording Changing Landscapes, I walked through the doors of the MCO Studio 1 in Hilversum. A beautifully large room with great acoustics. There was a fantastic Steinway Concert Grand that had just been overhauled. The keys have a light touch with a tight control over the hammer. The feeling of the contact between your fingertip and the sound you make with it is unbelievable.

I knew immediately that this would be a special recording. We played without amplification and without headphones. Oene was positioned to the left of me, behind the open wing flap. After a few takes we gradually turned to the positioning and the sound between Piano and Quintone.

With Jared Sacks, we made a plan to play much more than to listen, and that we were not going to make  choices on the day in terms of takes. For me this was a surprise because I am used to making certain  choices in the studio based on listening to the recorded takes in the moment. I trusted Jared and we took the rest of the day and the day that followed, without really listening back.

A few weeks later Jared forwarded the DSD recordings and I was positively surprised! This is a very special sound. I hear every little detail of what I played. The combination with Oene comes across beautifully. The space of the MCO carries the sound.  I am very impressed with Jared’s way of recording – and you, the listener – will be too.

— Philipp Rüttgers