Matthias Bergmann Quartett »Pretend It’s A City«

Matthias Bergmann, (flugelhorn, trumpet), Hanno Busch (guitar), Cord Heineking (bass), Jens Düppe (drums)

The 3rd CD production of the Cologne flugelhorn player and trumpeter Matthias Bergmann was released in October 2021. The sound has changed, has become more mature, rougher and at the same time airier, already the opener, one of two foreign compositions, an arrangement of the Love Song by the British band The Cure, is more focused on the wonderful guitar of Hanno Busch, while Cord Heineking on bass and drummer Jens Düppe pull the strings as usual in the background and the flugelhorn of the band leader floats above everything. Pretend It's A City plays with the calm colors of the vastness of the city, here and there a pinch of bass clarinet, played by Claudius Valk, then the wonderful homage to the South African pianist Abdullah Ibrahim with Hendrik Soll on Fender Rhodes and for the finale the folkloristic Eastern European Saita by Hartmut Preyer. An atmospherically well-dosed and always incredibly melodic production that borrows its title from Martin Scorsese's documentary series about the Jewish author Fran Lebowitz, whose quotations also adorn several track titles.