Evelyn Kryger

Everyone knows that less is more. At least most of the time. Far less well known and perhaps somewhat less popular, however, is the acknowledgement that sometimes more can indeed be more. With their new album entitled III, the quartet band Evelyn Kryger, whose members hail from Hanover, Cologne, and Hildesheim, shows with bravura that you can bring everything you’ve got into a project and end up with even more than you thought you would. And that’s a good thing.

But first things first. After the band’s previous album Live at JazzBaltica 2021, saxophonist Christoph (Cito) Kaling, keyboardist Arne Dreske, bassist Jonas Holland-Moritz, and drummer Hannes Dunker had to accept the departure of the band’s violinist Rebecca Czech. After the initially painful loss, the band members contemplated looking for a new violinist who could appropriately fill the void. They also considered the option of introducing a different instrument that could create a new accent. In the end, the four resolute men decided to follow a different path: They chose to redefine their entire band concept.

As such, although the album III heralds a radical new beginning for the band, the core competencies acquired during the band’s history were not abandoned. Four individualists, with contrasting personal experiences, preferences, and ways of working distill a logical flow of events that eludes definition and always leads to goals different from those imagined at the beginning. Without having planned it in this way, the band Evelyn Kryger has succeeded in creating an impressive, monumental oeuvre, an epic soundtrack bearing the characteristics of a concept album. The dramaturgy, sequencing, and sound direction only emerged during the immediate work on the album.

However, for this album, casting was fixed according to exactly defined criteria before production began, which represents a significant difference from the band’s previous albums. The band chose not to use a fixed line-up of musicians that would be heard on the entire album and then also go on tour. Instead, the band invited contributions from a variable assembly of guest musicians, who provided individual timbres and shadings, moments of tension, or changes of direction in the various songs. These guests included guitarist Omar Gudjonsson, best known from the Icelandic post-rock band ADHD and who the Evelyn Kruger band had wanted to invite as a guest for a long time. Unusual vocal accents were set by Brazilian rapper Laíz, who combined the flow and urgency of hip-hop with the power and force of Latin American rhythms. Trumpeter Tom Trabandt and saxophonist Richard Häckel, like Evelyn Kryger, come from the Hanover jazz scene. The Venezuelan percussionist Nené Vásquez contributed to the rhythmic emphasis. Last but not least, the familiar sound of the violin is not missing in the overall composition of Evelyn Kryger. The band found the right voice with American Roland Satterwhite, who among other things, plays in the Berlin jazz rock band Tolyqyn.

Although the album’s lineup boasts many names, the selection was not based on absolute numbers. It was more important to find the right fit. Indeed, Evelyn Kryger’s great achievement here is that none of the individual artists contributions sounds gimmicky or conspicuously stands out from the whole sound of the album. Each fits naturally into the logical flow of the band’s general concept, as if each guest artist had always been part of the band. A higher level of integration is hard to imagine: It is as if the band were a valley, and the guests the river flowing through it. Evelyn Kryger consciously works with opposites, but these have always led to a unified harmony. In this context, none of the songs can be thought of a showcase of a particular artist’s talents that would jeopardize the ambition to create a whole sound.

The stylistic diversity on this album is just as large as the line-up list. The variety of styles ranges from jazz to progressive rock, embellished with soundtrack-like passages, pop borrowings, Latin grooves, and folkloristic nuances. Listeners will hear the precision and density of classical music and the detached openness of jam rock. There are no boundaries between these moments. In each song, a new cornucopia of wonderful melodies pours forth. Similar to the best moments of Return to Forever, the Pat Metheny Group, Nils Petter Molvaer, or ADHD, all these of these musical influences and backgrounds flow together into a harmonious whole that no longer needs categorization. One thing becomes clear from the first note and continues to the last bar: This is undisputedly and exclusively a statement from Evelyn Kryger. The band benefits from a special quality that saxophonist Cito Kaling already described on the occasion of the band’s previous album Live at JazzBaltica 2021s: “We are a band of individualists that nevertheless has a very homogeneous band sound. We all bring our instruments from jazz without really functioning like a jazz band. Our characters and personal playing styles weave together within the band to create a common sound.”

Escaping a strict stylistic-musical definition, III seems like a film. Voices become characters, songs become scenes of a plot with an open end, sounds become backdrops, grooves become guardrails of storylines. The listener becomes spellbound in an imaginary cinema seat and follows the narrative world of images that Evelyn Kryger unleashes before the “seeing” ear. Every splash of color, every beat, every note, and every sung word makes sense in this world of overflowing impressions. III is big, but it needs to be precisely so big to generate its overwhelming effect. The album’s ultimate audiovisual effect is also promoted by the cover, designed by Hanover-based artist Anna Abramovich, which, as a pentagon independent of the music, is a work of art in itself.

Evelyn Kryger’s fourth album III is arguably one of the most complete musical gems of recent years. This album is not simply a studio production, but a performance in the very best sense. Without wanting to engage in further name-dropping here, it need not fear comparison with the very great concept albums of rock and jazz history. If we want to change the cultural playing field at this point, then with III, Evelyn Kryger has qualified for the Champions League.

Anyone looking for a synonym for boundless creative freedom in music cannot overlook the band name Evelyn Kryger. The Hanover-based quartet demonstrates an abundance of conceptual precision and playful freedom. Their music incorporates a multitude of stylistic possibilities, some of which mutually define and are infused into each other, while at other times, shows clear borders. Saxophonist Christoph (“Cito”) Kaling, keyboarder Arne Dreske, bassist Jonas Holland-Moritz, and drummer Hannes Dunker are all committed musicians. They know exactly what they are doing at every moment and confidently draw on a shared portfolio of different musical backgrounds and genres, including progressive rock, jazz, post-rock, ambient music, powerful urban music, and selected, exquisite subtleties of every conceivable musical ethnicity. Whether recorded on a CD or played on stage, their music is always a journey, or even a sound film, with dynamics that inevitably sweep the astonished listener away. Above all, however, their music challenges all the senses, because the unique scenic sequence of sounds, rhythms, consolidations, dissolutions, and melodic motifs results in a synesthetic experience that not only stimulates the ear but also all other perceptual levels. Everything is possible in Evelyn Kryger’s music; only arbitrariness is strictly forbidden.

Evelyn Kryger has developed an audiovisual language whose vocabulary boils down to the unconditional compatibility of all forms of expression and pastiches. In this way, the quartet, often accompanied by guest musicians, succeeds in uniting the greatest possible contrasts with an astonishing inner logic. Similar to and yet different from the best moments of Return to Forever, the Pat Metheny Group, Radiohead, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, or ADHD, all these influences and backgrounds flow together to form a harmonious whole that no longer requires categorization. Especially with their new album III, one thing becomes clear from the very first note and prevails consistently to the very last bar: This combination of complexity and all-encompassing unison can only be achieved by Evelyn Kryger.

Evelyn Kryger are
Cito Kaling – sax
Arne Dreske – keys
Jonas Holland-Moritz – bass
Hannes Dunker – drums

favourite guests on stage:
Nené Vasquez – percussion
Richard Häckel – sax
Laiz – vocals

„Definitely not everyday fare. „Billy Wolke“ is sure to confuse unprepared listeners. Nevertheless, we are sure that „Billy Wolke“ will ignite on the second listen at the latest. The combo is simply good. (…) The band’s credo seems to be: We do what we want. That’s a good thing – the result in the form of this wonderfully playful CD proves them right.“ global-music.de

„Evelyn Kryger practice fusion in all its variations. They succeed excellently wherever they dare […]. Wonderful musicians have come together here who can play well together and, if they continue to do so, could actually reinvent dance music.“ Folker

„Evelyn Kryger have recorded an album that intoxicates and not only testifies to exquisite musicality and a deep understanding of the blended styles from East to South, but above all exhibits curiosity and fun with the material. […] The result is, if you allow the stylistic derailment: awesome.“ Folker

„I can’t agree with the Folker magazine’s statement. „Geil“ is simply too profane and too vulgar a description for the music of Evelyn Kryger. It neither does justice to the excellent arrangements nor to the fun you have listening and dancing along. Evelyn Kryger’s music is the best crossover, which is almost too good for superficial dance parties.“ folkworld.eu

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