jochen Rueckert

“We Make The Rules”

(Whirlwind Recordings WR4658)

Jochen Rueckert is a German born drummer and composer who has been based in New York City since 1995. He has worked with many leading NY based musicians including saxophonists Will Vinson and Seamus Blake, pianist Mark Copland, guitarist Kurt Rosenwinkel, organist Sam Yahel and trombonist Nils Wogram. Something of a polymath Rueckert also operates in the field of electronic music under the pseudonym Wolff Parkinson White releasing three full length albums and two EPs and providing remixes for other artists, Wogram among them. He is also the acclaimed author of three ebooks under the generic title “Read the Rueckert” in which he chronicles the minutiae of the life of a touring jazz musician.

Central to Rueckert’s creative life is his jazz quartet, the current edition of which has been running since 2009. It’s an all star affair featuring tenor saxophonist Mark Turner, guitarist Lage Lund and bassist Matt Penman. Lund is the most recent addition, having succeeded Brad Shepik who played on the group’s début release “somewhere, meeting nobody” (Pirouet Records, 2011).

“We Make The Rules” was recorded in a single eight hour session at a Brooklyn studio in February 2014. The nine compositions are all Penman’s and all had been “road tested” prior to recording, evidence that this is very much a working band.  Many of the finished performances are first takes. However it’s ironic that the leader is the only musician with whom I wasn’t previously familiar, the move to Michael Janisch’s Whirlwind Recordings label should certainly raise Rueckert’s profile with regard to British audiences.

The music on “We Make The Rules” is the kind of intelligent post bop one would expect from musicians of this calibre. Turner is one of the most acclaimed saxophonists on the planet and it’s always a pleasure to hear him play. He’s fully involved here and performs with his customary elegance and intelligence. Lund exhibits similar qualities and James Farm bassist Penman is a rock throughout. Rueckert’s drumming is bright, imaginative and finely detailed and central to the success of the music.

The opening “Eggshells” begins with a roll from Rueckert’s drums and features the sophisticated chording of Lund plus a typically fluent and inventive Turner solo which is allowed to flow and develop organically, all the time shadowed by Rueckert’s neatly energetic drum and cymbal work. Lund’s solo also unfolds gradually in a style that has been compared to both Rosenwinkel and John Abercrombie. Rueckert is also featured on a set of nimble drum breaks before Turner returns and the tune finally resolves itself.

Penman begins the nine minute “Pretty From Afar” which initially charts a similar course with Turner’s opening statement. However the middle of the tune incorporates a change of mood and pace with a brief feature for Penman and a delicate duet between Lund and Turner as bass and drums temporarily drop out. A more orthodox guitar solo follows as the tune continues to unfold with a further cameo from Penman and a pensive tenor sax meditation from Turner.