Mari Kvien Brunvoll
Molde, Norway
Wednesday 13 Oct 2010
Festival City
The current talking point in the resurgent German jazz scene is Shreefpunk, a young quartet that makes light work of some very intricate, very engaging music. It’s led by a bona fide prodigy in trumpeter Mathias Schriefl, who at 26 not only has a striking agility but also commands the full range of expressive devices in the trumpet’s arsenal. A surfeit of technical riches can sometimes work against creative music making, but not here. Shreefpunk is the product of many years’ dedication and kinship between Schriefl and his Cologne friends; guitarist Johannes Behr, drummer Jens Düppe and bassist Robert Landfermann. It shows in gnarly, angular group-playing that reaches a degree of telepathic interplay, to then give way to some exhilarating open spaces. Cocky and self-assured, and deservedly so.
