DW Jazz Concerts: Mathias Eick Quintet

The group's leading musician, Mathias Eick, was joined by violinist Hakon Ase, bassist Audun Erlien, pianist Eyolf Dale and drummer Olaf Olsen for this Jazzfest Bonn concert in 2021. The concert also featured Eick's brother Johannes playing the drums.

Mathias Eick and his brother Johannes come from a musical family. He started learning the piano when he was just five, followed by the trumpet a year later. He also plays the vibraphone, the double bass, guitar and keyboards. But the trumpet was always the instrument closest to his heart, Eick reveals on his website.

Storytelling through jazz

Eick has received numerous awards, including the International Jazz Talent prize and several others. Eick's music has been lauded by critics as an "innovative" force in European jazz and he has played with ensembles including the Trondheim Jazz Orchestra, and with performers including French drummer Manu Katche, Finnish jazz pianist Iro Haarla and Swedish bassist Lars Danielsson.

His music has been described as "plaintive and spare" by JazzTimes, in a article following the release of his first album, "The Door" (2008). British newspaper The Guardian has described the trumpeter as someone with "a cinematic interest in musical storytelling." Eick's albums include "Skala" (2010), "Midwest," (2014), "Ravensburg" (2017) and most recently, "When We Leave" (2021).

What you'll be listening to

First up are the tracks "Family" and "Children," after which you'll hear Mathias Eick introducing himself and his quintet. After that, it's "At Sea" followed by "Arvo," which, in turn is followed by a drum solo. Up next is "Oslo." The following track is called "Ravensburg," from Eick's album of the same name.

During his performance, Eick told the audience that he often visited his grandmother who lived in southern Germany. She often got the children puzzles from the toy brand Ravensburg, which inspired him to write the piece. That track is fittingly followed by one called "For my Grandmothers."

And that brings our series of DW Jazz Concerts to an end. Do listen to the other five concerts in the series, which features jazz musicians like Jacky Terrasson, Jan Garbarek, Kinga Glyk, Christoph Dell and Richie Beirach. You will find a list of episodes at the end of this article.

DW Jazz Concerts was hosted by Manasi Gopalakrishnan, produced by Thomas Schmidt and Christian Stäter, and with editorial support from Anastassia Boutsko. DW and Jazzfest Bonn own all rights to the music recorded in Bonn, 2021.

If you have any questions, feedback or suggestions related to the program, do send them to us at music@dw.com.