Jazz, punk, and sometimes even strings thrown in for the bargain - who on earth would dream up something like this? Matthias Schriefl: A young musician from the Allgäu (South Germany), who has brought us all kinds of weird and wonderful ideas. The nice thing is: His ideas are infectious; each of his concerts is an inspiring event.
Schriefl is a mere 25 years old, and yet the list of his awards and credits is amazing. He has shared the stage with the most successful international jazz musicians, and along with numerous young-talent awards, he is now receiving similar recognition in the grown-up leagues. One example is the renowned WDR jazz prize for improvisation. "This is no surprise to insiders, " says Reiner Brückner in the magazine WDR-Print, "for although he is still in his mid twenties, he has an instrumental control comparable to the old masters: He has a phenomenal range and chops, his talent as an improviser is thrilling, and his arrangements are no less original than his playing". Yet, Schriefl's energy and playfulness betray his age – in a most refreshing way.
"No fear of simplicity, no fear of complexity", Schriefl summarises the motto of his new recording, the ACT-debut Shreefpunk plus Strings. The CD offers daredevil experimental jazz that in no way sounds clean or intellectual. The music conveys passion and humour and allows surprisingly outrageous outbursts.
"Matthias is crazy enough to use ideas that others musicians would never dare to", says professor Andy Haderer, lead trumpet player with the WDR, about his former student. "Not only does he have unusual ideas, he has the technique to translate them into music. Besides, he knows a lot about music: He moves with ease in all styles of jazz, and knows classical and Latin-American music really well. " Despite this encyclopaedic knowledge, Schriefl's compositions never sound like theoretical constructs. They always retain a real-world inspiration. In "Köln-Kuddelmuddel" he happily portrays his adopted home town, "Michael's Flat" is dedicated to his Amsterdam friend's messy pad, a tender ode flatteringly describes Hanna's hair (Hanna-the bass player's sister), there is an ironic-apocalyptic portrait of the Bavarian ignorance about the hole in the ozone layer, and "Das was hinten rauskommt" is a tribute to just that: the stuff that comes out at the back.
Besides Schriefl, Shreefpunk consists of three young virtuosos, all with international experience. Johannes Behr, Jens Düppe and Robert Landfermann all live in Cologne like Schriefl himself. They have all been playing together for years. This band is tight, as quickly becomes evident when listening to the CD! It exudes a kind of quality that cannot be created by freelance session players; it is the result of a musical friendship with long days of rehearsal with nobody checking their watches.
Some tunes also feature Schriefl's multi-phonic playing, next to his comic talent, a distinguishing trait of the young trumpet player. "He is the BEST trumpet player I have heard using multi-phonics. (I should get lessons from this kid! ) ", says trumpet legend Bobby Shew.
To put it short: Shreefpunk is a glittering proof of the vitality of the young German jazz scene!
Line Up:
Matthias Schriefl - trumpet & flugelhorn
Johannes Behr - guitars
Robert Landfermann - bass
Jens Düppe – drums
"I have had the good fortune to sort-of watch Matthias Schriefl "grow up", musically. When I first met him in the Bavarian Youth Jazz Orchestra, he was around 15. I could tell that he had a creative mind but a young embouchure, yet to develop. His early lessons with me were centered around getting his body to coordinate with his ideas and energy. What you hear on this latest CD is evidence of what can happen to a player who dedicates himself to alot of commitment, hard work, and caring about how he plays. His chops are working beyond belief as you'll hear. His improvisational ideas are highly mature and adventurous. His execution of some ridiculous intervallic moves will make you shake your head. He is the BEST trumpet player I have heard using multi-phonics. (I should get lessons from this kid! ). Matthias' compositions and arrangements are intriguing, humorous, challenging, intelligent, and emotionally sensitive. His support group is also tremendous, playing right up to Matthias' demands. There is not one dull moment on the entire CD. I really hope this gets released and played in the entire world. Matthias Schriefl has arrived and deserves to be heard by the entire jazz community!!! "
Bobby Shew
Jazz Trumpet Artist
Professor of Jazz Trumpet, Univ. of Southern California
Los Angeles
"Like a pressure valve that suddenly explodes – this is how Matthias Schriefl burst into the German Jazz Scene this year with his CD debut. The 26 year old combines progressive Modern Jazz with bolshy punk attacks, reckless string arrangements and heart-warming melodies. To crown it all there is a trumpet that has no peer when it comes to virtuosity, boldness and its inexorably expressiveness. "
Portrait in Deutschlandfunk at May 11 / 2007
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"I am referring to "Shreefpunk plus Strings" by trumpet player Matthias Schriefl from the Allgäu, who does not give a damn about nothing in his compositions. With a string quartet on board some balladic moments are due, but manic weird Bebop or highly complex structures with zappaesque and definitely humorous elements can also be found. Above all there is Schriefl's performance with his tonal steadiness and his incredible richness of sounds, due to which the 25 year old is without doubt one of the most auspicious figures of the young German jazz scene. "
Udo Eberl in Südwest Presse, April 18, 2007
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"If somebody at the age of 25 has already earned as many laurels as Matthias Schriefl, you can certainly expect a lot from his debut under his own name. The trumpet player comes up to all expectations and raises new ones... Matthias Schriefl has everything that accounts for a remarkable musician: unusual ideas, brilliant technique and a good portion of comedy and cheekiness, which is needed to arouse not only approving astonishment in the audience, but real excitement. "
Guido Diesling in Jazzthetik, March 2007
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"Matthias Schriefl is a phenomenon, because at the very age of 25 he already has the capacity to convey his own musical world… On the CD Schriefl presents a tongue-in-cheek mix of jazz avantgarde and contemporary classics with tough punk attitude and a traditional quartet, and he's brushing it against the grain – a perfect fundament for his truly phenomenal solo qualities. "
Henry Altman in Jazzthetik, March 2007
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"His music is essentially characterized by emotions, often somewhat satirical, striving against the stream. His trumpet playing is vibrantly virtouso. And his emotions keep pushing him to the highest peaks… He walks the opposite way and yet he arrives; the output is way more than just noteworthy, as you can experience with his new production "Shreefpunk Plus Strings"… Congratulations for having the guts to produce and bring to market such a CD! "
Hans-Jürgen von Osterhausen in Jazzpodium, May 2007
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"Even more exciting certainly is "Shreefpunk Plus Strings", on which Schriefl exclusively interprets compositions of his own, along with four strings and three jazz fellows from Cologne. Schriefl does not only manage to keep his sound original during the entire CD – he gives a musical meaning to it, displays new styles over and over again. However, the true star of the CD is the trumpet player's richness of performance, his passion, the fusion of admirable technique and agil
