Tobias Meinhart

It would be hard to foresee a young kid from Bavaria becoming a celebrated jazz saxophonist in New York City. Tobias Meinhart has done that, sculpting a career of brilliant recordings and world touring. One of his principal ensembles in this endeavor has been his Germany-based Berlin People, which features the revolutionary guitarist, Kurt Rosenwinkel. Meinhart and Berlin People’s new recording, Dark Horse, celebrates how far he and the ensemble have come since their inception.

The dream of many international jazz musicians is to experience the jazz life of New York City. Saxophonist Tobias Meinhart had the same dream and made a move to the City from his native Germany a decade ago. Having lived in New York for ten years, he came to the realization that a young man from Bavaria can never be from Harlem and that his German roots are central to his musical identity.

The creation of music shares much in common with creation in the visual arts. Both musicians and visual artists speak of and deal in colors, hues and textures in their compositional processes.

The creation of music shares much in common with creation in the visual arts. Both musicians and visual artists speak of and deal in colors, hues and textures in their compositional processes. Saxophonist/composer Tobias Meinhart has developed near synesthetic visualizations as he performs and hears music. His new recording, The Painter, presents his recent work of diverse, brilliant pieces meant to brighten the world’s canvas.

For his album 'Berlin People', Saxophonist Tobias Meinhart wanted to bridge the musical cultures of New York City and Germany by recording with a band of his German peers and an American jazz guitarist who has made Berlin his home, the great Kurt Rosenwinkel.

Featuring Ingrid Jensen (Maria Schneider Orchestra) and Charles Altura (Chick Corea, Terence Blanchard) Two years after releasing his highly acclaimed 2015 album, Natural Perception (ENJA Records), Tobias Meinhart returns with his ponderous and compelling sophomore release, Silent Dreamer.

The overall timbre of “Forbidden Trinkets” is dark in contrast to previous releases. That being said, a large portion of the program was composed over a long winter which intentionally influenced production choices. Additionally, the main choice of tracking microphones (with the exception of drums) were ribbon microphones. In turn, this decision subdued the excitement of top end sources (e.g. violins, fuzz tones, etc…).