{"id":562673,"date":"2025-11-09T10:57:30","date_gmt":"2025-11-09T10:57:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/de\/562673\/"},"modified":"2025-11-09T10:57:30","modified_gmt":"2025-11-09T10:57:30","slug":"rachel-z-omar-hakim-jonathan-toscano-in-munich","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/de\/562673\/","title":{"rendered":"Rachel Z, Omar Hakim, Jonathan Toscano in Munich"},"content":{"rendered":"

New York drummer Omar Hakim<\/strong> truly is in a class of his own. A glance at his bio makes that clear; and the live experience confirms it. He is not only wonderfully versatile in the fills and patterns he chooses. It isn\u2019t just about his way of being unbelievably precise, or his rhythmic sensitivity, or his impeccable judgment, whether he\u2019s building intensity or laying down a groove. He also has that special punchiness from rock music, so his jazz flow has more delineation than is normal. His sound is also more powerful than one would expect in the context of a piano trio. And since he also clearly enjoys what he is playing, Munich\u2019s Unterfahrt is treated to an evening which is not just full of thunderstorms, but also laughter. Hakim\u2019s charismatic energy simultaneously carries the music and serves it.<\/p>\n

\"\"Rachel Z. Photo copyright Ralf Dombrowski<\/p>\n

Against this backdrop, his wife, pianist Rachel Z<\/strong>, has the ideal musical foundation to build on. She can lean into their shared songs and soundscapes. Their trio with Jonathan Toscano<\/strong> on bass runs like clockwork in advanced fusion jazz, although the rhythmic and dynamic richness sometimes presents a challenge for the piano to keep up with the force of the energy. Rachel Z responds with equally abundant power in her improvisations, and all three band members bounce off each other with shared enthusiasm. At the end of each of the two sets, guitarist Paul Pascoe <\/strong>joins the trio and expands the music with a touch of Joe Satriani in a stylistic idiom which is nonetheless his own, while adding more of the twang of rock music.<\/p>\n

\"\"Jonathan Toscano . Photo (c) Ralf Dombrowski<\/p>\n

So, on the one hand, the concert conjures up memories of the fusion-tinged sound of the eighties and nineties, or with the shared past of Rachel Z and Omar Hakim, who both received support and encouragement Wayne Shorter. They pay homage to him by playing his composition \u2018The Three Marias\u2019. But this music is also very contemporary, with reinterpretations of pop songs from Coldplay\u2019s Chris Martin adding more current repertoire to the programme. Above all, however, the way we as audience are enlivened and entertained is outstanding, and a thoroughly positive thing. Yes, music should be played well\u2026 and also bring inspiration. But above all it should have a sense of fun. And that truth was something this superb trio conveyed all evening \u2013 wonderfully, naturally, almost nonchalantly.<\/p>\n

\"\"Rachel Z, Jonathan Toscano, Omar Hakim (c) Ralf Dombrowski<\/p>\n

RALF DOMBROWSKI\u2019S ORIGINAL GERMAN TEXT<\/strong><\/p>\n

Omar Hakim<\/strong> ist eine Klasse f\u00fcr sich. Der Blick in die Biographie l\u00e4sst das schon vermuten, das Live-Erlebnis st\u00fctzt die Annahme. Denn der New Yorker Schlagzeuger ist nicht nur wundervoll vielseitig in der Auswahl seiner Fills und Patterns, nicht nur \u00fcberragend pr\u00e4zise im rhythmischen Feingef\u00fchl und pointiert in der dynamischen Zuspitzung seiner Grooves. Er hat auch diesen besonderen Punch der Rockmusik, der dem jazzigen Flow mehr Nachdruck als \u00fcblich verleiht. Sein Sound wirkt kr\u00e4ftiger, als man ihn von einem Klaviertrio erwartet. Und da er dar\u00fcber hinaus auch noch sp\u00fcrbar Spa\u00df an dem hat, was er da spielt, wird Hakim \u00fcber den Abend in der M\u00fcnchner Unterfahrt hinweg zum lachenden Donnertrommler, ein Energiepaket, das die Musik tr\u00e4gt und ihr gleichzeitig dient.<\/p>\n

So gesehen hat seine Frau, die Pianistin Rachel Z<\/strong>, das ideale musikalische Fundament, um sich in die gemeinsamen Lieder und Klanggef\u00fchle zur\u00fccklehnen zu k\u00f6nnen. Das Trio mit Jonathan Toscano<\/strong> am Bass l\u00e4uft wie ein Uhrwerk des fortgeschrittenen Fusionjazz, wobei die rhythmisch-dynamische F\u00fclle f\u00fcr das Klavier manchmal auch eine Herausforderung darstellt, mit der Wucht der Energie mithalten zu k\u00f6nnen. Rachel Z begegnet ihr mit ebenfalls reichlich Kraft in den Improvisationen und alle drei Bandmitglieder werfen sich die B\u00e4lle der gemeinsamen Begeisterung zu. Jeweils am Ende der beiden Sets gesellt sich dann noch der Gitarrist Paul Pascoe zum Trio und erweitert die Musik mit einem Hauch von Joe Satriani im eigenen Stilideal um weitere rockige Akzente.<\/p>\n

So ist das Konzert einerseits ein Spiel mit Erinnerungen, an den fusionget\u00f6nten Sound der Achtziger und Neunziger oder auch an die gemeinsame Vergangenheit von Rachel Z und Omar Hakim, die beide von Wayne Shorter gef\u00f6rdert wurden und sich mit seiner Komposition \u201eThe Three Marias\u201c vor ihm verbeugen. Es ist aber auch sehr gegenw\u00e4rtige Musik, die mit Neudeutungen von Popsongs etwas aus der Feder von Coldplays Chris Martin aktuelleres Repertoire neben den eigenen Kompositionen ins Programm heben. Vor allem aber ist es herausragendes und rundum positiv gestimmtes Entertainment. Musik soll gut und inspiriert gespielt sein. Sie soll aber vor allem auch Spa\u00df machen. Und den konnte dieses Trio mit herrlich beil\u00e4ufiger L\u00e4ssigkeit vermitteln.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"New York drummer Omar Hakim truly is in a class of his own. A glance at his bio…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":562674,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3976],"tags":[331,332,13,14,15,12,3992,3993,3994,3995,3996,3997],"class_list":{"0":"post-562673","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-vereinigtes-koenigreich","8":"tag-aktuelle-nachrichten","9":"tag-aktuelle-news","10":"tag-headlines","11":"tag-nachrichten","12":"tag-news","13":"tag-schlagzeilen","14":"tag-uk","15":"tag-united-kingdom","16":"tag-united-kingdom-of-great-britain-and-northern-ireland","17":"tag-vereinigtes-koenigreich","18":"tag-vereinigtes-koenigreich-grossbritannien-und-nordirland","19":"tag-vereinigtes-koenigreich-von-grossbritannien-und-nordirland"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@de\/115519387149574237","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/562673","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=562673"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/562673\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/562674"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=562673"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=562673"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=562673"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}