Hubert Winter Quartett - Saga Lydis

A few weeks ago, saxophonist Hubert Winter received the Bavarian Prize for Young Artists. His current CD “Saga Lydis” gives ample evidence of why. Winter not only proves his mettle as a masterful, sensitive player of the saxophone, but also as a surefooted composer. Together with his top-drawer quartet – Richie Beirach (piano), Dietmar Fuhr (bass) and Bill Egart (drums) – he recorded an album that includes five original compositions and sets new standards, Beirach’s moving “Leaving,” a subtle new arrangement of “Alone Together,” and the collective improvisation “Saga Lydis.” Standards for a contemporary jazz that suggestively surprises the listener by converging tradition – cool, bop, hardbop, pianistic delicacies of an almost classical kind – and zeitgeist to a new synthesis. Captivating, full of conflicts and emotional drive, at times uncomfortable, at times straight as an arrow, at times meditative and poetic, but always filled with substance: It’s not least the outstanding chemistry between the congenial protagonists that makes the album what it is.