Caris
Hermes

It was long overdue: Caris Hermes is releasing her first album under her own name! In recent years, she has proven herself to be a reliable and virtuoso sidewoman, appreciated by fellow musicians as well as audiences, who have been impressed time and again by the rhythmic and melodic variety of her playing. In fact, her double bass has a voice of its own - and a lot to say. Whether sensitively singing or humming, whether soulfully grooving or exuberantly walking: Caris Hermes celebrates the entire range of her instrument with finesse and elegance.

So now the time has come: after their short debut EP "Human" four years ago, "Caris Hermes" now follows as a CD and LP. The simple album title is as sincere as it is self-assured, as it conceals far more than just another thumbprint in their own portfolio: The album is an equally seductive and complex sonic journey, a beguiling, sometimes sonically sparkling, sometimes balladic-intimate masterpiece.

Caris Hermes puts her trio, which also includes pianist Billy Test and drummer Niklas Walter, at the center. With Andy Haderer, Paul Heller, Stefan Pfeifer-Galilea and Martin Sasse, experienced guests and long-time companions drop by. Whether in a trio, quartet or quintet, Caris Hermes always ignites her luminous world of sound full of references, ramifications and sensitive moods. Everything seems possible for her in the field of tension between swing, groove, straight ahead and subtle modern jazz.

Above and beyond the demanding accompaniment form, Caris Hermes presents herself above all as a virtuoso solo instrumentalist. At the beginning, Paul Heller dedicates his composition "Caris Bounce" to her - in the spirit and style of Charlie Parker's classic "Billie's Bounce" - a rhythmic arabesque with a fine dialog between saxophone and double bass, a wonderfully "piquant" trumpet solo and short dialogues between piano, drums and bass. Even here, it is striking how intensely Caris Hermes formulates the melody lines, letting the notes reverberate for a long time, letting them inhale and exhale as it were.

This also characterizes her interpretation of Stevies Wonders' classic song "As": piano and bass share the elegant melodic arcs, Billy Test gracefully caresses the theme, while the "singing" double bass explores his thoughts between buzzing depth and hymnic brightness, penetrating far into the melodic core of the complex song. As if it was time for a moment of calm after the elegant par force ride "Extraordinary People", Caris Hermes dives into a lake of pure beauty for almost seven minutes with "Abeyance". Just a few notes establish the melody, which in its sparkling elegance does not have to hide behind classics such as Ellington's "Mount Harissa", Brubeck's "Koto Song" or Yusuf Lateef's "Love Theme from Spartacus". The eventful, perfectly balanced album ends with "Twelve for J.", a song with which Caris Hermes bows deeply to her mentor John Goldsby and at the same time once again brings her own mature creative artistry to the point.

So the new album is far more than "just" a nice snapshot, it is a long-lasting listening experience. As Stevie Wonder sang in "As"? "Until the rainbow burns the stars out in the sky / Until we dream of life and life becomes a dream..."