David Helbock Trio - Into the Mystic

The Guardian 60

(ACT)

There’s a lot of talk about Sufism, mythology and the unconscious in the liner notes to this album by the ACT label’s latest hotshot piano-trio recruits, and if you endorse Stravinsky’s contention that music doesn’t mean anything but itself, you could probably pass on those. On content alone, this album by Austrian pianist David Helbock’s trio with bass ukulele player Raphael Preuschl and drummer Reinhold Schmolzer mostly accounts for their rising reputation in Europe, give or take the odd slightly selfconscious gesture, such as the clip from Beethoven’s Seventh Symphony with a dulcimer-like prepared-piano sound. Otherwise, the ominously building, hooky rocker The Soul is pop-jazzily effective (Neil Cowley comes to mind), Spiritual Monk displays a soft ballad touch and glittering fast fills, a segue between Exodus and the Star Wars theme is both clever and lyrical, Preuschl’s Louverture mixes eerie sonics with jazz-swing sprints, A Child Is Born lets the tune tellingly simmer, and world-jazzy rhythm-games such as Masks are effusively catchy. Clearly a very skilful threesome, even if leaning a little toward the showily hyperactive at times.