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Berlin’s Moses Yoofee Trio have confirmed that they have signed to Nils Frahm’s label, LEITER, with whom they will be releasing their first material since April 2022’s ‘Throwback’ single. On That Side will be available from June 23, 2023 via all digital platforms and it’s accompanied by a stunning one camera, one-take video recorded live at Berlin’s Zentrifuge Studio. The band will also release their debut mini-album this autumn and, having spent recent years building up a substantial live following, head out on tour again later this year. Further details are due to be announced soon.
The trio – pianist/keyboardist/producer Moses Yoofee, bassist Roman Klobe-Barangă and drummer Noah Fürbringer – first formed after Moses met Roman at Berlin’s Jazz Institute, and it was Roman who suggested they jam with his friend Noah, who was meanwhile studying in Mannheim. In January 2021, about a year later, Noah – already known for sharing videos of his prodigious drumming on social media – started posting footage of the trio’s rehearsals, and another video, uploaded by Roman, went, as they put it, “low-key viral”. A dedicated Instagram account soon helped grow their audience and, as word spread across Europe, they began playing further afield, including a show late last year at London’s fabled Ronnie Scott’s.
Emerging at a time when jazz is in rude health, the trio have now lit up clubs and venues across the continent with astonishing, almost obscenely tight live shows, something the electrifying On That Side’s video also illustrates. Turning as much to RnB, hip hop and soul as more traditional jazz sources – though they’re definitely united by J Dilla and Madlib – the band cite a wide variety of influences but, as Roman makes clear, “We find a common ground in our musicianship.” Nonetheless, the trio’s members are also already well-known for other collaborations. As well as recording solo under his surname, Moses is currently working with Footprint Project, the Wanubale collective, and platinum-selling Peter Fox of Germany’s similarly successful Seeed, for whom he’s Musical Director and pianist. (He can already be heard on Fox’s 2022 hit, ‘Zukunft Pink’.) Roman, too, is involved with Fox’s new record, as well as with, among others, Kurdish-German singer Mailan Ghafouri aka Lune. Noah’s no less busy, founding Lord Of The Amazing Panther in 2020, releasing an album as Noah Fürbringer and Friends in 2022, and playing with acclaimed German-American rapper Casper, New York saxophonist Alex Han, German actor/comedian/musician Teddy Teclebhan, and New Zealandborn Future Soul artist Noah Slee, with whom Roman also performs.
Now, however, Moses, Roman and Noah return as the formidable Moses Yoofee Trio with their first new music in over a year. Already eagerly awaited, On That Side provides a breath-taking introduction to one of jazz’s finest young acts and it points to an even brighter future ahead.
Foto © Aysan Lamby
