Imprint

Julia Hülsmann’s ECM debut, “The End of a Summer”, recorded in 2008, established a change of emphasis for her trio’s work. Where earlier projects had been with singers, foregrounding the setting of texts, the ECM production put the focus back on the music, on the melodic allure of Hülsmann’s pieces, and the complementary compositions of Marc Muellbauer and Heinrich Köbberling. International response to “The End of a Summer”, and the touring that accompanied it, reinforced a wish to work more intensely in a ‘pure’ trio context. Hence “Imprint”. Most of the pieces here were written in the spring and summer of 2009, although there are also a few older pieces (“Rond Point”, “Grand Canyon”, “A Light Left On”), transformed in the course of the recording session itself.

The album is well-named. As composer, Hülsmann has a gift for paring themes to their expressive core, and they stand out in stark relief amid the surrounding improvisation. In the UK, Jazzwise magazine spoke of “eleg...