Nils Kugelmann Trio

Life Score sounds like a soundtrack — and that is exactly how Nils Kugelmann sees his music: as a narrative movement that creates images in the head and at the same time goes directly into the body. The Berlin bassist from Munich has quickly become one of the most striking shooting stars in German jazz. Prizes, nominations and enthusiastic reviews mark this path, but something else is decisive: the clarity of his musical language and his tangible will not to manage jazz but to continue to drive it forward.
Already the debut Stormy Beauty (ACT) made it clear how naturally Kugelmann combines melody, harmony and groove. The album was nominated, among other things, for the German Record Critics' Prize and placed in European jazz charts. With Life Score He opens up the perspective further: His new compositions are even more direct in speech, touching in their melody and at the same time rich in details.
But the music is never smooth. Kugelmann loves the groove, but he doesn't use it as a surface, but as a motor. Melodies that immediately stick meet harmonies that reverberate; lightness stands alongside depth. Critics describe this music as “getting under your skin” — and that is exactly at the heart of the matter: This creates a concert moment that simultaneously engages, comforts, drives and connects.

N. Kugelmann (b.), L. Zambito (p.), S. Wolfgruber (dr.)