Daniel Erdmann’s Organic Soulfood (DE, FR, GB)

German saxophonist and composer Daniel Erdmann (b. 1973) is best known for his long-term trios Das Kapital and Velvet Revolution, which have toured Finland and also performed at the Tampere Jazz Happening. Understandably, the names of both bands also bring to mind associations with Karl Marx‘s Das Kapital as well as Czechoslovakia’s Velvet Revolution, which led to the overthrow of its communist regime in 1989. But do these have anything to do with music? Well, not really, as the political connotations are mostly suggestive, if not solely reliant on the imagination or wishes of the audience.

Daniel Erdmann’s Organic Soulfood trio, which released its first album last spring, is something else besides these. But the ambiguous name has now taken on a literal meaning, as the third musician of this ensemble plays a Hammond organ. The instrumentation of organ, saxophones and drums is not particularly unique in the history of jazz, nor is it by Erdmann’s own yardstick. However, it is apparently a carefully considered one. With this trio, Erdmann wanted to delve deeper into the African-American tradition of jazz and, above all, hearken back to the time when it had an organic, swinging soul: the 1960s.

However, while making the trio’s debut album, Erdmann would encounter the unpredictability of life, realising that lulling oneself into a false sense of security, let alone trying to repeat history, is never a good idea. As a result, the name of the debut album to be performed in Tampere is, fittingly, Into the Sweet Unknown (2025) – an emotional state that is conveyed with him by French organist Antonin Rayon (b. 1976) and English drummer Jim Hart (b. 1983). Both have performed in Finland several times in different contexts, although the latter has always played another role, as a vibraphonist.