Matria & L.A.N. Trio

In Cologne, he met the pianist and singer Tamara Lukasheva from Odessa – and the duo Matria was born. They see themselves as tour guides through numerous music cultures. South-German folk music meets acoustic techno, a groovy alphorn meets Carpathian chanting, and the classic »You Are My Sunshine« is given a Ukrainian-German reinterpretation. Despite all the fun of yodelling and singing, Matria’s music is serious, expressive jazz, interpreted by two highly talented musicians who have been performing together for almost ten years. After landing briefly, the concert takes off again with the second set, completing the musical circumnavigation of the globe.

Very few formations breathe life into the label »Euro-jazz« so impressively as the L.A.N. Trio. Those letters represent the Portuguese pianist Mário Laginha, the English saxophonist Julian Argüelles and the Norwegian drummer Helge Andreas Norbakken. Mário Laginha is the leading instrumentalist in Portuguese jazz. He gained international fame as the long-standing partner of singer Maria João. His music is a natural synthesis of jazz, fado and classical music.

Julian Argüelles’s horizons are equally broad. He is one of the most distinctive saxophone players of our age, and the rhythms of the Spanish side of his family play an important role in his music. And then you have Helge Andreas Norbakken: there is surely no other percussionist who thinks with such a focus on sound. With L.A.N., his sensitive playing on self-built instruments becomes an equal voice. Together, the friends roam the many cultures that line the Atlantic – from Nordic folk songs to African grooves.