With «Gentle Giants« Peter A. Schmid, Jerry Rojas and Pit Gutmann present an album that pleasantly stands out from the synthetic noise of tablet-addicted fidgeters. No fast food, but a musical gourmet menu, for which listeners like to take their time to enjoy in peace. As contrasting as the instrumentation is (deep wind instruments, electric guitar, percussion), the trio harmoniously combines its melodic, tonal and rhythmic ideas into a coherent whole. And this with an equally simple and refined concept of musical gems and miniatures, which become the starting point for joint investigations, surprises, commentaries, thoughtful studies, cheeky interjections, but also many jokes and reminiscences. It is obvious that there is no pigeonhole for something like this. However, while listening, one finds oneself constantly – and gladly – associating and participating with all senses. Whether it rocks, baroque, folk, jazz, funk or otherwise experiments: An album that needs nothing, that rests in itself. Just like a Gentle Giant.
André Maerz
