December

The new album of the world music ensemble Quadro Nuevo is dedicated to the wintry mood. The musicians, who have already released three Christmas albums in their long band history since 1996, do not see December as another work of this genre, but they do interpret melodies of reli-gious or spiritual origin on it. They opine: "Figures like Jesus, Mary and Joseph were formative for our occidental mindset. Regardless of whether one is a believer, whether one understands them as historical persons or as myths, their story can give us orientation. In the course of life, we can move away from them, lose track of them, reinterpret them again and again, and approach them again. Especially in the darkest time of the year we reflect particularly intensively. Even Jesus of Nazareth and his disciples do not always agree on the right path. They discuss, argue, deny and betray each other. And in the end, Jesus cries out on the cross, "My God, why have you forsaken me?" The invocation of a higher power, from which one expects help in the cold and in existential need, finds new expression in Quadro Nuevo in two versions of the ancient Kyrie Eleison, while retaining the original sacred character. Paul Gerhardt, under the impression of the 30 Years War, asks with his Befiehl du deine Wege for a positive feedback from above, which Quadro Nuevo now transfers into a heartfelt 5/4 time signature. The war in Ukraine prompted the musicians to write songs expressing the longing for peace, such as Dietrich Bonhoeffer's Von guten Mächten wunderbar geborgen or Song for Peace, composed by Mulo Francel's son. Stylistically, the album feeds on shimmering jazz harmonies, from odd, meditative or funky rhythms to klezmer-inspired improvisations