Caris Hermes Caris Hermes

• 1 Caris Bounce 04:52
• 2 As 06:32
• 3 Extraordinary People 06:04
• 4 Abeyance 06:54
• 5 A Special Living Soul 06:33
• 6 Two Souls 05:58
• 7 Rising 05:39
• 8 Delighted 07:04
• 9 Twelve for J. 02:46
• Total Runtime 52:22

Info for Caris Hermes

It was long overdue: Caris Hermes presents her first album under her own name! In recent years, she has proven herself many times as a reliable virtuoso sidewoman, appreciated by fellow musicians, but also by the audience, which she impressed again and again with the rhythmic and melodic diversity of her playing. Indeed, her double bass has a voice of its own - and a lot to tell. Whether singing sensitively or humming, whether soulfully grooving or exuberantly walking: Caris Hermes celebrates the entire range of her instrument with refinement and elegance.

Now the time has come: After her short debut EP "Human" four years ago, "Caris Hermes" now follows as CD and LP. The simple album title is as sincere as it is self-confident, hiding far more than just another thumbprint in their own portfolio: The album is a sonic journey as seductive as it is complex, a beguiling, sometimes sonically sparking, sometimes ballad-intimate masterpiece.

Caris Hermes places her trio, which also includes pianist Billy Test and drummer Niklas Walter, at the center. With Andy Haderer, Paul Heller, Stefan Pfeifer-Galilea and Martin Sasse, accomplished guests and long-time companions drop in. Whether in trio, quartet or quintet, Caris Hermes always ignites her luminous world of sound full of references, ramifications and sensitive moods. Everything seems possible for her in the tension between swing, groove, straight ahead and subtle modern jazz.

Beyond the demanding accompaniment form, Caris Hermes presents herself above all as a virtuoso solo instrumentalist. At the beginning, Paul Heller dedicates to her - completely in the spirit and style of Charlie Parker's classic "Billie's Bounce" - his composition "Caris Bounce", a rhythm-emphasized arabesque with a fine dialogue of saxophone and double bass, a wonderfully "spicy" trumpet solo as well as short discords of piano, drums and bass. Already here it is striking how intensively Caris Hermes formulates the melody lines, lets the tones reverberate for a long time, virtually breathing in and out.

This also characterizes her interpretation of Stevie's classic song "As": piano and bass share the elegant melodic arcs, Billy Test gracefully caresses the theme, while the "singing" double bass plumbs its thoughts between buzzing depth and hymn-like brightness, penetrating far into the melodic core of the complex song. As if it was time for a moment of rest after the elegant par force ride "Extraordinary People", Caris Hermes dives into a lake of pure beauty for almost seven minutes with "Abeyance". Only a few notes establish the melody, which in its pearly elegance does not have to hide behind classics like Ellington's "Mount Harissa", Brubeck's "Koto Song" or Yusuf Lateef's "Love Theme from Spartacus". At the end, the eventful, perfectly balanced album culminates in "Twelve for J.", a song with which Caris Hermes bows deeply to her mentor John Goldsby and at the same time once again brings her own mature creative art to the point.

Thus, the new album is far more than "just" a beautiful snapshot, namely a listening experience that lingers for a long time. How did Stevie Wonder sing in "As"? "Until the rainbow burns the stars out in the sky / Until we dream of life and life becomes a dream..."

Caris Hermes, double bass
Billy Test, piano
Niklas Walter, drums
Special Guests:
Paul Heller, tenor saxophone
Stefan Pfeifer-Galilea, alto saxophone
Andy Haderer, trumpet
Martin Sasse, piano

Caris Hermes
is currently a major student at the "Folkwang University of the Arts" in Essen, where she studies with bassist Robert Landfermann. Caris Hermes is a multiple prizewinner in the state competition "Jugend jazzt". She won both first prize in the solo category and a band prize with the "Whole Step Quintet" and was awarded the "DEW 21" sponsorship prize. She was a member of the NRW State Youth Jazz Orchestra and toured with this formation in Senegal, Ireland and the United Arab Emirates. With this line-up she recorded the CD "Way Up", which won the WDR Jazz Prize in 2013.

Caris Hermes is a member of many smaller ensembles such as Paul Heller's "Little Bigband" and toured Europe in 2012 with singer Dennis Rowland and the East West European Jazz Orchestra. Caris played at the Viersen Jazz Festival and in April 2014 accompanied a rehearsal of the WDR Big Band, with whom she appeared in the program “Zimmer Frei ab 18” in September 2014.

In February 2015, Caris Hermes was a guest with the Glenn Miller Big Band. In March, she recorded the album “Back To Trad” with the Pascal Bartoszak Quartet and won second prize in the Sparda Jazz Award with this line-up and was a finalist in the Young German Jazz Prize in Osnabrück. She was also able to play with the Jerry Lu Trio at the Rhein Ruhr Piano Festival.

In 2015, Caris was also a lecturer and guest of the Jazz Groove Big Band in Peru/Lima and played with Elio Villafranca (piano lecturer at the Julliard School New York) and other well-known musicians.

Caris Hermes has been accompanied on her musical journey by musicians such as Denis Gäbel, Steffen Schorn, Marcio Doctor, Luciano Biondini, Afra Mussawissade, Gabriel Perez, Ansgar Striepens, John Goldsby, Robert Landfermann, Stefan Pfeifer, Stefan Schulze, Marko Lackner, Michael Villmow, Frederik Köster, Bruno Castelucci, Glauco Venier, Uli Beckerhoff, Peter O'Mara, Henning Gailing and Paul Heller.

This album contains no booklet.