More Than Four
- Petra Gack - recitation
- Mike Schweizer - soprano and tenor saxophone, bass clarinet
- Albrecht Haaf - piano and flutes
- Florian Döling - double bass
- Rolf Kilchling - drums and percussion
Back from the studio, an excerpt from the liner notes for the planned CD describes the formation and development of the band More Than Four:
"The story of the band More Than Four is told relatively briefly: In the summer of 2021, Albrecht Haaf took the initiative to organize two concerts at the turn of the year 2021/2022 under the motto "Don't get tired". After phone calls with us, all of whom have been his musical colleagues for many years, the band was quickly put together, driven by the prospect of finally being able to play in front of an audience again after almost a year and a half of a cultural (live) drought due to Corona.Thanks to his good contacts, a wonderfully suitable concert venue was available in the form of St. Martin's Church in Müllheim/Baden. We are grateful that the concerts could actually take place in St. Martin's Church, which seemed increasingly unlikely in the final few days. A cancellation was on the cards until the very end. In the end, the concerts took place, although not quite as we had hoped for in the summer - without masks and without overly strict conditions - but they were nevertheless two moving concerts in a sold-out church, still under the project name "Happy New (Y)ear Quartet".
The program for the premiere consisted of original compositions and subjectively selected songs by well-known musical companions and inspirations, and was partly in the tradition of combining jazz music with lyrics. Forming a varied program - both in terms of stylistic diversity and with regard to changing line-ups - was always the focus when selecting songs, arrangements and lyrics. From the outset, it was clear that only the band members' own compositions would be chosen for the CD." Florian Döling, April 2022
Marcus Rübsamen, responsible for mix & mastering together with Florian Döling, comments on the CD as follows: "Keep The Beauty is a very special album.Inspired by the beauty of our planet, the band composed 15 wonderful tracks that reflect the beauty and diversity of our earth in their range between jazz, poetry and world music. In every moment, you can feel the organic quality of the acoustic instruments and the interplay and joy of the musicians.
Special highlights are the lyrical interludes by Petra Gack, who weaves wonderful texts into the music with her crystal-clear, dynamic and accentuated voice. During the recording and mixing, great attention was paid to the sound of the album in order to capture the infectious joy of playing, the high dynamics and the naturalness on the CD, while perfectly dissolving the fine structures of the instruments ." The first CD release concert took place in the Martinskirche in Müllheim on July 17, 2022 at 5:00 p.m., followed by a concert at the Musikforum Kaiserstuhl in Endingen on October 9, 2022 (Sun.) at 5:00 p.m. (see also concerts). Further concerts are being planned. The CD was released on July 14, 2022 as a digipack with an extensive booklet on the anflow records label.