Upright Johanna Summer

• 1 Out of Reach 01:23
• 2 Shush 02:18
• 3 Giant Steps 02:53
• 4 I Remember You 01:49
• 5 Stella by Starlight 02:44
• 6 Teardrop 02:43
• 7 Elegie, WWV 93 01:51
• Total Runtime 15:41

Info for Upright

Pianist Johanna Summer will release her new jazz EP, "Upright," on April 18, 2025. This work, created during the recording of Malakoff Kowalski's album "Songs With Words," comprises a seven-part jazz suite that combines Summer's own compositions with jazz standards and an elegy by Richard Wagner. The first single, "Teardrop," has already been released and offers a taste of the upcoming album.

"A journey into the musical self of a virtuoso." (Süddeutsche Zeitung)

On the day of a piano recording, the first thing that happens early in the morning is all about setting the mood. The pianist's preferences, the demands of the repertoire, and the piano maker's methods are all harmonized, and as soon as the instrument is ready to be played, the adrenaline begins to kick in.

We were scheduled to meet to record my album "Songs With Words." I had already recorded a few pieces for this with pianists Igor Levit and Chilly Gonzales. So, Johanna Summer arrived at my studio that morning, and as she tried out the piano after tuning it, I heard something completely new to my ears. Jazz! No one had ever played jazz on my upright piano, a "Krauss" from the 1920s. What's more, the piano was prepared with felt between the hammers and strings to create an unusually warm and muted sound, almost reminiscent of a Fender Rhodes or a celesta. Old-fashioned yet very modern.

As I stood there, hoping Johanna would like the tuning, I sensed that Johanna's sample was a completely original solo piece, practically demanding to be recorded as well. We discussed it and agreed to spend a day a few weeks later recording everything Johanna could think of on that piano. The texture of the instrument, combined with the felt, promotes a rather lyrical, introspective expression for mechanical reasons, while at the same time, passages that are too fast or too loud are almost impossible to play. Subjecting Johanna – who usually knows no bounds on the modern grand piano with her unbridled improvisations on classical repertoire – to certain restrictions seemed an exciting prospect to her as a pianist and to me as a producer. We anticipated two or three pieces could emerge. From which perhaps more could be made at some point.

That seven pieces were finished after a long day in the studio was hard to believe. The very next morning, upon first listening, it became clear that this music was a self-contained cycle: two original improvisations open it. If one were to secretly claim that this music was written and not improvised, it would represent a compositional skill that hardly anyone else today masters. GIANT STEPS, STELLA BY STARLIGHT, and I REMEMBER YOU form the core of jazz standards. These recordings (each with multiple takes) also achieve something extraordinary: As far as I know, these standards have never been conceived and played in this way before, certainly not on a muted piano from a hundred years ago. Perhaps the free introductions are vaguely reminiscent of Mompou or Bartók, I don't know, but in any case, after just a few notes, they are unmistakably identifiable as Johanna Summer. The famous standards are broken down to the most stripped-back basic pillars of their themes, and the short solos evaporate just as unnoticed as they silently seek their way out of nowhere. Where TEARDROP by Massive Attack suddenly came from in this sequence is hard to fathom, but a studio idea could hardly have been more fortunate. The cycle concludes with Richard Wagner's legendary, dissonant "Elegy in A-flat major" – a theme likely discarded from "Tristan & Isolde" and long considered his last fragmentary composition.

All of this came as a great surprise to us. Almost like something happening to you. A very out-of-date occurrence. A combination of the greatest freedom and some restrictions, of complete lack of purpose and some longing for a music for which there are hardly any words, but now a name: UPRIGHT. (Malakoff Kowalski)

Johanna Summer, piano

Johanna Summer
grew up in the city of Plauen in Saxony, Germany. At the age of seven she began with classical piano lessons. As a part of her search for music that emerges in the moment and can be played spontaneously with others, she discovered jazz. Shortly before finishing school, she made the decision to concentrate entirely on this kind of music.

She completed her bachelor’s at the Hochschule für Musik (University of Music) in Dresden. It was there that she came into contact with free improvisation in a class led by Free Jazz legend Günter Baby Sommer. Fascinated by the spontaneity of this music, she began to give solo concerts – initially based on the canon of the “Great American Songbook”, but always with an open and flexible playing style and without a pre-arranged set list. Gradually, she turned her attention more and more to her musical roots and looked for ways to set classical music in an improvised context. Her first program, »Schumann Kaleidoskop« dealt with compositions by Robert Schumann and was nominated for the German Jazz Prize in 2021.

Johanna was a member of the German National Jazz Orchestra (Bundesjazzorchester) and is a regular guest at national and international jazz and classical music festivals. At the beginning of 2023 she finished her master’s degree at the Hochschule für Musik und Tanz in Cologne and is currently living in Dresden again. Her new solo album »Resonanzen« was released in January 2023. With this concert programme she refines the concept of her debut and makes pieces from different composers, ranging from Bach to Ligeti, the basis of the continuing narrative of her music.

This album contains no booklet.