De Profundis Natalia Mateo

• 1Bandoska05:08
• 2Eternity04:13
• 3Elegja Pielgrzyma05:54
• 4I Will Always Love You06:02
• 5Rosemary's Baby05:09
• 6Unsound05:45
• 7Prayer07:27
• 8Eksplozja Paranoja04:59
• 9Dziwny Jest Ten Świat02:40
• 10François Villon-Modlitwa09:33
• 11To Die of Gravity (Bonus Track) (Bonus Track)03:39
• Total Runtime01:00:29

Info for De Profundis

Enigmatic and profound: The title of Natalia Mateo’s album, “De Profundis” - meaning ‘out of the depths’ in Latin - sets the tone: the inspirational well-springs for her music are both personal and profound.

Subtle, knowing songs leave the listener in no doubt of a determination to mark out musical paths that are Mateo's, and hers alone. Thoughtful, original compositions and highly personal adaptations of songs reflect her story set against a backdrop of East and West, a life punctuated by changes of surroundings, by departures which lead to fresh beginnings.

The music of “De Profundis” has a three-fold inspiration: Poland, her country of birth, with its natural closeness to the Slavic traditions has left its mark, as have the international influences of her elective home city of Berlin; finally, Mateo is particularly drawn towards unconventional artists from music, literature and fine art, free spirits such as Joni Mitchell, Maya Angelou and Louise Bourgeois. What she values most about them is the way they have made their mark through a vehement yet unruffled mode of expression, their depth and sustained creativity.

There is courage and consistency in the way Mateo follows her intuition as singer, composer and bandleader, and finds her own expressive strength. She combines facets of jazz, Polish folk music and the singer-songwriter tradition. With her affecting intensity all of these are combined in a mesmerizing kaleidoscope. In “De Profundis” Mateo and her band show the experience accrued through the past few years of extended touring. The singer herself captivates not just through intensity but also through restraint. At times the sparseness of sound and structure can be intense, while judiciously chosen instrumentation creates a very distinctive sound. Quiet, emotionally charged passages contrast with sudden bursts of fierce energy. Born in 1983, Mateo now has all the experience, craft and judgement one could ask for - as well as the self-awareness to know that she will occasionally divide opinion.

Alongside Mateo herself, the guitarist Dany Ahmad, pianist Simon Grote, bassist Christopher Bolte and drummer Fabian Ristau form a regular band which has grown together over the course of several years. Songs and arrangements have often emerged from the interplay of the band working together. The multi-layered and expressive “Eksplozja Paranoja” has joint authorship by all the musicians. Another commonly created setting, of William Blake’s philosophical poem “Eternity” has a nimbler feel.

It is remarkable how seamlessly tenor saxophonist Sebastian Gille fits into this band. His varied and empathetic contributions reinforce moods, and his focused but rough-edged timbre makes for a fuller and richer band sound. Guitarist Dany Ahmad also has range and flexibility to spare, from fast passage-work on the acoustic guitar to emphatic interjections on electric. Drummer/ percussionist Fabian Ristau holds back in some ballads, but can both lay down grooves and mark out sharply defined accents. Bass duties are shared between Christopher Bolte on electric and Felix Barth on upright.

Compared with her highly praised debut on ACT “Heart of Darkness”, Mateo sings more often in her native Polish. Alongside a traditional Polish song, Mateo and her band have also taken more recent compositions, and interpret these in a highly individual manner. There is Krzysztof Komeda’s theme from the classic Roman Polański film “Rosemary's Baby”. Dolly Parton’s “I Will Always Love You” is rhythmically re-set, reharmonised, to emerge in a completely new guise.

From originals and covers, through singing that can be gentle/lyrical and angular/punchy, moods from melancholy to anger, the range of “De Profundis” is wide. Track by track, more of what constitutes Natalia Mateo’s artistry and fascinating individuality is revealed.

Natalia Mateo, vocals
Sebastian Gille, saxophone
Simon Grote, piano
Dany Ahmad, guitars
Christopher Bolte, bass
Felix Barth, double bass
Fabian Ristau, drums

Recorded by Lukasz Olejarczyk at RecPublica Studios, Lubrza (Poland), October 20 - 24, 2016
Mixed and mastered by Klaus Scheuermann
Produced by Natalia Mateo

Natalia Mateo
Music and the Arts had always been an integral part of the houshold. She was born in Warsaw, Poland, grew up in Austria, then attended a nuns girls’ school back in Poland, at the time being she is living in Germany. Piano, violin and guitar lessons, the Arts, the nuns, studied languages and humanities, frequent house moving not only left an imprint, they have spun the soul’s fabric into what it is now – a rare mixture, soft but tear-proof, thin as a veil, controversial against the background of all hijab debates, at times thick and rough as biker leather. Against the odds, through the thickett of various projects, teachers, downs and ups, failures and successes (in this exact order) she landed at the Institute for Music in Osnabrück with first class music teachers and a personalised and supportive musical setting. All that is supposedly in the music, but look for yourself.

Lessons and workshops taken with Anne Hartkamp, Tineke Postma, Caroline McPherson, Daniel Mattar, Maria Helmin, Romy Camerun, Fay Claassen, Simin Tander, Andreas Wahl, Efrat Alony, Christian McBride, Christoph Hillmann, David Friedman and others.

Dany Ahmad
Born 1990 in Osnabrück, Germany. He began to play the guitar at the age of 10. From then on he has been taking lessons in classical music as well as in improvised music. Multiple winner of the German, nation-wide music youth contests “Jugend musiziert” and “Jugend Jazzt” as solo guitarrist and as ensemble player. The experiences of playing in many bands (LaJazzO Windmachine, Natalia Mateo, Dany Ahmad Trio, etc.), his enrolment in the early study program and his studies in Osnabrück and Amsterdam as well as his participation in many masterclasses have shown him a broad range of musical means of expression and make him ceaselessly look for new musical ways.

Gregor Lener
Born 1984 in Innsbruck, Austria. He began to play the trupet at the age of 11 and took classical trumpet lessons at music school and lateron at the conservatory Innsbruck. In 2007 he gave up classical studies to take on jazz and popular music studies. Since 2010 he has been studying jazz trumpet at the Institute for Music in Osnabrück. For years he has been playing in BigBands and various jazz formations. Those experiences he is now combining with electronic music.

Masterclass with Ack van Rooyen, Jan Oosthof, Jay Jennings (Snarky Puppy) and others.

Simon Grote
The musical home of Wilhelm Grote (flamenco guitarrist and -teacher) and Barbara Grote (music teacher) shaped him and his brother into multifaceted artists. The playing-experience with many different formations (metal, soul, BigBand, folk, reggae, jazz, show) has been influencing his piano-playing all along, from the age of 6, when he started to take lessons. His initial classical training with Iku Rissmann in Minden was interrupted by a period of autodidacticism, which for him was a time of penetrating the infinite world of improvisation. After successfully completing this period, he took the first jazz piano lessons with Steve Sinko at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater, Hannover. Apart from that his interest for other instruments and means of self-espression have been growing constantly – guitar, mandoline, bass, drums, singing as well as writing, painting and composing. Since he began his studies at the Institute for Music in Osnabrück in 2010 and his piano lessons with Thomas Rückert, he is growinly busy with the production of his own music. The playing-by-ear is very fundamental to him and helps him to many liberties when playing with various musicians or solo. Travelling and a sufficient amount of reading help to keep body and soul in time.

Christopher Bolte Freelance musician, music producer and composer. Played almost 400 concerts with over 20 various bands and projects from all over Germany. Approved musical mentor by the Landesmusikrat Lower Saxony. Since 2011 student at the jazz department at the Institute for Music in Osnabrück.

Lessons and Workshops with: Arnd Geise, Patrick Scales, Achim Seifert, Sebastian Hoffmann, Chrisitan McBride, Florian Weber, Frank Wingold, Stephan Schulze, Christoph Hillmann, Efrat Alony, Peter O’Mara, Dave Liebman, David Friedman, Rainer Glas, Fay Claassen and others.

Fabian Ristau
This mother’s son recognised his love for cooking utensils early on, which intruded upon the peace & quiet in the family and neighbourhood. He was then deported by force to the far-off rehearsing room, together with compulsory and institutionalised instrumentalisation.

From now on he was to spend many lonely hours in a dark, unheated cellar, somewhere in central Germany.

It wasn’t until years later when he was found close to rhythmic depression und slowly re-integrated into something like a social environment. That is also when his first attempts to walk took place, that is – attempts to walk in strange cultural environments. His world-exploring trip brought him to various places of rock-, world and folkmusic, to electronic and populare places, before really approaching the jazz galaxy.

Nowadays he is involved on a freelance basis in various projects. Those are, amongst others, his authorship for the drum journals Drumheads and Soundcheck, the leading of workshops and seminars for the music-academy Sachsen-Anhalt, as well as ensemble- and single coachings.

Booklet for De Profundis