JIN JIM

In the organizer's words:

Daniel Manrique-Smith - flutes | Ben Tai Trawinski - bass | Johann May - guitar | Nico Stallmann drums

Jin Jim - New Choices Rock and Jazz from Cologne: The acclaimed quartet Jin Jim releases its third album. A 55 - minute tour de force, carried by airy flute playing that meets hard electric guitars.

Jin Jim have been busy. After their second album was released in 2018, the four musicians from the Cologne area went on tour. The quartet performed their powerful genre fusion not only in Germany, but also in South America, East Africa and the Far East. The critics were enthusiastic. "With elegant, almost floating light-footedness, they combine the energy of rock with the improvisation of jazz", wrote the Rheinische Post about one concert. "The band's range extends from Hawkwind to Herbie Mann and beyond," said the renowned US magazine Downbeat.
Then came March 2020, and the pandemic was no walk in the park for flautist Daniel Manrique-Smith, bassist Ben Tai Trawinski, guitarist Johann May and drummer Nico Stallmann - but Jin Jim used the time to write new songs.

The title "World on Hold" describes in three words the state the world found itself in during the numerous lockdowns. Jin Jim have undertaken a mind game: What would have happened if humanity had actually changed during this threatening time? If everyone had made "new choices" and lived in harmony with their environment from now on, in "peace"? Things turned out differently. But at least Jin Jim have broken new ground - without neglecting their tried and tested approach of precision, wildness and intuition.

For their third album "New Choices", the band deliberately chose a pop producer. Wolfgang Stach regularly works with Sting's guitarist Dominic Miller, but has also been responsible for crossover and rock productions by Guano Apes and Such a Surge.

This is what Jin Jim sound like: big drums meet brilliant bass, cutting electric guitars meet airy flutes. Peruvian-born Daniel Manrique-Smith gives the band a very special touch with his three flutes (C flute, alto flute and bass flute). "Manrique-Smith possesses classical virtuosity, exotic approaches and a jazzy love of improvisation in equal measure," wrote the magazine Jazzthetik. In 2023, the four trained musicians will be celebrating their tenth anniversary as a band. Just one year after forming, they won the "Future Sounds" competition at the Leverkusen Jazz Days in 2014. Three years later, Jin Jim was able to win over Siggi Loch and his label ACT.

"New Choices" is now a new start - completely detached from the constraints of a major label. The album proves that prog, hard rock and jazz go together perfectly. Especially when they are played with such dedication and precision.

Inspired by the pop approach of their producer, Jin Jim have sometimes simplified the more complex structures of their songs. In the title track "New Choices", they turn away from crooked beats, and in the album's only cover, Björk's barely recognizable "Army of Me", the four also use electric bass and synthesizers.

The sound of Jin Jim reminded some people of Jethro Tull, while others could hear hip-hop and Latin elements. One thing is certain: on their new album, the band is catchier, more powerful and more compact than ever. "New Choices" is a 55-minute tour de force, from the metal-influenced "Turning the Page" to the funk rock of "Talking Orange" and the (only supposedly) conciliatory "Peace". Lyrical and playful, wild and irrepressible - Jin Jim are back.

Price information:

Tickets at 0221 93550417 or info@walterscheidt.net