The trio around composer and pianist Julia Kadel can already look back on an eventful history: they released their first two albums on Blue Note/Universal in 2014 and 2016, which attracted a great deal of media attention. In 2013, the trio won the HFM Jazz Prize, and in 2015 Kadel and her trio were nominated twice for the Echo Jazz Award as Instrumentalist of the Year (national) and the trio as Newcomer of the Year.

The trio then recorded their third album 'Kaskaden' on the German jazz label MPS, in the legendary analog Black Forest studio. The traditional label had thus brought a new act on board that did not feel obliged to emulate the great names of jazz history, but was completely in tune with the present. Dynamic, unconventional and authentic. The trio also received a boost from a grant from the Initiative Musik, which supported the trio in 2019. 'Kaskaden' was not only recorded in analog, but also in a location that couldn't be more fitting. A place that may be a minor sensation for many MPS fans, as the Julia Kadel Trio's recordings were the label's first production in the historic MPS studio in the Black Forest in 35 years. An event that Spiegel Online also reported on in an article.

Since fall 2020, Kadel has been playing together with Greek-German bassist Athina Kontou and US drummer Devin Gray. The trio is thus once again soaring to new sound horizons with a characteristic repertoire and an open, curious spirit that allows the three strong musical personalities to interact on multidimensional levels. Most recently, the trio performed at the Grillo Theater in Essen when Kadel was awarded the Jazz Pott 2020 for their innovative artistic work, the Heidelberg Enjoy Jazz Festival and the Stuttgart BIX Jazzclub. The fourth album is already being planned and will once again be released on her own label MPS. For the album production, promotion and touring, Julia Kadel and her trio will once again receive the Initiative Musik grant in 2022 and 2023!

// Julia Kadel (piano), Athina Kontou (double bass), Devin Gray (drums)

Julia Kadel Trio © David Dollman