Pulsar Trio

Using the Indian sitar as a full-fledged improvisational instrument, German group Pulsar Trio combine a creative jazz approach with psychedelic flair, a lush melodic sensibility, influences from rock, and the rhythmic intricacy of drum'n'bass, as well as a playful sense of humor. The trio of pianist Beate Wein, sitar player Matyas Wolter, and drummer Aaron Christ has become a fixture at open-minded European jazz festivals such as the Leverkusen Jazz Days, the Masala Festival in Hannover, Salzburg's Jazz & The City, the Glastonbury Festival, or the Bavarian Jazz Weekend, and has also performed at international outings such as New Delhi's International Jazz Festival and the Jazz Festival in Izmir, Turkey. The Potsdam-based group formed in spring 2007, when Wein and Wolter met on a trip to India. Wein, born in 1981, was a music and sports student at the University of Potsdam, and had already played keyboards and sung in various groups ranging from rock and metal to dance music and hip-hop. Wolter, born in 1978, had experimented with numerous styles from free jazz to punk, blues and musique concrete, in his home studio, and studied the sitar under renowned musician Subroto Roy Chowdhury, living at his house in Calcutta for over five years, and then under sarod master Irfan Khan. Back in Germany, the two were joined by drummer Aaron Christ, who had experience as a street musician and played guitar and drums in various folk, pop, and children's music projects. The trio's debut album, Erpelparka Suite, was released in 2012. Two years later, they won the Creole Global Music Contest, which resulted in bigger exposure to their brand of world jazz. Their second album, the nature-inspired Cäthes Traum, was released in 2016 to favorable reviews which praised their eclectic style, their skilled musicianship, and their dramatic structures. Two years later, the group released their third album, Zoo of Songs, which was partly inspired by a dance theater piece by Laura Heinecke. In 2020, Pulsar Trio presented their first concert recording, Live in Berlin, followed by their fourth studio album, We Smell in Stereo (a reference to the olfactory sense of sharks) in 2023.
© Christian Genzel /TiVo