Dezember 2025

Jazz Fun - JS 4tet "Confluence" album review

Zwei Stimmen, eine Vision – Confluence

Es stehen neue Werke der langjährigen koreanisch-deutschen Contemporary-Jazz-Kollegen, dem Pianisten Sujae Jung und dem Kontrabassisten Wolf Robert Stratmann, bereit. Durch die Erweiterung ihres Duos um die beiden renommierten Jazz-Ausnahmekünstler, den US-amerikanischen Gitarristen Steve Cardenas und den serbischen Schlagzeuger Marko Djordjevic, gewinnt ihre Performance an Raffinesse.

Das Album „Confluence” enthält fünf Originalkompositionen, teils Quartettversionen früherer Werke, teils völlig neue Titel, die den von der Natur inspirierten Kompositionsstil des Duos fortsetzen, aber auch ihre musikalischen Einflüsse weiter ausbauen. „Confluence” von Jung Stratmann wird am tba erscheinen. Das Zusammenspiel der internationalen, generations- und genreübergreifenden Besetzung fließt in einer bewegenden Komposition aus vier ausdrucksstarken Einheiten zusammen und verkörpert den verbindenden Geist der Jazzmusik. Es ist ein Beispiel dafür, wie „die Fackel weiterreichen“ aussehen kann. Aufgenommen wurde das Album von Jason Rostowski in einer exklusiven Live-Performance vor ausgewähltem Publikum im kürzlich eröffneten Second Take Sound Studio des Sängers, Songwriters und Dichters Reed Turchi in Manhattan, New York. Es setzt den warmen, hochauflösenden Sound des Projekts fort und fügt ihm eine authentische Live-Atmosphäre hinzu. Gemischt und gemastert von Ken Rich von Grand Street Recording in Brooklyn, New York, ist „Confluence” wirklich ein großartiges Zusammenspiel vieler.

Confluence besteht aus fünf Originaltiteln, von denen jeder ein tiefes Eintauchen in das komplexe Zusammenspiel der Musiker sowie eine Hommage an ihre engsten Inspirationsquellen ist. Das Album beginnt mit einer tiefgründigen Quartettversion von Jungs „Tree Huggers“, dem Titelsong ihrer kürzlich veröffentlichten Duo-EP. „Ich war so emotional, als ich unsere Aufnahme zum ersten Mal hörte!“, sagt Stratmann. „Es hat mich wirklich berührt, wie jede unserer Persönlichkeiten so stark zum Ausdruck kommt und sich auf so anmutige Weise miteinander vermischt!“ „Summer Whale“, eine dunkle, aber dennoch glückselige Komposition im 5/4-Takt, ist ein älteres Stück, das Jung und Stratmann gemeinsam komponiert haben und das nun endlich sein Debüt auf Platte feiert. Was als einfacher Vamp begann, um das offene Spiel im gleichmäßigen Achtel-Feeling zu erforschen und sich einen Wal vorzustellen, der durch die sonnengewärmten Wellen des Ozeans gleitet, entpuppte sich als ein Stück von tiefem emotionalem Wert. Nachdem die isländische Sängerin Björg Blöndal den Text dazu geschrieben hatte, erzählt das Stück die Geschichte eines Blauwals auf seiner jährlichen Wanderung von den kälteren zu den wärmeren Teilen des Atlantiks. Während dieser Reise kann er nicht leugnen, dass trotz all der wunderbaren Anblicke, denen er begegnet, immer wieder ein Gefühl von Heimweh aufkommt.

Auf dem Album folgt an dritter Stelle eine durchdachte Interpretation von Stratmanns „This Wine Tastes Very Dry”. Für Anhänger des Jung-Stratmann-Projekts ist es kein Geheimnis, dass Rubato einer der Lieblingsstile der beiden ist. Cardenas und Djordjevic stellen in dieser Hinsicht ihr beeindruckendes Können unter Beweis und präsentieren dem Zuhörer eine besonders weitläufige, zarte, fast ätherische Version dieser zutiefst melancholischen Ballade. Der vierte Titel, „The Pull”, ist nicht nur ein großartiger Übergang von dunklen Gefühlen zu einer helleren Stimmung, sondern auch eine doppelte Hommage an Stratmanns frühen Einfluss durch den E-Bass sowie an die Faszination, die die Musikszene in New York City auf jemanden ausüben kann. Beginnend mit einer an Jaco erinnernden Basslinie versuchen die Musiker, das freudige Gefühl einzufangen, das sich einstellt, wenn man der Anziehungskraft des Nachtlebens von New York City mit all seinen inspirierenden und meisterhaften Künstlern nicht widerstehen kann. Das Album endet mit einer Trio-Bonus-Performance von Jungs „After Sunset“, einer traumhaften Rubato-Ballade, deren transzendente Harmonien die Vorstellungskraft der Zuhörer anregen. Sie lassen einen lauen Abend in der Dämmerung mit atemberaubendem Blick auf die südkoreanische Küste vor dem inneren Auge entstehen und vermitteln das Gefühl, am Ende eines außergewöhnlichen Mehrgangmenüs ein üppiges Dessert zu genießen.

Jacek Brun, Jazz Fun DE

 

November 2025

Blue Directions - Blues Net Radio airplay of Jung Stratmann Quartet feat. Steve Cardenas & Marko Djordjevic "Tree Huggers"

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Thierry De Clemensat JS 4tet "Confluence" album review

Across the Blue Divide: Sujae Jung and Wolf Robert Stratmann’s Transcultural Quartet. If there’s one trait that seems to bind Korean and European jazz musicians, it’s their shared classical foundation, a discipline that so often shapes the direction of their artistry. From that rigorous training, many find their way either into the open field of experimentation or toward the sculpted lyricism of melody. Pianist Sujae Jung and bassist Wolf Robert Stratmann have clearly chosen the latter path, one that privileges balance, structure, and intimacy. Their quartet, rounded out by players who listen as deeply as they play, embraces simplicity as a philosophy rather than a limitation. At its core, the group’s sound grows from contrast: between the refinement of Jung’s Korean sensibility and the earthy precision of Stratmann’s German roots. The dialogue between their musical cultures doesn’t erase difference, it heightens it. What emerges is a shared language that sounds both carefully measured and strikingly spontaneous. Every note feels deliberate; every pause, charged with intention. In this quartet, one senses a kind of telepathy, an unspoken conversation where two worlds not only meet but also expand through each other. Their new album, Confluence, unfolds across five original compositions, each one a study in collective balance and emotional depth. The record opens with a bold quartet version of Jung’s “Tree Huggers,” first introduced on the duo’s recent EP. “I was so moved when I listened back to our recording,” Stratmann recalls. “I was deeply touched by how powerfully our personalities express themselves, intertwining with such grace.” That intertwining, an elegant tension between introspection and release, sets the tone for what follows. “Summer Whale,” composed in 5/4, swims in darker waters. The piece began as a modest vamp, a space for exploring open eighth-note phrasing and the image of a whale gliding through waves warmed by the sun. But over time, it became something more, a meditation on movement and memory. Later, Icelandic singer Björg Blöndal added lyrics (not featured here) about a blue whale migrating from cold to warm Atlantic waters, transforming the tune into a metaphor for passage and transformation. Water runs deep through Confluence, not just as imagery, but as an organizing principle. It evokes both the vastness separating Korea and Germany and the current that now unites them. This music lives in that tension: a paradoxical distortion where familiar sounds bend into something unfamiliar, and where dissonance becomes a form of beauty. The musicians exchange calls and responses, gazes and gestures, until their individual perspectives merge into what might be called a sensory identity, an aspiration toward universality through the specificity of shared sound. That same spirit animates “The Pull,” a composition that leads the listener from darkness into light. Stratmann tips his hat to his early years on electric bass, and to the hypnotic gravity of New York’s music scene, a city that still exerts a magnetic influence over his playing. By the time the record reaches its closing piece, “After Sunset,” the quartet has fully arrived at its destination. Here, the music breathes in total trust. There is no need for glances or cues; the musicians simply are, coexisting, conversing, creating. The track feels like an arrival not just for the group but for the idea of musical collaboration across cultural boundaries. Few ensembles achieve this kind of synthesis. One is reminded of Joe Zawinul’s Syndicate, which followed the legendary Weather Report. Admired for its diversity yet never quite reaching its predecessor’s acclaim, Zawinul’s later group may have been misunderstood, too forward, too fluid for easy classification. Yet where the Syndicate struggled against the weight of legacy, Jung and Stratmann’s quartet carries no such burden. They are building something patient and deliberate, letting the sound find its own shape. Confluence is, in that sense, aptly titled. It’s less a finished statement than an evolving process, a meeting point where geography dissolves and what remains is pure sound, pure exchange. For Jung and Stratmann, the music isn’t about bridging differences; it’s about inhabiting them, letting their currents mingle until the distinction between origin and destination becomes beautifully, deliberately blurred.

- Thierry De Clemensat, Paris Move

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Jonathan Widran - JS 4tet"Confluence" album review

The soulful, rhythmic and impressionistic moods on Confluence, the compelling, richly exploratory debut EP by the Jung Stratmann Quartet, is rooted in and is an impressive, continuously shape-shifting outgrowth of the improvisational blend of drums and bass, lo-fi and electronic styles South Koren pianist Sujae Jung and German bassist Wolf Robert Stratmann create in their improv ensemble Airplane Ears. Truly an offbeat, freewheeling international jazz affair, the duo expands its artistry tremendously via its intuitive vibing with American guitarist Steve Cardenas and Serbian drummer Marko Djordjevic. To fully appreciate the uniqueness of the quartet, listeners should compare the versions of the collection’s anchor/bookend pieces “Tree Hugger” and “After Sunset” with the renditions Jung and Stratmann recorded as a duo earlier in 2025 on their Tree Huggers EP. The quartet transforms “Tree Huggers” from something of a darker introspective ballad to a higher energy, swinging and polyrhythmic romp highlighted by Cardenas’ tasteful soloing and Djordjevic’s hypnotic percussive fire. “After Sunset” is still a haunting ballad, but the quartet arrangement offers a more dramatic, dare we say cinematic flair based on Djordjevic’s adventurous drumming and hi-hat bravura. The EP also shines a spotlight on Jung and Stratmann’s unique storytelling skills as they create a fascinating, ever-evolving migratory journey of a blue whale (“Summer Whale”) and a cheerful, bustling paean to NYC (“The Pull”). The EP also includes “The Wine Tastes Very Dry,” a gently meditative late night piece with a wry sense of humor.

- Jonathan Widran, The JW Vibe

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Jazz Journal UK - New Releases

They say : Jung Stratmann Quartet Confluence (Jung Stratmann) Street Date:December 3, 2025. The quartet of pianist Sujae Jung and bassist Wolf Robert Stratmann is releasing Confluence, an EP that is filled with picturesque originals that feature an attractive group sound. Its five selections range from a cinematic depiction of a whale’s journey to a tribute to the New York City music scene. (Jung Stratmann)

 

October 2025

Cadance Jazz World - album preview

Jung Stratmann Quartet’s upcoming album Confluence continues the Jung’s and Stratmann’s nature-inspired writing style, but also reaches out further to their musical influences. A heartfelt interplay of not only international and generation-spanning, but also genre-transcending personnel flows together in an evocative composition of four expressive entities, embracing the unifying spirit of jazz music and setting an example of what “passing the torch” can look like.​ 

 

Mid 2025

Jazz Promo Services - "Confluence" release album page (US)

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June 15 2025

Interview with Neon Jazz - Kansas City, on the new Jung Stratmann Duo "Tree Huggers" EP. 

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May 2025 

Jung Stratmann Duo "Tree Huggers" EP release

The Korean-German Contemporary Jazz Duo Jung Stratmann presents their second EP, “Tree Huggers,” a collection of four original compositions exploring themes of nature and memory. Recorded at Brooklyn’s Bunker Studios, this EP showcases the unique interplay between pianist Sujae Jung and double bassist Wolf Robert Stratmann, offering a warm, high-fidelity sound that builds upon their debut EP, “Bird of Luck”. The duo’s intuitive musical conversation flows like a slowly rolling river, with their virtuosic abilities taking a backseat to the emotive and sincere quality of their performances. “Tree Huggers” features four distinct tracks that highlight the duo’s musical journey. The opening track, “After Sunset,” demonstrates their characteristic rubato phrasing and creative harmonic interplay. The title track draws inspiration from 1970s modern jazz while addressing environmental themes. “Green Waters” showcases Stratmann’s innovative phasing technique on the bass, creating an auditory image of forest streams. The EP concludes with “Only In Your Memory,” a folk-inspired piece that unexpectedly features Stratmann as a vocalist, adding an intimate layer of depth to the overall atmosphere. Throughout the EP, Jung and Stratmann’s ability to create space for each other allows the music to unfold naturally, moving between various registers, dynamics, and moods while maintaining a sense of intentionality and clarity.

Jan Fritz, Jazz Media & More

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Early 2025 

Jazz Media & More Artist Page (EU)

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