Beschreibung
Following his successful debut album „Don’t Blame Me“ (UNIT 2014), with which Raphael Jost won the Swiss Jazz Award 2015 and has given numerous concerts, the subtle and witty singer, pianist, composer, and arranger returns to the studio together with his „lots of horns“. His second release „Moosedays“ is a very personal album—10 of the 12 songs are own compositions—and tells stories from Raphael’s life. The last line in the chorus of the opening song „Bring On The Night“ is almost programmatic: When the last chord’s faded, my soul is lying bare for you.
The title „Moosedays“ refers to the days at the recording studio in Sweden, which is located on the outskirts of an estate in Gothenburg on Älgvägen (Moose Road). On the other hand, it stands for very specific days when a momentary state of mind lays the foundation for a song.
Raphael remains true to the concept of his debut album; besides jazz, pop influences determine his compositions, played by a purely acoustic jazz band, which has constantly refined its sound in recent years. Besides Raphael’s catchy voice, the „lots of horns“, a 5-horn section, which sometimes comes across as a subtle timbre, at other times sounds massive like a big band, are particularly characteristic. Although his songs often follow a pop song scheme, they always offer space for the talents of the outstanding musicians that Raphael brings together in this band. The foundation is the rhythm section, with which Raphael has already played well over 100 concerts in his „Standards Trio“ and thus achieved a great naturalness in their interplay. Raphael knows how to combine high musical standards with entertainment through his honest pop jazz.
