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The young Carinthian pianist Fabian Mang, known among other thingsas the leader of the Frank Fusion Trio, presents his first pure piano solo album with "Flying".8 original compositions and 2 jazz standards can be found on it, very
personal, lyrical-melancholic melodies that the pianist has been
carrying around with him for the last few years and that won't let him
go. In the studio he just started playing, improvising, seeing what
happened and then just picking nine out of ten first takes.
The result is an authentic album that, although it can be assigned to
jazz, certainly often crosses the boundaries of pop or ambient -
certainly appeals to more people than pure jazz fans and simply tells
its own stories.
There isn't, as is often the case in solo piano excursions, extensively
rolling around - but it remains essential, much calm, partly grooving.
Pervaded by a light to medium-heavy melancholy, the really beautiful
songs are often little more than outlined, while being varied and full
of emotion.
“Mama-Move- a simple melody flows warmly and softly…before the song begins
to gently pulsate. In light to medium-heavy melancholy, Mang finds something
like his personal essence here. This is not music that seeks to have many tones
or spread. Mang is one with himself, with his rhythm and the harmonious flow
of his thoughts. Own songs and standards like Alone Together or I Fall In Love
Too Easily get the same treatment as a matter of course. How often do you
hear pianists failing in the standard repertoire because they squander their
ambition on what is ultimately valid instead of attempting what is valid for
them. Others, like Fabian Mang, try it with a personally colored variation of
what they have learned - effortless and original. This solo album gives us
moments of such simple beauty and then again such rousing groove - and yes, it
gains with every listen."
(Gilbert Waldner-Kleine Zeitung)
