Holiday season is well underway, and many of us will be spending time with our families. A personal challenge with this is selecting music that Mom and Grandma will enjoy that isn’t holiday specific music. I’ve worked enough in environments that play the tired rehashing of Christmas songs during all operating hours to be absolutely sick of Christmas music. So, I am always grateful for something that is pleasing to all of our ears this time of year.
Enter Germany’s Ensemble Ambidexter with a new video for “Edelweiss” off their upcoming, self-titled album. The pleasing blend of jazz and classical music will put a smile on anyone’s face.
Ensemble Ambidexter fuses modern composition and a string quartet with a jazz quartet of alto sax, drums, bass, and trombone in a way that marries the styles gracefully, playfully, and seamlessly. The performance video was shot in Off Road Studios Leipzig giving the audience a glance at the musical mastery of the octet. “Edelweiss” as a song takes us on a lively journey through various emotional swells, playful finger plucking staccatos, and sweeping solos. The music feels at once familiar and unique, like dancing through a field of white flowers with the joys and sorrows of childhood as your partner, complicated with adulthood’s longings and wisdom.
Ensemble Ambidexter take their music to unlikely places, by blending eras and styles sonically, but also physically performing in kindergartens, care homes, hospices, and prisons. Look for their debut album on Teleskop in April 2024 and follow their Instagram page.
