Theo Bleckmann, Timo Vollbrecht, Harmen Fraanje, Tether Trio

“Tether Trio” consists of 2-time Grammy®️-nominee and ECM-recording vocalist Theo Bleckmann, shapeshifting saxophonist and appointed Ivy League Jazz Director Timo Vollbrecht (both based in New York) and ECM-recording pianist Harmen Fraanje from Amsterdam. Their music weaves together delicate textures, creating an intimate and pastoral trio-sound while merging acoustic resonances with their discreet use of electronics. They allow their original compositions to breathe, unfold, and claim their space and orchestral width. “Tether Trio” is a new project that has already performed across Europe, recently appearing in Brussels, Berlin, the Dortmunder Jazztage and the Fajr Music Festival Tehran as well as at venues in New York and D.C. (Pressetext)

A vocalist and new music composer of eclectic tastes and prodigious gifts, two-time Grammy-nominated Theo Bleckmann makes music that is accessibly sophisticated, unsentimentally emotional, and seriously playful, leading his work to be described as “from another planet” (The New York Times), “magical, futuristic” (All About Jazz), “limitless” (Philadelphia City Paper), “transcendent” (The Village Voice), and “brilliant” (New York Magazine).
Bleckmann has collaborated with musicians, artists, actors, and composers including Laurie Anderson, Philip Glass, Sheila Jordan, Ben Monder, Michael Tilson Thomas, Kenny Wheeler, John Zorn, John Hollenbeck, Ambrose Akinmusire, the Bang on a Can All-Stars, and most prominently, Meredith Monk, with whom Bleckmann worked as a core ensemble member for over fifteen years.
Bleckmann has consistently appeared in top spots in DownBeat polls for Best Male Vocalist and is a recipient of the prestigious JAZZ ECHO award from the Deutsche Phono-Akademie in his native Germany. Since 2020, he has released an album with celebrated brass quartet The Westerlies, toured Finland with the Oulu Symphony Orchestra and UMO Jazz Big Band performing his own compositions, and premiered “Note To a Friend,” a monodrama written for Bleckmann by Pulitzer-Prize-winning composer David Lang and directed by legendary actor and director Yoshi Oida.
In January 2017, ECM released Bleckmann’s album Elegy, a quintet recording produced by legendary label head and founder Manfred Eicher. In their album review of Elegy, the Wall Street Journal called Bleckmann “a jazz vocalist for the 21st century.”

Program and cast

Theo Bleckmann: vocals, live-effects
Timo Vollbrecht: tenor saxophone, live-effects
Harmen Fraanje: piano