During my stay in Berlin in June 2020, I sent a note to Benedikt Jahnel, asking him to get together over a cup of coffee. It had been two years since I had stumbled upon his trio and their The Invariant album (ECM Records, anno 2017), and each time I listened to it, even at the thought of it, a strong feeling of the pure, the simple, the essential and the original came over me. His reply was positive, and so we met in a café just next door to his home in Prenzlauer Berg and had our coffees and talked and talked. At that time, I was contemplating the idea of publishing a very short piece, something that would occupy only one page, and I asked him if he had any such. He did and invited me upstairs to hear some of them. We went up, he opened his Yamaha grand and played the first notes of “Blessing”, the piece I’m releasing today. The click was instant; I knew I wanted to publish it. We came to an agreement, and the work was more or less done by the end of that summer, but it continued to brew and was eventually reworked and improved. Bene’s music is clear and open. It joyfully exploits the power and complexity and depth of the best in jazz and classical forms and presents them in an utterly clear and elegant manner. His touch as a pianist is sublime and so is his approach to composition. Here comes the “Blessing” for those who care for beauty in their performances, a diamond in a piano program and zest in the musical moment. Savva Terentyev, Berlin, March 2021 #benediktjahnel #ecm