Fynn Großmann from Hanover brings the jazz oboe into a new, fascinating and so far unmatched dimension.

But let’s start at the beginning. In 2019 Fynn Großmann released the album “Halbwahrheiten” (“Half-Truths”) with his quintet. The press marveled at the indescribable ease and complexity of this debut. Conceptual yet passionate in equal measure, saxophonists Fynn Großmann and Phillip Dornbusch, pianist Marko Djurdjevic, bassist Clara Däubler and drummer Johannes Metzger constantly challenged each other and themselves while still giving each other room for expression. Nobody could comprehend why Großmann would call this masterpiece “Half-Truths”. But with his new album, “Pushing the Limits”, the whole truth becomes apparent. The five band members have not only matured individually and collectively, added subtlety to the constant push and pull between lightness and complexity, and opened up undefined spaces between improvisation and composition – in their second album, the band has built upon all the musical and non-musical parameters of “Halbwahrheiten” and brought them to a level of perfection that even they would not have thought possible.

The biggest difference between the albums, though, comes from Fynn Großmann himself. In “Halbwahrheiten” he showcases himself as a saxophonist, using the oboe sparingly. For “Pushing the Limits”, he’s metamorphosed into an oboist who occasionally plays the saxophone. In all honesty, the oboe is an instrument with great potential to annoy, should be used sparingly and definitely not extensively showcased. Until now. Großmann has a playfulness, virtuosic elegance and irrepressible imagination that will give listeners a completely new view of the finicky double reed. The oboe has never sounded like this before, and that is not an overstatement. Großmann frees the instrument from her cage, overcomes all of her inherent troubles and allows her to fly. At times the oboe could be mistaken for a soprano saxophone with a very unique sound. The other members of the quintet take oboe and masterfully embed it in the band sound in a way that leaves the listener constantly craving more.