“...Accomplished, melodic playing and a leavening sense of absurdity...” wrote Chris Pearson in The Times about multi-award-winner Austrian pianist David Helbock, who created an international stir in the last couple of years. Two awards and the audience prize at the world biggest jazz-piano-solo competition of the Jazzfestival Montreux, a lot of enthusiastic reviews for his CDs and the Outstanding Artist Award in 2011, the most important prize in Austria 2011 – it's no doubt that David Helbock, the pianist coming from the small Austrian village, Koblach, is on his way to great international career. Helbock belongs to the generation of jazz musicians who are heading off in their own individual directions, pushing the boundaries, radically re-configuring our understanding of old and new music, re-aligning composition and improvisation, and challenging common pre-conceptions about style and personality.

The pianist is well-known for visitors of the Opus as he is a ‘regular’ guest on the club’s stage with his different formations. He visits now the forth time the club with the David Helbock Trio, his group with a lot of unconventional and humorous facets: Raphael Preuschl is not plucking a double bass, but a bass ukulele and Reinhold Schmölzer plays his drums accordingly dynamical, sometimes almost eruptive. “...The David Helbock Trio is full of tricks... But this isn´t really a gimmicky show. In fact, when Helbock shifts from frantic virtuosity to lyrical expansiveness the true mettle of his technique and musicality can be seen...” wrote David Washington (InDaily, Australia) about them.

davidhelbock.com