Dennis Mitcheltree / Johannes Wallmann Duo

New album, Holding Space, out now (Feb. 7, 2025) on Shifting Paradigm Records!
Streaming on most platforms; order CDs / loss-less downloads at https://shiftingparadigmrecords.bandcamp.com/album/holding-space

Holding Space is an intimate musical conversation between two friends and longtime musical collaborators, Dennis Mitcheltree and Johannes Wallmann.

  • “Holding Space is a collaboration between musical titans that is long overdue. […] The chemistry between Dennis Mitcheltree and Johannes Wallmann is undeniable. The compositions and the two duo improvisations are captivating, and leave the listener asking for more.” — Preston Frazier, Something Else!

  • “I’m a sucker for jazz duos, and this one with tenor saxist Dennis Mitcheltree and piano man Johannes Wallmann is a delight.” — George W. Harris, JazzWeekly

  • “This album is a delightful succession of exquisite dialogues between two artists who know each other by heart. In 17 vignettes of undeniable romanticism, their poetic language is firmly rooted in both the jazz tradition and classical music, woven into compositions that are simultaneously sophisticated and accessible. The delicate balance between piano and saxophone is masterfully achieved here.” Thierry De Clemensat, USA correspondent – Paris-Move

  • “there is no denying the genuine esprit de corps on display here, and there is delight in hearing two fine musicians spend an enjoyable hour in the studio strutting their stuff” — Troy Dostert, All About Jazz

  • ★★★½ — Phil Freedman, Downbeat Magazine

Mitcheltree is a tenor saxophonist who was born and raised in Wisconsin and studied at Berklee College of Music before moving to New York City in 1987 where he became a mainstay of the jazz scene. Now working as a freelancer in Los Angeles, Mitcheltree has released six albums as a leader and is the Artistic Director for the American Music Group. Wallmann is a German-born, Vancouver Island-raised pianist and composer, who, since 2012, directs the Jazz Studies program at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He has recorded ten critically acclaimed albums as a leader and co-leads the band Precarious Towers.

Mitcheltree and Wallmann were both long-term veterans of the New York jazz scene, and their musical partnership originates in the New York of the late 1990’s, when Mitcheltree, on a recommendation by Jim McNeely, recruited Wallmann to join his quartet, which was about to embark on a two-week tour of the Midwest. The two immediately hit it off, and twenty-seven years later, Mitcheltree and Wallmann’s collaborations now spans six quartet tours of the U.S., two duo and quartet tours of Germany, countless other performances in venues throughout North America, three albums led by Mitcheltree (including his 2022 release Golden Rule) and Wallmann’s 2015 album Love Wins, as well as many joint educational and festival workshops throughout the U.S.

Drawing on the near-telepathic chemistry Mitcheltree and Wallmann have honed over twenty-seven years, their album release Holding Space was recorded in July 2023 at the Hamel Music Center in Madison, WI, following a brief run of duo concerts. Both musicians being accomplished composers, the album consists entirely of Mitcheltree and Wallmann’s original tunes — most of which were newly written for the occasion —  interspersed with a few spontaneous improvisations. On three pieces, “Via Valse,” “Trio Adagio,” and “Digging a Shallow Grave for My Enemy,” they are joined to good effect by another friend (though cast in the role of the “enemy” on the album’s closing track), Milwaukee trumpeter Russ Johnson.