Name: Maxine Troglauer
Nationality: German
Occupation: Bass trombonist, composer  
Current release: Maxine Troglauer's debut album Hymn is out via Fun in the Church.
Shoutouts: Jazztage Leipzig, Ambrose Akinmusire, Cécile McLorin Salvant & Sullivan Fortner, Florian Weber, XJazz Festival Berlin, Fun in the Church Label (for publishing Hymn <3), Shannon Barnett, Peter Evans & Being and Becoming, Robert Lucaciu, Petter Eldh & his Drums Project and so many more!
Topic that I am passionate about but rarely get to talk about: Musicphysiology! Another nerd topic but one that many musicians don’t even know yet how much easier it can make their life and playing.
I used to have pain and injuries from playing, started specific physio therapy in 2016 and got kind of sucked into the topic of physiology and the use of our bodies while making music. It is quite extraordinary how little we think about our bodies even though it is in some cases (e.g. brass instruments) the generator of the sound and our instrument only the resonator.
In 2024 I completed a program in musicphysiology at the Universität der Künste, Berlin and the Hochschule für Musik, Hannover and incorporated the topic not only in my own playing but especially in my teaching to help students build healthy habits and prevent pain and possible injuries.  

If you enjoyed this Maxine Troglauer interview and would like to stay up to date with her music, visit her official website. She is also on Instagram, and Facebook.   



What were some of the musical experiences which planted a seed for your interest in jazz?

The first jazz experience I had happened only ten years ago, playing with trombonist Jiggs Whigham and a jazz trombone quartet at the International trombone festival in Lausanne.

Jiggs “recruited” me after hearing me play with my trombone class from Hannover and to be quite frank, I was terrified since I had no experience or knowledge of jazz. But he encouraged me, that I should trust my sense of time and sound and I’d be just fine. To this day, I thank him for his trust and this opportunity that most likely changed my life. Prior to that, there had been probably some jazz listening experiences, but nothing that really stuck with me.

From 2016 I started playing regularly in the Landesjugendjazzorchester Brandenburg (Youth Jazz Orchestra of Brandenburg) under the baton of Jiggs Whigham, and I’d say that I developed a lasting interest and love for jazz through bigband music and to this day I tend to gravitate more to large ensemble formations than to small bands – playing and listening!

As of today, what kind of materials, ideas, and technologies are particularly stimulating for you?

I am a nerd when it comes to the pure craft of playing an instrument, meaning that I appreciate everything that a player can produce without the help of external devices, technology, etc.

The composition “Cantus Firmus” for Double Bass and Basstrombone, for example, uses the beautiful overtone spectrum of a bowed double bass and its higher register to create an almost hybrid cello sound.

In my compositions, I’ve mostly composed for specific musicians, knowing and appreciating their specific sound and abilities.



Generally speaking, I love sound-bathing, diving for example into the pure harmonies of renaissance music or the buzzing vibrations of contemporary just intonation compositions – all of them carry a deep, physical satisfaction for me, that I often struggle to get out of produced music for example.

Additionally, I like concepts and structures within music or formed over a whole concert or album. Two examples for a captivating arch over the whole recording: Imaginary Cycle by Florian Weber (ECM) …



… and µ: of Anxiety x Discernment by Philipp Rumsch Ensemble – two ensembles that I am very lucky to be a part of.



[Read our Philipp Rumsch interview]

Where do most of your inspirations to create come from – rather from internal  impulses or external ones? Which current social / political / ecological or other developments make you feel like you need to respond as an artist?

In order to be creative, I need the internal impulses just as much as the external inspirations, so I try to find the healthy middle between giving myself enough solitary, quiet time and going out to see shows, support friends and other acts, etc.

Big cities like New York or my current hometown Berlin definitely hold a lot of inspiration but after a few weeks at the latest I feel the deep desire for a forest walk and listening to birds singing and not cars reving in the middle of the night.

Of course we have to stay connected to what’s happening around us, but I see a danger in trying to be up to date and available at all times and not being able to switch off the world for a given time to listen to what’s going on inside and what creative power might come out of it.

Music has become a lot more global, and incorporating elements from other parts of the world or the musical spectrum is commonplace. Do you still think there are city scenes with a distinct, unique sound? How does your local scene influence your work?

I think there are still city scenes but not necessarily with a strictly unique sound, since musicians have often the habit of moving around and naturally bringing their sound with to the new place.

I would also argue that a specific, city-unique sound is influenced a lot by the work possibilities in the respective city, meaning that a city where musicians will make most of their money with small restaurant gigs will have a different sound than a city where musicians have the options of city- or state funding and realizing innovative projects without worrying too much about the financial liability.

It also depends a lot on the venues and possibilities of connecting with each other, educational institutions and the public perspective on how important “their” local scene is to them – all of it makes us thrive or be stuck with limited options of growth, connection and perspective.

What role do electronic tools and instruments play for your creative process?

So far none. I really like being limited by the natural boundaries of an instrument and the player and being creative within that.

I do like creating the impression of some sort of electronic treatment to the instrument though (like split tones on brass instruments e.g.), something I explored in the piece “Perpetuum Mobile.”



Towards the end of the piece the listener will hear a few rather disturbing sounds, that don’t really have a clear pitch and might sound like they’re coming from a distortion pedal or some software filter, but in fact it is a technique for brass instruments where you play between the notes of a certain overtone row (sounds so nerdy and I love it, sorry!)

Jazz has always had an interesting relationship between honouring its roots and exploring the unknown. What does the balance between these two poles look like in your music?

I try to know as much as possible about the history of jazz and its important contributors but for the music of my album, the idea of freedom within or without a form, personal expression and spontaneity are most influential – all elements that are deeply connected to jazz music for me.

For me, jazz is the only genre that has the power to honor the past and create something new in the same moment.

How much potential for something “new” is there still in jazz? What could this “new” look like?

How would we even know how much “new” there still is, if it’s not yet been created? ;)

I don’t see “new” only as something ground-breaking, innovative but as something that hasn't been expressed yet - and that could just as well be a simple melody or tune that has no innovative elements to it, but touches through its personal and deep expression.

For many artists, life-changing musical experiences take place live. How do you see that yourself?

Absolutely! Playing live in a specific venue, for a specific group of people on a specific day, with the right amount of adrenaline, maybe the addition of good light and sound, can be the start of some very special moments shared with fellow musicians and/or the audience.

In addition to that, you learn and discover so much about yourself in those moments: What are your deep feelings, what are your priorities, where are your talents, what do you enjoy, what not and how do you deal with mistakes and stressful situations?

All of this constitutes knowledge that literally can be life-changing.

How, would you say are your live performances and your recording projects connected at the moment? How do they mutually influence and feed off each other?  

My album has been the only really big recording project of mine so far, so I would call myself mostly a live-musicians anyway.

But I would always try to bring some of the live approach to the studio which means for me, not going for the perfectionist but rather the honest and story-telling approach. On stage, you won’t stop playing just because of a mistake but in the studio, you might get caught up in little perfectionist details and lose track of the overall arch and story you’re trying to tell.

An example for this approach is the piece “The Chant” – we recorded only three full takes of this, as the most important element of this piece is the flow and continuous build of ideas of the soloists and their interaction, in this case Peter Evans on trumpet and Wouter Kühne on drums.



What, would you say, are the key ideas behind your approach to improvisation?

I am a basstrombonist and naturally we aren’t and haven’t been the world’s loudest, fastest and most virtuosic players. Plus our instrument and its range can certainly be a limiting factor – but we have sound!

Another key element is probably the improvisation off a motive and not necessarily a whole form or chord changes. You can hear this in both the double bass and basstrombone soli in “Cantus Firmus.”

Also in the last piece of the album called “Epilogue”, where I only play around the given information of the melody and the multiphonics (two notes sounding at the same time: one played, one sung).  



The Montreux Festival intends to preserve its archive of recordings for future generations. Do you personally feels it's important that everything should remain available forever - or is there something to be said for letting beautiful moments pass and linger in the memories of those that experienced them?

I don’t necessarily think everything has to be recorded and preserved forever (what is forever anyway and who says anyone – human, robot or alien – will care about this artform in a couple hundreds of years?!) – I think there is beauty in the impermanence of a live performance and can possibly make it even more special.

One the other hand, I appreciate the intent of the Montreux Festival, since they host some of the greatest artist in their times but the access to the festival is rather limited because of ticket prices and location and logistical reasons.

To make their recordings available for a bigger group of people could be a great addition to the canon.