Taking Off: Shuteen Erdenebataar

Question for you: Who, or what, are the most exciting prospects in jazz right now? For this writer, the answer to that poser is, two women in their mid 20s. One’s from the States and sings, and her name is Samara Joy. You'll know about her.

The other is a classically-trained pianist born in Mongolia, now living in Germany; she is Shuteen Erdenebataar. I first came across her in the autumn of 2023, when her debut album Rising Sun was released on Motéma, and I’ve been a fan ever since. What makes her so thrilling is the energy, coupled with clarity and precision, of her playing; and the strength and originality of her compositions. And live, especially with the latest incarnation of her Quartet (bassist Nils Kugelmann; drummer Sebastien Wolfgruber; and new member – he joined in June – alto sax and recorder virtuoso Jakob Manz), they are one of the most thrilling, high-octane acts you’ll see anywhere. When this group plays live, you can tell they really mean it – this is music of real commitment; as Shuteen herself puts it, “If I don’t feel something myself, I can’t put it in my music.”

Talking to Erdenebatar at the splendid Harpa arts centre a few hours before her Quartet’s headlining set at the 2024 Reykjavík jazz festival, it’s clear that here is a young woman – she’s just 26 – possessed of not just charm and enormous talent, but also a sense of purpose and ambition.

But let’s start at the beginning. Born in the Mongolian capital Ulaanbaatar, Shuteen grew up surrounded by music.

“My father was a director at the opera house in Ulaanbaatar, so I remember going to the opera when I was very young,” she reflects. “Music was everywhere, but back then I wasn’t really aware of jazz – that came later. When I was studying [she started learning piano at an early age, taught by a Mongolian-resident Russian] I started to hear music from outside the classical tradition. Brad Mehldau and Keith Jarrett first, then it snowballed as I worked back to people like Bill Evans and Dave Brubeck. I really liked the idea of composing and improvising, which you can do in jazz but not really in the classical tradition.”

At 16 Shuteen graduated, and shortly after came to Germany (Munich, where she still lives) to further her studies thanks to a Goethe-Institut programme; at 20 she formed her first jazz group and at 21 started composing. It took, she says, “a couple of years to find, then establish my vision. I was trying to get away from just imitating my influences… I had wonderful teachers in Germany who taught me to ‘escape’.”

“Most of the compositions and ideas on Rising Sun are from that time,” she continues. “That album is a documentary of transition, of my experiences of moving from Mongolia to Germany. The title track is based on a traditional Mongolian tune, a memory of my home. One of the things I learned in Europe is how to tell stories in music”.

Rising Sun is on US indie label Motéma, which famously signed a (then) up-and-coming singer named Gregory Porter and which counts Jihye Lee among its current roster. Shuteen says she wrote to dozens of labels without joy, until Motéma founder Jana Herzen took a punt. Herzen’s faith has been repaid with healthy sales and universal critical acclaim for Rising Sun.

But one of the of the perils of making an acclaimed debut is creating the follow-up; Erdenebaatar seems unfazed.

“I enjoy playing live, touring and travelling, and this allows me and the band to develop new ideas,” she explains. “We are all great friends, everyone is 200 per cent motivated and is a team player. Having a strong band really helps create new ideas. I have been lucky in that I found the right people – musicians on a similar journey with a similar outlook – at the right time. Nils, Jakob and Sebastien are all bandleaders in their own right, but we all understand each other and are working towards the same goals.”

And what are these new ideas? I ask.

“I have started writing for a 20-piece chamber orchestra, a project we’ll start recording in 2025,” she says. “And Nils, as well as being a bassist, also plays an instrument called the contra-alto clarinet. It goes deep – deeper than even a bass clarinet. We have been writing as a duo and that material will be recorded in December [2024]. Rising Sun is actually the first part of a trilogy, connecting the sun, the moon and the stars. The duo album with Nils is about the stars, and the third, the orchestral album, will be titled Beyond The Moon.

“I have also been playing some solo concerts and writing for solo piano… and ultimately I would like to write for and play with a big ensemble, something like the Metropole Orkest [the Dutch-based jazz orchestra, the largest full-time ensemble of its kind in the world]. I don’t want to restrict myself, I just want to be open and try to be myself. Try to think and plan ahead. Some people have said I am ambitious, but I just want to play and compose and be me!”

But Shuteen remains focussed on her great passion – playing live. She’s started to play outside of Germany (alas, not in the UK – yet) and even plans her first ever jazz concert in her home country: “I love the buzz of playing in front of an audience. In a big hall or a small club – I like those different experiences. There is nothing like it. I want to give the audience something to remember when they go home.”

A few hours after our interview, following a standing ovation at the end of the Shuteen Erdenebaatar Quartet’s hour-long set, the audience at Harpa began to file out into the chilly Reykjavík night. Undoubtedly, they had plenty to remember as they made their way home.

This article originally appeared in the November 2024 issue of Jazzwise. Never miss an issue – subscribe today