Pablo Held

Held was born on 27 December 1986.^[1] He is from Hagen.^[2] His father played the piano and introduced him to the music of Federico Mompou.^[3] Held was also influenced and taught by pianist John Taylor.^[2] Held won the WDR Improvisation Prize in 2011.^[2]

Parts of a concert with guitarist John Scofield in Cologne in January 2014 were released as The Trio Meets John Scofield.^[4][5]

Held's album Recondita Armonia was reviewed by Down Beat: "Held puts an individual spin on the typical ballad album by drawing on all classical themes."^[3]

Pianist Kit Downes observed that Held "has developed a way of performing with his trio where all 3 of them know each others parts for every tune – so anyone can cue any part of any tune by just playing a small part of it (even if it's in the middle of another tune) – so that they then seamlessly link in other material to the mix".^[6]