Michael Arbenz feat. Atom String Quartet & Florian Arbenz: ‘J.S. Bach Suite III - A Living Organism’

Michael Arbenz has once more addressed Bach as jazz inspiration: this time with his brother Florian and Atom String Quartet.

Bach’s iconic Orchestral Suite No. 3 in D Major has been completely reimagined - nearly 200 years since it was composed. If Bach had added piano and percussion to a string quartet and allowed for improvisation, it might have sounded something like this album.

Arbenz has combined clear, precise writing for all the instruments and then included passages for improvisation that allows the players to take his writing and expand on it with their own personal perspective.

The entire ensemble is Michael Arbenz (piano), Florian Arbenz (drums) and the Atom String Quartet - Dawid Lubowicz (violin), Mateusz Smoczynski (violin), Michal Zaborski (viola) and Krysztof Lenczowski (cello).

It seems like Bach is repeatedly a great springboard for improvisers. In August 2025, I reviewed Michael Arbenz’s live From Bach to Ellington album with Andy Sheppard. I spoke to Joachim Horley in January 2026 about his Afro Bach project. The Neil Cowley Trio released Built on Bach in April 2026 and I also reviewed their live performance a couple of weeks later.

Joining with his brother and Atom String Quartet, Michael Arbenz has brought Bach to life in the 21st century through the lens of improvisation and musical collaboration.

Michael Arbenz feat. Atom String Quartet & Florian Arbenz’s ‘J.S. Bach Suite III - A Living Organism’ is available on Bandcamp