Friday, February 26, 2016

Peter Van Huffel & Alex Maksymiw - Kronix (2016)


Label: Fresh Sound New Talent


Saxophonist Peter Van Huffel has been referred to as “one of the most intense performers on this instrument” by Raul da Gama of All About Jazz. He is the leader of the Berlin punk-jazz trio GORILLA MASK; he co-leads multiple Berlin and New York based projects including the avant-chamber ensemble House of Mirrors, The Scrambling EX and the New York trio BOOM CRANE; and has released more than 10 recordings to date under his own name. Guitarist and composer Alex Maksymiw has been active on the international improvised jazz and music scene for the past decade. He has performed with a number of well-known artists and groups across North America, Europe and the Middle East, has led numerous successful tours with his own bands, and released his first CD, entitled “The Dreamer”, in 2011. His second album as a leader, “Without a Word” – featuring saxophonist Marcus Strickland, will be released in fall 2015 on Germany’s Double Moon Records.
KRONIX is the duo project of Peter Van Huffel and Alex Maksymiw. It highlights the two performers as unique individual musicians and as strong intellectual composers. The repertoire performed by the duo consists predominantly of their own compositions, many of which have been adapted to this setting from original larger ensemble formats. This is reflective, rhythmic, energetic and exploratory music, performed by two truly gifted musicians who work together in perfect symbiosis. Although both native Canadians who attended the same college for musical studies, Van Huffel and Maksymiw first performed together in the Ukraine and Poland at the end of 2012. They have been working together as a duo since Maksymiw’s move to Berlin in the summer of 2013, where Van Huffel has resident since 2008. The debut album from KRONIX is due for release in autumn 2015 on Barcelona’s Fresh Sound Records. 


01. The Charmer 2:48
02. Excerpt Two 6:05
03. Slow Burn 5:15
04. Anyhow 4:15
05. The Dreamer 5:02
06. Petrichor 3:29
07. Drift 6:07
08. Happenstance 6:09
09. Fuse 2:56
10. Anyhow (Alternate take) 4:13



Peter Van Huffel (alto sax)
Alex Maksymiw (guitar) 



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