Friday, August 20, 2021

Why Kai - Deep Fishing (August 20, 2021 Jazzland recordings Norway)

Why Kai is pianist and electronic musician Kai von der Lippe. With an upbringing and education in improv and jazz, and journeyman years in both electronic and acoustic music, he combines two musical worlds in "Deep Fishing" his first release for Jazzland Recordings. Rather than simply create standard dance music with repetitive elements as an accompaniment to improvised solos, he instead creates carefully composed and evolving pieces where sounds from the jazz and improv scenes are seamlessly blended with danceable rhythms and heavy bass, as well as incorporating field recordings.

Multiple moods appear throughout "Deep Fishing", from the impatient shuffle of "Water Dance", the stumbling melodic ambience of "Pling", the upbeat cognitive disco of "Wherever", the mellow, yet somehow slightly tense "Crab", to the retrofuturism of "Futuma". Each composition bears the fingerprint of its composer.

Throughout 2020 Why Kai has developed a live performance based around a four-piece band. This has evolved into a multimedia journey where retro films, animations and MIDI-triggerered robots are an integral part of the concert experience. They debuted at Victoria Nasjonal Jazzscene in Oslo in October 2020.

1. Water Dance 05:41
2. Pling 03:58
3. Wherever 05:01
4. Crab 01:39
5. Futuma 04:21