Fascinating melodies are spiritually bound together as Almugi skirts the well-traveled highways on its way to forging new paths. An emotive music from the European North amazes with its sophisticated originality, as it creates an earthy, natural musical atmosphere.
Played by a band with an uncanny feel for one another, the music on Mads la Cours’ fourth album, “Almugi” revels in a subtle intimacy. This Danish musician’s compositions point the direction towards a uniquely well-rounded music, balanced, truthful, and played with a deliberate intensity. Despite the dangers and ever-increasing problems in the world, the goal is to find the beauty that surrounds us, to acknowledge and never lose sight of that beauty. The musicians all stem from the Danish island of Fünen; they are all in their late 30’s, and busy with various musical projects, yet since 2015 they have made this band their focal point. There is something grating and ruff-edged; the horns splinter the tones, compress and assimilate the sounds in such a way that an earthy, natural musical atmosphere is created and maintained. Nothing is smoothed over or pre-packaged.
Mads la Cour is searching for that which is good and true. He is concerned about the human indifference and the lack of altruism around us. It angers him when the wrong people gain control of the levers of power. His composition "Støjland Møgland" alludes to Inger Støjberg, the Danish Minister for Immigration, Integration, and Housing. “Terminus” refers to a jazz club in France that offers ideal working conditions. “Gammelton” is a hymn to his parents. The title piece, “Hule”, concerns itself with a cave used as refuge, a safe haven against stress and anxiety, a place in which one would want to sign up to stay. However, the art on this album is bound to earthy nature, face to face with the world’s wounds and wonders. There is a transparent texture and elasticity to the music. Fascinating melodies are spiritually bound together. The album skirts the well-traveled highways as it forges new paths. “Almugi” is the ancient Scandinavian word that signifies “free men of the Kingdom who possess the quality of goodness” – a fitting word for the players and music on this album.
Concerts 2018
Jul 12, 2018 - Kopenhagen, DK @ Kvarterhuset, Copenhagen Jazz Festival
Sep 03, 2018 - Kopenhagen, DK @ 5E
Sep 05, 2018 - Århus, DK @ Sun Ship
Sep 06, 2018 - Svendborg, DK @ Giant Steps
Sep 08, 2018 - Stockholm, SE @ Glen Miller
Immer Schön #1 4:36
Terminus 5:41
Støjland Møgland 6:24
Hule 5:53
Immer Schön #2 4:31
Gammelton 4:33
Impro 0:52
Bølgebop, Bølgebop 3:18
Immer Schön #3 3:07
Mads la Cour (cornet, flugelhorn)
Lars Greve (clarinet, bass clarinet, tenor saxophone)
Kasper Tom Christiansen (drums)
Mariusz Praśniewski (double bass)
Recorded 1st & 2nd of May 2017 by Chris Weeda at Fattoria Musica Studios, Osnabrück, Germany Mixed by Chris Weeda
FUSK is 100% contemporary jazz, catapulted forward by the creative ingenuity of the band members; these are players who have something to say! The music is intensive, joyous. It grabs you, as it expands out of its musical roots and takes off and into the open air.
Kasper Tom Christiansen is no purist; instead, he tastefully mixes genres, as much at home with the techniques required in contemporary new music as with the improvisational surprises of free jazz. FUSK takes up a wide field of play, and this adventurous quartet doesn’t like to be fenced in. It all begins with the members of a band that has been in existence for some ten years. “The Jig Is Up” is FUSK’s fourth album. Trumpet (now with a new band member, the amazing Polish musician, Tomasz Dabrowski), bass clarinet/clarinet (Rudi Mahall), bass (Andreas Lang), and drums: It’s a band that reminds you of such breakthrough bands of the early 1960’s as the classic Ornette Coleman Quartet, the New York Art Quartet, or Archie Shepp’s early quartet with trumpeter Bill Dixon. At first listen they sound a bit retro, indicative of the revolutionary fervor of the time. But straightaway you sense there’s something deeper here, something playful, with an understated humor that transports history into the present. Despite their complexity, the compositions are far from obtrusive. FUSK evinces an amazing lightness in their play – there’s an edge to the tempos and a synergy between the two horns. That may sound like blue light (high speed) driving, like a club in which you’d love to spend the evening, like big city street scenes, like an enchanted past with imprints in the here and now. It is intensive, joyous music with a melodic incisiveness. It grabs you. Expanding out of its musical roots, it takes off into the open air, as it constructs and deconstructs the musical material in the same breath. This acoustic band has fun with the album’s feel of freewheeling swing. There’s often a tongue-in-cheek attitude to the music’s mercurial, gripping shifts and turns. It’s fresh music that plays around with the sounds we are used to hearing, as the musicians tip their hats to the past while at the same time blasting through traditional styles. There’s a balance within the turbulence that oscillates between the compositions and the continual leaps of creative furor. Nothing takes a life of its own here, since everything is dedicated to the service of the musical situation. And there’s the band’s whimsical name, FUSK, which could be translated as “messing around”. With the band’s ironic musical allusions and subtle humor, the name fits. Yet, the irony never degenerates into cheap tricks; there is never a lack of creative ideas.
Concerts 2018
Jun 30, 2018 - Svendborg, DK @ Jazzfestival
Oct 28, 2018 - Pohrsdorf, DE @ Saxstall
Nov 01, 2018 - Stuttgart, DE @ Theaterhaus Stuttgart, IG Jazzfestival
“System Tribe” is both an impressive statement and a convincing document of Schultze’s original, futuristic compositions and interpretations. He has created music that both challenges and rewards the listener. Now Schultze amazingly transfers his award-winning creativity to his debut album as soloist.
“System Tribe” is both an impressive statement and a convincing document of Schultze’s original, futuristic compositions and interpretations. Schultze’s comprehensive approach is completely individual. It is grounded in a healthy reaction to the information overkill of our time. Every piece on the “System Tribe” is different. And yet, as the title implies, it all blends seamlessly into an exceptional unity. Schultze realizes this through traditional piano play, with prepared piano, with bubbling sounds from his Fender Rhodes, special microphone setups, and with a bit of overdubbing. Schultze keeps to the point: emphatic, emotional, suggestive, remaining conscious of the structure, and with the listener in mind.
In so doing, he has created music that challenges and rewards, music that can be both melodiously contemplative and insistently minimalistic. Yet it also astounds, culminating in some sort of outrageous surrealistic rock music, on through to the machine-like alienation created by the sound distortions of the prepared piano. It’s a question of contours, character, and nuance, an effective concurrence of tenderness and accelerated onslaughts, the balance from loud to soft, right on through to the CD’s finale, “Fade”, as a single chord plays repeatedly, it’s notes ringing out, then fading into silence before being struck yet again, on through to one final altered chord. This album demonstrates all that, as well as the benefits of the careful handling of particular fragments. There is something special that happens on the way from exposure to exploratory adaptation. With its precise logic, this surprising recording transforms the overwhelming within the core idea into the comprehensible.
All compositions by Stefan Schultze. Produced by Stefan Schultze for WhyPlayJazz. Recorded April 1st 2016 by Lukas Lohner at Loft, Cologne, Germany & April 2nd - 3rd, Berlin, Germany. Mixed and mastered by Christian Heck at Tonartstudio, Horrem, Germany. Photo by Dovile Sermokas. Design and artwork by Travassos.
With an octet that includes a string trio, guitarist/composer Paul Peuker has created an incredible universe of sound that catapults the guitar back into contemporary jazz. A fascinating fusion of jazz and European contemporary classical music characterize Peuker’s exceptional compositions – critically praised and vibrant in a live setting.
The return of the guitar to contemporary jazz has been going on for some time. The guitar’s role in jazz has more importance than ever before. Now making his home in Berlin, Paul Peuker is one of those players. In order to establish a wider musical spectrum, in 2011 he formed his octet, Peuker8. Characterized by a fascinating fusion of jazz and European contemporary classical music, Peuker’s exceptional compositions have been highly praised and have proven to be viable in a live setting. You might think, aha, Third Stream jazz, and ignore the whole business. But Peuker’s music has nothing to do with some sort of ambitious academic work; rather, it flows forth with a wonderful vitality. Coincidentally, the listeners’ pleasure is a forgone conclusion as they become conscious of the close, natural intertwining, of players and styles. Peuker’s seemingly effortless structures are filled with spontaneity. This music is not overly cerebral; it is agile, multi-faceted and self-consistent without being intrusively overpowering. And it's a music from the here and now primed with American jazz and colored by European experiences, with string trio integrated in such a way that it accomplishes far more than enhance the music’s ‘flavor’ or effect. Luckily, Paul Peuker has kept his large group together as he continues the exploration of his ‘third way’. Having grown out of a multiplicity of joint musical experiences, his second album, "Influx", is the next step; with a heightened intensity, he decisively suffuses his concept with life. Dense and rugged while at the same time transparent and permeated with creative details, this spirited band navigates its way through the ten concisely structured compositions.
Peuker has written into them a balanced awareness of form and improvisational freedom, as if they could have never been any other way. The pieces allow this large group to play with the fluidity of an extremely flexible organism.
Peuker is a remarkable guitarist. He can breathe new life into a ballad, but he can also let loose, hands-on and rocking, without losing sight of his responsibility to the group. This goes for all of the players. Theirs is a collective sound – compact, playful – and it all makes sense. At times there is such a rhythmic intensity that it may well make you want to get up and dance. The solos are cleverly integrated into this musical cosmos, since each individual is a part of the common cause.
Ulrich Stock recently wrote in Germany’s prestigious der ZEIT newspaper, "Suddenly jazz is back – in the big cities, in improvised clubs – and at some of the concerts the listeners are as young as the musicians. How can that be?" Peuker8 offers one of the most plausible answers.
Recorded, produced and mixed by Max Trieder at Hirschberg Studio, Oberkirchen and Studio 5, Berlin. Mastered by Henning Birkenhake at Eastside Mastering, Berlin. Photos by Dovile Sermokas. Design and artwork by Travassos.
Concerts 2018
Jul 06, 2018 - Greifswald, DE @ Eldenaer Jazz Evenings
Wanja Slavin (BMW World Jazz Award, Echo Jazz Award) presents his new album, “Salvation” with music that dazzles like the iridescent layers of a rainbow, evoking a radiance and authority – seven compositional gems with an orchestral feeling, rich tonal colors and sophisticated arrangements.
It’s a given that he’s one of the best alto saxophonists in Germany – or anywhere else, for that matter. His play has earned him the commensurate awards – important waystations along Wanja Slavin’s musical journey rather than any sort of existential musical goal. The exceptional new album from Slavin and his Lotus Eaters is the best evidence that the bandleader wants more. It’s the reason why he is so meticulous about the music he releases and why he so scrupulously fine-tunes his arrangements; it’s why time and again he alters his band personnel in order to more conclusively encompass the overriding musical ideas. The music on “Salvation” dazzles like the iridescent layers of a rainbow. Yet it does not intrude on or attempt to overwhelm the listener. It develops its radiant power and authority reflectively, with discipline, devoid of clichés. In listening, one witnesses the burgeoning of something beautiful. Known for his free play in diverse Avant-garde constellations, here Wanja commits to the melodics of song form. Wanja Slavin considers The Lotus Eaters to be his most important band. Like a gourmet, he seeks out the musicians that best suit his intentions. Thus, this second Lotus Eaters album consists of three recording sessions with alternating lineups and seven musical gems. There is an orchestral feeling to the music, with rich tonal colors and sophisticated arrangements. The solos are delineated, and come quickly and precisely to the particular point, since totally free play would not serve the purpose. Less is more, with pieces that project the feel of thoroughly arranged pop songs, or a kinship to Alfred Schnittke, or they could be the heroes of an imaginary Shorter-Wheeler-Konitz lineup leaning towards a rare multi-dimensional quality. After listening to the music, it’s clear that the particular line-up is essential. Wanja isn’t one to hide behind his music. In this postmodern period, he has to deal with everything that’s out there. With the Lotus Eaters, he has come a long way in the art of defining and refining the essential. He doesn’t copy and he stays clear of irony. He doesn’t need those crutches because he’s not afraid of standing on his own two feet.
The music alludes to something precious that goes beyond the six individuals involved and towards a spiritual level in which everything is transformed.
1 Salvation 6:36
2 W.S. 1 6:54
3 Melancholia 1 6:25
4 Melancholia 2 3:51
5 W.S. 2 6:33
6 Moonlight Becomes You 4:48
7 Love Song 3:53
Tom Arthurs (tp)
Erik Kimestad Pedersen (tp)
Wanja Slavin (as, synth)
Philipp Gropper (ts)
Rainer Böhm (p, rhodes)
Andreas Lang (b)
Bernhard Meyer (eb)
Petter Eldh (b, eb, synth)
Ivars Arutyunyan (dr)
Tobias Backhaus (dr)
Nasheet Waits (dr)
Track 1 recorded March 24, 2016 by Falko Duczmal at Forest Studios Steinbeck, Germany. Track 2/3/4 recorded September 28/29, 2016 by Marco Birkner at Casa San Francesco Loft Studios, Italy. Track 5/6/7 recorded January 19, 2017 by Rainer Robben at AudioCue Tonstudios Berlin, Germany. Produced by Wanja Slavin for WhyPlayJazz. Mixed by Marck Fuck. Mastered by Katherine Miller. Photo by Dovile Sermokas. Design and artwork by Travassos. Supported by Initiative Musik gGmbH with project funds from the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media, Germany.
Simon Kanzler comes from the burgeoning scene of the collective of young musicians in Berlin, KIM. The music of his album Double Identity lets mystical pictures arise. The soundscapes of the vibraphonist fuse with the piano playing by emergent Elias Stemeseder. Double identities everywhere – with two basses and the gentle textures of the drums. Chamber ensemble included!
Empty spaces, frozen droplets, hazy hallways, surreal staircases, glass broken by light. These and others are the mystical scenes and pictures that arise when listing to the music of Simon Kanzler’s Double Identity. The music leads the listener towards dreamlike scenes under the surface of everyday reality. It explores gloomy worlds of sound between contemporary chamber music and improvised music. Gentle, lyrical sounds that remind us of late pieces by Morton Feldman are contrasted with energetic, rock-like moments.
Simon Kanzler crosses borders, he is a flaneur between different worlds of music who does not feel obliged to one single style. As a composer he tries to establish connections between opposite and sometimes contradictory elements. He feels at home in both, in the 20th century classical music scene as well as in the burgeoning scene of the collective of young musicians in Berlin, KIM. The latter is similarly committed to musical pluralism.
Composing for improvising musicians is especially exciting to Kanzler since they develop the material freely and penetrate it with their own individuality.
On this occasion the subtle piano playing by Elias Stemeseders (known from his cooperation with Jim Black) should be highlighted. He amazingly understands to transcend the compositional material through his own individuality.
His piano playing fuses with the soundscapes of the vibraphone of Simon Kanzler, as do the two basses. Igor Spallati and Max Mucha complement each other sensitively.
Therefore double identities emerge, that are being supplemented by the edgy and gentle textures of Max Andrzejewski´s drums.
For the title piece “Double Identity” a chamber ensemble is added to the band. In this context the influences of 20th century classical music are even more noticeable. The large-scale piece has been derived from a short melody and reminds us of late works by Karlheinz Stockhausen. In this case improvisation is of great importance as well.
Next to a few chamber musician appear Benjamin Weidekamp (clarinet), Florian Bergmann (bass clarinet) and Antonis Anissegos (piano) as improvisers.
01. Tropfen… gefroren 6:27
02. Treppenhaus 5:11
03. Doktor Faustus 8:29
04. Glas 6:53
05. Die Wand 5:18
06. Broken White 8:57
07. Double Identity I. Rhythm 4:52
08. Double Identity II. Harmony 9:18
09. Double Identity III. Polyphony 9:14
Line-up
Simon Kanzler (vibraphone)
Elias Stemeseder (piano)
Max Andrzejewski (drums)
Igor Spallati (bass)
Max Mucha (bass)
Chamber Ensemble:
Chatschatur Kanajan (conductor)
Benjamin Weidekamp (clarinet)
Florian Bergmann (bass clarinet)
Elvira van Groningen (violin)
Clémence De Forceville (violin)
Karen Lorenz (viola)
Sirja Nironen (violoncello)
Antonis Anissegos (piano)
All compositions by Simon Kanzler. Recorded January 2015 at Studio P4, Berlin, Germany. Recorded, mixed and mastered by Jean-Boris Szymczak. Cover photo by Manfred Emmenegger-Kanzler. Artwork by Natalie van Sasse van Ysselt.
