Brigade Futur III »Ein bisschen Zeit haben wir ja noch«

Elia Rediger (Gesang), Benjamin Weidekamp (Piccolo, Flöte, Altflöte, Klarinette, Bassklarinette, Altsaxofon, Piano, Percussion, Background Vocals), Jérôme Bugnon (Posaune, Keyboard, Moog, Background Vocals), Michael Haves (Künstlicher Gesang, Background Vocals, Gitarren, Synths, Kontrabass bei “Privare“, Bassgitarre on “Kipppunkt 1“ & “Kipppunkte“, Bass Synth, Kazoo, Drum & 808 Programming on “Hikikomori”, Percussion)

Nach dem letzten Album Alles wird gut gegangen sein werden, über das Ulrich Steinmetzger in der
Leipziger Volkszeitung schrieb „Eine politische Musik des Jetzt entsteht so – provokant, eingängig,
subversiv und treibend“, folgt im Februar 2024 das etwas nüchterner, die aktuelle Lage der Welt
reflektierende Ein bisschen Zeit haben wir ja noch der Brigade Futur III, ob als Beruhigung oder letzte
Warnung vor dem ultimativen Kipppunkt.

Die Musiker, Komponisten, Künstler (und noch vieles mehr) Benjamin Weidekamp, Elia Rediger,
Jérôme Bugnon und Michael Haves haben ihr Projekt wie schon beim Vorgängeralbum mit der
Leipziger Spielvereinigung Sued als 18-köpfige Big Band eingespielt. Nach den fulminanten
Konzerten der „Alles Wird Gut Gegangen Sein Werden”-Tour folgten irgendwann Pläne für ein zweites
Album. Die Aufnahmen dafür mussten aufgrund von manahntesschon dreimal verschoben und
schließlich auf Eis gelegt werden. Stattdessen nutzte die Brigade Testaufnahmen mit der SpVgg Sued
vom Mai 2019 als Grundlage für die neue Produktion.

Eine Studiosession mit Berliner Personal folgte im Mai 2021, in der Teile der Aufnahmen noch einmal
neu eingespielt wurden, sowie eine finale Studiosession mit großer Big Band im Folgejahr. Im
Anschluss bastelten die Brigadiere eifrig an den Aufnahmen, bis das neue Werk im Sommer 2023
fertig war.

Leidenschaftlich eklektisch verwenden die vier Brigadiere Einflüsse aus jeglicher Art von Kultur. Ob
Jazz oder Klassik, Musik oder Kunst, Theater, Film, Bücher, das Leben an sich, Philosophie, Kochen
oder was auch immer – Hauptsache es berührt die vier und die Ideen der Brigade werden adäquat
transportiert.

Inspiriert vom frühen Duke Ellington, polyrhythmischen Überlagerungen, Art- und Indie-Pop sowie US
Hip-Hop lotet die Brigade Futur III den akustischen Klang der Big Band vollends aus und erweitert ihn
durch Synthesizer, Trigger-Sounds, Samples und dergleichen. Aus all diesen Einflüssen entstand eine
waghalsige Achterbahnfahrt durch eingängige Melodien, serielle Kompositionstechniken,
Improvisation, rumpelnden Beats und Jazz. Ulf Drechsel kommentierte im rbb: „Sie jammen im Geiste
mit Sun Ra, Ellington, Coltrane, Brecht, Weill und Kurt Schwitters. Die Texte sind skurril, böse, zart
und sehr konkret“.

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/releases/WPJ064

Brigade Futur III »Hikikomori«

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/releases/WPJ064A

Das Kondensat »Andere Planeten«

Gebhard Ullmann (soprano & tenor saxophones, looper, electronics), Liz Kosack (keyboards), Oliver Potratz (electric bass, electronics), Eric Schaefer (drums, modular synthesizer)

Recorded June 16-19, 2020, Mixed and Mastered October 2020 and June 2022 by Guy Sternberg, Low Swing Tonstudios, Berlin.
Produced by Das Kondensat for WhyPlayJazz.
Photos by Cristina Marx and Dovile Sermokas.
Artwork by Michael Schultz.
Oliver Potratz plays Markbass amps.
Made possible with the kind support of the Senatskanzlei für Kultur und Europa, Berlin.

Nach der CD Nummer 2 im Jahr 2020 waren Lust und Ideenvielfalt so groß, dass die Band die Arbeit im Studio unmittelbar fortsetzte. Doch was heißt schon fortsetzen bei so einem Ideenexplosionsunternehmen? Anderes sollte diesmal im Fokus stehen. Keine festgelegten Melodien sollte es geben, stattdessen ein klares Klangkonzept. Die Schönbergs 2. Streichquartett zitierenden „Anderen Planeten“ irrlichterten schon durch die ersten beiden CDs. Nun verhalfen sie dem sphärischen neuen Album zu seiner durchgehenden Projektidee. Die beschreibt Gebhard Ullmann als „improvisierte Kompositionen“, als ein Instant Composing, das er durchaus im Gegensatz sieht zum doch nur sogenannten freien Spiel. Hier geht es eben nicht darum, dass ein stets gleiches Vokabular des Einzelnen in immer neue Konstellationen einfließt, hier bleibt die Konstellation gleich, um am Vokabular zu feilen, um strukturell und semantisch die Mittel immer weiter zu verfeinern. Zusammen mit dem digitalen Instrumentarium kommen so immer andere Puzzlesteine in diesem Bandorganismus zum Tragen. Das Trio spielt inzwischen auf einem Level, dass man sich intuitiv aufeinander verlassen kann. Es lustwandelt gleichermaßen souverän wie spontan auf dem gemeinsam erspielten Territorium. Aus diesem gefestigten Konzept wuchs die Idee, weitere MusikerInnen einzuladen, um das Vokabular der Band forschend zu erweitern. Liz Kosack erwies sich mit ihren futuristisch dräuenden, gar nicht jazztypischen Keyboardschwaden und -kaskaden als ideale Ergänzung. Vergleichen könnte man das musikalische Neuland von „Das Kondensat“ mit dem des Krautrock am Ende der sechziger Jahre. Doch träfe das nur einen Aspekt dieser Dub, Ambient, Mikrotonales, Free Jazz, Neue Musik und manches mehr integrierenden Band, weil deren Summe mehr ergibt als die einzelnen Teile. Eine Musik nämlich auf der Höhe der Zeit, die mehr will und dabei ins Offene einlädt.

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/releases/WPJ061

FUSK »Absurd Enthusiasm«

Kasper Tom Christiansen (dr, comp), Tomasz Dąbrowski (tp), Andreas Lang (b), Rudi Mahall (cl, bcl)

Recorded, mixed and mastered March 2022 by Tito Knapp at Tito’s Zentrifuge, Berlin, Germany.
All compositions by Kasper Tom Christiansen.
Produced by Kasper Tom Christiansen for WhyPlayJazz.
With support from KODA Kultur, Gramex, Dansk Kapelmesterforening and Svendborg Musikudvalg.

Wie ein Konzert ist diese Platte eingespielt. No Overdubs, alles aus dem Moment. Und der strahlt Energie aus. Erneut herrscht dieser titelgebende absurde Enthusiasmus, der sich von nichts und niemandem von seiner Sache abbringen lässt. Es ist, als säße man auf zwei Meter Distanz in einem kleinen Jazzclub, in den man immer wieder gerne geht. Die aus den musikalischen Ereignissen resultierende Spannung knistert, und man lauscht wie gebannt. „Er spielt bei jedem Konzert etwas, das ich noch nie gehört habe“, sagt Kasper Tom Christiansen über Rudi Mahall, und Tomasz Dabrowski steht dem in nichts nach. Und darunter treiben und ziselieren Bass und Schlagzeug. Es ist eine Freude, das zu hören. Filigran verspielt, wuchtig und vehement ist das und stellt doch keine Denkaufgaben, weil es immer munter vorangeht durch zehn Stücke, die um stets neue Ideen kreisen. Die Ironie dabei ist keine besserwisserische, sondern eine freundvolle, und das steckt an. Alle wollen mehr, als nur im Windschatten der amerikanischen Granden zu navigieren, doch wenn Kasper Tom Christiansen für seine Kompositionen Zwölftontechniken heranzieht, wirkt das nicht akademisch. Vielmehr ist das ein unaufdringlicher Beleg dafür, dass dies europäische Musik ist, die sich nicht simpel eine Kultur aneignet. Vier Musiker begegnen sich leidenschaftlich und selbstgewiss auf Augenhöhe. Sie müssen sich nicht in Solos kaprizieren, agieren stattdessen in einem festgefügten Gruppenkontext, der variabel ist und stabil. Es bereitet Vergnügen, beim Hören jeden Einzelnen nach vorn zu zoomen, um über seine Finten und Volten zu staunen, auf dass er dann doch wieder ins große Ganze zurückschnellt. Diese Leichtigkeit ist gigantisch gut und will live immer weiter verfeinert werden. Der Strom reißt nicht ab, weil jeder genau weiß, was am besten für die Band ist.

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/releases/WPJ060

Mads la Cour’s Almugi »Stout«

Mads la Cour (Flugelhorn), Cesar Joaniquet (Tenor Sax), Andreas Lang (Double Bass), Kasper Tom Christiansen (Drums)

Recorded and mixed May 2022 by Morten Büchert at Lundgaard Studios, Vejen, Denmark.
Mastered by Jake Burns and Morten Büchert.
Produced by Mads la Cour and Morten Büchert for WhyPlayJazz.
Artwork by Michael Schultz.
With support from Koda’s Cultural Funds & Svendborg Musikudvalg.

"Stout" heißt das neue Album von Mads la Cour’s Almugi. Ein Stout ist ein störrischer und beleibter Mann, der unbeugsam seine Ideale vertritt. Diesem starken und stolzen Kerl gelten die Sympathien des Bandleaders, der ihn in der Tradition des alten nordischen Wortes Almugi sieht, das für freie Männer des Königreichs steht, die sich ihre Fähigkeit zur Güte bewahrt haben. Von diesem Hintergrund sind die Kompositionen des dänischen Trompeters und Flügelhornisten inspiriert. Sie widmen sich den Erinnerungen an gute Menschen („Gute Zeiten“), der 95-jährigen Großmutter („Rimi“), dem entspannten Sonntagsgefühl („Sunday“), aber auch dem Stress in vollen Zügen („Hurry Up“) oder der Müdigkeit nach einer Tour („The Second Day“). Allesamt sind das Themen aus dem unmittelbaren Lebensumfeld Mads la Cours. Dies signalisiert seine Verwurzelung, die dieser Musik ihre wie selbstverständliche Plausibilität verleiht. In engen und doch luftigen Verschränkungen schreitet sie voran, ohne dem Hörer Denkaufgaben stellen zu wollen. Vielmehr besticht ihre Eingängigkeit, die mal in Sentimentalität begründet sein kann, dann wieder in einem traumverlorenen Schwelgen. Und doch springt diese Musik gleichzeitig ab aus den gängigen Schubladen des skandinavischen Jazz. Sie ist ganz bei sich und spricht von dem, was unmittelbar da ist und die Erfahrungswelt bestimmt. Mads la Cour gibt seinen Mitmusikern die sinnfälligen Themen seiner Musik, auf dass sie ihres einschreiben. Sein Spiel ist von einer Suche nach den Kanten der Noten bestimmt. Das verleiht ihr das Besondere. Ohne Kopfhörer haben sie für „Stout“ in einem Raum den natürlichen Klang einer großen Halle realisiert. Aus diesen gleichermaßen zarten und kraftvollen Klängen strahlt ein inneres Leuchten, das ihnen etwas Kostbares neben jeder Betriebsamkeit einschreibt und ihre zeitlose Schönheit illuminiert.

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/releases/WPJ062

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/philip-zoubek-trio

Philip Zoubek Trio »Labyrinthus«

Philip Zoubek (piano, synthesizer, composition), David Helm (bass), Dominik Mahnig(drums)

Recorded by Christian Heck. Engineered by Ernst Hartmann and Anton Blank.
Produced by Odilo Clausnitzer for DLF.
Recorded December 2020 at Deutschlandfunk, Cologne.
Mixed and mastered by Martin Ruch.
Design by Markus Dorninger, based on artwork by Jannis Sicker.
Special thanks to Dominik, David, Claudia, Roland Schulz, Markus, Jannis and the Zoubeks.

Die Stücke bilden Plattformen, denen auf der Bühne Kontur und Charakter gegeben werden. So entstand ein verzweigtes Labyrinth, in dem die instrumentalen Elemente zu einer kaum noch unterscheidbaren Synthese geführt sind. Kaleidoskopartig schillert diese Musik in vielen Farben, die auseinander hervor- und ineinander übergehen. Der Organismus dieser eng verzahnten Band sucht immer neue Richtungen des Zusammenklangs, die dann konzise ausgeschritten werden. Das ergibt wie selbstverständlich diese markante und ausdifferenzierte Einheit, diesen Wiedererkennungseffekt eines Gruppenklangs, der originell unverbraucht ist – voller Spannung und Elastizität. Die in exzellenter Tonqualität im Kammermusiksaal des Deutschlandfunks entstandene Musik ist immer wieder neu und orientiert sich im ungesicherten Terrain nicht an funktionierenden Referenzgrößen. In ihren fantasiereichen Trialogen suchen die Musiker nach innerer Logik und einem tieferen, weiter ausgreifenden Zugang zur Improvisation. Sie spielen mit Formen, Strukturen, Rhythmen und Intensitäten, ohne simple Schemen von Thema und Variation zu bedienen. Das macht ihre Musik zum Abenteuer auch für die Hörenden. Drei ausgeprägte Charaktere sind hier bei gemeinsamer Arbeit auf weit abgesteckten Feldern zu genießen, deren Koordinaten sie sich situativ aneignen. Aus der Kombinatorik ihrer Instrumente schaffen sie eigene Welten, die in Titeln wie „Insomnia“, „Meander“, „Mantra“, „Breath“ oder „Silent House“ treffend beschrieben sind.

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/releases/WPJ058

Peuker8 »Sender«

Paul Peuker (guitar, composition), Marius Moritz (piano), Mark Weschenfelder (saxophone), Alina Gropper (violinquinton), Filip Sommer (violaquinton), Elisabeth Coudoux (cello), Tobias Fröhlich (bass), Florian Lauer (drums)

Recorded live by Steffen Tielcke at Off The Road Studios, Leipzig.
Mixed and mastered by Max Trieder.
Design by Michael Schultz.
Supported by Musikfonds.

War vor drei Jahren „Radiance“ charakterisiert durch Disziplin und Durchdachtheit, lässt nun das vierte Album von Peuker8 mehr Raum für Interaktionen und Spontaneität. Das Verstehen innerhalb der Band hat mittlerweile etwas von einer wie selbstverständlichen intuitiven Kollektivität. Die Corona-Bedingungen einer verstärkten Isolation nutzte der mittdreißiger Wahlberliner zum Produktivmachen neuer Arbeitsverfahren in kleineren Instrumentalgruppen. Daraus resultierende Probenergebnisse und Ideen wurden dokumentiert und untereinander ausgetauscht, um sie dann schließlich im Studio in einen großen Fluss aus vier zentralen Stücken wie unter Livebedingungen münden zu lassen. In diesem Sinne ist der Titel „Sender“ so zu verstehen, dass alle acht Musikerinnen und Musiker als Absender ihres in noch expliziterem Maße sendeten und einbrachten in ein großes Ganzes. So entstanden stärker als zuvor Kommunikationsmodelle zum Ausfüllen der fantasievollen Grundideen des Bandleaders Paul Peuker. Wie sicher Peuker8 inzwischen in ihren großformatigen Entwicklungen musikalischer Ideen geworden sind, belegt der Fakt, dass die Resultate dieser imponierenden halben Stunde im Studio wie unter Live-Bedingungen als One-Take entstanden. Da wird auf sehr unterschiedliche Weise auf diesmal rohere, kompaktere Art mit vier Grundthemen gespielt, die nicht durchgängig aufeinander bezogen sind. Es wird vorgeführt und durchdekliniert, wie mit einer einfachen Formel komplexe Dinge verhandelt werden können, wird mit Klangfarben eine repetitive, gebetsmühlenartige Tonfolge durchleuchtet, werden mitunter Akkorde langsam verschoben wie vorbeiziehende Wolkenbilder, wird ein Blues gleichzeitig in drei Tonarten durchgeführt, bis wie in einer finalen Fanfare alles in rockigem Gestus ausklingt.

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/releases/WPJ059

Das Kondensat »2«

Gebhard Ullmann (soprano and tenor saxophones, looper, sampler), Oliver Potratz (electric basses, analog effects, bass synthesizer), Eric Schaefer (drums, modular synthesizer)

Recorded June 16-19, 2020, mixed and mastered October 30/31, 2020 by Guy Sternberg at Low Swing Tonstudio, Berlin.
Produced by Das Kondensat for WhyPlayJazz.
Cover photo by Oliver Potratz.
Band photo by Dovile Sermokas.
Design and artwork by Michael Schultz.
Oliver Potratz plays Markbass amps.
Recorded with the kind support of the Senatskanzlei für Kulturelle Angelegenheiten Berlin.

So now the logical follow-up, Kondensat 2, simply because such a concept calls for more. Again, there is this jumpy, leg-pounding groove, which makes it hard to stand still at a concert. Once again there is a blending of the elements and a cornucopia of ideas. Once again there is an organic coexistence of artificially generated and acoustically produced sounds as the core of the music. Organizers worldwide book this band; word has gotten around as to how infectious their music is ‘live’ (…). To expand the playing field in their music, electronics are used as the music’s head and legs. The beatific progressive rock of the seventies is recalibrated, with trace elements of contemporary classical music, dubs, and an actual spliced-in interview of and sax homage to the iconic avant-garde saxophonist Albert Ayler. This is not art as bloodless brainchild. Here the blinders have been cast off. Modular synthesizers, effects devices, pedals and loops are integrated into the interaction within the trio’s glowingly intense improvisational discourses. These three musicians are masters of their instruments as well as digital wizards. Everything on this CD has been recorded live without overdubs. With its rich palate of ideas and conceptual elements, this second musical stroke displays an even more colorful canvas. Das Kondensat’s electronic extensions and detailed sophistication illuminates (…) the way to the exploration of new territories. (…) The listener will discover innovative, inspired, entertaining music.

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/releases/WPJ057

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/philip-zoubek-solo

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/philip-zoubek-solo

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/philip-zoubek-trio

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/philip-zoubek-trio

Philip Zoubek Solo »Vortex«

Philip Zoubek (prepared piano)

All compositions by Philip Zoubek.
Produced by Philip Zoubek for WhyPlayJazz.
Recorded December 2018 by Stefan Deistler at the Loft, Cologne.
Mixed and mastered by Stefan Deistler.
Design by Markus Dorninger, based on photos by Pablo Giw.
No overdubs, headphones recommended.
Special thanks to Claudia, Roland Schulz, Markus, the Zoubeks, Hans-Martin und Benedikt Müller.

"Vortex" is Philip Zoubek's second solo recording, following his critically reclaimed "Air" (2014). And it is a vortex that foments a hypnotically attractive upward spiral. Within the maelstrom he captures mood pieces, masterpieces in miniature, drawn in a single extensive arc containing some fifty minutes of music. Zoubek then carefully seperates the whole into musically coherent sections. It begins with a search, with the listener as witness; the incipient discoveries break out in a fruitful, eventful stream of consciousness. This music is grounded in Zoubek’s experience acquired through years of work. Thus, he is able to mobilize and control these extraordinary musical events. Here, he employs pieces of wood, e-bows, rubber, and disparate plastic and metal screws to modulate the myriad sounds, as aggressive glissandos swirl around with percussive force; shimmering and rapturous, the sounds echo through momentary caesuras, as they issue into the music’s powerful flow.

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/releases/WPJ056

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/philip-zoubek-trio

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/philip-zoubek-trio

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/philip-zoubek-trio

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/philip-zoubek-trio

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/philip-zoubek-trio

Philip Zoubek Trio »Nonplaces«

Philip Zoubek (piano, synthesizer), David Helm (bass), Dominik Mahnig (drums)

All compositions by Philip Zoubek.
Produced by Philip Zoubek for WhyPlayJazz.
Recorded December 2019 by Manuel Egger at suburban Studios, Winterthur.
Mixed and mastered by Manuel Egger.
Design by Markus Dorninger, based on illustrations by Ernst Häckel.
Special thanks to Manuel, Claudia, Roland Schulz, Markus, the Zoubeks and my band mates David and Dominik.

Philip Zoubek envisions “nonplaces” as imaginary places that do not yet fit into the usual categories. This is an ideal formula for his new trio music. As a roundel of eleven compositions, this brilliant trio’s second CD begins with a edgy, gripping, "alarm", and soon thereafter brakes into “Silver”, a ballad of sublimely balanced beauty. All the pieces arise out of an honest radicalism through which three instruments create new worlds. The results: an alluring music that seduces as it draws the listener in. This time the pianist makes even more substantial use of piano preparations and advanced techniques, including the use of synthesizer. The imaginative and fast-paced music interlocks as it elicits an astonishing urgency that challenges and fascinates. This music is complex and simple at the same time; it invites the listener to take part in a creative process towards something truly new, something one would not have expected from a traditional piano trio. The pieces cut to the musical core, as these consummate musicians create characters in a coherent dramaturgy in which improvisation and composition exquisitely separate and combine. Everything stays on point without losing musical mass, as an exciting clarity shines through the multiplicity of ideas. Responsive and complex, with a shimmering logic, this trio creates new worlds, as, in the suburban recording studio in Winterthur, Switzerland, sound engineer Manuel Egger contributes an angular, gritty sound conjured up using analog technology.

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/releases/WPJ055

Stefan Schultze Septet »Turbalento«

Herb Robertson (trumpet, cornet), Helen Bledsoe (bass flute, alto flute, flute, piccolo), Frank Gratkowski (alto saxophone, bass clarinet, clarinet), Holger Werner (clarinet), Stefan Schultze (prepared piano, piano), Robert Landfermann (double bass), John Schröder (drums)

All compositions by Stefan Schultze.
Recorded 22nd & 23rd of September 2013 by Christian Heck at Loft, Cologne, Germany.
Mixed and mastered by Christian Heck at tonart studio, Kerpen-Horrem, Germany.

Because Scultze often begins composing only after he has assembled the band members, the music develops a special sort of magic. Stefan Schultze was once again able to synthesize the two souls close to his heart during these septet appearances recorded live in Cologne some seven years ago. Although he was dealing with a larger group, Schultze was still able to control the events from his position at the piano. In this way he partakes in the joy of ensemble playing and soloing instead of having to stand in front conducting the musicians. This time, the reeds dominate the brass section; thus, Schultze creates a more intricate sound without losing any of its force. The flute and clarinet colors of Helen Bledsoe, Holger Werner and Frank Gratkowski communicate with the unpredictable, impressive trumpet improvisations by Herb Robertson. In addition, bassist Robert Landfermann and drummer John Schröder provide a rock-solid foundation with resilience and imagination. This music shines with urgent sensuality; it exudes an enthralling diversity of influences from a potpourri of musical genres. This required musicians who would be able to bring genre-spanning playing experiences and a dazzling variety of unusual tonal colors. At times thrilling, at times contemplative, there are moments of furious brass outbursts, and moments of seemingly freeform explosions that threaten to break all bounds, as this “small big band” crosses through an immense spectrum of possibilities. Alto saxophone, trumpet, flutes, clarinets – the instruments occasionally playing at the depths of their range – prepared piano, drums played with pinpoint precision, a double bass full of dark secrets, and solos that resonate with a palpable emotional intensity: they all add up to the brilliant results that are greater than their individual parts.

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/releases/WPJ049

Simon Kanzler »Nodía Es«

Simon Kanzler (composition, conductor, vibraphone), Johnna Wu (soprano, violin), Dora Osterloh (mezzo-soprano), Laura Winkler (alto), Tobias Christl (tenor, vocal 1), Roman Laskowski (shouter, vocal 2), Liz Kosack (keyboards), Dan Peter Sundland (bass), Valentin Schuster (drums), Otis Sandsjö (tenor sax), Daniel Bödvarsson (guitar), Raphael Meinhart (narrator)

All compositions by Simon Kanzler. Texts by Konrad Bayer and Simon Kanzler.
Recorded, mixed and mastered at rbb-Studio Berlin 2017 by Maria Suschke (Sound Supervisor), Nikolaus Löwe (Sound Engineer) and Ulrich Hieber (Digital Cut). Mastered by Ulrich Hieber. Produced for Kulturradio rbb by Ulf Drechsel and Wolf Kampmann. Band photo and masks by Liz Kosack. Design and artwork by Travassos.

Opera, heavy metal, punk, jazz and new music are brought together in a tour de force the likes of which you've never heard. The tradition of the aria, recitative and choir is roughed up with primitive, brutish grooves performed in an intense rondel of scenes. There is a seriousness to the storyline seasoned with irony. Instrumental attacks and outbreaks back up the vocalizing as the music explores and crosses over the boundaries of the familiar. Word acrobat Konrad Bayer (b.1932 – d.1964), member of the provocative Wiener Gruppe, wrote the original texts. On other texts, Kanzler uses a generator to spin the words around in order to emphasize the musical and rhythmic aspects of language. As in a film by David Lynch, scenes with elements from different genres are cut together using surrealistic means to form a cohesive whole. In this way deep emotions – jealousy, physicality, the desire for love – all the necessary ingredients are arranged into sound collages. These sharp contrasts lead to a perfectly logical musical synthesis in an art that makes use of the musician’s experience and knowledge and creates extreme worlds of emotion; it’s all palpable drama in this musical house of mirrors. The disparate segments and sections of this sophisticated music travel far beyond some academic endeavor; in a joyful polychromatic appeal to the pleasure of limitless receptivity, the music expands our horizons and plays with our musical preconceptions. This may seem strange at first, but these sound sensations become more familiar, more intimate the more one listens. “Nodía Es” is an invitation to leave the beaten path; it challenges body and mind, awakens our imagination and inspires us to connect all those fantastic musical dots.

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/releases/WPJ053

Elias Stemeseder & Max Andrzejewski »light/tied«

Biliana Voutchkova (violin), Lucy Railton (cello), Christian Weidner (alto saxophone), Joris Rühl (clarinet, bass clarinet), Elias Stemeseder (piano, synthesizers, composition), Max Andrzejewski (drums, composition)

deux, cinque, héritage, quatre composed by Max Andrzejewski.
maß, tied light I, tied light III - gamut, tied light III - ambit, cc/choral composed by Elias Stemeseder.
Produced by Max Andrzejewski and Elias Stemeseder for WhyPlayJazz.
Recorded by Antonio Pulli at Studio Börne Berlin, February 18th - 20th, 2019.
Edited by Max Andrzejewski, Elias Stemeseder and Martin Ruch.
Mixed and mastered by Martin Ruch at Control Room Berlin.
Additional mixing on quatre, héritage, tied light I, cinque and maß by Max Andrzejewski.
Photos by Dovile Sermokas.
Design by Michael Schultz.
Supported by Musikfonds.

One could ascribe Elias Stemeseder and Max Andrzejewski to a post-genre movement. Because of their extraordinary ability as soloists, improvisers and composers, they both have been sought after to work in a variety of overlapping contemporary musical styles. Over the years, the two have collaborated intensively on numerous projects (including Anna Webber’s Percussive Mechanics and the KIM Collective); in 2018, they decided to collaborate on their own musical project. The two musicians pursued a compositional challenge with a chamber-music quality, in which improvisation and composition face each other as equals.

"light/tied" features a sextet of strong, like-minded soloists. Stemeseder and Andrzejewski composed the pieces independently of each other, but the compositions were, in part, based on the same source material. In post-production, the separation between Andrzejewskis and Stemeseder's compositions was partially offset. Pieces were taken apart, electronically distorted and reassembled into detailed components.

The music emits an inner radiance. It evokes calmness and reflection. Sound elements break out into fine, lyrical movements. Rugged sound citadels and refined counterpoint intertwine with sweeping harmonies and rhythmic microstructures. Fascinatingly crisp sections of composed “noise” allow alto saxophonist Christian Weidner's crystalline lines to shine even brighter. Everything on this album is seamlessly intertwined, luminescent, essential.

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/releases/WPJ054

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/plot

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/peuker8

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/peuker8

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/huette

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/zwitschermaschine

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/peuker8

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/huette

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/huette

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/zwitschermaschine

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/zwitschermaschine

Peuker8 »Radiance«

Paul Peuker (guitar/composition), Marius Moritz (piano), Mark Weschenfelder (saxophone/clarinet), Alina Gropper (violinquinton), Filip Sommer (violaquinton), Elisabeth Coudoux (cello), Eugen Rolnik (bass), Florian Lauer (drums), Konstantin Ingenpaß (vocals on "The Core" and "Requiem (Radiance III)")

Recorded, produced and mixed by Max Trieder at Hirschberg Studio, Oberkirchen and Das Dur, Berlin.
Mastered by Henning Birkenhake at Eastside Mastering, Berlin.
Photos by Dovile Sermokas.
Design by Michael Schultz.

Peuker8 is an entertaining fusion of styles, something special that ranges far beyond the modern-jazz context. With its fluid, far reaching and sharply focused play, It’s the perfect festival band. This is Paul Peuker’s third album with Peuker8, and with his captivating arrangements for voice and instruments, Peuker has cohesively developed and perfected his urgent and spirited art. "Radiance" is a concept album. Leitmotifs continually recur, and you could use such synonyms as "splendor" and "presence" to come even closer to the heart of this music. It is permeated by an inner luminescence, by an effortless spontaneity in which equally weighted voicings interlock, float upwards and shine. Peuker's art does not rely on the quick effect, nor does it pander to the public. His art braces itself against the reduction and simplification of clicks and zaps in order to create a way of thinking in larger arcs and progressions – something resonant, something profound. If you so desire, you can find traces of the music of Scandinavian Trygve Seim’s large formations, references to Henryk Górecki's Symphony No. 3, or Gustav Mahler's cinematic orchestral works, including his Symphony No. 2, which uses texts from the collection of old German folk poems, "Des Knaben Wunderhorn" (The Boy’s Magic Horn). Peuker adopts modified versions of these texts in two compositions, as he provocatively brings in the baritone voice of Konstantin Ingenpaß, addressing some of the urgent topics of our time: "dying, the world senses our rushing to and fro / yet it will be the one that remains" ...

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/releases/WPJ051

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/peuker8

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/peuker8

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/philm

Max Andrzejewski's Hütte »Hütte & Guests Play the Music of Robert Wyatt«

Johannes Schleiermacher (saxophone, flute, synth), Tobias Hoffmann (guitar), Andreas Lang (double bass), Max Andrzejewski (drums, vocals, arrangements), Cansu Tanrıkulu (vocals, fx), Jörg Hochapfel (organs, guitars, vocals)

Recorded on 13. & 14. December 2018 at LowSwing Studio Berlin by Guy Sternberg
Mixed and mastered in April 2019 at LowSwing Studio Berlin by Guy Sternberg
All songs arranged and produced by Max Andrzejewski
Robert Wyatt´s picture by Renaud Monfourny.
Band picture by Dovile Sermokas.
Design by Michael Schultz.

Now, for the first time, Max Andrzejewski devotes himself to another artist: the iconoclastic Robert Wyatt, drummer and founding member of the legendary groups Soft Machine and Matching Mole. A leading exponent of the so-called Canterbury scene in the 60s and 70s, this drummer, singer/songwriter moved on to a solo career after his accidental fall out of a window in 1973 left him paraplegic. There now was an added poignancy in his voice and a desire to test musical boundaries as his music became more collaborative, politicized and unconventional. Yet, despite a music that contains brittle vocals, quirky arrangements, and a mix of instruments that projected a bit of bewilderment, along with a merciless analysis of society, Wyatt has never left humor and irony out of the mix. "When I heard it for the first time," remembers Max Andrzejewski "that touched me a lot." Then came the invitation to the 42nd Leipzig Jazztage; a British tribute program just at the right moment. Andrzejewski opted for Robert Wyatt, probably because he heard parallels to his own Hütte albums and saw Wyatt as a true spiritual brother. Andrzejewski translated Wyatt’s quick breaks and severe style changes into his own musical language. The sextet that Adrzejewsky organized for the occasion remained together beyond their festival appearance. The nine songs on this album span a wide breadth of ideas, creating a sound that has parallels with such works as Miles Davis’ Bitches Brew and Carla Bley’s Escalator Over the Hill, yet stands fully on its own ground. Andrzejewsky’s renditions are full of color and rich in detail; you recognize Wyatt’s originals, yet hear them from a completely new perspective.
Turkish singer Cansu Tanrıkulu’s extraordinary voice teeters on the edge of purity, roughs up and tosses around these "revolutionary lullabies" until they reappear convoluted, grittily transformed. An earthy saxophone a rapturous flute, an indomitable bass, keyboard cascades, precisely punctuated drum and guitar lines that cross through and over the borders of rock, jazz and the avantegarde. A polychromatic homage that captures the unfathomable.

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/releases/WPJ052

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/huette

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/brigade-futur-3

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/brigade-futur-3

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/huette

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/huette

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/huette

PLOT »Cadenza«

Sebastian Wehle (saxophone), Robert Lucaciu (double bass), Philipp Scholz (drums)

Recorded (March 2017), mixed and mastered by Anton Langer at Phono.Photo Studios, Detmold, Germany.
Produced by PLOT for WhyPlayJazz.
Artwork and photos by Franz Grünewald.
Philipp Scholz plays Canopus drums.

Twenty miniatures. Deliberately, subtly, with an inner coherence, the pieces merge. One follows the other with logical precision. Everything is balanced, and yet there is an unfolding dramaturgy that creates an atmosphere of suspense. Sketches, ideas and pictorial inventions create a totality that has the feel of chamber-music, but nevertheless is inscribed with the improvisational soulfulness, sensuality and individuality of jazz. Their musical view is sharpened by details, nuances and differentiations. Small starting points serve as vehicles for the players' interactions. The results: an astonishingly self-enclosed work. There’s no swagger in these three. It is as if, listening and reacting to each other, they fill a blank sheet of paper with fine poetry or weave a multicolored carpet of sound in a stratified process of continuously changing meters and rhythms. Such lofty music requires that each musician’s play be persuasive. The music lives and breathes through its reductions; it has the courage to charge the pauses between the sounds with meaning as the listener absorbs the music’s emotive content. PLOT no longer plays service to the traditional jazz idiom, although jazz is an essential part of this courageous music. The music is self-contained in such a way that it seems to deflect the meaningless of our culture of instant gratification. It doesn’t try to overwhelm all the noise by becoming even louder. PLOT has emancipated itself from the overpowering American musical role-models as well as from the mixtape aesthetic. The three have moved beyond the American Standards Songbook and focus on their own music. Their creativity wells from a self-confidence that has grown through the continuous tours that have laid the groundwork for their art, an anemometer that detects and reflects which way the cultural wind blows.

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/releases/WPJ048

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/huette

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/philm

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/zwitschermaschine

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/basement-research

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/zwitschermaschine

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/philm

Zwitschermaschine »System for Us«

Mark Weschenfelder (alto saxophone, clarinet), Paul Berberich (flute), Vincent Bababoutilabo (flute, alto flute), Adrian Kleinlosen (trombone), Joachim Wespel (guitar), Andris Meinig (double bass), Florian Lauer (drums)

All compositions by Mark Weschenfelder, except Track 7 „Hocket“: composition by Meredith Monk, adapted and arranged by Mark Weschenfelder.
Recorded by Andreas Lammel at UDK, Berlin. Mixed by Andreas Lammel and Mark Weschenfelder at UDK, Berlin. Postproduction and Master by Max Trieder and Mark Weschenfelder at Studio 5, Berlin. Design and artwork by Markus Dorninger.

Even free improvisation has its clichés – something that Weschenfelder steers clear of. With its drive and mysterious aural architecture, his septet music captivates and stays with the listener long after the last note has sounded. Something special propels Weschenfelder's Zwitschermaschine. Most of this intricate, intuitive music is notated. For it to properly develop, the distinctive sound of this jazz, progressive rock and new music admixture requires immense interpretative accuracy. Yet, despite all the necessary discipline, the pieces maintain their spontaneity and freshness. There is enough surface friction in this music to ensure that it is never sterile.
"System for Us" brings together seven individualists in one big, compact, collective sound, miniature solos and all. Although echoes of Steve Lehman, Henry Threadgill and Steve Coleman radiate through the music, Weschenfelders pieces are refreshingly original. The title is a reference to American composer Earle Brown’s composition "Folio and 4 Systems", and illustrates Weschenfelder’s affinity for New Music concepts. The sensuality and emotionality of jazz remain, as the composer transmits language into music by means of his own sort of international Morse code, creating patterns of short and long code-like tones. With unusual instrumentation and music on the innovative edge, this is something amazingly new, intense and forceful. This music fascinates because it’s evolution is so refreshingly ingenuous and concise.

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/releases/WPJ047

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/zwitschermaschine

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/basement-research

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/huette

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/huette

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/philm

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/philm

Bottom Orchestra »Songs of Work«

Kaspar von Grünigen (Kontrabass, Komposition, Texte), Almut Kühne (Stimme), Benjamin Weidekamp (Altosax, Klarinette, Bassklarinette), Uli Kempendorff (Tenorsax, Klarinette), Silvan Schmid (Trompete), Lukas Briggen (Posaune), Manuel Troller (Gitarre), Philip Zoubek (Piano, Synthesizer), Gregor Hilbe (Schlagzeug), Miguel Ángel, García Martín (Perkussion, Marimba)

Recorded by Patrik Zosso at Jazzcampus Studio, Basel.
Produced by Kaspar von Grünigen for WhyPlayJazz. Executive Producer for SRF 2 Kultur: Peter Bürli.
Mixed and mastered by Patrik Zosso at Soundfarm, Kriens.
Artwork by Jan Bachmann. Design by Michael Schultz.

Musik ist zwar erstmal abstrakte Kunst und konkreter Klang, sie kann aber sehr wohl auch aktuelle Themen verhandeln und gesellschaftliche Bezüge herstellen. So schuf sich Kaspar von Grünigen eine einigermassen herausfordernde Ausgangslage: Die SONGS OF WORK sollten ein Stück Musik mit historischen oder fiktionalisierten Referenzen an Klang und Arbeit (etwa Worksong, Shanties, Arbeiterlieder, Industrial) werden – und sich zudem mit Songtexten am aktuellen gesellschaftlichen Diskurs über die Arbeit beteiligen. Daraus ist ein dezidiert antikapitalistischer Songzyklus entstanden, der sich insbesondere mit der Situation des Individuums im neoliberalen Arbeitsumfeld auseinandersetzt.
Das Album startet mit dem PROLOG, einem unheilschwangeren Choral, der ein altes chinesisches Sprichwort zitiert - «Wer den Tiger reitet, hat Angst vor dem Abstieg!» – und sogleich in die alltägliche Hast führt: «Arbeit für dich, Arbeit für mich, Arbeit für ihn, Arbeit an sich...». TEAMFRÜHSTÜCK, eine Improvisation von Gitarre und Klavier, sorgt erstmal für ein kräftiges Durchatmen. SCHÖNE NEUE ZUSTÄNDE befasst sich mit der umstrittenen Idee, durch Auslagerung von Tätigkeiten das Leben schöner zu machen – und sei es auch auf Kosten von anderen durch Billigjobs («Subvertrag, fragmentiert!») oder Robotern («mein kleiner Sklave räumt auf»). In BUSINESSLUNCH improvisieren Schlagzeug, Perkussion zusammen mit der Stimme eine imaginäre konspirative Besprechung.
WAS MACHST DU? beginnt mit unerbittlichen repetitiven Schlaufen, erzählt von Überarbeitung, die letztendlich in Entsolidarisierung unter seinesgleichen mündet. In FEIERABEND blasen sich 2 Saxofonisten den Frust eines langen Arbeitstags aus dem Leib. Die KÜNDIGUNG greift auf eine saturierte Businesssprache zurück, die Interesse und Professionalität suggeriert, in Wahrheit aber eine technokratische Kälte ausstrahlt, die die Not der Arbeitslosigkeit verneint. BOTTOM UP kommt schon beinahe einem Reenactment verschiedener Protesthandlungen gleich – die ganze Band schlägt virtuose Kapriolen, macht ordentlich Lärm und verdichtet mit Sprechchören. Das MANTRA DES NEOLIBERALISMUS horcht nach innen: Wir hören ein durch Blasgeräusche und abgehackte Silben zerfranstes Echo unserer Leistungsgesellschaft - Jede/Jeder hat ihr Motto «reiss dich mal zusammen!» internalisiert und ächzt darunter, daran vermag auch der liebliche und traumbildhafte Refrain nichts zu ändern. Im EPILOG MIT BASS zitiert der Komponist aus einem Essay, der letztendlich die Türe zur Befreiung öffnet – und mit der LÄRMALTERNATIVE setzt das BOTTOM ORCHESTRA einen orchestralen Schlusspunkt, der die Hoffnung auf Veränderung («die Blase platzt, wir hören nicht hin – wir sind schon längst in anderen Rhythmen drin») bis zur Ekstase im ausschweifenden Tenorsaxofonsolo anschwellen lässt.

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/releases/WPJ050

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/basement-research

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/basement-research

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/stefan-schultze-solo

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/philm

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/philm

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/philm

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/huette

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/philm

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/philm

Philipp Gropper’s Philm »Consequences«

Philipp Gropper (tenor saxophone, composition), Elias Stemeseder (piano, synthesizer), Robert Landfermann (bass), Oliver Steidle (drums)

All compositions by Philipp Gropper. Produced by Philipp Gropper for WhyPlayJazz.
Recorded by Martin Ruch and Tito Knapp (assistance) at Zentrifuge (Berlin, Germany) on December 9th, 10th, 11th, 2018.
Mixed and mastered by Martin Ruch at Control Room (Berlin, Germany).
Design and artwork by Travassos. Photos by Dovile Sermokas.

What a leap from one album to the next! "Consequences", PHILM’S new album, has lost none of the spirituality that permeated “Sun Ship”, their last studio release. The Berlin-based group continues to develop and refine their colorful, multi-layered and intimately entwined music – an unmistakable sound that grabs and doesn’t let go. These qualities, along with the desire to push and redefine boundaries, have created a special aura around PHILM and earned them a reputation as the "David Bowie of Jazz”.

PHILM: saxophonist/composer Philipp Gropper, pianist/synthesizer player Elias Stemeseder, bassist Robert Landfermann and drummer Oliver Steidle – four musicians who have captured the spirit of our times. "Consequences" is the band's first studio album with Robert Landfermann on bass, and with him they seem to have reached a new level.

In terms of composition, Philipp Gropper focuses primarily on three areas that can be summed up as responsibility and the resulting consequences. In interpersonal terms, he is concerned with our behavior in direct encounters and the attitude and reaction of the individual within the social framework. Philosophically, questions of larger interrelationships bother Gropper. And politically, he is concerned about privilege, the effects of neo-liberal society, the destructive dealings of the West regarding the eastern and southern hemispheres, and the resultant conflicts and responsibilities. PHILM's personal engagement with these three topics leads to the titles "32 Cents", "Consequences", "Saturn", "Forgiving" and "Thinking from the Future (Are You Privileged?)". Each song speaks of something else, something different; together they create a meta-level, a novel in sound that intertwines different storylines.

Is all this too complicated or presumptuous for a single album? By no means! Gropper and Co. know how to navigate complex topics, steering them towards communicative accessibility. PHILM functions as a filter, its perceptive sensors responding to ongoing personal and social processes, transforming them into a richness of musical textures and intriguing conversation.
Although the compositions have various musical reference points emanating from the inexhaustible history of jazz, electronic music, hip hop, new music and the classical music of Africa and India, the inspirations for these are usually extra-musical associations and observations, which then are transformed into musical statements. Using various compositional techniques, such natural phenomena as sound wave amplitude, sound propagation speed, observations of technological and digital phenomena, along with interpersonal relationships, scenarios, stories and social processes are translated into concrete musical images.
However, for PHILM, complexity is never an end in itself.
The band’s basic existential goal: the absolute internalization of the musical material; nothing should stand in the way of the intense flow, the liberated, direct statement. The multi-layered compositions reverberate with quintuplets, septuplets and iridescent polyrhythms, transforming a seemingly simple groove into a force that hits us all – strangely abstracted and at the same time insistent.

With the release of his Rework album on the Raster label, Producer Grischa Lichtenberger brings a completely different level into play. It’s a kind of personal reflection and translation of PHILM’s music delineated from the perspective of electronic music.

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/releases/WPJ046

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/philm

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/philm

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/basement-research

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/philm

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/philm

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/die-ernte

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/die-ernte

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/die-ernte

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/basement-research

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/basement-research

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/basement-research

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/basement-research

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/philip-zoubek-trio

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/basement-research

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/basement-research

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/basement-research

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/basement-research

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/basement-research

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/basement-research

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/basement-research

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/basement-research

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/basement-research

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/basement-research

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/basement-research

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/basement-research

Gebhard Ullmann Basement Research »Impromptus and Other Short Works«

Gebhard Ullmann (tenor saxophone, bass clarinet), Steve Swell (trombone), Julian Argüelles (baritone saxophone), Pascal Niggenkemper (double bass), Gerald Cleaver (drums)

All compositions by Gebhard Ullmann. Produced by Gebhard Ullmann for WhyPlayJazz.
Recorded April 23, 2018 by Guy Sternberg at Low Swing Studios, Berlin.
Mixed and Mastered by Martin Ruch at Control Room, Berlin.
Photos by Oliver Potratz. Design and artwork by Travassos.
Funded with the kind support of the Senatsverwaltung für Kultur und Europa, Berlin.

Eleven old and new Ullmann compositions are brought together in a concept album, a balancing act between Europe and America that blends modern jazz and contemporary compositional methods. Traditional idioms are roughed up by quarter-tone improvisations and twelve-tone rows; a gospel emerges, and then, echoes of Albert Ayler, Archie Shepp, and Charles Lloyd, as the music takes a bow to these jazz greats. Interwoven improvisations and continual twists and turns constantly amaze. Pieces from the band's history are re-arranged and given new interpretations in this six-part impromptu suite. With Ullmann's current line-up of trombonist Steve Swell, baritone saxophonist Julian Argüelles, bassist Pascal Niggenkemper and drummer Gerald Cleaver it’s all a matter of intuitive conciseness, a rich range of musical colors and the sensual pleasure of complex play. This clever diversion revolves around continuous unexpected movement and corroborates the seemingly limitless power of this brilliant band.

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/releases/WPJ045

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/basement-research

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/philip-zoubek-trio

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/philm

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/fusk

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/stefan-schultze-solo

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/stefan-schultze-solo

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/philip-zoubek-trio

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/stefan-schultze-solo

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/philip-zoubek-trio

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/philip-zoubek-trio

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/philip-zoubek-trio

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/made-la-cours-almugi

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/philip-zoubek-trio

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/philip-zoubek-trio

Philip Zoubek Trio »Outside«

Philip Zoubek (piano, compositions), David Helm (bass), Dominik Mahnig (drums)

All compositions by Philip Zoubek. Produced by Philip Zoubek for WhyPlayJazz.
Recorded December 2017 by Stefan Deistler at Loft, Cologne, Germany. Mixed by Markus Braun.
Design by Markus Dorninger, based on illustrations by Ernst Haeckel.

Special thanks to Roland Schulz, Markus Braun, Claudia, Hans-Martin Müller, Stefan Deistler, Markus Dorninger, the Zoubek family and my band mates, David and Dominik. For AZ.

In jazz music the acoustic piano trio has emancipated itself as a chamber music formation par excellence and has in the last two decades found immense popularity. Given such prominence it has also become inflationary - and reliant on copying originals. Philip Zoubek's trio with double bass player David Helm and percussionist Dominik Mahnig won’t abide by such conventions. Here too Zoubek celebrates his mixture of intensity and control. He was always interested in pianists who combined both: Lennie Tristano, Paul Bley, Masabumi Kikuchi or Glenn Gould. He was always closer to Bach than Liszt. And generally he listened a lot, also to figure out what he didn't like. This is how he found his personal style, which is permeated by Cage, Xenakis and above all Morton Feldman. To Philip Zoubek finely sculpted playing is more important than orchestral rendering.
The subject of his new music is collective. The music emerges in threes. One of its characteristics is how there is no identifiable boundary between improvisation and composition. There is also no border between energy and sensitivity, between pause and departure. None of the ten pieces becomes patter, each has new ideas relating to a great flow that gets by without routine and simple appeals to the audience’s taste, something which genuine artists don't know about anyway.
This music relies on curiosity. It doesn't underestimate the listener. It presents trio music as a highly energetic process, astounds with its catchy inner logic that becomes sensible when artists transmit a felt urgency. This is much more than just a piano trio. This is a collective dawning, artful, as if from a single mould and full of infectious joy.

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/releases/WPJ042

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/philip-zoubek-trio

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/philip-zoubek-trio

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/stefan-schultze-solo

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/stefan-schultze-solo

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/stefan-schultze-solo

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/stefan-schultze-solo

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/stefan-schultze-solo

Stefan Schultze Solo »System Tribe«

Stefan Schultze (piano)

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.

“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.

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/releases/WPJ039

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/stefan-schultze-solo

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/stefan-schultze-solo

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/stefan-schultze-solo

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/stefan-schultze-solo

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/huette

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/made-la-cours-almugi

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/fusk

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/fusk

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/made-la-cours-almugi

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/fusk

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/made-la-cours-almugi

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/made-la-cours-almugi

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/made-la-cours-almugi

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/peuker8

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/made-la-cours-almugi

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/fusk

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/lotus-eaters

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/made-la-cours-almugi

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/fusk

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/made-la-cours-almugi

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/peuker8

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/lotus-eaters

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/fusk

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/made-la-cours-almugi

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/made-la-cours-almugi

Mads la Cour’s Almugi »Hule«

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. Mastered Peter Hellesøe.
All compositions by Mads la Cour. Produced by Mads la Cour for WhyPlayJazz.
Design and artwork by Travassos. Cover art: Woodcut by Per Kirkeby, © Donation Jorn, Silkeborg / Per Kirkeby.
With support from Svendborg Musikråd, DJBFA, Dansk Artist Forbund and Dansk Skuespillerforbund.

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.

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/releases/WPJ044

FUSK »The Jig Is Up«

Kasper Tom Christiansen (dr, comp), Tomasz Dąbrowski (tp), Andreas Lang (b), Rudi Mahall (bcl)

Recorded, mixed and mastered October 2017 by Tito Knapp at Tito’s Zentrifuge, Berlin, Germany.
All compositions by Kasper Tom Christiansen. Produced by Kasper Tom Christiansen for WhyPlayJazz.
Design by Travassos. Photo by Kristoffer Juel.
With support from Svendborg Musikråd, DJBFA and Koda’s Cultural Funds.

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.

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/releases/WPJ043

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/lotus-eaters

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/brigade-futur-3

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/philm

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/made-la-cours-almugi

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/philm

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/lotus-eaters

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/fusk

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/lotus-eaters

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/lotus-eaters

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/philm

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/lotus-eaters

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/lotus-eaters

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/lotus-eaters

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/peuker8

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/lotus-eaters

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/lotus-eaters

Philipp Gropper’s Philm »Live At Bimhuis«

Philipp Gropper (tenor sax, composition), Elias Stemeseder (piano, synthesizer), Robert Landfermann (bass), Oliver Steidle (drums)

Recorded July 30th, 2017 by Marc Schots at BIMHUIS, Amsterdam (Netherlands). Mixed and Mastered by Martin Ruch at Control Room Berlin (Germany). Design and artwork by Travassos.

Philipp Gropper’s Philm is underway, propelling itself to ever new heights. This forceful quartet takes off with a bursting energy that surges forth throughout their live performances. And so it was during Philm’s tour following the release of their “Sun Ship” album; they amazed festival audiences in Moers, Dobbia, and Ljubiana. They played to standing ovations at Amsterdam’s iconic Bimhuis jazz club. And the journey continues.

Before the band heads into the studio in April 2018 to record a completely new program, the uncut live recording of that Amsterdam concert will be released as the link between “Sun Ship” and the upcoming recording. “Live At Bimhuis” documents the band’s masterful use of dynamics and their emphasis on directness, purity, and presence. There is an improvised balance, a sensitive awareness of the details, as they thrust their way forward. This extraordinary band also takes up and reassembles material from their previous albums "Licht" and "The Madman of Naranam", ingeniously shinning new light on the pieces.

Philm forges music that bursts forth with unexpected intensity and consequence. Through the band’s insistently sharp, cutting agitation, the music comes more and more into focus. It reaches into the essence, the core, through a process that, with passionate urgency, opens up that core for all to hear. With Philm’s understanding that something only becomes exciting when it is no longer arbitrary, it shifts the boundaries of how we listen.

The tenor saxophonist is underway with Elias Stemeseder on piano and synthesizer, drummer Oliver Steidle and bassist Robert Landfermann. Philipp Gropper’s compositions are not written for some anonymous sideman, rather, they center around each player’s character. Urgent, threatening and dense, the music extends beyond a mere sum of its parts; it exhibits a collective compactness roaming over ever-new terrain on which abstraction and earthy sensuality are no longer opposites. The music is layered in such a manner that new space may be found and occupied.

Philm speaks with an urgency that springs from an inner desire to say what needs to be said. The band does that self-reliantly, without compromise. The group speaks directly to our time, something that the listener intuitively senses. A stellar moment for German jazz, to say the least.

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/releases/WPJ041

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/lotus-eaters

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/lotus-eaters

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/lotus-eaters

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/lotus-eaters

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/peuker8

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/peuker8

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/lotus-eaters

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/das-kondensat

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/lotus-eaters

Wanja Slavin Lotus Eaters »Salvation«

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.

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.

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/releases/RS035

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/lotus-eaters

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/lotus-eaters

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/peuker8

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/lotus-eaters

Peuker8 »Influx«

Paul Peuker (guitar, composition), Clemens Christian Pötzsch (piano), Mark Weschenfelder (saxophone), Alina Gropper (violinquinton), Filip Sommer (violaquinton), Elisabeth Coudoux (cello), Eugen Rolnik (bass), Florian Lauer (drums), Sissi Rada (vocals on "Mnimi")

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.

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.

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/releases/WPJ040

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/peuker8

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/peuker8

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/peuker8

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/peuker8

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/lotus-eaters

Great news: "Sun Ship“ by Philipp Gropper’s Philm is repeatedly represented in the "Top Ten Recordings 2017“ lists at Jazz thing, Cadence Magazine and Freie Presse. Also "Das Kondensat" has found his place in the "Best of 2017“ lists at The New York City Jazz Record and Free Jazz Blog!

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/articles/top-ten-recordings-2017

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/brigade-futur-3

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/das-kondensat

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/tom-schlippenbach-mahall

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/das-kondensat

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/brigade-futur-3

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/stefan-schultze-solo

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/das-kondensat

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/tom-schlippenbach-mahall

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/das-kondensat

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/brigade-futur-3

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/das-kondensat

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/brigade-futur-3

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/brigade-futur-3

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/philm

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/tom-schlippenbach-mahall

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/hyperactivekid

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/brigade-futur-3

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/brigade-futur-3

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/brigade-futur-3

Brigade Futur III »Alles wird gut gegangen sein werden«

Elia Rediger (vocals), Benjamin Weidekamp (woodwinds), Jerome Bugnon (trombone), Michael Haves (guitar, artificial singing, samples, Kazoo, keyboards)
Spielvereinigung Sued:
Simon Bodensieck, Johannes Moritz, Damian Dalla Torre, Henrik Baumgarten (woodwinds); Konrad Schreiter, Patrick Schanze, Vincent Hahn (trumpets); Ludwig Kociok, Julian Schließmeyer, Matthias Büttner (trombones); Florian Kästner (piano); Philipp Rohmer (bass); Philipp Scholz (drums); Special guests: Richard Koch (trompet), Uli Kempendorff (soprano saxophone, flute); Additional vocals: Antonia Bill, Almut Kühne, Lucy Railton, Raphael Jecker, Brigade Futur III; Chor: Dorothee Hübner, Dorothee Saar, Katja Reinecke, Almut Hilse, Christine Günther, Judith Herzog, Kristin Hartmann, Katharina Lange, Thomas Gorny, Richard Eichler, Florian Hauer, Jerome Queron, Konstantin Lang, Ralph von Roden

Recorded April 2017 at Funkhausstudio Berlin (Germany) by Jean Philipp Dusse (sound engineer) and Meike Alex (assistant). Produced by Brigade Futur III for WhyPlayJazz.
Mixed by Micael Haves Christian at The Cop Shop (Berlin, Germany). Mastered by Martin Ruch at Control Room Berlin (Germany).
Photos by Can Elbasi and Elia Rediger. Design and artwork by Michael Schultz and Brigade Futur III.

Sparen wir uns jeden Diskurs um die Relevanz des zeitgenössischen Jazz und kommen sofort zur Sache. Das Berliner Kollektiv Brigade Futur III legt hier gemeinsam mit der Spielvereinigung Sued ein Jazzalbum vor, wie es das in Deutschland so noch nicht gegeben hat.
Der in Berlin lebende Saxofonist Benjamin Weidekamp (Olaf Ton, Stereo Lisa) wurde von der Big Band Spielvereinigung Sued aus Leipzig zu einer Auftragskomposition eingeladen. Mit dem Songwriter und Produzenten Michael Haves, mit dem er kurz zuvor das Projekt Filter Bubble gründete, dem Seeed-Posaunist Jerome Bugnon und dem Schweizer Künstler und Sänger Elia Rediger formierte sich eine Art Powerbrigade, die ihre politischen Anliegen in Musik umsetzen wollte. Die Einladung der Spielvereinigung wurde im Viererverbund unter dem Namen Brigade Futur III angenommen.
Die vier apokalyptischen Bilderstürmer wollen handeln, jetzt, hier für morgen. „Alles wird gut gegangen sein werden, aber wie nur? Wie kann man für ein positives Zukunftsbild einstehen, dessen Voraussetzungen in der Zukunft erst geschaffen zu sein werden haben.“ Die Idee des Futur III war geboren.
Sie erinnerten sich an die Herren Brecht und Weill, welche maßgeblich das politische Kunstlied prägten. Wie würde es sich anhören, diese Idee ins Jahr 2017 zu transportieren? Wie kann man heute politische Musik machen, was sind unsere Angriffspunkte?
Jeder der vier Individualisten steht an einem anderen Punkt in seinem Leben, daher brachte jeder ganz eigene Ideen mit ein. Wie, was aber nicht warum. Das Leben war stärker als die Kunst. Das Leben war stärker als die Kunst. Eine Art Post Art, in der nicht nur alles möglich, sondern alles zwingend ist. Die Brigade Futur III als urbaner Stamm, der einen wahnwitzigen Kriegstanz auf den gentrifizierten Straßen und Plätzen der Hauptstadt aufführt. Brecht und Weill rasieren sich Iros, Kurt Schwitters tanzt Pas De Deux mit Max Raabe, A Tribe Called Quest wird zur Marschkapelle, Rage Against The Machine batteln sich mit Duke Ellington, Luigi Nono headbangt zu Sonic Youth, Charles Mingus verbarrikadiert sich mit K.I.Z., John Coltrane feiert die Auferstehung von J. Dilla.
Der Sound ist gnadenlos übersteuert, der Gesang taumelt zwischen snobistisch bis verzerrt. Die Texte sind provokant, doppelbödig, widersinnig, absurd, existenzialistisch und auf eine beiläufig eindringliche Art unmittelbar dem Leben abgelauscht. Oft muss man doppelt hören, um seinen Ohren zu trauen. Brigade Futur III trägt die Kunst zurück auf die Straße, in den Späti, auf den Spielplatz, in die Küche, auf den Balkon. Das Wendecover – John Hartfield und Jello Biafra lassen grüßen – symbolisiert den Sturm auf die Bastille unserer eigenen Trägheit.
Jazz, der endlich mal wieder alle angeht – und trotzdem oder gerade deswegen mal wieder mörderischen Spaß an sich selbst haben und machen darf. Keine Angst vor Klischees und Plattitüden. Geht nicht, gibt’s nicht, und gibt’s nicht, geht nicht. Free Jazz im ursprünglichsten Sinne des Wortes.

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/releases/RS037

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/tom-schlippenbach-mahall

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/das-kondensat

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/das-kondensat

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/das-kondensat

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/brigade-futur-3

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/philm

Das Kondensat »Das Kondensat«

Gebhard Ullmann (tenor and soprano saxophones, looper, sampler), Oliver Potratz (bass, analog effects), Eric Schaefer (drums, modular synth)

All compositions by Das Kondensat except track 1 & 7 by Gebhard Ullmann and track 2 by Eric Schaefer.
Recorded February 22 and 24, 2016 and mixed March 1 and 2, 2016 at Low Swing Tonstudio, Berlin by Guy Sternberg. Samples and sound processing recorded at Bluenoize studios. Produced by Das Kondensat for WhyPlayJazz. Photo by Dovile Sermokas. Design and artwork by Travassos.
Recorded with the kind support of the Senatskanzlei für Kulturelle Angelegenheiten Berlin.

Condensation occurs when a substance turns from one state into another. Evaporation, compression and compaction: All these are words that justify the name of the trio around Gebhard Ullmann, Oliver Potratz and Eric Schaefer and describe this truly new music. The result is a sensual electroacoustic improvisation story in eleven chapters. Finding out how to improvise with samples, loops, effects units and diverse live electronics was in the air. Looking for appliances, understanding digital techniques, writing programs and then transforming mind games into a vital celebration of the moment, pushing things to the limit and exceeding it with appliances that originally were not made for free playing.
A fusion of analogue and digital, combining experiences from the fields of jazz with new technologies, creating transitions from one into the other, without forgetting about the audience.
Das Kondensat jumps from the museum to a “now” that is far from diverse orthodox doctrines. This is also jazz, but only among other things. Curiosity is the lust for new things. That is what all this is about. Sometimes with a rocking and punching, sometimes with a melodious and balladic access, generated with new media in new contexts. The trio’s music results from years of continuity, making use of advanced measures without losing its anarchic way of non-pretending. Blind searching improvisations stand side by side with straight, well-rounded compositions.
This discursive trialogue music develops its very own dynamic. Ullmann, Potratz and Schaefer dominate the indispensable art of acting and reacting, of guiding and being guided by the other, of formulating a common vision left in the open.
Gebhard Ullmann draws on years of experience in dealing with modified sounds that allow him to wind his soprano and tenor saxophones through the jungle, to then let them rise in airy space and finally bring them to the point in a hands-on way.
Oliver Potratz’ electric bass can loom darkly and ground strikingly or rise to wonderful lines. It lays a sometimes powerful, sometimes delicate foundation. To describe Eric Schaefer’s drumming as pumping, urgent and dynamic would be an understatement. He has long played his way to the first rank of European drummers. All in all this results in a Berlin band of superlatives that is more than the sum of its parts.

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/releases/RS036

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/das-kondensat

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/tom-schlippenbach-mahall

Die Brigade Futur III trägt die Kunst zurück auf die Straße. Politisch lehnen sie sich weit aus dem Fenster, doch mit schallendem Gelächter und lakonischer Boshaftigkeit reagieren sie bei jeder Form von Selbstgerechtigkeit und Larmoyant mit Empörung.

Hier das kleine Brigade Futur III Kampfalphabet:

A wie Alles Wird Gut Gegangen Sein Werden. Aber Warum? (Video…)

B wie in Was ist schon braunes Gedankengut, wenn es so lecker schmecken tut? (Video…)


Ca. eine halbe Million Kindersklaven arbeiten auf afrikanischen Kakaoplantagen – keines hatte je ein Stück Schokolade im Mund
Das Geschäft mit der "Ware" Kind blüht. Kinder werden entführt, "verschwinden" so plötzlich über Nacht und werden oft wie Sklaven verkauft, damit sie meist ohne Lohn auf den Plantagen schuften. Ein Kind kostet durchschnittlich 230 Euro.
Kakao-Plantagen-Kindersklaven ich muss nicht dran denken – Schokolade ist so gut zum verschenken

C wie Citoyen (Video…)

Der Citoyen (französisch citoyen zu altfranzösisch citeain, einer Ableitungsform von cité ‚Stadt‘, dies aus lateinisch civitas ‚Bürgerschaft‘, ‚Staat‘) bezeichnet den Bürger bzw. Staatsbürger, der in der Tradition und im Geist der Aufklärung aktiv und eigenverantwortlich am Gemeinwesen teilnimmt und dieses mitgestaltet.

D wie Daniel Kroh (Video…)

Der Designer der Brigade Futur III, er widmet sich seit 2006 mit seinem Unternehmen dem Thema Upcycling. Sein Material ist abgelegte Arbeitskleidung, die er dekonstruiert, filetiert  und zu hochwertiger Mode, Interiordesign und Accessoires verarbeitet. 

E wie Ethischer Welthandel

Ethischer Welthandel würde das Kapitalismus-Prinzip umkehren: Verantwortungsbewusstes, für die Gemeinschaft nützliches Handeln würde sich wirtschaftlich lohnen. Es ist ein Weg zu einer Ökonomie, in der Geld und Märkte wieder den Menschen dienen anstatt umgekehrt.

F wie Futur III

Es wird ein Ereignis in der Zukunft geschehen sein, für das die Voraussetzungen noch in der Zukunft geschaffen zu sein werden haben.

G wie Gemeinwohlökonomie

Die Gemeinwohlökonomie ist ein Wirtschaftsmodell, dass eine Orientierung der Wirtschaft am Gemeinwohl, Kooperation und Gemeinwesen in den Vordergrund stellt. Auch Menschenwürde, Solidarität, ökologische Nachhaltigkeit, soziale Gerechtigkeit und demokratische Mitbestimmung werden als Werte der Gemeinwohl-Ökonomie bezeichnet.

H wie Handlungsimperativ

Der Kern der Futur III Idee. Wir fügen Futur 2 einen kategorischen Handlungsimperativ hinzu, da ein Ereignis in der Zukunft nur geschehen sein wird, wenn die Voraussetzungen dafür zuerst in der Zukunft geschaffen worden sind.

I wie Investmentbanker

“Ich mache einfach aus 2+2=5 und behalte die 1, die es ja eigentlich gar nicht gibt, ich bin wahrhaftig ein Meister des Universums. Ich vollbringe nicht nur einfach “Gottes Werk“, wie es einmal unserer CEO gesagt hat, ich werde selber zu einem Gott.“ (A.D. Aliwat, Alpha)

J wie Jean Ziegler

“Wir leben in einer kannibalischen Weltordnung, die sich durch zwei Dinge auszeichnet: eine unglaublichen Monopolisierung von politischer, ökonomischer und ideologischer Macht in den Händen weniger Oligarchen, die niemand kontrolliert, und enorme Ungleichheit unter den Menschen. Vergangenes Jahr haben die 500 größten Konzerne 52 Prozent des Weltbruttosozialprodukts kontrolliert. Sie haben eine Macht, wie sie kein Kaiser, kein König und kein Papst je hatten. Weder Nationalstaaten noch internationale Institutionen können sie kontrollieren. Sie sind unglaublich vital.“

K wie Konkurrenz von lat. concurrere = zusammenlaufen

Was wird dann aus: Konkurrenz belebt das Geschäft?

L wie Leistungsgesellschaft

“Leistung kann zum wirtschaftlichen Erfolg führen - oder auch nicht. In unserer Gesellschaft wird von Millionen Frauen und Männern sehr viel geleistet, mit und ohne wirtschaftlichen Erfolg, oft unter Verzicht auf Bezahlung. Und es wird sehr viel verdient, mit und ohne Leistung, manchmal (das manchmal würden wir streichen und durch oft ersetzen. Herzlich, ihre Brigade) sogar auf Kosten des Gemeinwohls.“ (Erhard Eppler)

M wie Mondragon vs. Monsanto

Die Mondragón Corporación Cooperativa (MCC) ist die weltgrößte Genossenschaft und ist global tätig. Zur MCC gehören mehr als 100 Unternehmen verschiedener Sektoren wie Maschinenbau, Automobilindustrie, Haushaltsgeräte, Bauindustrie, Einzelhandel, Banken und Versicherungen. Auch zum Verbund gehören 15 Technologiezentren.
Zum Erfolgsgeheimnis des Unternehmens gehört nach eigenen Angaben:
“Nicht das Kapital, sondern der Mensch steht im Mittelpunkt. Miteigentum und Mitbestimmung Aller sind Ausdruck davon. 45 % der Beschäftigten sind Frauen.“

Das Unternehmen Monsanto ist in die beiden Geschäftsbereiche Seeds and Genomics und Agricultural Productivity gegliedert. Im Bereich Seeds and Genomics ist das gesamte Saatgutgeschäft sowie die Biotechnologie angesiedelt. Monsanto produziert gentechnisch verändertes Saatgut, das gegen Schädlinge resistent ist und das gegenüber Glyphosat oder Glyphosat und Dicamba tolerant ist. Über die Tochtergesellschaft Seminis wird außerdem Obst- und Gemüsesaatgut in über 150 Ländern ausgeliefert. Der Bereich Agricultural Productivity stellt Herbizide für Landwirtschaft, Industrie, öffentliche Anlagen, Haus und Garten her.
Ein Beispiel für die Unternehmenspolitik: Nachdem Monsanto Saatgut einmal ausgestreut wurde, wächst auf dem selben Boden nichts anderes mehr. Zusätzlich geht die Saat nur ein Jahr auf, was die Bauern dazu zwingt, jedes Jahr wieder neues Saatgut von Monsanto zu kaufen.

N wie Nachhaltigkeit

Leider hat sich dieser Begriff mittlerweile abgenutzt aber das ändert nichts. Nachhaltigkeit und Gemeinwohl sind das Bellerophon gegen die neoliberale Chiemära Profit und Wachstum.

O wie Ökozit

Wir sitzen im dritten Stock eines lichterloh brennenden Hauses.
Wir müssen die Feuerwehr rufen und vor allem, selber mit löschen, löschen, löschen, löschen, löschen.

P wie Privatisierung

Privatisierung kommt von privare, privare ist ein lateinisches Wort – es heißt berauben. Wenn nun eine Privatisierung stattfindet, werden Gemeinschaftsgüter von privaten Interessen aufgekauft oder sogar an sie verschenkt, was ja auch oft genug der Fall ist, und das ist nichts anderes als die Beraubung einer Gemeinschaft. (Herrmann Scheer)

Q wie Quid pro Quo

Für das Quid Pro Quo Prinzip braucht es vier Eigenschaften, damit es wirkungsvoll ist.

• Klarheit
• Nachsichtigkeit
• Nettigkeit
• Provozierbarkeit

R wie Raubtierkapitalismus

Die verheerenden Auswirkungen des Raubtierkapitalismus auf die Welt werden immer deutlicher und es ist klar, dass es so nicht mehr weiter gehen kann. Es kristallisieren sich alternative Konzepte heraus, wie man dem Alltag in unserer auf Überfluss, Konsum und Übervorteilung ausgelegten Gesellschaft begegnen kann - sei es Ernährung, Kleidung, Haushaltsgeräte oder Banken.

S wie Spielvereinigung Sued

Big Band aus Leipzig und Bestandteil der Futur III Bewegung

T wie Taten

Der Intellektuelle ist nichts ohne den handelnden. Nur die Handlung die aus einer Erkenntnis erfolgt macht diese Erkenntnis lebendig. Dabei geht es nicht darum zu 100 % perfekt zu sein. Jeder einzelne Schritt zählt. Was hält uns davon ab, einen Schritt zu tun, von dem wir wissen, dass er in die richtige Richtung führt.

U wie Utopia.de

Ein hilfreicher Kompass durch den Dschungel der Konsumentscheidungen.

V wie 4

4 Brigadiers vs. 4 Antagonismen.
Es gibt vier (solcher) Antagonismen: die sich abzeichnende Gefahr einer ökologischen Katastrophe; die Unangemessenheit der Idee des Privateigentums; die sozial ethischen Implikationen neuer technologisch wissenschaftlicher Entwicklung; und, last but not least, neue Formen der Apartheid, neue Mauern und Slums. (Slavoj Zizek)

W wie Welt

In was für einer Welt wollen wir leben? Wie sieht die Welt aus, wenn alles gut gegangen sein werden wird?

X wie in Malcom X

When “i“ is replaced with “we“, even illness becomes wellness.
Wenn “ich“ durch “wir“ ersetzt wird, wird sogar aus Krankheit Wohlbefinden.

Y wie in Y?

Weil wir daran glauben, dass wir gemeinsam eine Zukunft geschaffen haben werden können, in der wir und alles was noch zur Welt gehört und dann gehören wird, gemeinsam leben können werden.

Z wie Zukunft


https://www.whyplayjazz.de/articles/das-kleine-brigade-futur-3-kampfalphabet

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/das-kondensat

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/field

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/stefan-schultze-large-ensemble

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/das-kondensat

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/tom-schlippenbach-mahall

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/philm

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/stefan-schultze-large-ensemble

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/das-kondensat

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/huette

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/stefan-schultze-large-ensemble

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/philm

Kasper Tom / Alexander von Schlippenbach / Rudi Mahall »Abstract Window«

Alexander von Schlippenbach (piano), Rudi Mahall (clarinet, bass clarinet), Kasper Tom Christiansen (drums)

All compositions by Kasper Tom, Alexander von Schlippenbach and Rudi Mahall.
Recorded October 17, 2016 by by Christian Betz at Berlinaudio Berlin, Germany.
Mixed and mastered by Christian Betz.
Design and artwork by Michael Schultz. Photo by Ozge Balkan.
With support from DJBFA, Koda's Cultural Funds, Dansk Musiker Forbund, Dansk Artist Forbund and Dansk Solistforbund.

This is the debut album of a trio heavyweights – all three champions of improvised music in Europe. Legendary pianist Alexander von Schlippenbach qualifies as one of the most important representatives of first-generation of European free jazz. His colleague, the exceptional bass clarinetist Rudi Mahall, is likewise an innovative improviser who, together with Schlippenbach, has set benchmarks with the Globe Unity Orchestra as well as with his Monk interpretations on record and in concerts. In recent years, the youngest of the three, Kasper Tom has accomplished the leap into the European Avant-garde scene. Tom’s play is inspired by the explorations and discoveries of contemporary music, while it still honors tradition, and his compositions have a remarkable feel for distinctive melodies.
There is a refreshing interaction between the three musicians – each one has an equal share in the album’s success. The borders between spontaneous improvisation and precise, focused compositions are deliberately blurred. The three know how to play around the melodies and dramatic elements, as their quick, provocative interplay
flirts with disruptive structures. New ideas are embraced with open arms; the shifting dynamics and deliberate risk-taking on the song "Change is the Only Constant" speaks from the heart.
Von Schlippenbach bursts forth with beautiful long arpeggios and harmonic chords, shaping the musical flow. Mahall takes over the role of storyteller, as he narrates a series of adventurous tales expressed in a barrage of dramatic notes. Kasper Tom envisions his role as something more than a repetitive timekeeper. Even so, he is able to fulfill his role as the band’s rhythmic foundation. His grounded approach transmutes rhythmic patterns into a multicultural adventure.
Brilliant interaction throughout the play, mutual respect and attentiveness. minimalism and elegance – these are the real spiritual qualities in this project. Improvised music can’t be better.

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/releases/RS032LP

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/huette

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/stefan-schultze-large-ensemble

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/philm

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/philm

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/tom-schlippenbach-mahall

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/philm

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/philm

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/philm

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/philm

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/philm

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/philm

Kasper Tom / Alexander von Schlippenbach / Rudi Mahall »Abstract Window«

Alexander von Schlippenbach (piano), Rudi Mahall (clarinet, bass clarinet), Kasper Tom Christiansen (drums)

All compositions by Kasper Tom, Alexander von Schlippenbach and Rudi Mahall.
Recorded October 17, 2016 by by Christian Betz at Berlinaudio Berlin, Germany.
Mixed and mastered by Christian Betz.
Design and artwork by Michael Schultz. Photo by Ozge Balkan.
With support from DJBFA, Koda's Cultural Funds, Dansk Musiker Forbund, Dansk Artist Forbund and Dansk Solistforbund.

This is the debut album of a trio heavyweights – all three champions of improvised music in Europe. Legendary pianist Alexander von Schlippenbach qualifies as one of the most important representatives of first-generation of European free jazz. His colleague, the exceptional bass clarinetist Rudi Mahall, is likewise an innovative improviser who, together with Schlippenbach, has set benchmarks with the Globe Unity Orchestra as well as with his Monk interpretations on record and in concerts. In recent years, the youngest of the three, Kasper Tom has accomplished the leap into the European Avant-garde scene. Tom’s play is inspired by the explorations and discoveries of contemporary music, while it still honors tradition, and his compositions have a remarkable feel for distinctive melodies.
There is a refreshing interaction between the three musicians – each one has an equal share in the album’s success. The borders between spontaneous improvisation and precise, focused compositions are deliberately blurred. The three know how to play around the melodies and dramatic elements, as their quick, provocative interplay
flirts with disruptive structures. New ideas are embraced with open arms; the shifting dynamics and deliberate risk-taking on the song "Change is the Only Constant" speaks from the heart.
Von Schlippenbach bursts forth with beautiful long arpeggios and harmonic chords, shaping the musical flow. Mahall takes over the role of storyteller, as he narrates a series of adventurous tales expressed in a barrage of dramatic notes. Kasper Tom envisions his role as something more than a repetitive timekeeper. Even so, he is able to fulfill his role as the band’s rhythmic foundation. His grounded approach transmutes rhythmic patterns into a multicultural adventure.
Brilliant interaction throughout the play, mutual respect and attentiveness. minimalism and elegance – these are the real spiritual qualities in this project. Improvised music can’t be better.

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/releases/RS032

Stefan Schultze Large Ensemble »Ted the Bellhop«

Woodwinds: Heiner Wiberny, Charlotte Greve, Stefan Karl Schmid, Peter Ehwald, Heiko Bidmon
Trumpets: Benny Brown, Felix Meyer, Florian Menzel, Volker Deglmann, John-Dennis Renken
Trombones: Simon Harrer, Janning Trumann, Tim Hepburn, Jan Schreiner
Rhythm: Martin Schulte, Jürgen Friedrich, Matthias Akeo Nowak, Daniel Schröteler
Special Guest on “Skala 55”: Wu Wei (Sheng)
Composition (expect “Fleur Carnivore” by Carla Bley) and arrangement: Stefan Schultze

Recorded 16th - 20th September 2014 at Deutschlandfunk Kammermusiksaal (Cologne, Germany) by Oliver Bergner, Ernst Hartmann and Katrin Fidorra. Produced for Deutschlandfunk by Harald Rehmann.
Mixed and mastered by Christian Heck at tonart-studio (Kerpen-Horrem, Germany).
Photo(s) by Dovile Sermokas. Design and artwork by Travassos.

Unexpected things are happening behind closed doors. But more and more of these doors are opened. This is where the title of this new entertainment program comes from. Ted is the page boy in the episodic movie “Four Rooms” from 1995. During one of his night shifts, the four directors send Ted to various hotel rooms where unbelievable things are happening.

Ted is the central theme in the elaborate, again and again stunning compositions of the new album by Stefan Schultze. A man in his mid-thirties, he has been socialized with various forms of music: jazz, rock, pop, new music, classical music, ethnic sounds, minimal, noise etc. He is part of the “click culture” generation, but it is exactly against this generation that he competes. His elaborate, again and again stunning compositions draw from a great pool, but they require a detailed examination that YouTube cannot offer.

With all its voltes and twists Stefan Schultze‘s music remains extremely alive, agile, full of catchiness and piercing force. And all of this without losing itself in simplicity. The power and contagious vitality of these big screen sounds result from this accurately built agility. This is by all means music from today that has not forgotten about its roots.

And it is exactly the way Ted navigates through this mess, arising from it as a rewarded winner in the end, that shows parallels to these big band adventures. A number of souls in one chest and off we go to a courageous and emotional roller coaster ride, rougher this time and, as a matter of principle, less clean, almost like a live session. Afterwards it does not matter anyway how much of this pressure wave was planned and how much improvised. Important are the emotions and how deeper dimensions are written into what is happening.

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/releases/RS033

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/philm

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/huette

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/stefan-schultze-large-ensemble

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/hyperactivekid

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/zur-schoenen-aussicht

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/tom-schlippenbach-mahall

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/philm

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/stefan-schultze-large-ensemble

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/huette

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/philm

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/philm

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/philm

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/huette

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/huette

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/philm

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/philm

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/huette

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/huette

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/huette

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/huette

Max Andrzejewski's Hütte »Hütte and The Homegrown Organic Gospel Choir«

Johannes Schleiermacher (sax), Tobias Hoffmann (git), Andreas Lang (b), Max Andrzejewski (dr)
Choir Leading: Tobias Christl
The Choir in alphabetical order: Winnie Brückner, Tobias Christl, Marie Daniels, Lea W. Frey, Marcus Gartschok, Erik Leuthäuser, Zola Mennenöh, Friederike Merz, Stephen Moult, Dora Osterloh, Lena Sundermeyer, Laura Winkler
Special guest: Dorrey Lin Lyles (vocals)

Recorded (June 2016) and mixed (November 2016) at rbb-Studio Berlin by Maria Suschke (Sound Supervisor), Bernd Bechthold (Sound Engineer) and Ulrich Hieber (Digital Cut). Mastered by Ulrich Hieber.
Produced for Kulturradio rbb by Ulf Drechsel. Design and artwork by Michael Schultz.

Now the “hut” is getting really crowded. Max Andrzejewski´s HÜTTE and The Homegrown Organic Gospel Choir is the combination of the young Berlin jazz quartet HÜTTE (German for “hut”) and a gospel choir of strong vocalists. The music is a love marriage between gospel and contemporary/free jazz. “Hardly any other young jazz band has attracted so much attention over the last years in Germany as Max Andrzejewski‘s HÜTTE,” says Wolf Kampmann.

Food as a substitute for religion – this is what gave the idea for a gospel about food. Perhaps with a twinkle in the eye full of ironic love, but also because something comes together: joy, pleasure, pain and memory. Something that should be part of everyone and that is not given unselfconsciously. Eating and drinking for the sake of memory, singing for memory. That we have to eat, we want to sing and perhaps cannot – not – believe. ... Glory, glory!
The music of this great band carries us away. It is touching and disturbing. The Berlin-based guest singer Dorrey Lin Lyles makes the gospel authentic. The accompanying lyrics were composed by poet and theater dramaturge Thomaspeter Gergen.
And then, as Shakespeare said, music also nourishes the soul. Isn‘t music, just like eating and drinking, elusive, unseizable, fading away, if not stored in our memory? Isn’t music memory culture, a memory instrument in a special way? Isn’t music a procedure to let stories live on without writing, to put them into a form that is especially easy to memorize? Gospel is the music of good news, “a good spell,” as Edwin Hawkins puts it. Originating from the slaves’ spirituals, it flourished with all-time favorites like “Oh happy day” from the most dishonest times of segregation – sung from amidst the pain to the heights of hope, so that we may not forget, or better, so that we remember that “it is only for the sake of those without hope, that hope is given to us” (W. Benjamin).
HÜTTE approaches the metaphor of food– of life-sustaining and immediate pleasure – from a musical angle. Joy, hope, relief, which are also part of the culinary art, face immanent suffering in a gnostic, Manichaean way: despair, remorse, pain, sickness, the weight of the body, the curse of excess, self-loathing, mortification.

Cherish the butter!
Praise the vegan hype!
Worship the cracking of bones and all our society's eating disorders!

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/releases/RS034

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/huette

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/huette

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/huette

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/huette

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/huette

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/hyperactivekid

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/philm

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/zur-schoenen-aussicht

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/themroc3

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/hyperactivekid

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/hyperactivekid

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/hyperactivekid

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/hyperactivekid

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/hyperactivekid

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/hyperactivekid

Zur Schönen Aussicht »Willkommen Zuhause«

Paul Berberich (sax), Joachim Wespel (git), Florian Lauer (dr)

Recorded December 19, 2015 from 11:32 am to 12:56 pm by Andreas Lammel at Kukulida e.V. Dresden, Germany. Mixed and mastered by Andreas Lammel. Band photo by Dovile Sermokas. Design and artwork by Travassos.

Three young musicians from the “Dresden School” literally sit down in the living room, find their very own insights and turn them into ten nice views. There are only first takes on this live album. Or better: “Only-takes”. This is where music only exists for the moment it is recorded, where it is not “improved” afterwards. The result: A highly concentrated, suspense-packed and at the same time relaxed music making situation. Its energy communicates itself and takes the artistic balancing act of the three between fully composed themes and improvisational interpretations to the next level – full of passion, fantasy and of course with the skills necessary to make music on such a high level.
The three make their own what has been found by others. They are on their way to new insights and views, thereby finding their very own and new tonal language.

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/releases/RS031

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/hyperactivekid

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/hyperactivekid

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/hyperactivekid

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/hyperactivekid

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/themroc3

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/hyperactivekid

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/hyperactivekid

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/hyperactivekid

Gropper/Graupe/Lillinger »Riot«

Philipp Gropper (tenor saxophone), Ronny Graupe (guitar), Christian Lillinger (drums)

Recorded (August 2015) and mixed (April 2016) at rbb-Studio Berlin by Maria Suschke (Sound Supervisor), Peter Schladebach (Sound Engineer) and Ulrich Hieber (Digital Cut).
Mastered by Ulrich Hieber and Klaus Scheuermann.
Produced for Kulturradio rbb by Ulf Drechsel.
Photo by Ludwig Ohla.
Artwork by Travassos.
Special thanks to Kulturradio rbb, Maria Suschke, Ulrich Hieber, Peter Schladebach, Ulf Drechsel, Roland Schulz, Travassos, Klaus Scheuermann and Ludwig Ohla.

They don’t go on stage, they step into the ring. That’s where they meet – face to face. Everyone for himself, everyone for the other, everyone highly concentrated and receptive for the quickly produced ideas, everyone as a source of inspiration for a musical clinch that – wide awake – lets the events arising in between breaks and attacks become existential. GROPPER/GRAUPE/LILLINGER is not only a band. GROPPER/GRAUPE/LILLINGER is a pumping, breathing, vital organism. An organism whose independent existence transmits itself to the audience in its now already 14th year of existence like an unexpected stroke of luck.
The audience feels that this music has something to do with them. And there is no need for any didactic hints or programmatic expressions of a point of view. It happens immediately because these simultaneous, collaborative, at the same time free and disciplined sounds strike a chord and escape from clichés. The immanent prerequisite is the contextual examination of what is there: varieties of jazz, new music, electronic music, noise, progressive rock… Philipp Gropper (saxophone), Ronny Graupe (guitar) and Christian Lillinger (drums), however, don’t internalize the elements in order to reproduce them. They distil their own sound from them.
All roots are examined to find out how they could have developed such an urgency once, in order to then be zoomed into a present where they relate to the spirit of the “now”. Very conscious of form, individual rather than a reproduction, feverish rather than linear, free, dynamic and conspirative. The three mirror the metropolises of the present trilogically, confront them and zigzag through their labyrinths. When they cast them into their order it becomes obvious that and how the story went on. This comes across so plausibly because the protagonists aggressively expose and defend their ego.
Again and more and more their attitude is not defensive. That’s why “Riot”, that’s why uproar, tumult and revolt. This is how music of absolute relevance emerges, music that is more and more conscious of its in large parts written out means. Philipp Gropper, Ronny Graupe and Christian Lillinger have liberated themselves from historical bonds: Finally a (still) young band that doesn’t administrate the inheritance but follows its own vision. Everything but iconoclasts or hermetic avant-gardists, they are confidently and far from routine giving continuity to what they have achieved, making – after their last live albums – use of the features a studio offers in terms of post-production and sound manipulation, this time installing interludes as small islands of peace in the streams of consciousness of their urban explorations and thankfully keeping on and on with their hands-on joint arrivals and departures. The longer, the better …

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/releases/RS030

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/hyperactivekid

Robert Lucaciu, Kontrabassist und Komponist, erhält den diesjährigen, von der Marion-Ermer-Stiftung gestifteten und von der Stadt Leipzig vergebenen, Leipziger Jazznachwuchspreis.

Robert Lucaciu (*1988 in Plauen) spielte zunächst Cello. Ab 2005 studierte er klassischen Kontrabass sowie Jazzkontrabass an der Hochschule für Musik und Theater "Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy" Leipzig.

Die Preisverleihung, mit anschließendem Preisträgerkonzert, findet am 5. Oktober 2016, 20 Uhr, im Rahmen der 40. Leipziger Jazztage statt.

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/articles/robert-lucaciu-erhalt-den-leipziger-jazznachwuchspreis-2016

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/hyperactivekid

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/themroc3

Themroc 3 »Rocthem!«

Michael Griener (dr), Richard Koch (tp), Benjamin Weidekamp (cl)

Recorded December 2015 by Michael Haves at Studio H2, Berlin, Germany. Mixed and mastered by Michael Haves at The Cop Shop. Photos by Laura Braun. Artwort by Manon Kahle. Themroc 3 would like to thank Roland Schulz, Michael Haves, Dennis Keil, Laura Braun and Manon Kahle. Mit freundlicher Unterstützung der Senatskanzlei für Kulturelle Angelegenheiten Berlin.

The band THEMROC 3 was founded in the roaring years short after the turn of the millennium, in 2002. It is named after the film by Claude Faraldo where Michel Piccoli transforms from a conformist house painter into an anarchistic cave man. Despite a long break the band’s music still feels right and most notably urgent. This is how Alexander von Schlippenbach puts is: “The compelling consistency of the splendid pieces and the overall concept is remarkable. Original, progressive jazz with a hint of humor that is conveyed abstractly by the music itself.“ The titles of the pieces are short and programmatic, like “Marsch“ and “Balkon“ or associative like “Post für den Tiger” (Mail For The Tiger), and “Reiter der drei Tintenherrn” (Rider Of The Three Ink Gentlemen), they are penned by Michael Griener and Benjamin Weidekamp. Whilst playing the band barely stops to catch their breath. The attitude is punk and interactive, all the musicians play all the time with everyone else for everybody. There is no soloist, only the collective. And Christian Weber confirms: “The music of THEMROC 3 is catchy in a straight, relentless and utterly entertaining way. Not even the lack of a bass can diminish the pleasure.”

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/releases/RS029

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/hyperactivekid

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/hyperactivekid

Auch über dem großen Teich hat man das kleine feine Label wahrgenommen. Ken Waxman, der schon lange begeisterter Beobachter von WPJ ist, stellt das Label in der Zeitschrift "The New York City Jazz Record" vor. Zu Wort kommen Labelgründer Roland Schulz sowie die beiden Musiker Benjamin Weidekamp und Philipp Gropper:

Only rarely do you hear stories about instant conversions when exposed to jazz. But it does happen. A transformation like this led to the birth of Germany’s WhyPlayJazz (WPJ) label in 2005. As Roland Schulz, who describes himself as WPJ’s Chief Officer In Charge of Everything, elaborates: “In 2004 my former girlfriend dragged me to my first-ever encounter with jazz in my hometown Greifswald. On stage were Carsten Daerr [piano], Christian Lillinger [drums], Johannes Fink [bass] and Philipp Gropper [tenor saxophone]—aka SONNE. Until then I thought jazz was only boring elevator music. But what I saw and heard that night on stage was something completely new. It was a kind of enlightenment. After the concert I asked Philipp if I could buy a CD with the music I just listened to. He said ‘no’ and I replied: ‘Then we have to make a CD.’”

Not only was this revelation the genesis of WPJ, but also a regular concert series, which Schulz organizes in Greifswald, a small city about 200 kilometers northeast of Berlin. “I wanted more people to experience the same eye-opening experience as I had during the SONNE concert,” he elaborates. “I wanted this kind of music spread out to the world.” At the same time Schulz, who runs a software development company with eight employees, knew that a jazz label was no ticket to commercial gain. “But that didn’t matter,” he exults. “The only thing that mattered was the music and the joy it gave to me.”

Schulz now divides his week between his software firm and WPJ, finally adding to the latter’s one-man operation by hiring a part-time PR person earlier this year. “Since 2005 I’ve spent thousands of Euros for the music and I’ve never regretted it,” he notes. “To work on WPJ and with such great artists is a perfect replacement for vacations and other useless things you can spend your money on.”

Saxophonist Benjamin Weidekamp, who is on four WPJ CDs and has others ready for release, explains his loyalty to the imprint in a comparable fashion: “In 2011 my quartet played a concert in Greifswald and some weeks after the gig Roland called and said he thought there should be a CD of our music. Since there wasn’t one, we should record one and he would release it. The other guys and I decided to take this tremendous opportunity to be part of a young label with a guy of our age running it and build something together. I really enjoy the company of the other artists on WPJ and I have a good personal connection with Roland. I like the small catalogue and that I can identify myself with most of the other music.”

Although the number of WPJ releases has fluctuated over the years, Schulz expects it will now standardize to about five to eight annually. “In the early years it was learning-by-doing, pause, reconsider, looking for musicians and trying to convince them to release on WPJ,” he recalls. “It’s comparable to developing a friendship. It doesn’t happen overnight.” One part of the WPJ story is the trio Gropper/Graupe/ Lillinger, formerly called Hyperactive Kid, consisting of Gropper (seven WPJ releases); Lillinger (two WPJ CDs) and guitarist Ronny Graupe (four). “I like their attitude, their musical style,” Schulz elaborates.

“I’m very happy to see more fantastic colleagues recognized the label as a good way to release their music with the greatest amount of artistic freedom,” echoes Gropper. “These are good times for the Berlin scene—more and more musicians from all over are moving here—and it’s interesting for listeners to find a label documenting this fortunate direction the Berlin scene is taking.” With modern musicians constantly traveling, adds the saxophonist, it isn’t odd that WPJ documents the Berlin scene from afar. Still, starting this year, Schulz makes it a point to visit the German capital every week or so. “I want to stay in contact with the recording artists, enjoy concerts with them or find out about someone new to me,” he clarifies. These contacts helped expand WPJ’s roster past the German border, most notably to Denmark. “The Danish connection exists since 2006 through [bassist] Andreas Lang, [drummer] Kasper Tom and [trumpeter] Mads la Cour,” says Schulz. “Tom lived for years in Berlin and Lang still lives there.”

Before 2016, WPJ only thrived because of cash injections from Schulz himself, he freely admits. But he also says that “it looks like this year could be the first with a black zero at the end.” WPJ’s operating method is simple as well. Almost all the label’s releases have been manufactured after the musicians give WPJ completed masters. “From then on WPJ manages licensing, design, pressing, promotion, distribution etc. “In this niche it’s very difficult, or nearly impossible, to generate profit—for labels and musicians alike,” notes Schulz.

“I record for many labels as a sideman. Very few pay an artist for recording and most of those who do has never been a situation in which he tried to have an influence on an artistic statement.” What does Schulz bring to a session? “Pizza, sometimes ice cream and, of course, his camera,” jokes Weidekamp. “He really takes good care of the band and the sound engineer.” Confirms Gropper: “He’s very open-minded and lets the musicians decide where and how to record.” That’s why although there’s no written exclusivity agreement with musicians who record for WPJ, “I have a kind of ‘gentleman’s agreement’, for example, with Philipp Gropper and Benjamin Weidekamp for their main projects,” says Schulz.

What about using various formats? “Mainly the releases come out on CD,” says Schulz. “[Saxophonist] Wanja Slavin’s For Very Sad and Very Tired Lotus Eaters was also on LP, because the budget was there. The last Hyperactive Kid disc was vinyl only; la Cour’s Almugi release was supported with two digital-only variants because there was no budget to release three CDs at once. The vinyl thing is at the moment on hold, because sales are negligible.” All WPJ discs are available as download from iTunes. Plus if someone orders a CD from the WPJ website a download is bundled in with the purchase. “However, I have the feeling that streaming hurts CD sales and ruins the already small financial rewards received by the artist and the label,” he states.

Schulz continues to proselytize for advanced jazz, albeit with mixed results. “My current girlfriend listens to jazz, but more of the conventional kind. I try to guide her and the kids, who are three- and four-year- old girls, carefully into the WPJ rabbit hole. Sometimes though the kids make noise with stuff they find and tell me: ‘Roland, look, we’re playing jazz music.’”

http://www.nycjazzrecord.com/issues/tnycjr201609.pdf
http://www.jazzword.com/one-review/?id=129130

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/articles/whyplayjazz-goes-new-york-portrait-in-der-september-ausgabe-des-new-york-city-jazz-records

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/themroc3

Am 24. September 2016, ab 22.45 Uhr, strahlt 3sat das Portrait „Gegen den Beat - Christian Lillinger und die JazzBaltica“ aus.

In den vergangenen Jahren haben sich in Deutschland einige junge Schlagzeuger in der Jazzszene etabliert, die mit ihrem Drumming neue und ungewöhnliche rhythmische Konzepte ausprobieren. Zu dieser Gruppe gehört auch Christian Lillinger, der sich der ganz der Musik verschrieben hat; besser: einem kompromisslosen, teils radikal bilderstürmerischen Free Jazz (u. a. Amok Amor, Gropper/Graupe/Lillinger, Grund).
Aus Anlass des Konzerts von Amok Amor auf der JazzBaltica 2016 hat der ZDF-Kanal 3sat ein Porträt von Lillinger produziert.

Info zur Sendung: https://www.3sat.de/page/?source=/musik/textvision/188284/index.html
Sendung anschauen: http://www.3sat.de/mediathek/?mode=play&obj=61448

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/articles/gegen-den-beat-christian-lillinger-am-24-09-2016-auf-3sat

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/themroc3

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/themroc3

Kleine, aber feine Labels wie WhyPlayJazz, Traumton Records, Shoebill Music oder Alien Transistor bescheren der deutschen Jazzszene seit Jahren interessante Veröffentlichungen fernab des Mainstreams. Verantwortlich ist in der Regel ein Musikliebhaber bzw. eine Musikliebhaberin, der / die mit viel Engagement jungen KünstlerInnen eine Plattform bietet.
Mit Musik u.a. von Simon Kanzler, FM TRIO, Uli Kempendorff u.v.m. Moderation: Manuela Krause

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/articles/musik-aus-leidenschaft-independent-jazz-aus-deutschland

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/hyperactivekid

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/field

Anlässlich der Veröffentlichung des neuen Albums »Riot« (VÖ 07.10.2016, WhyPlayJazz) gibt die Band HYPERACTIVE KID die Änderung ihres Namens in GROPPER/GRAUPE/LILLINGER bekannt.

“Wir haben erfahren, dass der Bandname HYPERACTIVE KID die Wahrnehmung unserer Musik allzu oft einschränkt und in eine von uns nicht gewollte Richtung lenkt. Mit der Änderung des Namens in GROPPER/GRAUPE/LILLINGER soll der Vielfalt und Ernsthaftigkeit unserer Musik nichts mehr im Weg stehen.”

Bei Fragen oder dem Wunsch nach weiteren Informationen, freuen wir uns über jede Kontaktaufnahme.

--

With the release of their new album “Riot” (to be released on Oct 7, 2016 by WhyPlayJazz) the band HYPERACTIVE KID announces the change of its name into GROPPER/GRAUPE/LILLINGER.

“We have experienced that the band name HYPERACTIVE KID way too often limits the perception of our music and takes it into a direction not intended by us. By changing the name into GROPPER/GRAUPE/LILLINGER there will be no more obstacles for the variety and seriousness of our music.”

We are glad to answer any questions or desires for further information.

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/articles/hyperactive-kid-gibt-namensanderung-bekannt

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/hyperactivekid

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/themroc3

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/themroc3

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/themroc3

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/themroc3

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/philip-zoubek-solo

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/field

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/plot

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/made-la-cours-almugi

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/field

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/philip-zoubek-solo

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/field

Simon Kanzler »Double Identity«

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.

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.

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/releases/RS027

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/made-la-cours-almugi

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/field

Uli Kempendorff’s Field »Heal the Rich«

Uli Kempendorff (ts, comp, arr), Ronny Graupe (git), Jonas Westergaard (b), Oliver Steidle (dr)

Recorded November 10 - 11, 2015 by Benjamin Spitzmüller at Studio H2, Berlin, Germany. Mixed by Benjamin Spitzmüller. Mastered by Klaus Scheuermann. Produced by Uli Kempendorff. Co-produced by Christian Weidner, Ronny Graupe, Jonas Westergaard and Oliver Steidle. Artwork by Sophia Martineck. Mit freundlicher Unterstützung der Senatskanzlei für Kulturelle Angelegenheiten, Berlin.

FIELD‘s new album is called »Heal The Rich«. An album with a title that references such delicate humanity must be about more than just pure art. On many levels it is rather a call for a reversion and reflection process. The issues are urgent and the time is running. If the next step in evolution is a shift of consciousness, we will have to prepare ourselves.
For Uli Kempendorff jazz and improvisational music have a very special potential. They represent an offer of return for both listener and musician that can be the beginning of a healing process. A return to a meaningful life, away from the alienation from ourselves and our environment. A confrontation with the real, the essence, the matter, the hidden.
This music – so clear, straight-forward and honest – offers directness as an antidote. It thus leaves the surface.

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/releases/RS026

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/hyperactivekid

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/field

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/field

I feel that music and especially a music like jazz has a lot to offer in opposition to this. Its genesis doesn’t (primarily) follow a commercial objective, but revolves around pure content, it’s predestined to look at all sides of a coin: the process is always a part of the product. Jazz and improvised music harbour a special promise to be agents for a return, a repatriation of sorts, which could be the beginning or part of a healing process. Healing starts with cleansing and cleansing always entails a confrontation with the genuine, the essence, the concealed. Let’s leave the surface presentation.

Instrumental music is always absolute - without words as part of a performance, none of the above can be derived from or read into the music. Still, the music you will hear is played by four individuals who coalesce and coalise with one another, who have no mind for self-affected gestures of consternation or the withdrawal to an allegedly safe inner place. The topics of our time are pressing. If the next evolutionary step of humanity should be one of greater consciousness, we ought to start preparing for it.

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/field

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/philip-zoubek-solo

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/philip-zoubek-solo

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/plot

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/plot

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/field

Auf „Tightrope“, seinem zweiten Album, macht das Leipziger Trio PLOT aus dieser Not eine Tugend. Sebastian Wehle (Saxofon), Robert Lucaciu (Kontrabass) und Philipp Scholz (Schlagzeug) agieren ganz im Sinne ihres Bandnamens, wenn sie ihrem Unternehmen ein Handlungsgerüst unterlegen und ihm so eine nachvollziehbare Logik geben. So trudeln ihre Ereignisse nicht im Ungewissen, sondern haben eine konzise und sofort nachvollziehbare Dramaturgie. Oder, um beim Albumtitel zu bleiben, ein straff gespanntes Seil als roten Faden. Auf dem tanzen die drei durch die selige Rockmusik der End-60er Jahre, biegen sich Stoffe von Creedence Clearwater Revival, Led Zeppelin, Santana und immer wieder den Beatles auf die Leiber und machen daraus ausgesprochen reizvolle und elastische Steilvorlagen für ein Jazztrio.

„Strawberry Fields Forever“, „Dazed and Confused“, „I Am the Walrus“, „I Put A Spell On You“ und immer so fort: Vom Start weg, von den ersten gestrichenen Basstönen an, springt der Funke über. Man kennt die Melodien, hat sie so aber noch nicht gehört. Das Saxofon schwelgt und steigert sich in Eruptionen, der Bass spaziert in erhaben filigranen Linien und das Schlagzeug treibt und treibt, auf dass alles in einen faszinierenden Fluss mündet. Diese junge Band ist über die Jahre bestens eingespielt und führt aus dem Museum heraus in die Straßen des Jetzt. Gleichermaßen abgeklärt wie frisch und intensiv ist das, wobei Kopf und Herz eng beieinander sind. Das muss sich nicht im Weitschweifigen ergehen, sondern kann vielmehr nah bei den jeweiligen Kernen bleiben. Die werden jongliert, gestreichelt und emporgehoben von diesen Nachgeborenen der Jazzrevolution. In der Summe ergibt das einen Geniestreich als zugeneigtes Bekennerschreiben.

Wenn dieses Durchsteigen eines Zeittunnels hin zur Basisbibliothek des Populären so unverbraucht auf die Höhe der Zeit führt, liegt das daran, dass PLOT eben nicht simple Kopien liefert. Vielmehr schwingen (und swingen) Altvordere des Jazz mit und erfahren ein imponierendes Update. Das ist kein Klamauk, sondern humorvoll und ernst, sehr vital und eng verzahnt. Im vorigen Jahr erhielt das Trio den „Jungen Münchner Jazzpreis“, gelobt wurden das „geschlossene Bandkonzept“, die „überragende Spieltechnik and Musikalität“.

„Die drei haben sich und anderen nichts mehr zu beweisen. Ihre Musik ist frei von Klischees und dabei tief verwurzeLt in der Tradition der improvisierten Musik“. befand Johannes Enders, einer ihrer Lehrer an der Hochschule für Musik und Theater „Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy“ von wo aus sie sich längst zu Aktivposten nicht nur der Leipziger Szene entwickelt haben. Wie sich Wehle, Lucaciu und Scholz nun die Themen der Rockbarden aneignen, ist weithin ohne Vergleich. Allbekannte und todgenudelte Stoffe befreien sie von ihrer Patina und der Crux, immer möglichst gleich klingen zu müssen damit sich die Gemeinde im verklärenden Weißt-Du-Noch in die Arme sinken kann. Hier werden spielfreudig, klug und raffiniert Horizonte aufgezogen, und es bleibt trotzdem ein großer Spaß. Die entsprechende Hymne auf die drei Drahtseilartisten singt in ihren Linernotes die diesjährige Bachmann-Preisträgerin Nora Gomringer. Sie lädt ein aus diesen Abenteuerspielplatz, von dem aus drei Europäer ihre schlüssigen Antworten auf die amerikanischen Standards senden.

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/plot

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/themroc3

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/plot

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/made-la-cours-almugi

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/made-la-cours-almugi

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/stefan-schultze-large-ensemble

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/field

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/stefan-schultze-large-ensemble

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/philm

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/stefan-schultze-large-ensemble

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/stefan-schultze-large-ensemble

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/stefan-schultze-large-ensemble

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/stefan-schultze-large-ensemble

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/stefan-schultze-large-ensemble

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/stefan-schultze-large-ensemble

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/stefan-schultze-large-ensemble

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/hyperactivekid

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/hyperactivekid

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/hyperactivekid

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/hyperactivekid

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/hyperactivekid

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/z3

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/lotus-eaters

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/philm

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/fusk

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/plot

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/johannaborchert

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/anna-maria-sturm-quintett

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/plot

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/fusk

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/anna-maria-sturm-quintett

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/z3

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/anna-maria-sturm-quintett

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/anna-maria-sturm-quintett

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/philm

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/anna-maria-sturm-quintett

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/lotus-eaters

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/z3

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/z3

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/z3

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/anna-maria-sturm-quintett

“Pale Fire” lives from a constant clash of composed material and improvised passages, Zoubek wanted the improvisation to take part in a complex communicative space where all the musicians are aware what the others are doing and where roles and functions are permanently in flux.

This is less intellectual than it sounds, tracks like “Melos” are constant shapeshifters as well as to rhythm and sound, intensity and beauty. The composition starts like a classic Giuffre piece, the melodies jump like jaunty grasshoppers, there is a sense of wildlife on a summer meadow, lively, joyous, exuberant – but towards the end the atmosphere changes: the sounds of the clarinets and the bowed bass are gloomy and dark, only the piano tries keep the mood from the beginning alive. There is immediacy and subtlety, there are condensed compositional parts and extended improvised spaces and especially when the instruments seem to melt into each other, the album has its best moments – for example in “Two” (my favorite) and “Hu”, the longest track, where Zoubek comes back to prepared piano.

My friend Julia Neupert (who is also the host of the SWR radio show) was absolutely enthusiastic about the album and I have to admit that I was rather reluctant after the first listening. Yet, the music has hidden qualities that I recognized only after several attempts, it is music that needs attention.

“Pale Fire” was recorded at the “Loft”, most of the music was played live at a gig the band played after two days in the studio.

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/z3

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/z3

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/z3

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/z3

Hyperactive Kid

• 13.04.2014 - Herne, DE @ Flottmann-Hallen

Johanna Borchert

• 25.04.2014 - Bremen, DE @ jazzahead!

Schultze Ehwald Duo

• 24.04.2014 - Einbeck, DE @ Tangobrücke
• 25.04.2014 - Berlin, DE @ b-flat
• 26.04.2014 - Braunschweig, DE @ Bassgeige
• 27.04.2014 - Berlin, DE @ Waldo Bar
• 28.04.2014 - Hannover, DE @ Kanapee
• 29.04.2014 - Greifswald, DE @ Klavier-Salon-Gläser

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/articles/keine-idee-wie-du-die-nachsten-april-abende-verbringen-sollst

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/lotus-eaters

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/lotus-eaters

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/philm

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/lotus-eaters

Philipp Gropper’s Philm

• 14.02.2014 - Hamburg, DE
• 16.02.2014 - Wien, AT @ Porgy & Bess
• 24.02.2014 - Baden, CH @ Isebähnli
• 25.02.2014 - Basel, CH @ Birds Eye

Hyperactive Kid

• 06.02.2014 - Greifswald, DE @ Koeppenhaus
• 07.02.2014 - Darlowo, PL @ Bagatella
• 08.02.2014 - Bayreuth, DE @ Becher-Saal
• 09.02.2014 - Esslingen, DE @ Dieselstrasse

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/articles/keine-idee-wie-du-die-nachsten-februar-abende-verbringen-sollst

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/lotus-eaters

• Wanja Slavin Lotus Eaters "For Very Sad and Very Tired Lotus Eaters" (17. Januar 2014)
• Schultze Ehwald Duo "Grasp" (28. März 2014)
• Benjamin Weidekamp Quartett "seriell, nicht seriös" (11. April 2014)
• Z3 "Pale Fire" (16. Mai 2014)

Besucht Konzerte, kauft Tonträger, freut euch mit uns!

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/articles/2014-gibt-es-wieder-ein-paar-aufregende-veroffentlichungen-bei-whyplayjazz

Philipp Gropper’s Philm

• 26.01.2014 - Berlin, DE @ A-Trane
• 28.01.2014 - Berlin, DE @ Naherhohlung Sternchen

Eder

• 31.01.2014 - Leipzig, DE @ Horns Erben

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/articles/don-t-know-how-to-spend-the-next-few-january-evenings

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/hyperactivekid

Eder

• 05.12.2013 - Dresden, DE @ Tonne

Philipp Gropper’s Philm

• 22.12.2013 - Pohrsdorf, DE @ Saxstall

Hyperactive Kid

• 04.12.2013 - Warszawa, PL @ Pardon, To Tu
• 05.12.2013 - Lodz, PL @ Bajkonur
• 07.12.2013 - Berlin, DE @ Grüner Salon
• 10.12.2013 - Berlin, DE @ A-Trane
• 11.12.2013 - Berlin, DE @ A-Trane
• 18.12.2013 - Basel, CH

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/articles/don-t-know-how-to-spend-the-next-few-december-evenings

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/articles/welchen-einfluss-haben-die-stadte-und-ihre-lebensqualitat-auf-die-musik

Hyperactive Kid

• 03.11.2013 - Moskau, RU
• 06.11.2013 - Nischni Nowgorod, RU
• 08.11.2013 - Jekaterinburg, RU
• 18.11.2013 - Cottbus, DE @ Glad-House
• 19.11.2013 - Wittenberg, DE @ Cranachhaus
• 20.11.2013 - Hamburg, DE @ Talmud Tora Schule
• 21.11.2013 - Palermo, IT

FUSK

• 27.11.2013 - Copenhagen, DE @ Paradise Jazz
• 28.11.2013 - Berlin, DE @ Sowieso
• 29.11.2013 - Greifswald, DE @ Koeppenhaus
• 30.11.2013 - Stettin, DE @ Brama Jazz Cafe

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/articles/don-t-know-how-to-spend-the-next-few-november-evenings

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/field

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/field

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/articles/benjamin-weidekamp-quartett-allegro-assai-aufnahmesession-video

Die Idee zum Bund MBPK entstand aus der Idee, die zwei temporär in Basel residierende Musiker aus der Berliner Szene während einem halben Jahr sowohl als Musiker als auch als Kuratoren mit einem Konzert-Zyklus in die bereits bestehende RUMORT-Konzertreihe einzubinden. Marco von Orelli und Kaspar von Grünigen bilden das Basler Gespann im Bund MBPK - als Vertreter der Basler Szene und als Mitglieder der Programmgruppe des Vereins RUMORT, der in Basel seit 2011 Konzerte anbietet, die den creative Jazz in seiner ganzen Vielfalt abbilden.

Zum Abschluss trifft der gesamte Bund MBPK auf Julian Sartorius und präsentiert ein komplett neues Programm, das dann auch im Rahmen einer kleinen Deutschlandtour vorgestellt wird.

• 27. September 2013, BP + 3, Marco von Orelli 5
• 19. Oktober 2013, KMP + 2, Benjamin Weidekamp Quartett
• 23. November, KP + 2, M + 1, Z3
• 18. Dezember 2013, BKP + 3, Hyperactive Kid
• 15. Januar 2014, BUND MBPK + 1

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/articles/startschuss-fur-konzertserie-bund-mbpk-brot-und-spiele-vol-1-5

Thursday, SEPTEMBER 5th, 19:30
ELS VANDEWEYER: SPIN TRACK
HAYDEN CHISHOLM: LOVE IN NUMBERS
LAURA ROBLES QUARTETT

Wednesday, SEPTEMBER 18th, 19:00
SEBASTIAN GILLE GROUP
SLAVIN/ELDH/LILLINGER
JONAS WESTERGAARD: HELGOLAND

Wednesday, SEPTEMBER 25th, 19:30
PUNTIN, LODERBAUER, ROHRER
FRANK GRATKOWSKI SOLO
SASCHA HENKEL: OCTOTHORPE PLAYS OPTIONS

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/articles/neuaufnahme-der-konzertreihe-serious-series

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/fusk

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/fusk

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/fusk

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/fusk

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/fusk

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/fusk

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/fusk

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/johannaborchert

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/fusk

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/fusk

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/johannaborchert

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/johannaborchert

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/johannaborchert

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/johannaborchert

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/philm

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/johannaborchert

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/philm

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/johannaborchert

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/philm

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/philm

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/philm

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/johannaborchert

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/johannaborchert

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/johannaborchert

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/philm

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/lotus-eaters

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/plot

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/fusk

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/fusk

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/fusk

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/stefan-schultze-large-ensemble

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/fusk

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/fusk

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/fusk

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/fusk

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/fusk

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/stefan-schultze-large-ensemble

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/lotus-eaters

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/plot

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/field

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/hyperactivekid

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/hyperactivekid

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/hyperactivekid

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/hyperactivekid

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/hyperactivekid

Jun 28, 2008 - Rijeka, HR @ Jazz Tunnel

Ronny Graupe (git), Philipp Gropper (ts), Christian Lillinger (dr). GROPPER/GRAUPE/LILLINGER – the band formerly known as HYPERACTIVE KID

They don’t go on stage, they step into the ring. Everyone for himself, everyone for the other, everyone highly concentrated and receptive for the quickly produced ideas, everyone as a source of inspiration for a musical clinch that – wide awake – lets the events arising in between breaks and attacks become existential.
GROPPER/GRAUPE/LILLINGER is not only a band – much more a pumping, breathing, vital organism, whose independent existence transmits itself to the audience like an unexpected stroke of luck.
It would be easy to focus exclusively on the rhythmic aspects of their music, but that would be missing the point, the intervallic ingredients of their musical explorations is just as defining for their bold nonlinear structures. Very conscious of form, individual rather than a reproduction, feverish rather than linear, free, dynamic and conspirative. The three mirror the metropolises of the present trilogically, confront them and zigzag through their labyrinths. This is how music of absolute relevance emerges, music that is more and more conscious of its in large parts written out means.

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/hyperactivekid

Jun 27, 2008 - Guttenburg, DE @ Jazzfestival Guttenburg

Ronny Graupe (git), Philipp Gropper (ts), Christian Lillinger (dr). GROPPER/GRAUPE/LILLINGER – the band formerly known as HYPERACTIVE KID

They don’t go on stage, they step into the ring. Everyone for himself, everyone for the other, everyone highly concentrated and receptive for the quickly produced ideas, everyone as a source of inspiration for a musical clinch that – wide awake – lets the events arising in between breaks and attacks become existential.
GROPPER/GRAUPE/LILLINGER is not only a band – much more a pumping, breathing, vital organism, whose independent existence transmits itself to the audience like an unexpected stroke of luck.
It would be easy to focus exclusively on the rhythmic aspects of their music, but that would be missing the point, the intervallic ingredients of their musical explorations is just as defining for their bold nonlinear structures. Very conscious of form, individual rather than a reproduction, feverish rather than linear, free, dynamic and conspirative. The three mirror the metropolises of the present trilogically, confront them and zigzag through their labyrinths. This is how music of absolute relevance emerges, music that is more and more conscious of its in large parts written out means.

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/hyperactivekid

Jun 21, 2008 - Caracas, VE @ Jazzfestival Caracas

Ronny Graupe (git), Philipp Gropper (ts), Christian Lillinger (dr). GROPPER/GRAUPE/LILLINGER – the band formerly known as HYPERACTIVE KID

They don’t go on stage, they step into the ring. Everyone for himself, everyone for the other, everyone highly concentrated and receptive for the quickly produced ideas, everyone as a source of inspiration for a musical clinch that – wide awake – lets the events arising in between breaks and attacks become existential.
GROPPER/GRAUPE/LILLINGER is not only a band – much more a pumping, breathing, vital organism, whose independent existence transmits itself to the audience like an unexpected stroke of luck.
It would be easy to focus exclusively on the rhythmic aspects of their music, but that would be missing the point, the intervallic ingredients of their musical explorations is just as defining for their bold nonlinear structures. Very conscious of form, individual rather than a reproduction, feverish rather than linear, free, dynamic and conspirative. The three mirror the metropolises of the present trilogically, confront them and zigzag through their labyrinths. This is how music of absolute relevance emerges, music that is more and more conscious of its in large parts written out means.

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/hyperactivekid

May 28, 2008 - Dresden, DE @ Wettbüro

Ronny Graupe (git), Philipp Gropper (ts), Christian Lillinger (dr). GROPPER/GRAUPE/LILLINGER – the band formerly known as HYPERACTIVE KID

They don’t go on stage, they step into the ring. Everyone for himself, everyone for the other, everyone highly concentrated and receptive for the quickly produced ideas, everyone as a source of inspiration for a musical clinch that – wide awake – lets the events arising in between breaks and attacks become existential.
GROPPER/GRAUPE/LILLINGER is not only a band – much more a pumping, breathing, vital organism, whose independent existence transmits itself to the audience like an unexpected stroke of luck.
It would be easy to focus exclusively on the rhythmic aspects of their music, but that would be missing the point, the intervallic ingredients of their musical explorations is just as defining for their bold nonlinear structures. Very conscious of form, individual rather than a reproduction, feverish rather than linear, free, dynamic and conspirative. The three mirror the metropolises of the present trilogically, confront them and zigzag through their labyrinths. This is how music of absolute relevance emerges, music that is more and more conscious of its in large parts written out means.

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/hyperactivekid

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/hyperactivekid

Apr 23, 2008 - Stuttgart, DE @ Bix Jazzclub

Ronny Graupe (git), Philipp Gropper (ts), Christian Lillinger (dr). GROPPER/GRAUPE/LILLINGER – the band formerly known as HYPERACTIVE KID

They don’t go on stage, they step into the ring. Everyone for himself, everyone for the other, everyone highly concentrated and receptive for the quickly produced ideas, everyone as a source of inspiration for a musical clinch that – wide awake – lets the events arising in between breaks and attacks become existential.
GROPPER/GRAUPE/LILLINGER is not only a band – much more a pumping, breathing, vital organism, whose independent existence transmits itself to the audience like an unexpected stroke of luck.
It would be easy to focus exclusively on the rhythmic aspects of their music, but that would be missing the point, the intervallic ingredients of their musical explorations is just as defining for their bold nonlinear structures. Very conscious of form, individual rather than a reproduction, feverish rather than linear, free, dynamic and conspirative. The three mirror the metropolises of the present trilogically, confront them and zigzag through their labyrinths. This is how music of absolute relevance emerges, music that is more and more conscious of its in large parts written out means.

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/hyperactivekid

Apr 19, 2008 - Bremen, DE @ Jazzahead

Ronny Graupe (git), Philipp Gropper (ts), Christian Lillinger (dr). GROPPER/GRAUPE/LILLINGER – the band formerly known as HYPERACTIVE KID

They don’t go on stage, they step into the ring. Everyone for himself, everyone for the other, everyone highly concentrated and receptive for the quickly produced ideas, everyone as a source of inspiration for a musical clinch that – wide awake – lets the events arising in between breaks and attacks become existential.
GROPPER/GRAUPE/LILLINGER is not only a band – much more a pumping, breathing, vital organism, whose independent existence transmits itself to the audience like an unexpected stroke of luck.
It would be easy to focus exclusively on the rhythmic aspects of their music, but that would be missing the point, the intervallic ingredients of their musical explorations is just as defining for their bold nonlinear structures. Very conscious of form, individual rather than a reproduction, feverish rather than linear, free, dynamic and conspirative. The three mirror the metropolises of the present trilogically, confront them and zigzag through their labyrinths. This is how music of absolute relevance emerges, music that is more and more conscious of its in large parts written out means.

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/hyperactivekid

Apr 18, 2008 - Bremen, DE @ Jazzahead

Ronny Graupe (git), Philipp Gropper (ts), Christian Lillinger (dr). GROPPER/GRAUPE/LILLINGER – the band formerly known as HYPERACTIVE KID

They don’t go on stage, they step into the ring. Everyone for himself, everyone for the other, everyone highly concentrated and receptive for the quickly produced ideas, everyone as a source of inspiration for a musical clinch that – wide awake – lets the events arising in between breaks and attacks become existential.
GROPPER/GRAUPE/LILLINGER is not only a band – much more a pumping, breathing, vital organism, whose independent existence transmits itself to the audience like an unexpected stroke of luck.
It would be easy to focus exclusively on the rhythmic aspects of their music, but that would be missing the point, the intervallic ingredients of their musical explorations is just as defining for their bold nonlinear structures. Very conscious of form, individual rather than a reproduction, feverish rather than linear, free, dynamic and conspirative. The three mirror the metropolises of the present trilogically, confront them and zigzag through their labyrinths. This is how music of absolute relevance emerges, music that is more and more conscious of its in large parts written out means.

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/hyperactivekid

Apr 12, 2008 - Nürnberg, DE @ Jazzstudio

Ronny Graupe (git), Philipp Gropper (ts), Christian Lillinger (dr). GROPPER/GRAUPE/LILLINGER – the band formerly known as HYPERACTIVE KID

They don’t go on stage, they step into the ring. Everyone for himself, everyone for the other, everyone highly concentrated and receptive for the quickly produced ideas, everyone as a source of inspiration for a musical clinch that – wide awake – lets the events arising in between breaks and attacks become existential.
GROPPER/GRAUPE/LILLINGER is not only a band – much more a pumping, breathing, vital organism, whose independent existence transmits itself to the audience like an unexpected stroke of luck.
It would be easy to focus exclusively on the rhythmic aspects of their music, but that would be missing the point, the intervallic ingredients of their musical explorations is just as defining for their bold nonlinear structures. Very conscious of form, individual rather than a reproduction, feverish rather than linear, free, dynamic and conspirative. The three mirror the metropolises of the present trilogically, confront them and zigzag through their labyrinths. This is how music of absolute relevance emerges, music that is more and more conscious of its in large parts written out means.

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/hyperactivekid

Mar 28, 2008 - Berlin, DE @ A-Trane

Ronny Graupe (git), Philipp Gropper (ts), Christian Lillinger (dr). GROPPER/GRAUPE/LILLINGER – the band formerly known as HYPERACTIVE KID

They don’t go on stage, they step into the ring. Everyone for himself, everyone for the other, everyone highly concentrated and receptive for the quickly produced ideas, everyone as a source of inspiration for a musical clinch that – wide awake – lets the events arising in between breaks and attacks become existential.
GROPPER/GRAUPE/LILLINGER is not only a band – much more a pumping, breathing, vital organism, whose independent existence transmits itself to the audience like an unexpected stroke of luck.
It would be easy to focus exclusively on the rhythmic aspects of their music, but that would be missing the point, the intervallic ingredients of their musical explorations is just as defining for their bold nonlinear structures. Very conscious of form, individual rather than a reproduction, feverish rather than linear, free, dynamic and conspirative. The three mirror the metropolises of the present trilogically, confront them and zigzag through their labyrinths. This is how music of absolute relevance emerges, music that is more and more conscious of its in large parts written out means.

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/hyperactivekid

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/fusk

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/hyperactivekid

Carsten Daerr (p), Johannes Fink (b), Philipp Gropper (ts), Christian Lillinger (dr). The band SONNE was formed in 2004 by Berlin jazz musicians. Philipp Gropper, Carsten Daerr, Johannes Fink and Christian Lillinger play multilayer compositions of groove, hip-hop and New Music that present music, often intended to be performed electronically, in an acoustically electrifying way.
The joint composition work results in a unique sound that sympathises with harmony and form, even in the advanced improvisations. The gestus of composition thereby defines the colour of improvisation.

In contrast to its name, SONNE (German for “sun”) tells dark stories that also stand as a protest against an entertainment that is forced into line and devoid of meaning. The young Berlin jazz band SONNE steps out of its big city environment to create a universal language through its music.

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/hyperactivekid

Carsten Daerr (p), Johannes Fink (b), Philipp Gropper (ts), Christian Lillinger (dr). The band SONNE was formed in 2004 by Berlin jazz musicians. Philipp Gropper, Carsten Daerr, Johannes Fink and Christian Lillinger play multilayer compositions of groove, hip-hop and New Music that present music, often intended to be performed electronically, in an acoustically electrifying way.
The joint composition work results in a unique sound that sympathises with harmony and form, even in the advanced improvisations. The gestus of composition thereby defines the colour of improvisation.

In contrast to its name, SONNE (German for “sun”) tells dark stories that also stand as a protest against an entertainment that is forced into line and devoid of meaning. The young Berlin jazz band SONNE steps out of its big city environment to create a universal language through its music.

Nov 25, 2007 - Wien, AT @ Joe Zawinuls Birdland

Ronny Graupe (git), Philipp Gropper (ts), Christian Lillinger (dr). GROPPER/GRAUPE/LILLINGER – the band formerly known as HYPERACTIVE KID

They don’t go on stage, they step into the ring. Everyone for himself, everyone for the other, everyone highly concentrated and receptive for the quickly produced ideas, everyone as a source of inspiration for a musical clinch that – wide awake – lets the events arising in between breaks and attacks become existential.
GROPPER/GRAUPE/LILLINGER is not only a band – much more a pumping, breathing, vital organism, whose independent existence transmits itself to the audience like an unexpected stroke of luck.
It would be easy to focus exclusively on the rhythmic aspects of their music, but that would be missing the point, the intervallic ingredients of their musical explorations is just as defining for their bold nonlinear structures. Very conscious of form, individual rather than a reproduction, feverish rather than linear, free, dynamic and conspirative. The three mirror the metropolises of the present trilogically, confront them and zigzag through their labyrinths. This is how music of absolute relevance emerges, music that is more and more conscious of its in large parts written out means.

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/hyperactivekid

Nov 24, 2007 - Garz, DE

Ronny Graupe (git), Philipp Gropper (ts), Christian Lillinger (dr). GROPPER/GRAUPE/LILLINGER – the band formerly known as HYPERACTIVE KID

They don’t go on stage, they step into the ring. Everyone for himself, everyone for the other, everyone highly concentrated and receptive for the quickly produced ideas, everyone as a source of inspiration for a musical clinch that – wide awake – lets the events arising in between breaks and attacks become existential.
GROPPER/GRAUPE/LILLINGER is not only a band – much more a pumping, breathing, vital organism, whose independent existence transmits itself to the audience like an unexpected stroke of luck.
It would be easy to focus exclusively on the rhythmic aspects of their music, but that would be missing the point, the intervallic ingredients of their musical explorations is just as defining for their bold nonlinear structures. Very conscious of form, individual rather than a reproduction, feverish rather than linear, free, dynamic and conspirative. The three mirror the metropolises of the present trilogically, confront them and zigzag through their labyrinths. This is how music of absolute relevance emerges, music that is more and more conscious of its in large parts written out means.

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/hyperactivekid

Nov 23, 2007 - Ljubljana , SI @ Saxpub

Ronny Graupe (git), Philipp Gropper (ts), Christian Lillinger (dr). GROPPER/GRAUPE/LILLINGER – the band formerly known as HYPERACTIVE KID

They don’t go on stage, they step into the ring. Everyone for himself, everyone for the other, everyone highly concentrated and receptive for the quickly produced ideas, everyone as a source of inspiration for a musical clinch that – wide awake – lets the events arising in between breaks and attacks become existential.
GROPPER/GRAUPE/LILLINGER is not only a band – much more a pumping, breathing, vital organism, whose independent existence transmits itself to the audience like an unexpected stroke of luck.
It would be easy to focus exclusively on the rhythmic aspects of their music, but that would be missing the point, the intervallic ingredients of their musical explorations is just as defining for their bold nonlinear structures. Very conscious of form, individual rather than a reproduction, feverish rather than linear, free, dynamic and conspirative. The three mirror the metropolises of the present trilogically, confront them and zigzag through their labyrinths. This is how music of absolute relevance emerges, music that is more and more conscious of its in large parts written out means.

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/hyperactivekid

Carsten Daerr (p), Johannes Fink (b), Philipp Gropper (ts), Christian Lillinger (dr). The band SONNE was formed in 2004 by Berlin jazz musicians. Philipp Gropper, Carsten Daerr, Johannes Fink and Christian Lillinger play multilayer compositions of groove, hip-hop and New Music that present music, often intended to be performed electronically, in an acoustically electrifying way.
The joint composition work results in a unique sound that sympathises with harmony and form, even in the advanced improvisations. The gestus of composition thereby defines the colour of improvisation.

In contrast to its name, SONNE (German for “sun”) tells dark stories that also stand as a protest against an entertainment that is forced into line and devoid of meaning. The young Berlin jazz band SONNE steps out of its big city environment to create a universal language through its music.

Carsten Daerr (p), Johannes Fink (b), Philipp Gropper (ts), Christian Lillinger (dr). The band SONNE was formed in 2004 by Berlin jazz musicians. Philipp Gropper, Carsten Daerr, Johannes Fink and Christian Lillinger play multilayer compositions of groove, hip-hop and New Music that present music, often intended to be performed electronically, in an acoustically electrifying way.
The joint composition work results in a unique sound that sympathises with harmony and form, even in the advanced improvisations. The gestus of composition thereby defines the colour of improvisation.

In contrast to its name, SONNE (German for “sun”) tells dark stories that also stand as a protest against an entertainment that is forced into line and devoid of meaning. The young Berlin jazz band SONNE steps out of its big city environment to create a universal language through its music.

Carsten Daerr (p), Johannes Fink (b), Philipp Gropper (ts), Christian Lillinger (dr). The band SONNE was formed in 2004 by Berlin jazz musicians. Philipp Gropper, Carsten Daerr, Johannes Fink and Christian Lillinger play multilayer compositions of groove, hip-hop and New Music that present music, often intended to be performed electronically, in an acoustically electrifying way.
The joint composition work results in a unique sound that sympathises with harmony and form, even in the advanced improvisations. The gestus of composition thereby defines the colour of improvisation.

In contrast to its name, SONNE (German for “sun”) tells dark stories that also stand as a protest against an entertainment that is forced into line and devoid of meaning. The young Berlin jazz band SONNE steps out of its big city environment to create a universal language through its music.

Carsten Daerr (p), Johannes Fink (b), Philipp Gropper (ts), Christian Lillinger (dr). The band SONNE was formed in 2004 by Berlin jazz musicians. Philipp Gropper, Carsten Daerr, Johannes Fink and Christian Lillinger play multilayer compositions of groove, hip-hop and New Music that present music, often intended to be performed electronically, in an acoustically electrifying way.
The joint composition work results in a unique sound that sympathises with harmony and form, even in the advanced improvisations. The gestus of composition thereby defines the colour of improvisation.

In contrast to its name, SONNE (German for “sun”) tells dark stories that also stand as a protest against an entertainment that is forced into line and devoid of meaning. The young Berlin jazz band SONNE steps out of its big city environment to create a universal language through its music.

Carsten Daerr (p), Johannes Fink (b), Philipp Gropper (ts), Christian Lillinger (dr). The band SONNE was formed in 2004 by Berlin jazz musicians. Philipp Gropper, Carsten Daerr, Johannes Fink and Christian Lillinger play multilayer compositions of groove, hip-hop and New Music that present music, often intended to be performed electronically, in an acoustically electrifying way.
The joint composition work results in a unique sound that sympathises with harmony and form, even in the advanced improvisations. The gestus of composition thereby defines the colour of improvisation.

In contrast to its name, SONNE (German for “sun”) tells dark stories that also stand as a protest against an entertainment that is forced into line and devoid of meaning. The young Berlin jazz band SONNE steps out of its big city environment to create a universal language through its music.

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/hyperactivekid

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/hyperactivekid

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/hyperactivekid

Carsten Daerr (p), Johannes Fink (b), Philipp Gropper (ts), Christian Lillinger (dr). The band SONNE was formed in 2004 by Berlin jazz musicians. Philipp Gropper, Carsten Daerr, Johannes Fink and Christian Lillinger play multilayer compositions of groove, hip-hop and New Music that present music, often intended to be performed electronically, in an acoustically electrifying way.
The joint composition work results in a unique sound that sympathises with harmony and form, even in the advanced improvisations. The gestus of composition thereby defines the colour of improvisation.

In contrast to its name, SONNE (German for “sun”) tells dark stories that also stand as a protest against an entertainment that is forced into line and devoid of meaning. The young Berlin jazz band SONNE steps out of its big city environment to create a universal language through its music.

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/hyperactivekid

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/hyperactivekid

https://www.whyplayjazz.de/hyperactivekid