Concerts 2009
Improvisation and the ever new - Contradiction or predestination? Haven't we experienced it all before? Is the really new still possible? Yes, it is.
So get ready for lots of surprises and expect the unexpected. No two concerts will be alike, noone knows where the journey will take us, but everyone will have exciting experiences - and now and again imaginary doors on new musical worlds will open!
The organisers would like to thank the Kulturreferat München for its continuous help allowing us to present the fifth edition of ad hoc music:
Saturday, 12 September 2009, Offene Ohren @ t-u-b-e
Ensemble 2013
Wolfgang Schliemann, percussion (D)
Joachim Zoepf, soprano saxophone, bass clarinet (D)
Ulrich Phillipp, bass (D)
The Ensemble 2013 was founded in 2006 by Joachim Zoepf. Stylistically, it belongs to the new improvised music that came about in the 60s of the 20th century as an independent music genre, combining the expressive energy of free jazz with the rich sounds of new composed music.
Time and again the Ensemble 2013 manages the tightrope walk between these poles. This trio is looking for challenges, not least in interdisciplinary projects like dance and performance. There is a winsome transparency and openness of communication among the group's members and with the ever changing concert situation. Hesitation, seeking, euphoria, childlike joy of playing, a desire for experiments on the basis of longtime familiarity and technical prowess - all these factors are conveyed authentically and spontaneously.
Organised by Offene Ohren e.V.
Thursday, 17 September 2009, Unterfahrt
Bauer Bauer
Conny Bauer, trombone (D)
Johannes Bauer, trombone (D)
"Our duo playing emerged from the Doppelmoppel quartet where Johannes and I perform on trombones along with Uwe Kropinsk and Joe Sachse on guitars. It is a tremendous achievement by my brother, who is eleven years my junior, to have developed his own approach to music that is completeley different from mine."
(Conny Bauer)
"The duo is not concerned with performing fixed compositions but with two people sharing their long-standing experiences with improvised music."
(Ulrich Stock, 1995)
"Covering circular breathing and polyphonic playing as well as cascades of tonal repetitions and a virtuoso's musical lines, Conny Bauer's brillant technique is at all times awe-inspiring."
(Herbert Heil, 2004)
"Cawing, grating and screaming, Johannes Bauer comes up with ever more dissonant sound sequencies and thrills the audience by means of his imaginary and desperate soliloquy on the trombone."
(Peter Bastian, 2008)
Organised by Jazzclub Unterfahrt
Thursday, 08 October 2009, Offene Ohren @ t-u-b-e
Barre & Malcolm
Barre Phillips, bass (US/F)
Malcolm Goldstein, violin (CDN)
The meeting of violinist Malcolm Goldstein and bassist Barre Phillips in 2004 was quite unusual. Their first duo performance at the Densités Festival in Metz came about by accident after a planned trio concert had to be cancelled owing to circumstances. But this became an initial spark for the future. Eighteen months later they met again to further explore their newly discovered common territory on a short tour through the South of France.
Both are American, about the same age, they both lived and worked in New York City in the 60's (and never met) where they made their first encounters with free improvisation - Goldstein in a contemporary music setting and Phillips on the free jazz scene. They've both worked a lot with contemporary dance. In the 70's both left the buzz of metropolitan life to live in the countryside, without electricity and telephone: Goldstein in Vermont and Phillips in the French Provence.
Organised by Offene Ohren e.V.
Thursday, 22 October 2009, Unterfahrt
1000
Jan Klare, flute, clarinet, saxes
Bart Maris, trumpet
Wilbert de Joode, bass
Michael Vatcher, drums
This band is called 1000 because it was born in 2004 in a series of concerts called "1000 years of jazz", and because "1000" is a strong number and as digital as it gets.
The basic repertoire of 1000 consisted of very special interpretations of classical compositions, for example Gregorian music, Bach, Wagner, Monteverdi a.o. By and by pieces by Jan Klare were added, concentrating on the special characters in the band.
The lineup may remind you of the Ornette Coleman quartet, which is not completely wrong, but 1000 sound very different. Composition and its blending with improvisation are the prominent charateristics in this setting. The instruments change leading and accompanying roles constantly, but the music stays solid at all times.
Organised by Jazzclub Unterfahrt
Friday, 23 October 2009, Offene Ohren @ t-u-b-e
Team Up
Chris Heenan, alto saxophone, batyphone (bass clarinet) (US/D)
Jeremy Drake, guitar (US/D)
Michael Vorfeld, perkussion, stringed instruments (D)
Team Up is an electroacoustic trio featuring Jeremy Drake (Los Angeles), Chris Heenan (Berlin) and Michael Vorfeld (Berlin).
After an initial phase, when Drake and Heenan played with various percussionists (Brian Christopherson, Jerome Byerton, Andreas Axelsson, Martin Blume, Tatsuya Nakatani), Michael Vorfeld has become a constant member of the team in 2005. Combining percussion instruments with self-conceived string instruments, he is substantially contributing to the group's sonic-sensible esthetics.
The music of Team Up thrives on the union of electroacoustic and purely acoustic sounds, flickering between extremely fragile forms and massive walls of sound. As a powerful live act, the trio knows how to captivate their audience with atmospherically dense textures and sonic layers.
Organised by Offene Ohren e.V.
Wednesday, 11 November 2009 Unterfahrt
SOL 12
Luc Ex, acoustic bass Ingrid Laubrock, sax Johannes Bauer, trombone Franz Hautzinger, trumpet Isabelle Duthoit, clarinet Veryan Weston, piano Hasse Poulsen, guitar Rozemarie Heggen, double bass Mandy Drummond, viola Hannah Marshall, cello Tatiana Koleva, marimba Tony Buck, drums
Luc Ex and Veryan Weston are at the core of an ensemble promising sonic balance and versatility with its chamber music lineup.
Roaming regions of composed and improvised music, twelve exceptional musicians move between eruptive solo efforts and orchestral consonance. Contrasting lyrical runs with vibrant free jazz and occasionally even reminiscing in swing and pop, SOL 12 manages to present an overall image fraught with tension and dynamics.
Organised by Jazzclub Unterfahrt
Friday, 20 November 2009, Offene Ohren @ t-u-b-e
Clarinet 3
Michael Thieke, alto clarinet, clarinet (D)
Gebhard Ullmann, bass clarinet (D)
Jürgen Kupke, clarinet (D)
The most conspicuous aspect of Gebhard Ullmann's Clarinet Trio is its lineup: three clarinets and nothing else. No strings, no piano, no percussion. A trio in the traditional sense of the word, without entertainment ambitions and unneeded frills. That is, without electronics. Also, dispensing with artificial gimmicks or cheap appeals to current trends in life style.
The Clarinet Trio's playing is marked by fluent virtuosity in a relaxed mood. The music is a mix of imaginatative composing and delicate improvising. But it is also capable of growling, onomatopoeia and melodic swing. Owing to its resourcefulness and brilliant technique, it can do without special effects.
Organised by Offene Ohren e.V.
Monday, 30 November 2009, Offene Ohren @ t-u-b-e
Denley & Myhr
Jim Denley, saxophones, flutes, clarinets (AUS)
Kim Myhr, guitars, mechanical effects (N)
A meeting of maximal contrasts - this is what the duo constellation of Jim Denley and Kim Myhr might seem on the face of it. Two generations from diametrically opposed geographic backgrounds joining up with string and wind instruments.
Astonishingly enough, the resulting music is so homogenous, melodic, playful, responsive that one might be tempted to think of structured compositions. No such thing.
During live concerts, as well as on their first CD published this spring, there are no prearranged verbal concepts. Accordingly, terms from notated music like ostinato, melody, harmony, rhythm, beat are not really helpful here. "I'm happier not knowing" is how Denley comments these attempts at explanation. Maybe "dance" is a more appropriate description than "language" for what happens in the duo's interaction - physical totality rather than analytical dissection.
Organised by Offene Ohren e.V.
