In March and April we will illuminate three different aspects of the Piano in improvisation; the venue will be the Black Box at Gasteig.
Our first live date in this year will also be the opening concert of MUG (Munich Underground at Einstein). An ideal place and space for alternative acoustic and cross-border events. Starting in February, there will be one subsonic-Konzert at MUG each month that most of you will still know under its old name t-u-b-e.
For the palindromic opening date at MUG on Friday, 11/02/2011 we have invited the t3 trio: post-free jazz with an unrecognized genius on trombone, the English Alan Tomlinson, and the German bass-drums team of Christoph Winckel and Willi Kellers combining virtuosity, serenity and sheer joy of playing.
Willi Kellers [drums]
Alan Tomlinson [trombone]
Christoph Winckel [bass]
The opening concert of the MUG - Munich Underground at Einstein - will be a special premiere. For some time now, this trio has wanted to do a live gig together. Tomlinson and Kellers played a fascinating set with guitarist Dave Tucker at the Nickelsdorf Konfrontation in 2009. Winckel and Kellers even played in Munich with Peter Brötzmann many years ago. In the 80's all three shared the stage with Alan Wilkinson in a quartet named "Tommies and Krauts."
High time then, for a concentrated t3. Powerplay can be expected, so fasten your seat belts - we will start the season of 2011 at full throttle!
Evan Parker [saxophone]
Urs Leimgruber [saxophone]
Only two weeks after t3 two grand masters of saxophone improvisation will be together on the same stage for the first time: Urs Leimgruber from Switzerland and Evan Parker from England have expanded the expressive spectrum of their instruments in a groundbreaking way and are sure to present us with a breathtaking musical dialogue.
Individual introductions are hardly necessary, since both of them have been frequent guests in Munich. Urs Leimgruber played the first solo concert for Offene Ohren in March 2005 and also participated in other memorable dates for us.
Evan Parker appeared at the Unterfahrt in December during the annual winter journey of the Schlippenbach trio. However, this is the first time he plays in a concert organized by Offene Ohren.
à 4 mains - four hands
Christine Wodrascka [piano]
Geneviève Foccroulle [piano]
Duo 4M is a common project of two pianists, one French, one Belgian. Both are working as improvisers and as performers of New Music. Based in Toulouse, Christine Wodrascka has ongoing projects with Spanish drummer Ramon Lopez, pianist Sophie Agnel, guitarist Raymond Boni and trumpeter Jean-Luc Cappozo; she also works with Joëlle Léandre.
Born in Liège, Belgium, Geneviève Foccroulle has become known most notably through her performance of Anthony Braxton's entire piano works on CD. Beyond that she is currently active in several New Music ensembles as well as one improvisational duet with trombonist Frédéric Filiatre.
As a duet Duo 4M Wodrascka and Foccroulle play together on one piano. This approach is not aiming at a doubled virtuosity but at a musical exchange of thoughts of two individuals on one common instrument. Perfectly wonderful !!
Christoph Schiller [spinet]
Bertrand Gauguet [alto saxophone]
Rhodri Davies [harp]
In March a bordercrossing European formation with unusual lineup will come to the MUG: harp with and without electronics, alto saxopone and spinet will bring us some fascinating surprises.
The spinet is an instrument associated with Bach, Händel, Haydn, just as the harp will probably remind you of classical romanticism or Latin folklore. Here though, we will be able to experience these instruments in an abstract setting - as sound generators between fragility and furor. New insights guaranteed!
Stephen Grew [piano]
Nicholas Grew [electronics]
England's improv scene is alive and full of surprises, offering new names, unusual lineups or projects spanning generations that give rise to unexpected results. In the case of Grew & Grew it is the discovery of a whole new array of musical facets by a well-established player.
Stephen Grew has been active in the mid 90's with his own trio and later in duet with Mick Beck. The duet with his brother Nicholas is completely different. On the one hand abstract and austere, on the other hand immersing itself in grand roughhewn soundsheets. It is a duet that engages through a wealth of overtones.
Christine Sehnaoui [saxophone]
Pascal Battus [sound artist]
April will bring us a duet from the next generation: Lebanese-French saxophonist Christine Sehnaoui encountering sound artist Pascal Battus with his amplified and unamplified, acoustic and electronic objects. We can expect tension and friction, dissonance and dissolution, spontaneity and playfulness as well as a meticulous investigation of subtle details.
Industrial, free jazz, minimal drones, new ambient - but maybe also none of these - are characteristic starting points for this duet's sound explorations.
Amino Belyamani [piano]
Aakaash Israni [bass]
Qasim Naqvi [percussion]
Dawn of Midi recorded their first CD in spring 2010 after having played together for three years. And you can hear it!
Only rarely does a debut cause such a stir. Instinctively certain interaction, an incessant succession of surprises, the playful cultural crossover, an effortless flow of complex rhythms, the naturally dissolving opposites of free jazz and melancholy, blues and constructivism - truly magnificent!
And this is really only the time-honored combination of piano, bass and drums? Yes indeed.
Daniel Studer [double bass]
Peter K. Frey [double bass]
Subsonics in the best acoustic sense of the word and much more can be expected from Swiss double bass duet Daniel Studer - Peter K. Frey. Sometimes with, sometimes without electronics, the low frequencies are used as starting point for experimental excursions integrating the MUG space into the overal sound concept. T
he music is a constant flow but always to the point, consistent but full of surprises. Through their unobtrusive and fresh approach Studer and Frey manage to challenge established categories and thought patterns. Double bass playing in more than one sense of the word.
Sabine Vogel [flutes]
Mattias Petersson [live electronics]
Fredrik Olofsson [video installation]
Zufit Simon [dancing]
The first half year will end with an audiovisual event: low (and high) frequent bass flutes, live electronics and microphone applications in the room will mesmerize the open ears of our audience and the live video installations will capture their eyes. The dance performance will be the icing on the cake for this German Swedish project.
Georg Janker [bass, modulenz frequentator]
Sunk Pöschl [percussion]
Gunnar Geisse [laptop guitar]
Mo|du|la|ti|on, die; -, -en
Ein Vorgang, bei dem ein zu übertragendes Nutzsignal (= die reichhaltige Ideenwelt des Trios) ein sogenanntes Trägersignal (= den Jazz) verändert bzw. moduliert.
Back to the Roots - so könnte das Motto der aktuellen Ausgabe von „modulated works” lauten:
Gunnar Geisse entdeckt hier nach all seinen Ausflügen in Elektronik, Echtzeitsampling und Laptop-Sounds den Charme seines Erstinstrumentes, der Gitarre, aufs Neue - gewürzt mit seinen digitalen Erfahrungen. Sunk Pöschls Basis seiner Neugier für Neue Sounds - improvisierte wie komponierte - ist seit je her der Rhythmus, Swing und Drive des Jazz. Georg Jankers Umtriebigkeit am Kontrabass zwischen Blu Shuhuru-Grooves und abstrakten Klangexperimenten, mit oder ohne seiner roten elektrischen Wunderkiste, lässt ebenfalls beides erwarten:
von Straightahead-Jazz bis zu spannenden und humorvollen Ausflügen in die Improvisationswelt.
Mathias Müller [trombone]
Clayton Thomas [double bass]
Christian Marien [drums]
The Astronomical Unit was formed at the end of 2007 after Clayton Thomas had moved from Australia to Berlin. At this point, Matthias Müller and Christian Marien had already worked as a duo for many years.
Building on the duo's dense interaction and Clayton Thomas' signature style, the group quickly evolved its very own approach to improvised music.
The music of the Astronomical Unit sounds as if it was composed. The players direct their flow into channels of formal and structural clarity. Their awareness of American free jazz and European improv traditions is palpable, but they manage to challenge achieved conventions and to reinvent themselves continuously.
Dave Bennett [guitar, tapes, radio]
Derek Shirley [bass]
Michael Thieke [clarinet, zither]
hotelgäste - the name seems to imply vagueness and volatility, an inconspicuous, aimless coming and going. And yet: this German-Canadian cooperation gives rise to extremely precise and dense results.
Favouring fractally filigreed structures of microtonality rather than sonic blasts, they create wonderfully floating soundscapes. A constantly changing flow of tones and noise, silence and sound help us to experience familiar things with a completely fresh awareness.
The group's cohesion and the diverse input of every member generate complexity and clarity at the same time, promising an extraordinary concert experience.
Heidi Schnirch [dance performance]
Scott R.Looney [piano, electronics]
Klaus Janek [bass, electronics]
not in the picture: Judith Hummel [dance performance]
This duo came together for the first time at Looney's sound studio in Oakland, California, in 2009. The music is based on acoustically and structurally interacting territories, with concepts of logic and contrast as primary design methods. The result oscillates between meditative, almost ambient sounds, bold free jazz attacks and acoustic improvisation.
Klaus Janek comes from an avantgarde background, writes music for films, theater and dance and sees the bass not only as an instrument but also as a starting point for sonic research. Scott R. Looney has always been interested in a broad range of contemporary and experimental music, having played with people like Oliver Lake, ROVA, Joëlle Léandre and Henry Kaiser.
Klaus Janeks Affinität für Theater, Tanz und Performance ist es zu verdanken, dass wir im Verlauf des Konzertabends auch die zwei Tanzperformance-Künstlerinnen Judith Hummel und Heidi Schnirch begrüßen dürfen!
Georg Wolf [double bass]
Paul Hubweber [trombone]
Uli Phillipp [double bass]
Two improv duos of great caliber are brought together in this trio by Offene Ohren.
Nina Polaschegg on the bass duo Tensid: „The two players are well attuned; responding at lightning speed, they introduce pointed comments, additions, contrasts. At the same time they manage to evolve, even from widely different sounds, an extremely homogenous overall statement allowing each of the players slow or quick deviations at will.„
The audio-magazine Bad Alchemy on Pas Appât: „Hubweber's tone has a gentle roughness that is furry or velvety or 180-grit sandpaper. The fundamental approach is silky but at the same time insistent and cautiously probing. Wolf, a key player of the Giessen Improvisers Pool and the ensemble Sondarc, plays around Hubweber's subtle work with delicate chirping. In addition to his bow, he seems to use needles for micropercussive accents and dainty seams. Voilà the good news of the new improvised music.
Christian Wallumrød [piano]
Xavier Charles [clarinet]
Ingar Zach [percussion]
Ivar Grydeland [guitare]
The name alone points strongly to the organically slow but steady and inexorable evolution of the group and its music.
During their last visit in Munich, at the Jazzlines in March 2009, they mesmerized their audience by originating, blending and transforming the subtlest of sounds and timbres. The core of the quartet was formed by Grydeland and Zach in the late 90's. Later in Norway - and also via ECM - they encountered Wallumrød and Charles. Finally in 2006, the quartet's music was documented on CD for the first time.
Even then they had an incredibly homogenous group sound that has been further perfected since. The group's concerts are like a film, making the audience forget time and space.
Fine Kwiatkowski [dance, video]
Willehad Grafenhorst [contrabass balalaika, electronics, video]
with guests:
Peter Geisselbrecht [piano]
Wolfgang Schliemann [drums]
Strömungen is a work in progress allowing artists to participate in a multimedia performance and to redefine rooms - in this instance the Munich Underground - through dance, music and video.
Computercontrolled projections are used to challenge the architecture of the premises in question. Spatial contours vanish in a collage of abstract and representational video images.
The dancing body conquers the room, changes the light's proportions and, interacting with the music, becomes itself a projection surface. The process in each case is determined by a sequence of light and images produced by two video projectors controlled by linked computers - the whole performance interspersed with a live video feed from a wireless microcamera on Fine Kwiatkowski's wrist.
George Cremaschi [bass]
Liz Allbee [trumpet, electronics]
Chris Heenan [contrabass clarinet, alto saxophon]
The members of this trio hail from Vermont, New York and Washington DC but have got together in Berlin.
Drawing on diverse musical roots, the group succeeds in bringing freshness, complexity and unruliness to each of its concerts.
Albee focuses mainly on her trumpet here - with and without electronics. Cremaschi's musical vision encompasses, alongside jazz, contrasting styles like rock, folk, classical orchestra, theater and installations. Heenan works extensively as a solo performer on the contrabass clarinet and in a large variety of experimental music projects. One of these has already payed a visit to Offene Ohren: TeamUp with Michael Vorfeld and Jeremy Drake.
The concerts are organised by Offene Ohren e.V. (main organiser) and City of Munich, Department of Arts and Culture (co-organiser).