Paradoxical Frog: Kris Davis, Ingrid Laubrock, and Tyshawn Sorey: Live at the Village Vanguard – July 21, 2026

By Brian Earley

My daughter and I walked up Seventh Avenue on a balmy, post-thunderstorm July night to one of the most well-known, and most sacred, of all jazz venues on the planet, the storied Village Vanguard, to catch the opening night of a week-long residence by the trio Paradoxical Frog.

Readers of the Free Jazz Blog might care to know this was a historical occasion and one that involved the reuniting of three musicians often discussed here at the FJC: pianist Kris Davis, saxophonist Ingrid Laubrock, and drummer Tyshawn Sorey.

Behind the famous red doors that evening would perform an avant-garde trio that had not played together in over a decade. And the band’s unconventional leanings are perhaps less alien to the Vanguard than one might first guess. Davis and Sorey have performed at the Vanguard countless times, and Laubrock’s appearance is as rare and welcome as the recent celebrated stint of the James Brandon Lewis Quartet in the West Village club. This is to say nothing of the audience in the house that night: I spotted Sylvie Courvoisier a few seats behind me, and encountered William Parker outside the doors after the first set had concluded. Davis actually opened the show fact-checking the record. “I was corrected on social media,” she said. “It has not been fifteen years since the three of us played together; it has been eleven.” In any case, for listeners to either of the group’s two Cleanfeed recordings, 2010’s Paradoxical Frog, and 2012’s Union, it had been a long wait to hear these three masters perform in this distinct context.

The opening night’s set consisted of four long compositions, all of which have appeared on record at some point. The first performance, a combination of Laubrock’s “Masterisk” and Davis’s “Union” spanned over twenty-nine minutes. Seeing the work live allowed me to confirm just how through-composed these Paradoxical Frog pieces are. Note the extensive paper scores in Davis’s and Sorey’s hands and the extensions on Laubrock’s music stand: a necessary tool to display the lengthy writings of each work without requiring the saxophonist to flip pages of these surprising compositions that challenge functional harmony and defy circular rhythm.

 

The third work was “Whistlings” from 2020’s Blood Moon, the Intakt Records duo of Davis and Laubrock. The live performance, over twice the length of the original recording, featured Laubrock on soprano saxophone and Tyshawn Sorey on a sonic array of material, at times the room so quiet that Sorey’s percussion would consist of simply waving his brushes in the air, an effect that hauntingly filled the room with audible whisperings.

The set concluded with Sorey’s “Slow Burn,” clocking in at over sixteen minutes and featuring the mysterious repetition of single notes on Davis’s piano keys. It was moving to see these three unite again, and I am certain I do not speak alone in voicing my hopes for more work in the future, maybe even a Live at the Village Vanguard recording to place among some of the mythical voices who have passed through that hallowed underground room.

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Linda May Han Oh at Lutherkirche, Duisburg (December 2025)

By Matty Bannond

Nothing in Duisburg stays stuck in place for long. The north-west German city, where the Rhine and Ruhr rivers converge, is home to the world’s largest inland port. That gives it a restless and fast-flowing character that neatly matches bassist Linda May Han Oh’s music. Her band sailed into town on a cold night in mid-November to deliver a shipment of buoyant sonic cargo.

Much of that buoyancy derived from three-part harmonies combining vocals from Oh and Sara Serpa with Will Vinson’s strident alto saxophone. Their voices resounded off the Lutherkirche’s black stone floor and floated up to its high ceiling. Whirlwind percussion from Mark Whitfield Jr. completed the group. Pianist Fabian Almazan was also aboard the band’s European voyage but missed this show due to (sea)sickness. The concert was part of the long-running Intermezzo series.

To cast off, the four-person crew used the rapid current of their leader’s output to merge two tunes together. “Respite”, from the bassist’s sixth album Glass Hours(Biopihilia Records, 2024), surged into a new piece called “Block Party”. Oh was light-footed, dipping her bass like a ballroom dance partner. Her dynamism imbued the written and spontaneous material with irresistible momentum.

Just after the halftime interval, “Halo” gave the audience a chance to more deeply immerse themselves in Serpa’s singing. The Portuguese improviser’s expansive low notes flooded the venue and her crystalline high register sparkled. The song is another bouncy composition that featured a boppy saxophone solo followed by stormy sections from bass and drums.

With their piano-playing shipmate on shore leave, Vinson made two attempts to navigate the keyboard. He even embarked on an extensive solo on “Prayer for Freedom”, where the rhythmic focus contrasted with his more phrase-driven saxophone explorations. Whitfield Jr. added a military undercurrent via his snare. The effervescent drummer earned several of the night’s loudest ovations.

Unusually, this tune used English-language lyrics instead of non-lexical vocals. That gave it the air of a sermon preached at the church’s congregation, while most of the concert felt more like a collective revelation. This was an evening of venturesome music from a band that transported listeners to warmer places than chilly Duisburg—before floating away on the ocean of life, like a ship passing in the night.

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Die Hochstapler live at Manufaktur Schorndorf 9/5/2025

Die Hochstapler

 By Martin Schray

There are still school holidays in the southern states of Germany, but the Manufaktur in Schorndorf has already begun the second half of its free jazz program. The audience turnout was therefore somewhat modest, but those who were there on September 5 witnessed a spectacular concert. Die Hochstapler (the German word for imposters), a French-Italian-German quartet featuring Pierre Borel (sax), Antonio Borghini (b), Louis Laurain (tp), and Hannes Lingens (dr), delivered two outstanding sets.

The band has been around for a long time, and this was evident in every phase of the concert. The musical idea behind the project is that the sets are entirely improvised on the one hand, on the other hand the musicians repeatedly draw on a foundation of themes, riffs, scale sequences, or preconceived ideas, which happens spontaneously. These parts are mostly almost classical avant-garde jazz or often reminiscent of Ornette Coleman's legendary piano-less quartet with Don Cherry, Charlie Haden, and Billy Higgins. But what makes the band so special is its lightness, elegance, and joy of playing. Sounds are explored extensively and diligently to the full and then, almost imperceptibly, transformed into jazz blocks. This also works wonderfully the other way around: a bebop riff is exploited to the full and comes to an abrupt halt, so that the audience is not quite sure whether they are at the end of a track or whether it will continue (it actually always continues), because the band then uses notes very, very sparingly. These transitions are set by the musicians through individual notes or sequences of notes, which the others notice and then know with somnambulistic certainty what to do next. This creates heavy blues parts reminiscent of The Thing, but with finer horn lines and less angry and aggressive attacks (such as at the end of the first set). Another special feature of Die Hochstapler is the fact that they also play with the space and its sonic possibilities. The band members wandered around the Manufaktur several times; Louis Laurain, for example, once walked through the audience and used the listeners’ glasses as percussion instruments. This resulted in ever-changing arrangements and playing ideas, with Borel and Laurain repeatedly putting their wind instruments aside and using extended playing techniques and various small percussion instruments. Finally, there were several highlights in the concert: the aforementioned blues number at the end of the first set, an increase in intensity through a slow glide into high and highest registers after about 20 minutes, a unison section that was actually reminiscent of minimal music, a swing passage in the second part in which Borel and Laurain played a hook line and increased their speed, but Borghini and Lingens did not follow them, they even slowed down a little, creating an impression of incongruity. Musically, this was an absolutely crazy moment of insane density, followed by a spectacular solo by Borel, which actually received spontaneous applause.

Incidentally, the band’s motto for the evening was “playing with your eyes open”, as the musicians have realized that they often play with their eyes closed. But it was also worthwhile for the audience to not only listen, but also to watch. You could see from Antonio Borghini’s satisfied grin that the musicians were having a lot of fun. Werner Hassler, the booker at Manufaktur, called it “the concert of the year“. The bar has definitely been set high for the upcoming gigs in the fall.

Die Hochstapler are playing a few more gigs in Central Europe. If you have the opportunity to see them nearby, don’t miss it. Here are a few dates: 

Imperia / Italy, Teatro dell’ Attrito, 9/12/25

Halle / Germany, Büro für, 11/22/25

Berlin / Germany, Industriesalon Schöneweide, 11/23/2025

Graz / Austria, Tubes, 1/15/26

Nuremberg / Germany, Jazzstudio, 1/16/26

Leipzig / Germany, Villa Ida, 1/17/26

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Svetlost, Ken Vandermark, Paal Nilsen-Love – Skopje, 16.04.25

Photo by Dime Danov

By Irena Stevanovska

The tour opened in Skopje. Ken Vandermark, Paal Nilsen-Love, and the Macedonian band Svetlost took the stage for the night of their Balkan journey. The audience in Skopje was visibly excited, many in the crowd were already familiar with improvisational music, and even before the concert began, the anticipation could be felt. The spring air could be felt too – there was a warmth and openness around the venue, matching the mood and excitement. 

Paal Nilsen-Love. Photo by Dime Danov

Inside, the set-up said it all: Two drum kits (Paal Nilsen-Love, Kristijan Novkovski), a bass guitar (Deni Omeragić) and spots for the saxophones and clarinets (Ken Vandermark, Ninoslav Spirovski). Paal Nilsen-Love is known on this scene for working together with other drummers and big groups of people, since we were able to watch him live with his Large Unit on the Skopje Jazz Festival in 2017. 

Kristijan Novkovski. Photo by Dime Danov

Once the musicians took the stage, Ken introduced the set. The tracks were his compositions – very new ones. Joined by the trio Svetlost, which is already pretty well-known to the Macedonian audience, together with Paal Nilsen-Love, they brought Ken’s compositions to life in a very specific, unique and striking way.

The first track began immediately, all instruments coming in at once – no slow build, just full force. The second part of the composition followed with Ken and Ninoslav both playing the clarinet, while Deni held the bass line steady in the background. The drums often alternated in a broken, syncopated rhythm, trading phrases and textures. Two drummers in a live setting always brings an extra layer of energy – it’s endlessly fun to listen to. 

Ninoslav Spirovski and Ken Vandermark. Photo by Dime Danov

As the concert continued, Ken mentioned that the second track, composed just since his arrival in Skopje, still didn’t even have a name. It was that new. When the track started, it carried a more consistent bass line, grounding the rhythm. The saxophones, switching in and out with clarinets, created a melody that it felt like it was pulled from the very heart of nature, there was a sense of the forest in it. I can imagine that it is because many who come to Macedonia often find themselves drawn to the surrounding mountains. The clarinet in particular is such a perfect instrument for evoking that kind of atmosphere, its sound awakes something rooted in the environment, maybe because the clarinet itself is created from such a foresty material. 

Deni Omeragić. Photo by Dime Danov

As the concert went on, the chaotic moments kept weaving their way through the music. In a later track, Ken mentioned the environment that had inspired him for the particular piece, the track was called “44 casinos”, a title that came from something simple but pretty striking. Since coming in Macedonia, just 5 days before the concert, he has counted exactly 44 Casinos. The crowd reacted with laughter, recognizing the irony, as we were all too aware of the problem Macedonia has with casinos popping up everywhere. It was interesting to see though, that someone had found inspiration in it. It's always fascinating to see how a place can inspire a great musician to create new work. The ability to turn impressions of a new city into abstract art, especially in free, improvised music, is something that truly captivates me.

And luckily for us, they recorded an album featuring these compositions, so soon we’ll all be able to hear this unique combination from artists from different corners of the world.

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Wendy Eisenberg, More Eaze, Emily Wittbrodt and Ryan Sawyer at JAKI, Cologne

By Matty Bannond

Something chlorine-scented is heroically battling the stench of mold at JAKI—but the club’s neatly spaced overhead tube lights have shrugged a meek surrender to shadow. Perhaps jet-black paint or glittery murals cover the walls. Maybe tooth fairies or werewolves fill the fifty seats. The naked eye gets bundled up in a pitch-dark blanket at this highly regarded, subterranean venue on April 7.

On a low stage, guitarist and vocalist Wendy Eisenberg performs alongside two collaborators all the way from the USA and one comrade based right here in Cologne, Germany. Violin and pedal steel guitar player More Eaze (Mari Rubio) and drummer Ryan Sawyer have traversed perilous landscapes and seascapes to support Set One. Cellist Emily Wittbrodt has flopped out of bed to join Set Two.

The show starts with “Lasik”, which also kicks off Eisenberg’s 2024 release Viewfinder (American Dreams Records). Like an angel’s wingtip, the guitarist’s delicate singing slices through thick clouds of sound from violin and drums. Eisenberg reaches for typically spidering melodic shapes beneath lyrics that mix the plain-speaking intimacy of a teenager’s diary with harder-won, slower-cooked insights.

More Eaze switches to pedal steel for “Another Lifetime Floats Away” and “I Don’t Miss You”. The instrument’s slippery, meowing properties make it a neat fit with Eisenberg’s vocals. Again, the lyrics tell homely stories wrapped in near-translucent layers of deeper messaging. There are elements of country music in the first of these two tunes, with echoes of Johnny Marr’s guitar in the second.

A cello and some sheet music arrive on stage after the interval. The quartet presents three Wittbrodt compositions that unfold tenderly behind her patient poetry. Next comes a More Eaze piece balanced on shifting sonic-tectonic plates. Sawyer then sings “Hate Is The New Love”, taken from The Mekons’ album OOOH (Quartersick Records, 2002). His faltering vocals bring out the mournful quality of the song text, which feels bang up-to-date despite its quarter-century vintage.

Big emotions run through the music of this small group. Wendy Eisenberg is a fancy-free artist who flirts with every style, from free jazz to folk storytelling and miles beyond, without ever settling down with one of them. Even with foul smells and disorienting gloom in JAKI’s windowless underground vault, this trio-plus-one gave its audience something fresh and bright to carry home.

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Chris Corsano with Georges Paul live at Underflow Record Store & Gallery (Athens, 24.2.2025)

 

By Fotis Nikolakopoulos

Tenor rising, drums expanding!

As Georges Paul’s tenor sax erupted, after brief moments of silence, into bursts of noisy repeated phrases, provoking equally energetic responses from Chris Corsano’s drums, the aforementioned phrase came to my mind. A collective expanding universe of drums, various percussion objects and a tenor saxophone. Free jazz.

We haven’t seen Chris Corsano live in Athens for some years now, so for us Athenians it was a big event and a lot of people felt the same about this gig as me. The rapture of this duo –totally in the magnificent tradition of the sax-drums duos from the past- was immense, catching many of us off guard from the very end. Someone could comment that since there is no recording by this duo, they have forged their musical relationship the old-fashioned way. Just by playing live together. Their performance, which lasted for almost an hour, was divided into two sets. Not knowing what to expect, the two musicians allowed a big flow of energy through aggressive playing, filling the room with excitement, as I could see on many faces.

Trying to be objective when writing or reviewing is a difficult task by itself, becoming even more difficult, I believe, when it comes to the live experience. Their two sets where at times fragmentary, at times fully cohesive. They , in my eyes and ears at least, that they followed an invisible trajectory that involved pushing each other to go ahead, while listening attentively to what each one had to say. There were no actual solos, but, from time to time, room for both to play on their own. Phrases and gurgles from the tenor saxophone were intertwined with Corsano’s full use of his modified kit. Joyful noises, many of them, were followed by very short passages of silence. But mostly aggressive, passionate playing leading to what this music has always been about: transcendence and catharsis.

With a tenor sax that rose over the roof and a drum set that expanded into polyrhythmic territories…

 

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Kahil El’Zabar and the Ethnic Heritage Ensemble @ Space Gallery

Kahil El’Zabar @Ueberjazz 2024
Photo by Wanja Wiese_Art

By Gary Chapin

Question: Why would it be that an artist or art that has been widely recognized as wonderful, groove-tastic, ecstatic, and cool for fifty years “suddenly” becomes transcendent, “suddenly” becomes preternaturally compelling, “suddenly” becomes the best music you’ve heard live in years?

Is it the persistence of the vision that transports you? Has the music been gaining gravity over the past 50 years? Is it improvement? Has the artist upped their game year after year and now, in the present moment, they transcend? Or is it the quality of the audience? Has the time, space, context, trauma, and treasure of “us today” rendered the present moment into the right time? Or is it a mystical alignment of the river and the foot stepping into it? Never the same twice, but perfect for this exact moment?

These were my thoughts in the days after attending Kahil El’Zabar’s Ethnic Heritage Ensemble performance at the Space Gallery in Portland, ME, on February 4, 2025.

The trio came into a sold out room and began with the “little instruments” percussion wash that the AACM has turned into a sacred ritual. The Ethnic Heritage Ensemble has celebrated its 50th year as one of the only extant ensembles from the collective’s early days (possibly one can say the Art Ensemble is still around). The audience—packed in—was ready to be embraced.

Corey Wilkes, trumpet, and Kevin Nabors, tenor, traveled the spectrum. The head of the first tune was quirky, post-boppish, and soulful with space and tricky syncopations, but the solos were barnburners, the sorts of things where outlandish blowing is occasionally accomplished by pistoning the keys/plungers using your forearm and the elbow as a fulcrum. This first tune, apparently a mission statement for the evening, ended with Zabar’s own solo which had enough kinetic energy to raise a house. Rarely has destructive energy (hitting) been used to create so extravagantly.

That said, Zabar did not spending that much time behind the kit, often coming out front to sit on the most thoroughly, skillfully, and soulfully whacked cajon I’ve ever heard, or playing a “thumb piano” (of all things) in a way that defied all expectations of what most people think of as a gift shop tchotchke. Through it all, Zabar threaded his songs and vocalizations, bringing together the blues and the choir, uniting Saturday night and Sunday morning. This was spiritual, trance-making music, joined with noise, play, and ecstasy. His wordless singing has a dreamlike quality to it, evoking joy without being required to articulate it.

The evening had half a dozen pieces. Zabar’s own “A Time for Healing” was the center of the set. The trio’s rendition of “All Blues” was the most sublime moment, with Wilkes’ harmon mute (of course) bending the room to his will. McCoy Tyner’s “Passion Dance” came through like a cyclone. Zabar’s tribute to Ornette Coleman mesmerized us, with Nabors provoking a standing O in the middle of the tune. The evening ended with a solo vocal performance from Zabar, a love standard—”my mother’s favorite”—rendered in Zabar’s unique scatted/sung/dreamscaped/onomatopoetic way. It was funny, adventurous, exciting, and remarkably touching.

Was this the best performance I’ve seen in the last few years? Maybe. At the very least, when we discovered, after the concert, that the keys had been locked in our car on an evening when the temperature began at 8 degrees and only went down—my sense of joy was in no way dampened. I after-glowed the drive home, lightly buzzing as I made my way back into the dark, snow-blanketed Maine Woods.

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Daniel Carter, Stan Zenkov, Keenan Ruffin, Zachary Swanson and Dave Miller at Troost, Brooklyn

 By Matty Bannond

Outside this cramped bar in Green Point, raindrops on the windowpane are smudging green light from a neon sign: VACANCY. Inside, there’s very little vacant space—but there is something missing. The internet claims that multi-instrumentalist Daniel Carter will perform in this rectangular venue on December 10. But he isn’t here.

The bartender has lank, shoulder-length blond hair and a grandmotherly moustache. He doesn’t know if there’s live music tonight. He doesn’t know what has been announced online. And he doesn’t know the WiFi code because the connection is only used to operate the bar’s digital eToaster. There are four imported beers on tap and twenty people in the building. They’re sporting too-small baseball caps, too-big denim jackets and two-length mullet hairstyles.

Truly, this is Brooklyn.

None of the bar’s patrons are Daniel Carter. The saxophonist, flutist, clarinetist and trumpeter has been performing around New York’s most populous borough since the early 1970s. Carter is also co-founder of Brooklyn-based experimental label 577 Records. In 2025, he will celebrate his eightieth birthday. Tonight, he’s allegedly playing alongside Stan Zenkov (reeds), Keenan Ruffin (electric guitar), Zachary Swanson (double bass) and Dave Miller (drums).

Eventually, we do get some music—from Brittlestar. This trio combines Samantha Kochis’ various flutes with Nick Saia’s guitar and Asher Herzog’s drums. Saia explores single-note lines for much of the gig, embracing a percussive style that neatly fits Herzog’s busy playing. Kochis is hard to hear but occasionally cuts through with trilling, north-to-south patterns.

The rusty door opens in the heart of the set and a slender figure, laden with instrument cases, shuffles inside. Brittlestar is building momentum now. In the eye of a growing sonic storm, Daniel Carter assembles three horns and loops two neck-straps over his head.

When his instruments and collaborators are ready to play, Carter reaches for his trumpet and stands slightly apart from the rest of the group. He is glaring down at the sticky floor. After ten minutes, he attaches a mute to the bell of his horn, plays three notes, then removes the mute and packs it away. This opening section has a get-to-know-you feeling that gradually opens up to something with more friction and provocation. Zenkov adds fluttery techniques on alto saxophone. In response, Carter lays down his trumpet and selects his tenor sax. Swanson’s bass is cajoling and alert. Miller is judicious, keeping a low profile except to jumpstart the group when the ebb and flow requires it. Ruffin is a shape-driven player, tonight, who clings to solid sounds and structures for long periods.

Dusty, dark-orange light gives Troost a warm and almost molten character. Carter seems to breathe it in and exhale it through his revolving range of hardware. With the saxophone to his lips, he stares wide-eyed over the neck and out through the back of the venue. He speaks into the gaps between sounds. But how did he know those gaps would arrive? He strikes in the exact same moment as his bandmates. But how did he know what they would play? Or when?

Switch off the green sign. Daniel Carter is here. And like the futuristic toaster behind the bar, he is connecting to something unseen and unknowable.

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Summer Memories: Gunter 'Baby' Sommer's Sister and Brotherhood and Jazzwerkstatt Peitz

My apologies! These have been sitting in my 'to-post' pile too long now. So, as the clocks start falling back for winter, here's a little remembrance of the summer, first with a review of Gunter 'Baby' Sommer's contribution to the "Free Jazz Big Band" niche, and a photo exhibit from the Jazzwerksatt Peitz Festival.

Gunter 'Baby' Sommer's Sister and Brotherhood @ Jazz am Kaisersteg. July 22, Berlin

Gunter "Baby" Sommer. Photo by G. v. Schroeder

By Paul Acquaro

Günter 'Baby' Sommer’s big-band project brings together a stellar ensemble in what can only be described as a who's who of the Berlin music scene, paying tribute to Chris McGregor’s legendary 'Brotherhood of Breath.' With unfettered joy, the ensemble captures the spirit of the beloved musician through Sommer’s compositions, original works from the 1970s, and pieces by other ensemble members.

The musical arrangements are centered around Sommer’s multi-directional rhythms. Sitting stage left, the 80-year-young percussionist anchors the group with his dynamic drumming. The band fills the stage with a diverse, vibrant presence, while Scottish saxophonist Raymond MacDonald not only plays but occasionally takes on the role of conductor and arranger.

Standout solos by woodwind player Gebhard Ullman and saxophonist Anna Kaluza captured the audience, but in a crowd of seasoned musicians like Frank Gratkowski, Silke Eberhart, Matthias Schubert, and trombonists Anke Lucks, Marleen Dahms, and Gerhard Gschlößl, alongside trumpeters Nikolaus Neuser and Martin Klingeberg, each brought their unique flair. The rhythm section, featuring bassist Antonio Borghini and Sommer’s long-time collaborator from the classic GDR (East German) Free Jazz band Synopisis (later Zentrallquartett), added depth, dynamism, and a bit of history to the ensemble.

The setting was equally captivating. Nestled in a small green pocket along the Spree river, in the heart of a former industrial area - once one of Europe’s largest - Jazzkeller69's 'Jazz at the Kaisersteg' offers a powerful connection between the audience and the music, bringing jazz from the clubs into the open park. Here, newcomers might stumble upon free jazz, feel inspired, and come back wanting more. Experiencing Sommer’s Free Jazz Big Band is like taking a bite-size crash course in Free Jazz history, while enjoying a showcase of some of the city's best established and emerging musicians.

Jazzwerkstatt 61. August 2024, Peitz, Germany 

I wrote the snippet below about the Jazzwerkstatt Peitz Festival on the occasion of its 50th anniversary in 2023:

Affectionately called Woodstock am Karpfenteich, the nickname of the Peitz festival captures the spirit of the time. In the GDR, it was a moment for the younger generation to get together and express themselves in a closely watched political system. Going back to the programs from the festival's start from 1973 until 1982, when it was shut down by the authorities, is pretty mouthwatering. Names like Peter Brötzmann, Johannes Bauer, Conny Bauer, Leo Smith, Peter Kowald, Günter “Baby” Sommer, Harry Beckett, Harry Miller, Louis Moholo, John Surman, Barre Phillips, Barry Guy, and so many more, ring a Pavolvian bell for the the free jazz fan. Fortunately, much of the music was recorded and has been - and still is being - released by Uli Blobel on his Jazzwerkstatt label. Starting in 2011, the festival started up again in Peitz, with a just as rich line ups - if not more so - of musicians.

This year, founder and long time curator Uli Blobel handed the reins over to his daughter Marie Blobel, who organized the festival's 2024 edition. On hand was frequent Free Jazz Collective collaborator Cristina Marx who valiantly photographed the entire three day festival often in the blazing sun. Here is some of what she captured:

ØKSE

Peter Evans' Being and Becoming

Monk's Casino

Carl Ludwig Hübsch’s Longrun Development of the Universe

 

Mette Rasmussen & Sun-Mi Hong

Willi Kellers The Circle

Willi Kellers with Jazzpreis Brandenburg (sculpture by Helge Leiberg)

Etienne Nillesen

Schnellertollermeier

Mieke Miami’s Birdland

Daniel Erdmann – Aki Takase

Pospieszalski - Andrezejewski

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John Butcher @ 70: Berlin Weekend

All photos (c) Cristina Marx/Photomusix

By Paul Acquaro (text) and Cristina Marx (photos)

In advance of his 70th birthday (October 25, 1954), British saxophonist John Butcher performed for three consecutive nights at the recently renovated experimental music space KM28 in Berlin's lively Neukölln district. The musical program featured six different configurations, with Butcher being the main connecting element, although his long history with the city certainly played a role as well.

Each night of the residency followed an intentional pattern. As Butcher explained, "I wanted each night to start with a duo. It's the most intimate situation for both the players and listeners and I like the clarity of intention one usually hears. Then the trios and quartet, which generate very different dynamics of interaction."

The series kicked off with Butcher and pianist Magda Mayas, who also was co-organizer of the event, who along with photographer Cristina Marx (whose photos are featured here) made the birthday concert residency a reality. Butcher and Mayas' performance, which, although they have played together in different combinations over many years, was their first as a duo. The set was captivating, built on fluttering and fleeting harmonics and overtones of Mayas' prepared piano and Butcher's unique musical language. 

All of the sets were unique, building on old and new collaborators, all drawing out different sides of Butcher's playing. Butcher further elaborated, "it was primarily based around my relationships with Berlin based musicians - some going back 25 years (Axel & Werner) - but adding Angharad (who herself has strong Berlin connections) and Xavier (so we could present The Contest of Pleasures - the one "regular" group). It principally involved musicians I had a history with, although it was the first time I'd played with Andrea and only the second with Emilio.

"The duo with Magda, the trio with Emilio & Liz, and the quartet were all first time combinations, " he continued, and "the duos with Angharad and Tony have been very occasional, perhaps 2 or 3 times."

The end result of all the arrangements was a musically rich event, with Butcher seemingly drawing on ever refreshing sources of inspiration and a very happy birthday party for all involved.

Thursday, Sept 12:

MAYAS & BUTCHER
Magda Mayas (piano) & John Butcher (saxophone)

 

THE CONTEST OF PLEASURES
Axel Dörner (trumpet), Xavier Charles (clarinet) & John Butcher (saxophone)

The Mayas and Butcher set was followed by a reconvening of a long standing "Contest of Pleasures" with trumpeter Axel Dorner and french clarinetist Xavier Charles. The trio's music was telepathic and episodic, one musician introducing an idea and the others quickly reacting to it, sometimes in harmony and other times with harsh dissonance. Extended techniques were plentiful, with the group employing many out of the ordinary approaches to playing their respective instruments.

Friday, Sept 13

BUCK & BUTCHER
Tony Buck (drums) & John Butcher (saxophone)

 

Opposite of the tonal experiments of the first night, the duo opened the night in a more rhythmically syncopated and melodically straight-forward way. Buck used each limb to play a different instrument (chimes, shaker, bells and bass drum) in interweaving times. Butcher followed his melodic muse, first on tenor sax and then on soprano, his freely improvised lines flowing around the polyrythmic percussion. Traces of his highly personal approach to the saxophone - fluttering, chirps, and resonant tones - adorned the music as the two barrelled through a short but complete set.

 

ALLBEE, GORDOA & BUTCHER
Liz Allbee (trumpet), Emilio Gordoa (vibraphone, percussion) & John Butcher (saxophone)

The trio began agitatedly, Gordoa furiously bowing a cymbal, Albee deepening her sound with a mute, and Butcher leaning into signiature multiphonics. Experimental playing, from a bowed beer can to blowing through the trumpet's spit-release valve, abounded as the trio tacitly followed and pulled the musical strands that connected them.

Saturday, Sept 14

 

DAVIES & BUTCHER
Angharad Davies (violin) & John Butcher (saxophone)  

The first set of the last evening began with saliva gurgling in the mouthpiece of the sax as an atonal melody slowly emerged from the violin. Then, the centrifugal forces formed from the circular intensity of Davies playing, which seemed to amplify Butcher's humming and vibrating melodies. Roles then reversed, but the musical tensions stayed strong until the end of this gripping set.

BUTCHER–NEUMANN–DAFELDECKER–BEINS
John Butcher (saxophone)
Andrea Neumann (piano, electronics)
Werner Dafeldecker (double bass, electronics)
Burkhard Beins (percussion)

The final set was with Polwechsel members Werner Dafeldecker and Burkhard Beins, along with Andrea Neumann. The quartet, a deep representation of the Echtzeit musik scene of Berlin (Neuman, Beins and Dafeldecker were all early participants) covered the sonic possibilities from extreme quiet to extended techniques (i.e. steel wool on drums) to train like chugging taking the group to energetic peaks.

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Paul Lovens 75 - Cologne, Loft, 9/1/2024

Photo by OhWeh

By Martin Schray

In recent years, things have gone quiet around Paul Lovens, one of the great drummers of European free jazz. His body has been bothering him (knees, back, hands), which was the reason why he decided that it no longer made sense to play live a few years ago. On the occasion of his 75th birthday in June, Hans Martin Müller, the man behind the Loft in Cologne, asked himself how the man could be honored and it turned out that this could be done as part of the Cologne Jazzweek. Müller - as he explains in his introduction - met Lovens in Aachen (Lovens’s home town) in the 1970s and, after founding the Loft almost 35 years ago, Lovens played there time and again. For the concert Müller coordinated the musicians who played at the Loft in Lovens’s honor with Lovens; all of them had played with the drummer at some point (with the exception of Michael Vatcher). And before the concert finally started, Müller said the crucial sentence: “Paul Lovens never had his own band under his name, but he made every band he played in better.“ Frank Gratkowski (alto saxophone and bass clarinet), Tobias Delius (saxophone, clarinet), Florian Stoffner (guitar), Philip Zoubek (piano), Wilbert De Joode (bass) and Michael Vatcher (drums and percussion) played in his honor. However, this was not supposed to be a sextet, but two trios. 

The basic idea for both trios was that the musical focus should be more of a chamber music style. Philip Zoubek, Frank Gratkowski and Michael Vatcher started off with a strong 20-minute set. Their three pieces in total were characterized by the above-mentioned rather chamber music-like playing style, which they didn’t maintain continuously - on the contrary. It was a constant alternation of spherical, meditative passages (especially with Gratkowski on bass clarinet), hard sections with harsh staccatos from Vatcher and almost what you could call classic free jazz of the old school. Extended playing techniques played an important role for all three on that night (Zoubek on the prepared piano, Vatcher on the singing saw and Gratkowski sometimes stuffs a glass of water into his sax).

The second set was then performed by Delius, Wilbert de Joode and Florian Stoffner. The music of this trio also thrives on the contrasts in improvisation, which - as with the trio before - blend together almost perfectly (which is all the more interesting because Stoffner has never played with Delius and de Joode before). This trio, however, places a somewhat stronger emphasis on the melodies, with Delius in particular repeatedly interspersing real swinging solos and de Joode also providing rather tender support, while Stoffner’s playing on this evening clearly shows how much he is obviously influenced by Derek Bailey (which is meant as a compliment). The whole thing is at its best when all three accelerate, Delius shouting into his sax, de Joode stroking the bass and using it like a rhythm guitar while Stoffner let the harmonics rain down. In these moment the trio sounded like some projects of the legendary British Incus label. It was as if you were listening to a swarm of insects in a dead tree stump. All in all a great trio that hopefully hasn't played together for the last time.

Anyone who would now like to see Paul Lovens once again and listen to music in his honor can still do so. On September 8 at 6 p.m., Sebi Tramontana (trombone) and Florian Stoffner (guitar) will be playing at the Musikbunker in Aachen. Paul will also be there.

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