Draksler

It’s no wonder that a pianist with such a large sonic vision of her own instrument has an orchestral way of imagining sound and sonic associations, with her dedications to both the solo and the large ensemble formats complementing each other. Unexpected could be her interest to the song imprint and the voice (here delivered to the singers Bjork Nielsdottir and Laura Polence), because the impulse to work with it comes from other concerns and interests, but the Slovenian artist values timbre and acoustic quality in a special way: her love for vocal music is understandable.

Kaja Draksler, Petter Eldh and Christian Lillinger are among the most thrilling, deep, and versatile figures to emerge in Europe over the last decade and the music of the trio is nothing less than a hybrid of personalities largely unimaginable if one examined the work of the players outside of this configuration. They knew they had something special right away. Lillinger and Eldh have been working together for much of the last decade, forming an implacable bond within the wildly agile quartet Amok Amor with trumpeter Peter Evans and saxophonist Wanja Slavin. “We’ve really found a way to morph and stretch forms and groove, and I feel there’s a very strong core between us,” says the drummer.

Kaja Draksler, Petter Eldh and Christian Lillinger are among the most thrilling, deep, and versatile figures to emerge in Europe over the last decade and the music of the trio is nothing less than a hybrid of personalities largely unimaginable if one examined the work of the players outside of this configuration.

Kaja Draksler, Petter Eldh and Christian Lillinger are among the most thrilling, deep, and versatile figures to emerge in Europe over the last decade and the music of the trio is nothing less than a hybrid of personalities largely unimaginable if one examined the work of the players outside of this configuration. They knew they had something special right away.

Following their acclaimed 2018 debut album, the band Punkt.Vrt.Plastik, which brings together Kaja Draksler, Petter Eldh and Christian Lillinger, three of the most exciting, profound and versatile musicians on the European jazz scene, presents another stroke of genius. With Somit they take their urgent ensemble playing to new heights, creating a highly individual sound aesthetic with unusual instrumentation (Kaja Draksler plays two different upright pianos) and sophisticated post-production, culminating in a deceptive puzzle of acoustic and manipulated sounds."Punkt.Vrt.Plastik have an amazing sound and a unique vision," writes Alexander Hawkins in the liner notes.

The Argentinian contribution to the universality of jazz is measured by everything Leandro “Gato” Barbieri gave to the music, and the gauge was put very high by the late saxophonist. Every sax player who emerged, after him, from the Buenos Aires scene had that extra challenge, and that’s the case of Ada Rave, who choose Europe – she’s based in Amsterdam – instead of the United States (Barbieri’s case), to start a succesful international career.

Het Argentijnse koppel Ada Rave (saxofoon) en Nicolas Chientaroli (piano) verkasten in 2013 van Buenos Aires naar Amsterdam en sindsdien zijn zij vaak geziene gasten in het improcircuit. Samen met contrabassist Raoul van der Weide vormen zij het trio New Rumours And Other Noises, dat deze maand zijn eerste cd presenteert op Casco Records.