Berlin 10/5/08

1 more day in Berlin and I'm gonna make it count. Sun has music all day, so it wouldn't be a problem. I missed the jazz brunches, but got to Yorckschlösschen around 3pm. They were on set break but it was going to be a funky jazz jam. This is a great place. There's lots of NOLA stuff around and its got a great vibe. The music was good. It wasn't the level of the night before, but still pretty good. NOLAish music and blues. It was fun for 45 min.

I then took a cab and met up with my friend at A-Trane. I was thrilled to see Johan Leijonhufvuud on stage. He was the one jamming with Kurt the night before. He does something different every Sun. It was great. The piano may have played the night before. There was also a great bass, Pepe. The drummer was awesome as well. The 1st set ended at 5::10ish. They took a 20 min break and then played for another 45/50 min.

I went back to Kreuzberg to the Exploratorium Berlin. This was 2 sets of stellar improv. I got there around 8:20. Beside the Cage Quintet was on and played til 9:10. The 2 percussionists faced each other. There was also a guitar/electonics and 2 trombones. It was phenomenal and may as well have been at The Stone. The space was much nicer, though. I think there was free wine and beer at setbreak. Maybe there was a donation box, but I'm not sure. They had nice wine glasses also. I was taking a break, so I didn't partake.

The Phoobsering, a sax and piano duo was phenomenal. They played for about 40 minutes straight. They met behind the piano and agreed to do another short piece. This was also stellar.

http://www.exploratorium-berlin.de/html/phoobsering.html
Doppelkonzert
Sonntag, 5. Oktober 2008, 20 h
beside the cage quintet
* Oliver Demand - Posaune
* Moritz von Woellwarth - Posaune
* Sascha Demand - E-Gitarre, Tischgitarre
* Ralf Kleinemas - Schlagzeug
* Thomas Winger - Schlagzeug
„...improvisierte Musik der keineswegs nur diskreten Sorte. Die Gitarre ist das zuweilen dröhnend aufrauschende oder mit Haltetönen die Luft durchspießende Zünglein an der Waage eines vielgliedrigen Klangkörpers, der neben aller Verliebtheit in kleine Geräusche und in Stille keine Angst hat vor Klangballungen und perkussiven Anstößen oder Zwischenspurts.“ (R. Dittmann / Bad Alchemy)

Phoobsering
* Antonis Anissegos – Klavier
* Frank Paul Schubert - Saxophon
Der stark europäisch geprägte Background, die Lust am Experiment und die Entwicklung einer eigenen Sprache sowohl auf dem jeweiligen Instrument als auch im Zusammenspiel geben der Musik des Schubert-Anissegos-Duos ihr Gesicht. Fernab postmoderner Stilzitate gibt das Duo ein positives musikalisches Statement ab, bei dem die Frage, ob diese Musik komponiert oder improvisiert ist, in den Hintergrund tritt.


I took a cab back tob-flat and met up with my friends. My one Berlin friend loves live music and has kind of gotten out of it in recent years. It sounds like he's going to start doing it more again. Ah, my work here is done. 2 more converts.

The band was a phenomenal 14 piece eclectic band. The composer and musicians are quite diverse and they seemed to go all over the map. They can do avant-garde, big band, groove, Mahler, etc. I loved it and it was a great way to go out.

Kaspar Ewalds Exorbitantes Kabinett (CH-Basel)
Progamm: RiTtER
Regula Schneider (cl, voc), Roland von Flüe (solo-sax), Beat Hofstetter (ss), Sascha Armbruster (as), Laurent Estoppey (ts), Beat Kappeler (bs), Lukas Thöni (lead-tp), Daniel Woodtli (solo-tp), Heiner Krause (horn), Bernhard Bamert (solo-tb), Jan Schreiner (bass-tb), Philip Henzi (F.-Rhodes, p), Christian Schmid (e-b), Gregor Hilbe (dr).
In diesem Frühjahr hat KEEK während einer Intensivphase ein neues Programm mit dem Titel "Ritter" einstudiert und wird dieses im Herbst 08 während zweier Wochen, auf einer Tournee durch die Niederlande und Deutschland, einem internationalen Publikum vorstellen.

http://www.keek.ch/index.php?lang=en
The “EXORBITANTES KABINETT” is a Swiss big band founded in 2001 by Basle-based composer Kaspar Ewald. His compositions for the Band are all rooted in funk, moving between jazz, film music, drum ‘n’ bass, minimal music and new music. Yet, they always remain fully committed to the “holy groove”. The “EXORBITANTES KABINETT” consists of 15 first-class musicians including a singer, who have either emerged from the Swiss jazz scene or have a classical background. Despite their diverse origins, the personalities in the band all share a wide sphere of interests ranging from African-American music to contemporary sounds as well as the desire to further expand on the latest developments in music. At the beginning of each year, the Band begins to elaborate on a repertoire made up of Kaspar Ewald’s pieces, which will then be performed live at various festivals and concerts throughout the year.