The good thing about a good festival is, that you're very satisfied to see some of your favorite artists, but it wasn't a good festival if you couldn't discover something new. All the artists participating in the morning sessions were 100% unknown to me before I heard them perform in Moers. And the first morning session that we attended brought such wonderful discoveries.
There were always three performances going on at the same time, and knowing none of the musicians we felt free to pick one randomly. We don't know what we missed, but we liked the choice we made. The line-up of our sessions was Tobias Klein on alto sax and bass clarinet, Eve Risser on piano and prepared piano, Justin Badenhorst on drums, Viljam Nybacka on electric bass and John-Dennis Renken on trumpet. They had been mixed together by Angelika Niescier, a saxophonist who curated these sessions - and who later joined in to perform with the group as well. We had heard Risser as Donkey Monkey the day before and her playing here proved to be even stronger, more imaginative and versatile than the other day. I overheard somebody else from the audience saying that he hadn't been aware of the "pianistic qualities" of Risser before he had seen her acting in this context. Viljam Nybacka was switching between horizontal and vertical approaches to his electric bass, often using a spoon, sometimes a violin bow or other utensils - Frith-like. Justin Badenhorst played very thoughtfully and supportive to the other players. John-Dennis Renken came in with a strong and clear trumpet tone and names Cuong Vu and Arve Henriksen among his influences on his website. And now I kept the best for the end of my list: Tobias Klein was absolutely my favorite best new discovery of the whole festival. He's got everything: Most extended techniques, unusual sounds from his instruments, groove if wanted/needed, unassuming modestity and collegiality, fluency and dexterity and a high amount of instant inventiveness without any hesitation. Absolutely wonderful. How come such a wonderful musician is not famous in the jazz/improv-world? He absolutely deserves a wide attention! And why wasn't he booked for the main stage? Well, anyway, from the first day on we then saw him in every morning session - three times on the whole. Really couldn't get enough of him.
So, please check out his Tobias Klein's myspace page and allow yourself to get infected, too. After that you could also visit Eve Risser, Viljam Nybacka, and John-Dennis Renken.
2 comments:
yes, Spring day, the performance that morning was really awesome! especially the base clarinet and the drum.
Hmm, the base clarinet was a top clarinet too :-)
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