The Squid's Ear Magazine


Gratkowski, Frank / Sebi Tramontana: Live At Spanski Borci (Leo Records)

A wonderfully playful and buoyant duo between trombonist Sebi Tramontana and reedist Frank Gratkowski performing on bass clarinet, clarinet, and alto saxophone, performing live at Spanski Borci Theatre, in Ljubljana, Slovenia in 2016 over 15 concise and compelling dialogs.
 

Price: $14.95


Quantity:

Out of Stock

Quantity in Basket: None

Log In to use our Wish List
Shipping Weight: 4.00 units

Sample The Album:





product information:

Personnel:



Frank Gratkowski-bass clarinet, clarinet, alto saxophone

Sebi Tramontana-trombone


Click an artist name above to see in-stock items for that artist.




UPC: 5024792077922

Label: Leo Records
Catalog ID: LEOR779.2
Squidco Product Code: 23313

Format: CD
Condition: New
Released: 2016
Country: UK
Packaging: Jewel Case
Recorded live at Spanski Borci Theatre, in Ljubljana, Slovenia, on February 16th, 2016, and November 6th, 2015, by Iztok Klopotec.

Descriptions, Reviews, &c.

"Frank Gratkowski: "The duo with Sebi is very special for me. It has a beautiful playfullness and lightness. The connection between us is almost mysterious and he makes me play very different than I do in other formations. I call it "instant songs" where each "song" tells its own little story." Sebi Tramontana: "Frank has got "wonderschuhe." What I have wished for me for years. Frank is a true "cominante " for me. I am very grateful that during the last 19 years I have been meeting him every now and then. Frank is a bottomless pit, human and artistic."-Leo



Liner notes by Steve Beresford:

I am sometimes haunted by the memory of a video clip of Billy Eckstine on the last Nat 'King' Cole television show, broadcast in December1957. Eckstine and Cole sing 'Rosetta' and Eckstine plays the trumpet. He then plays an instrument resembling a tenor saxophone, but when we hear it, it's clear that it's not a saxophone. It's some kind of brass instrument, probably a valve trombone, made to look like a saxophone. The video notes say it's a 'Jazzphone'.

I'm always haunted by Flann O'Brien's novel 'The Third Policeman', in which the principle of what Sergeant Pluck calls The Atomic Theory has an important role: "...people who spend most of their natural lives riding iron bicycles over the rocky roadsteads of this parish get their personalities mixed up with the personalities of their bicycle...".

Could the Jazzphone be a result of some Atomic Theory personality mix-up of a saxophone and a trombone? And what about the almost-as-rare slide saxophone - a soprano with a slide enabling long glissandi (often played by Lol Coxhill with the help of a bucket of water)? Is it in the midst of its transition to becoming a trombone? Say, seventy per cent saxophone, thirty per cent trombone?

(Are these 'Pataphysical musings? Yes, but I find them instructive).

Here - I mean on this CD - we have recordings of pieces by a duet of trombone and various reed instruments. The instruments, whilst not adopting each others' physical characteristics, have clearly, with the invaluable help of their respective players, borrowed much musical stuff from each other.

Personalities are routinely mixed up, like O'Brien's bicycles and their riders. Strategies are generated spontaneously.Structures are created, sometimes carefully, sometimes in a rough and tumble way.Techniques are adopted and developed until they become a natural part of the player's repertoire. New things are very often discovered: sounds, techniques, ways of relating.

Despite free improvisers stubbornly ignoring the recent demands from a couple of journalists (let's call them Statler and Waldorf) that:

a. In the middle of each piece, they should periodically stop playing so they can hear what the other people are playing,

and:

b. They should not play with anyone else because the other person might play something that makes them think of a pre-existing piece of music,

the standard of free improvising all over the place has continued to rise. This is true, even though it consists of people playing without gaps and even playing with other people. Shocking.

Sensitive listeners will be pleased to know that despite the time Sebi and Frank undoubtedly spend with their respective instruments, they are not slowly turning into them. Unlike some players (i.e. me) Sebi and Frank are well-rounded personalities, just as likely to be influenced by some architecture or a piece of cheese as they are likely to be influenced by other musicians.

I will throw Statler and Waldorf a bone here and at least mention the great tradition of trombone/reed duos, especially embodied in those involving Roswell Rudd, whose laconic trombonist statements enliven his interplay with Archie Shepp, Steve Lacy, John Tchicai. Hear echoes here.

If you are someone just starting to discover this music, this recording provides myriad examples of ways of how things can be put together. Just make a list and try them out! See how areas are investigated for a while in one piece. In the next piece there might be lots of areas covered in a short time. Instruments might not seem to be acknowledging each other and then it will become clear that they have a deeper connection. Things are not rejected just because they are serious. Or funny.

Or don't do any such thing. Sit there and listen. Statler and Waldorf may find it hard to admit that free improvisation is fun. But we know different.


Artist Biographies

"Frank Gratkowski, saxophone. Born in Hamburg, 1963.

Started playing the saxophone at 16 and, following a period at the Hamburg Conservatory (Hamburger Musikhochschule), moved in 1985 to study at the Cologne Conservatory of Music with Heiner Wiberny, graduating in 1990.

Further studies with Charlie Mariano, Sal Nistico and Steve Lacy.

Frank Gratkowski has been working as a soloist in various international formations (Grubenklang Orchester, Klaus Koenig Orchester, Musikfabrik NRW, Tony Oxley Celebration Orchestra, Bentje Braam, BikBentBraam, All Ears, Zeitkratzer, WDR Big band, etc.). Since 1990 he has been giving solo performances throughout Europe, Canada and USA. With his first solo program, he was a 1991 prizewinner in the Musik Kreativ contest. The release of the solo CD "Artikulationen" followed the same year and a new one "Artikulationen II" in 2002.

Since 1992 he has been working in a duo with the pianist Georg Graewe (CD "VicissEtudes"). The duo is often extended through the participation of different additional musicians, such as drummer Paul Lovens (CD "Quicksand") and bassist John Lindberg (CD "Arrears").

In 1995 he founded the "Frank Gratkowski Trio" with Dieter Manderscheid (Germany), bass, and Gerry Hemingway (USA), drums, (CDs "Gestalten" and "The Flume Factor" ). In 2000 the trio has been extended to a quartet by Dutch trombonist Wolter Wierbos (CDs "Kollaps", "Spectral Reflections", "Facio" and "Le Vent et la Gorge"). Since 2003 also appearing as a Double Quartet plus Tobias Delius, Herb Robertson, Wilbert DeJoode and Michael Vatcher. In 2005 he got the SWR Jazzprize.

In 1999 the duo with the Italian trombonist Sebastiano Tramontana has been formed and since 2001 Frank Gratkowski has been performing with a trio including Wilbert De Jode (NL) on bass and Achim Kaufmann (D) on piano (CDs "Kwast" and "Unearth"). Since 2006 he's working with the Trio Gratkowski / Brown / Winant (CDs "Wake" and "Vermilion Traces/Donaueschingen 2009"). He is also a co-leader / composer of the Multiple Joy[ce] Orchestra and got a commission to compose for the ensemble Apartment House by "November Music " (Den Bosch NL) and the "Huddersfield Comtemporary Music Fesitival" (England) in 2009. Further actual projects are Fo[u]r Alto, a saxophone ensemble dedicated to microtonal music and "Artikulationen E" a solo program for saxophone with 8 channel live electronic.

Frank Gratkowski played on nearly every German and on numerous international Jazz and contemporary music Festivals including Vancouver, Toronto, Chicago, New York, Seattle, Quebec, Les Mans, Muelhuus, Groeningen, Nickelsdorf, Barcelona, Lithuania, Warsaw, Zagreb, Prague, Bratislava, Sofia, Bucharest, Odessa and Roma, Huddersfield, London.

He has been teaching saxophone and ensembles at the Cologne, Berlin and Arnhem Conservatory of Music and is giving workshops all around the world.

Furthermore he has performed with Robert Dick, Phil Wachsmann, Radu Malfatti, Herb Robertson, Marcio Mattos, Eugenio Colombo, Peter Kowald, Ray Anderson, Michael Moore, Ken Vandermark, Greg Osby, Kenny Wheeler, Louis Sclavis, John Betsch, Jane Ira Bloom, Connie and Hannes Bauer, Xu Fengxia, James Newton, Muhal Richard Abrams, John Lindberg, Michael Formaneck, Ernst Reijseger, Fred van Hove, Theo Jörgensmann, Phil Minton, Peter Brötzmann, Mark Dresser, Mark Feldman, Hamid Drake, Michiel Braam, Han Bennink, Mal Waldron, Misha Mengelberg a.m.o."

-Frank Gratkowski Website (http://gratkowski.com/biography/)
3/13/2024

Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.

"Sebi Tramontana (born December 12, 1960) is a jazz trombonist most often associated with avant-garde jazz and free improvisation music. A member of the Italian Instabile Orchestra, Tramontana has also recorded with such musical artists as Jeb Bishop, Joëlle Léandre, Mario Schiano, and Carlos Zingaro."



"Born 12 December 1960 in Rosolini, Sicily; trombone.

Sebi Tramontana started playing guitar as a child and then moved to the soprano saxophone in the late 1970s. He switched to trombone in 1982 and during a radio production with Bruno Tommaso met Giancarlo Schiaffini, who convinced him to move to Rome and study with him at A. Casella Conservatorio in L'Aquila. In Rome he calloborated with Martin Joseph, Eugenio Colombio and Mario Schiano and in 1986 was a member of the New Talents Orchestra, performing at the Rocella Jonica Festival. He guested with Gruppo Romano Free Jazz for their 30th anniversary in 1996.

In 1987 he started a trio with Daniel Studer and Roberto Altamura which played at the Contraindicazione Festival in Rome and subsequently performed with Paul Rutherford, Barry Guy, Gerard Siracusa, Eugenio Colombo, Co Streiff and Martin Mayes.

Tramontana was invited by Mario Schiano in 1988 to take part in the recording of Red and blue with Vladimir Tarasov and Vladimir Chekasin. In 1990 he completed his studies at A. Casella Conservatorio and joined the Italian Instabile Orchestra.

His first solo performance was in Rome in 1992 and this has been followed by performances in Zürich, Mulhouse, Clusone, Köln, Ruvo Di Puglia, Roccella, Jonica and Göttingen. In 1994 he was invited by Georg Gräwe to "Two Nights Of Random Acoustics" in Köln, subsequently joining the Georg Graewe Quintet and touring Europe. In 1998, he recorded a duo with Graewe for the Italian Splasc(h) label and in July 2003 became a member of the Georg Graewe new quintet, with Tobias Delius, Kent Kessler and Michael Vatcher.

In 1996 Tramontana performed at the festival di Roccella Jonica with Barre Phillips, Michel Doneda and two dancers and then at the Victoriaville festival with Mario Schiano, Evan Parker, Paul Lovens and Barry Guy. He also appeared at the Empty Bottle in Chiacgo with Hamid Drake, Kent Kessler, Ken Vandermark and Mars Williams. In 1997 he performed the 'Art Of Dialogue' in Munich with Joëlle Léandre.

In 1999 he received a scholarship from the City of Munich for 6 week residence in the US and as a result visited Chicago (playing at the Empty Bottle festival and recording with Jim Baker, Fred Lonberg Holm, Michael Zerang, Lou Mallozi, Jeb Bishop, Ken Vandermark and Kent Kessler), San Francisco and New York. From 1999 to 2002 he was Artistic Director (with Ch.Hofig department of Culture of the City of Munich) of the festival "Come Sunday" and during this period he also founded the group XAXA with Phil Wachsmann, Mats Gustafsson and Paul Lovens.

In 2001 Tramontana undertook concerts and recordings in Chicago with the "Night People" project (a homage to Dickie Wells), a string quartet with Guiellermo Gregorio on clarinet and in duo with Jeb Bishop (Chicago defenders). He also began to play in duo with Paul Lovens (with the Buster Keaton The General project), performing in Munich, Ljubljana, Graz, Cologne, Regensburg, Rome, Maribor, Kassel and Göttingen. In 2002-03 he was a member of the Mats Gustafsson's Nu Ensemble.

In 2003 he appeared at the Banlieues Bleu Festival in Paris and Ghent (Belgium) with Joëlle Léandre's European Quartett featuring Carlos Zingaro Paul Lovens and special guest Irène Schweizer. He played a duo with Léandre at the Ulrichsberg Kaleidophon and also performed in the Trombone Trio - in Ljubljana and Maribor - with Vinko Globokar and Johannes Bauer.

Since 1999 Sebi Tramontana has toured Germany and Austria with TV and movie actor Udo Wachtveitl and, since 2001, been a musician and actor with the Dance Company En Knap of Iztok Kovac from Ljubljana. He appeared in the film of Under my skin, directed by Saso Podgorsek, in 2004. 2004 also saw a collaboration with the electronic 48 nord group in Munich.

In November 2004 he will exhibit his paintings in an exhibition in Chicago entitled Stop, Look & Listen: Artwork by Musicians alongside works by Pee Wee Russel, Hal Rammel, Han Bennink, Peter Brötzmann and others. In April 2005 he will tour with Joëlle Léandre and Paul Lovens and will be in Chicago to perform with a new project of Lou Mallozzi."

-Wickipedia, European Free Improv Page (http://www.efi.group.shef.ac.uk/musician/mtramon.html)
3/13/2024

Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.


Track Listing:



1. Revelation 5:07

2. Spirited 4:03

3. Time And Space 3:07

4. Dancer 4:52

5. Singer 3:19

6. You're Tough 4:54

7. Series Of Dramatic Events 5:21

8. Daydream 6:40

9. Deceiver 2:13

10. Nocturne 4:14

11. Enthusiasm 1:01

Related Categories of Interest:


Improvised Music
Jazz
Free Improvisation
European Improvisation and Experimental Forms
Duo Recordings
Leo Records

Search for other titles on the label:
Leo Records.


Recommended & Related Releases:
Other Recommended Releases:
Gratkowski, Frank / Damon Smith / Jerome Bryerton
The Voice Imitator
(Balance Point Acoustics)
German reeidst Frank Gratkowski in a trio with West Coast percussionist Jerome Bryerton and bassist Damon Smith, in an album of free music that blends the sensibilities of free improv with contemporary compositional music.
FPR (Gratkowski / Greenlief / Raskin)
All At Once
(Relative Pitch)
Three West Coast saxophonists, Jon Raskin (Rova), Frank Gratkowsk (Zeitkratzer) and Phillip Grenlief, in a free improvising trio of highly interactive music using extended techniques to captivate and entertain the listener.



Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought:
Blonk, Jaap
Irrelevant Comments
(Kontrans)
As he delves further into electronics, Netherlands vocal improviser and experimental artists Jaap Blonk finds an ever-increasing array of approaches to modify his voice and set it into alien and astounding environments, here in 16 tracks of musique concrete, sound poetry, pulse based electronics, soundscapes, and inexplicable hybrids of the same.
Turbamulta (Raon / Sa / Ferreira / Martins / Aroso)
Turbamulta
(Clean Feed)
With orchestration of harp, daxophone, idiophones, piano, cello, guitar, percussion, sampling & electronics, the Portuguese quintet Turbamulta (roughly translates to "rowdy mob", though clearly a very sophisticated mob) was born from the band Powertrio of Eduardo Raon, Joana Sa and Luis Martins, expanded to blend compositional, EA and improv approaches into something unique and beautiful.
CHANGES TO blind
evolvensume
(Squidco Records)
Collecting works from 2010-2017, Squidco's own Phil Zampino presents 10 tracks of electroacoustic composition sourced from studio work, live improvisation, field recordings, plunderphonics, and other indescribable approaches, a diverse set of recordings sharing a similar foreboding aesthetic and curious sonic desire.
Moore, Thurston / Umut Caglar
Dunia [VINYL]
(Astral Spirits)
Recorded in Istanbul, Turkey, guitarist Thurston Moore teams up with Konstrukt guitarist Umut Caglar to record these three rich and twisting pieces, each guitarist extracting unique performances from the other over three pieces that draw on technique and effects to create fragile and heavy sonic environments, an impressive album of modern guitar potential.
Eisenstadt, Harris / Mivos Quartet
Whatever Will Happen That Will Also Be [VINYL]
(NoBusiness)
NY free jazz drummer and composer Harris Eisenstadt brings his talents to the compositional world with this four movement suite performed by the Mivos Quartet of Olivia De Prato, Josh Modney, Victor Lowrie and Mariel Roberts, a creative composition blending melodic and textural approaches to the strings in a bold rendering of Eisenstandt's work.
Mazurek, Rob (w/ Takara / Granado / Rohrer / Somervell)
Chants and Corners
(Clean Feed)
With members of Sao Paulo Underground, Pharoah and The Underground, and Chicago Underground, cornetist/electroacoustic artist Rob Mazurek leads a quintet with Mauricio Takara (drums), Thomas Rohrer (winds), Philip Somervell (piano) and Guilherme Granado (keys) through a unexpected confluence of styles to create an otherworldly blend of spiritual music.
Eisenstadt, Harris Canada Day (w/ Wooley / Bauder / Niggenkemper)
On Parade in Parede
(Clean Feed)
A live recording of drummer/composer Harris Eisenstadt's Canada Day band performing as a quartet with trumpeter Nate Wooley, saxophonist Matt Bauder, and bassist Pascal Niggenkemper, recorded at SUMP during their 2016 European tour, an exemplary set of free playing over a great set of original compositions, including a large work in 3 sections and 5 parts.
Malaby, Tony / Mat Maneri / Daniel Levin
New Artifacts
(Clean Feed)
The unique orchestration of this trio, with Tony Malaby on sax, Mat Maneri on viola, and Daniel Levin on cello, givs a distinct character to the highly informed improvisations from these commanding players, who recorded this album at Three's Brewing in Brooklyn in 2015.
Sarid, Daniel Trio
Leventuruos
(OutNow Recordings)
Adventurous/Leventuruos is a good description of the articulate, sophisticated, and exciting trio work that Israeli pianist Daniel Sarid, double bassist Gilad Abro, and drummer Ziv Ravitz present, in 8 dynamic pieces that balance free, rapid and lyrical jazz.
Lazro, Daunik / Joelle Leandre / George Lewis
Enfances 8 Janv. 1984
(Fou Records)
A live recording at 28 rue Dunois, in Paris, France in 1984 from the trio of Daunik Lazro on alto sax, Joelle Leandre on double bass and voice, and George Lewis on trombone, a trans-Atlantic enounter of creative inventiveness and innovative vision, a great document of three persistent masters captured early in their incredible careers.
Kowald, Peter / Daunik Lazro / Annick Nozati
Instants Chavires
(Fou Records)
Recordings from 2000 at Instants Chavires in Montreuil, France from the free improvising trio of Peter Kowald on double bass, Daunik Lazro on alto & baritone sax, and Annick Nozati on voice, in a uniquely informed dialog representing the only time this masterful trio performed.
Courvoisier, Sylvie / Mary Halvorson
Crop Circles
(Relative Pitch)
A studio encounter between pianist Sylvie Courvoisier and electric guitarist Mary Halvorson, both using sophisticated techniques giving unique voices to their playing styles, in a set of improvisations that balance playful, subtle, energetic, and emotional playing.
Power Trio (Raon / Sa / Martins)
Di Lontan
(Clean Feed)
Guitarist Luis Jose Martins and pianist Joana Sa, known from their Shhpuma release "Almost a Song" and a release on Creative Sources, join again with harpist Eduardo Raon, with two Shhpuma releases, for a delicately complex, effervescent, and sometimes turbulent release.
Brotzmann / van Hove / Bennink
1971
(Corbett vs. Dempsey)
Unreleased material from legendary European players Peter Brotzmann (sax), Fred Van Hove (piano) and Han Bennink (drums), captured live in 1971 for intensely heavy playing at the 2nd Internationales New Jazz Meeting Auf Burg Altena, and in detailed studio work at Radio Bremen.
Chicago Reed Quartet (Mazzarella / Rempis / Williams / Vandermark)
Western Automatic
(Aerophonic)
Four generations of Chicago saxophonists--Dave Rempis, Ken Vandermark, Mars Williams, and Nick Mazzarella--come together in an interactive saxophone quartet with each player providing 2 compositions of well-developed, powerful, engaging free and lyrical jazz.
Grunen (Kaufmann / Landfermann / Lillinger)
Pith and Twing
(Clean Feed)
The second release from Germany's Grunen Trio of Achim Kaufmann on piano, Robert Landfermann on double bass and Christian Lillinger on drums, a superb and forward-thinking piano trio using prodigious talent in eccentric ways, resolving to lyrical and rewarding improvisation.
Smith, Wadada Leo / Lewis, George / Zorn, John
Sonic Rivers
(Tzadik)
Tzadik's new Spectrum series begins with the collaboration of 3 legendary NY performers--Wadada Leo Smith (trumpet); George Lewis (trombone); John Zorn (alto sax)--in 8 technically superb and joyfully unique compositions and collective improvisations.
Tarbaby (Waits / Evans / Revis / + Lake & Ducret )
Fanon
(RogueArt)
Tarbaby (Orrin Evans on piano, Eric Revis on bass, and Nasheet Waits on drums) is joined by saxophonist Oliver Lake and guitarist Marc Ducret for an album inspired by philosopher, psychologist and revolutionary Franz Fanon, a superb album balancing melodic and intense playing.
Moondoc, Jemeel / Connie Crothers
Two
(Relative Pitch)
Two New York jazz originals, pianist Connie Crothers and alto saxophonist Jemeel Moondoc, performing 6 improvisations and one original compositions from each artist; melodic and deeply sensitive playing.
Kaufmann / Landfermann / Lillinger
Grunen
(Clean Feed)
"Grunen" (The Greening) is a live totally improvised recording from the trio of pianist Achim Kaufmann, bassist Robert Landfermann, and drummer Christian Lillinger.



The Squid's Ear Magazine

The Squid's Ear Magazine

© 2002-, Squidco LLC