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Kaja Draksler / Petter Eldh / Christian Lillinger: Punkt.Vrt.Plastik (Intakt)

The rhythm section from the Amok Amor quartet--drummer Christian Lillinger and bassist Petter Eldh--are reformed as a trio with pianist Kaja Draksler, to create a thrilling, twisting and turning band of quick-witted, avant jazz angles, confusing and thrilling with unexpected shifts in direction on an informed, fun-filled and thoroughly modern album.
 

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product information:

Personnel:



Kaja Draksler-piano

Petter Eldh-bass

Christian Lillinger-drums


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UPC: 7640120193188

Label: Intakt
Catalog ID: ITK318.2
Squidco Product Code: 26985

Format: CD
Condition: New
Released: 2018
Country: Switzerland
Packaging: Jewel Case
Recorded at Loft, in Cologne, Germany, on February 26th, 2018, by Christian Heck.

Descriptions, Reviews, &c.

"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. "And Kaja is able to avoid that and deal with it at the same, which means she is able to shape or color things in her own way." "Some of the pieces are complex and demand accuracy, but on the other hand, none of us are very precious about it," explains Draksler. "So there is inherent freedom ... the music and the energy is much more important than correct notes, yet we want to get it right. And there is trust."-Peter Margasak, Liner

notes

"Slovenian pianist Kaja Draksler, Swedish double bass player Petter Eldh, and German drummer Christian Lillinger founded their trio Punkt.Vrt.Plastik at the Bimhuis in Amsterdam, where they played a completely improvised set at the famous October Meeting in 2016. Their name is composed of "Punkt", which represents a view and a musical statement for Petter Eldh (it's Swedish for "point"), "Vrt", the Slovenian word for garden and according to Draksler the place where the musical philosophies are planted and cultivated, and "Plastik" (German for "plastic"), for Christian Lillinger the symbol of plasticity of musical forms and structures.

After I had seen them at the Just Music Festival in Wiesbaden in February this year, I couldn't wait for their debut album, however it was announced only for November. They had played a spectacular gig displaying a cornucopia of idiosyncratic, weird hook lines, harmonic shifts and unpredictable percussive ingredients. Yet, when the CD arrived and I listened to it for the first few times, the magic of the concert somehow wasn't there anymore. When I recently heard the trio at Schorndorf's Manufaktur though, I was blown away again. Do they just feel more comfortable in a live context than in a rather confined studio atmosphere (the album was recorded at the Loft in Cologne)? Can they just take higher risks live when they are able to let themselves go on the basis of preconceived ideas? After the Schorndorf gig I've listened to the CD over and over again and I've found a different access to it. In this band three very different musical personalities crash into each other, at first sight contradictory, yet also consistent. "I was both excited and scared of the power Christian and Petter have together as a rhythm section. It's like riding a wave," says Draksler in the very insightful liner notes by Peter Margasak. On the album the power of the rhythm section is guided by the compositions, they set a certain direction, Draksler's improvisations are less exuberant. The music here is like the essence of the live gigs.

One of the most interesting aspects on Punkt.Vrt.Plastik is Eldh's and Lillinger's different approach as to time. While Eldh is rather grounded and robust, Lillinger is busy and incredibly dynamic. They seem to constantly negotiate where the music should go to, based on a common ground of musical phrases in general. This allows Draksler to find her space, her style being structurally unusual with its intricate counterpoint melodies and rhythmical motives (see "Life Is Transient", that comes across like a Bach piece). This is also obvious in Christian Lillinger's "Nuremberg Amok", in which the melody played by the piano is literally shredded and torn apart. Occasionally it reappears in different shapes, while the drums quote hiphop beats suggesting a groove, but actually Lillinger just dissembles time varying rhythmic cells, which brings his approach close to postmodernism. Eldh is the one who holds this fraying structure together with his rootsy, powerful playing and with his steady presence, which in turns allows Draksler to create crystal clear melodies zigzagging between the twitching pulse. Another example of the band's outstanding qualities is Draksler's composition "Evicted", which directs the energy of the rhythm section with frugal chords. Lillinger and Eldh throw in sudden stops and starts, the bass even taking the lead as to melody. The piano is reduced to essentials, the chords are stripped to the very bare, they're free of any mannerism. Finally, Draksler contrasts extremely low and high notes, she carries the dynamics and the folksy melody all by herself, bass and drums drop out. This extreme reduction creates a somber atmosphere - another characteristic of the album.

In general, the pieces morph and stretch forms and grooves, the music is constantly coloured anew. This is a very exciting band - both live and in the studio. Draksler, Eldh and Lillinger are among the most thrilling and promising figures in today's European improvising scene, hopefully Punkt.Vrt.Plastik is not just a one time thing. It's one of the best albums this year."-Martin Schray,


Get additional information at Free Jazz Blog

Artist Biographies

"Kaja Draksler (1987) is a Slovenian pianist and composer. After her studies in the Netherlands (BA in jazz piano and MA in classical composition), she decided to stay in Amsterdam, where she is an active member of the improvisors scene, performing extensively all over the Europe. Besides her frequent solo concerts, she has been working regularly with Čudars-Draksler Duo, Feecho, BadBooshBand, and Draksler-Santos Silva duo. She is also one of the founding members of the interdisciplinary group I/O. She recently formed her Octet. As a composer she has been commissioned by various international groups, ranging from vocal and chamber ensembles to big bands and orchestras. Kaja is interested in finding ways to merge the composition and (free) improvisation by working with different structures and musical logics. She is drawn to the idea of erasing the stylistic and historical musical borders, and discovering personal expression and language through composition and improvisation."

- Website (http://www.kajadraksler.com/pressENG/KD%20BIO.pdf)
3/13/2024

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

"Frans Petter Eldh, Born in Gothenburg, Sweden, was obsessed with Jazz, Classical, Soul, Reggae, Swedish folk music, Middle-Eastern and Hip Hop at an early age and collected vinyl since the age of 7. He initially played guitar before switching to what became his primary instrument, the double bass. Early influences, Charles Mingus, Anders Jormin, Charlie Haden, Charlie Parker, A Tribe Called Quest, Monica Zetterlund, Samla Mammas Manna, Aretha Franklin and Earth Wind and Fire have guided his diverse output as a musician.

Long-standing collaborations include the following erratic and progressive forces:Amok Amor, Django Bates Beloved, Jameszoo Quartet, Enemy (Kit Downes/James Maddren), Lucia Cadotsch Speak Low, Hayden Chisholm, Gard Nilssen's Acoustic Unity, Peter Bruun, Christian Lillinger, Benoit Delbecq and Kaja Draksler. As a producer he has remixed work by Jameszoo - Flake (Brainfeeder), Andromeda Mega Express Orchestra - Vula (Afterhours), Speak Low (Enja) and releases his own music on Galatea Records.

Selected releases in 2017 include Django Bates Beloved - The Study of Touch (ECM), Amok Amor - We Know Not What We Do (Intakt), Susanne Sundfør - Music For People In Trouble (Bella Union), Richard Spaven - The Self, Lucia Cadotsch Speak Low - Renditions (Enja), Gard Nilssen's Acoustic Unity - Live in Europe (Clean Feed)"

-Petter Eldh Website (http://pettereldh.com/?page_id=45)
3/13/2024

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

"Christian Lillinger (born April 21, 1984 in Lübben ) is a drummer, composer and percussionist of modern creative style and new improvisational music.

Lillinger studied at the University of Music Carl Maria von Weber Dresden at Günter Sommer from 2000 to 2004. Between 2001 and 2003 he was a member of the Bundesjugendjazzorchester.

Lillinger plays in the trio Gropper | Graupe | Lillinger, until 2015 under the name Hyperactive Kid, with the saxophonist Philipp Gropper and the guitarist Ronny Graupe, where he is largely confined to the conventional drum kit. In 2008, he composed his first band Christian Lillingers Grund, whose first two released albums were released at Clean Feed Records at the end of 2009 and 2013. In addition Lillinger works as a sideman with well-known musicians such as Rolf Kühn, Joachim Kühn, Miroslav Vitouš, Beat Furrer, Rudi Mahall, John Schröder, Barre Phillips, Ernst-Ludwig Petrowsky, Wadada Leo Smith, Frank Gratkowski, Simon Nabatov, Tobias Delius and Axel Dörner, Thomas Lehn, Michael Wollny, Louis Scyvis, Bruno Chevillon, David Liebman, Edmund Lehmugruber, Theo Jörgensmann, John Edwards, Greg Cohen, William Parker, Joe Lovano and Tony Malaby. Since 2004 he has been working continuously in the EUPHORIUM, the international ensemble of contemporary performing arts and music around the Leipzig-based Oliver Schwerdt, especially in the trio with Schwerdt alias Elan Pauer and Ernst-Ludwig Petrowsky. Since 2009, Lillinger has also been working in the Klaviertrio Grünen with Achim Kaufmann and Robert Landfermann, who presented a first album on the Portuguese label Clean Feed Records in 2010. Since 2010, Lillinger has also worked in the trio Dell Lillinger Westergaard, which also performed with John Tchicai. In 2011 he founded the Trio Starlight with Petter Eldh and Wanja Slavin, who moved his debut CD 2013 to the Swiss label Unit Records. With Eldh and Slavin he also founded the Quartet Amok Amor with the American trumpeter Peter Evans, who released his first album of the same name in 2015.

Lillinger is also a member of the following groups: Rolf Kühn Unit, Henrik Walsdorff Trio, Pascal Niggenkempervision 7, Ronny Graupes Spoom, Schmittmenge Meier, Marc Schmolling Trio, Wanja Slavin Quintett, Carl Ludwig Hübschs Drift, Hübschacht, Uwe Steinmetz Stream Ensemble, The upper class, Ember, Gerhard Gschlößl's group of four, Gerhard Gschlößls G9, KUU! And also plays with Joachim Kühn in trio.

From 2012 to 2013, Christian Lillinger was a member of the board of the Union of German Jazzmusicians."

-Wikipedia (translated by Google) (https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_Lillinger)
3/13/2024

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


Track Listing:



1. Nuremberg Amor 4:03

2. Evicted 8:02

3. Punkt Torso 4:00

4. Azan 5:00

5. Veins 4:09

6. Body Decline 4:49

7. Plastic 4:04

8. Momentan 3:30

9. Life Is Transient 4:23

Related Categories of Interest:


Intakt
Improvised Music
Jazz
Free Improvisation
European Improvisation and Experimental Forms
Trio Recordings

Search for other titles on the label:
Intakt.


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