The Squid's Ear Magazine


Draksler, Kaja: The Lives of Many Others (Clean Feed)

Influenced by Cecil Taylor, Kaja Draksler is a Slovene piano player living in Amsterdam, performing inside and out of the piano in a unique style that approaches performing as a vision of the piano as a miniature orchestra.
 

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Kaja Draksler-piano


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UPC: 5609063002867

Label: Clean Feed
Catalog ID: CF286
Squidco Product Code: 18215

Format: CD
Condition: New
Released: 2013
Country: Portugal
Packaging: Cardstock gatefold foldover
Recorded at Cankarjev Dom, Ljubljana on July 2nd, 2013 by Luis Delgado.

Descriptions, Reviews, &c.

"Titling a piano solo with a reference to the "many others" tells you everything about the personality of this young Slovenian composer and improviser. Kaja Draksler's use of the keyboard may be a solitary one, fueled by very personal considerations, but the music played is inhabited by the ones who established the history of this instrument, from both the classical - she has a solid "erudite" background, and it shows - and jazz fields.

Her master thesis was a study of Cecil Taylor's inner structures of improvisation and his rhythmic, percussive, influence is patent all around, even if her approach is less dense. Her broken, non-linear phrasing comes directly from Thelonious Monk, and she takes Bach's counterpoint to extreme consequences, liberating the left hand from the right. There's also something from her studying with two of the greatest jazz pianists of these days, Vijay Iyer and Jason Moran. And there's more: Draksler's experience with large number formations (European Movement Jazz Orchestra, her own Katarchestra, Slovenian Philharmony Orchestra and others) is translated here to a vision of the piano as a miniature orchestra. Here is a new surprising talent to discover..."-Clean Feed


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.


Track Listing:



1. The Lives of Many Others 5:45

2. Vsi so venci vejli 5:08

3. Communicational Entropy / Andromeda 7:36

4. Suite: Wronger/Eerier/Strong than (just a thought)/I recall 10:51

5. I Walked into Yesterday 2:21

6. Army of Drops 6:07

7. Delicious Irony 4:14

Related Categories of Interest:


Improvised Music
Jazz
Piano & Keyboards
Solo Artist Recordings
Clean Feed

Search for other titles on the label:
Clean Feed.


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