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Bauer, Konrad Trio (Bauer / Sommer / Kowald): Three Wheels - Four Directions (Les Disques Victo)

"Recorded (and released) one year after Konrad Bauer's Disques Victo debut Toronto Tone, a solo-trombone-with-electronics affair, Three Wheels: Four Directions features his favorite trio at the time. Bauer, bassist Peter Kowald, and dru...
 

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product information:

Personnel:



Peter Kowald-bass

Gunter Baby Sommer-drums, percussion

Conrad Bauer-trombone


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UPC: 777405002327

Label: Les Disques Victo
Catalog ID: VICCD023
Squidco Product Code: 23952

Format: CD
Condition: New
Released: 1993
Country: Canada
Packaging: Jewel Case
Recorded on 9 October 1992 live at the 10ime Festival International de Musique Actuelle de Victoriaville

Descriptions, Reviews, &c.

"Recorded (and released) one year after Konrad Bauer's Disques Victo debut Toronto Tone, a solo-trombone-with-electronics affair, Three Wheels: Four Directions features his favorite trio at the time. Bauer, bassist Peter Kowald, and drummer Gunter Sommer each have a solo spot interspersed between the four trio improvisations. Unlike the trombonist's previous album, this set is acoustic only. Bauer's music (and his trombonist brother Johannes) always tends to be self-ironic, or at least incorporate an element of fun verging on the circus -- not an easy shtick, and more like an unavoidable festive spirit. It is much at work here, in "Trio Goes North" and "Trio Goes East," in Bauer and Sommer's solos "Connie Goes West" and "Baby Goes South." Only Kowald, with his Tibetan-like chanting and drone arco playing, provides 10 minutes of more introspective music. Otherwise, Three Wheels: Four Directions is all about experimentation and entertainment. The rhythm section is exemplary, withbassist and drummer playing off each other, teasing one another, and alluding easy grooves. Bauer stirs the improvisations into strange directions: not jazz, not blues, not British radical improv, but not quite the extroverted in-your-face German kind either. The leader's solo, all circular breathing, is by itself stronger than most of the material on Toronto Tone. Yet, this CD doesn't reach the same level of improv bliss as the Bauer brothers' quartet DoppelMoppel's Victo release Aventure Quebecoise.-Francois Couture


Artist Biographies

"Born 1944 in Germany, died 21 September 2002 New York City; double bass, voice, tuba.

Peter Brötzmann (Corbett, 1994) recounted that 'there was this young guy trying to play the bass, who was Mr Kowald, at that time seventeen years old. Peter lived with his parents. I had my little studio, so he was always hanging out at my place. But he had to be at home at 10.00, he was drinking milk. But we changed that, very soon. His parents were always very angry with me, because he never showed up at home anymore, he dropped studies of ancient languages, Greek and all that.' By this time (1962) Peter Kowald had been playing bass for two years and, with different drummers the two Peters were playing Mingus, Ornette, and Miles Davis things as well as listening to Coltrane, Stockhausen, Cage et al. Kowald was part of the European tour undertaken by the Carla Bley/Michael Mantler band in 1966 (also featuring Brötzmann) and then came work with other German musicians, membership of the Globe Unity Orchestra and the first recordings: Globe Unity, For Adolphe Sax and Summer 1967, recorded during a brief vacation in London. In particular, Evan Parker credits this visit to London for his invitation to play in the Pierre Favre/Irene Schweizer quartet and his subsequent longstanding involvement with German (and other European) musicians. Kowald's work with Brötzmann continued - on and off - on record at least, to the time of Kowald's death and included the Cooperative Trio with Andrew Cyrille, a duo on the Duos project and a recent mix of free jazz, hip-hop and rap.

Peter Kowald was a member of Globe Unity Orchestra for 12 years (1966 to 1978) and for much of this time played less of a side-man role and more of an equal partner - for example, conducting the band - with the person to whom the group has become most associated, Alex von Schlippenbach. His influence is particularly noticeable on Jahrmarkt/Local fair where the two sides of composition are by Kowald (as is the second side of Live in Wuppertal and he is also credited, along with Paul Lovens as 'producing' the record, presumably sorting out the sprawling theatricality and poor sound into two 'meaningful' fragments. In his notes to 20th anniversary, Schlippenbach emphasises the importance of Kowald in creating a programme that became a lot more 'colourful'; while further pointing out that he and Kowald gradually drifted further apart 'until one fine evening after lengthy discussions which resulted in a fight in a pub in Wuppertal, this chapter also closed'. However, before this ending, from 1973 to 1978, Kowald also worked with the Schlippenbach trio (Schlippenbach/ Parker/Paul Lovens), turning it for much of this time into a regular quartet.

Throughout his career, Peter Kowald worked with a wide variety of improvising musicians worldwide and in many considered and unusual situations. He recorded bass duets with Barry Guy, Barre Phillips, Peter Jacquemyn, Maarten Altena, Damon Smith and William Parker, released two solo bass recordings, and had regular groups with Leo Smith and Günter Sommer; with Joëlle Léandre and dancer Anne Martin (Trio Tartini); with dancers Cheryl Banks and Arnette de Mille and cellist Muneer Abdul Fataah (Music and Movement Improvisation); a trio with pianist Curtis Clark; a trio with Canadian alto saxophonist Yves Charuest and Louis Moholo; and Principle Life with Jeanne Lee, Klaus Hovman, and Marilyn Mazur. During the period 1980 to 1985 he was a member of the London Jazz Composers' Orchestra. He has spent periods in the US and in Japan and recorded three duo LPs (two CDs) with US, European and Japanese musicians. He also lived in Greece and similarly played and recorded with the Greek musicians Floros Floridis and Ilias Papadopoulos. By contrast, the 12 months May 1994 to May 1995 was designated Kowald's 'Year at home' project which comprised a mixture of solo works - out of which, to some extent, the last solo CD grew (Was da ist) - and group performances.

In addition, Peter Kowald collaborated extensively with poets and artists and with the dancers Gerlinde Lambeck, Anne Martin, Tadashi Endo, Patsy Parker, Maria Mitchell, Sally Silvers, Cherly Banks, Arnette de Mille, Sayonara Pereira, and Kazuo Ohno. Specific works included Die klage der kaiserin (1989) with Pina Bausch, Short pieces (since 1989) with Jean Sasportes, The spirit of adventure (1990) with Anastasia Lyra, Wasser in der hand (1990/91) with Christine Brunel, and Futan no sentaku/The burden of choice (1990/91) with Min Tanaka and Butch Morris."

-European Free Improv (http://www.efi.group.shef.ac.uk/mkowald.html)
3/13/2024

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

"Günter "Baby" Sommer (born 25 August 1943 in Dresden) is a German jazz drummer.

He studied music in Dresden. He rose to fame in the GDR. He is part of the European free jazz avantgarde. He was part of the trio with Conny Bauer and Peter Kowald. He is now professor for drums and percussion in Dresden. The drummer and composer Christian Lillinger was one of his former students. The album Three Seasons "(HGBS 2014 with Michel Godard and Patrick Bebelaar) was awarded " Album of the Year 2014 " by The New York City Jazz Record."

-Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G%C3%BCnter_Sommer)
3/13/2024

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

"Konrad "Conny" Bauer, born in Halle an der Saale in 1943, began making music as a teenager. After self-taught beginnings as a singer and guitarist in various bands, he studied trombone in Dresden. There he discovered jazz for himself. After completing his studies, he moved to Berlin and played among other things. in the "Modern Soul Band", later in the groups "FEZ", "Exis" and "Doppelmoppel". In 1974 Conny Bauer gave his first solo concert at the legendary Peitz Festival. Since then he has fascinated his audience with ever new sounds and surprising harmonies, which he creates with his characteristic polyphonic blowing techniques. The American music journalist John Corbett coined the term "conradisms" and described Bauer's music as "one of the most radical original voices in improvised music." Bauer toured Europe, the United States, South America and Japan. He played with internationally renowned improvisation musicians such as Gianluigi Trovesi (sax, cl), Peter Kowald (b) or Peter Brötzmann (sax) and is next to Ernst-Ludwig Petrowsky (sax), Günter "Baby" Sommer (dr) and Uli Gumpert ( p) Founding member of the "Central Quartet"."

-Conrad Bauer Website (Translated by Google) (https://www.agentur-artischocke.de/index.php/conny-bauer)
3/13/2024

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


Track Listing:



1. Trio Goes East 11:44

2. Connie Goes West 6:21

3. Trio Goes West 6:03

4. Peter Goes West 10:28

5. Trio Goes North 14:54

6. Baby Goes South 9:39

7. Trio Arrives In Victoriaville 7:41

Related Categories of Interest:

May 2017
Victo
Improvised Music
Free Improvisation
Jazz
European Improvisation, Composition and Experimental Forms
Trio Recordings
Kowald, Peter

Search for other titles on the label:
Les Disques Victo.


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