Squidco: Denzler, Bertrand / Antonin Gerbal / Alex Dorner: Le Ring

Having performed in duos previously, this trio came together at Festival Noise No. 5, at Theatre Le Ring, in Toulouse, the sound of the group is a "malleable space in which the musicians generate small or bigger shapes, simple and complex sounds, irregular and mechanical rhythms."

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product information:

Personnel:

Bertrand Denzler-tenor saxophone

Antonin Gerbal-percussion

Axel Dorner-trumpet

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Label: Confront
Catalog ID: ccs 65
Squidco Product Code: 22545

Format: CDR
Condition: New
Released: 2016
Country: Great Britain
Packaging: Cardboard Sleeve Sealed
Recorded live during Festival Noise No. 5, at Theatre Le Ring, in Toulouse, France, on December 12th, 2015, by Pierre-Olivier Boulant

Descriptions, Reviews, &c.

"This group is the result of crossed relationships. Denzler and Dorner know each other for 15 years, Denzler and Gerbal work together in several projects, Dorner and Gerbal are both members of Peeping Tom. As a trio, they played their first concert in Berlin in March 2015 and the music was immediately obvious. The sound of the group is a malleable space in which the musicians generate small or bigger shapes, simple and complex sounds, irregular and mechanical rhythms."-Confront

"There's generally less happening at once on Le Ring - one of the many new releases from Confront Recordings - than on albums I typically feature here, but between the various voicings of Axel Dörner on trumpet, the eerie counterpoint of Bertrand Denzler on saxophone, and the chthonic drumming of Antonin Gerbal, the album possesses an elemental appeal. Slow-moving processes collide - not so unlike the collisions I recently discussed on Give and Take [Frode Gjerstad], albeit at faster, conversational speeds in that case - and evoke a feeling of being outside of (human?) time, particularly as e.g. the beating of the drums slows down. In other words, there's relatively little sense of melody or harmony, despite the rather straightforward linear approach of each musician, but the resulting interaction produces sensations of unstoppable force & change. (The quality of the result is somewhat reminiscent of e.g. Anomonous, albeit there with more aggressive activity, more varied & often industrial, less elemental.) Le Ring seems to be part of an inquiry into the minimal means required to evoke such an effect. [...]"-Todd McComb, Todd McComb's Jazz Thoughts

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Artist Biographies

• Show Bio for Bertrand Denzler

"Bertrand Denzler is a tenor saxophone player. He has played in Europe and Latin America both as a solo act and with musicians such as Xavier Charles, Peter Frils Nielsen, Jean-Luc Guionnet, Barry Guy, Ninh Lê Quan, Urs Leimgruber, Günter Müller, Bob Ostertag, Norbert Pfammatter, Hasse Poulsen, Mark Sanders, Mathieu Werchowski, and Otomo Yoshihide. He is a member of the groups Hubbub, Nanocluster, Laps, Denzler-Mariage, A3/1, and Chamaeleo Vulgaris. He has put out a number of compact discs on various labels."-ActuelleCD.com (http://www.actuellecd.com/en/bio/denzler_be/)
7/7/2025

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^ Hide Bio for Bertrand Denzler

• Show Bio for Antonin Gerbal

"Since the release of File under: Bebop - Peeping Tom in 2009, Antonin Gerbal has developed his own approach of the drums - reinterpreting history of jazz drumming through the prism of european musical improvisation. Improviser, composer, teacher and performer, Antonin Gerbal is associated with the vitality of the Parisian music scene, notably through Umlaut Records. He has performed in Europe, U.S., Russia and Japan, with many original projects such as Nakasanye, Zoor, ISM or Peeping Tom. Involved in large ensembles such as ONCEIM (playing pieces Eliane Radigue or Stephen O'Malley) and Umlaut Big Band (swing dancing band), Antonin Gerbal works regularly with English, German, Swiss and Japanese artists. At the begining of 2016, he releases his solo works called Sound of Drums."

-Antonin Gerbal Website (http://antoningerbal.com/about)
7/7/2025

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• Show Bio for Axel Dorner

"Axel Dörner (born 26 April 1964 in Cologne, Germany) is a German jazz musician (trumpet and piano) and composer.

Dörner studied piano in the Dutch town Arnhem (1988-89) and at the Music Academy in Cologne (1989-1996). From 1991 he studied trumpet with Malte Burba, and during his studies he collaborated with trumpeter Bruno Light in the "The Street Fighters Duo". At this time he also joined the ensembles "The Street Fighters Quartet" and "The Street Fighters Double Quartet" together with Matthias Schubert, Bruno Leicht, and Claudio Puntin. In addition the "Axel Dörner Quartet" was initiated (with Frank Gratkowski, Hans Schneider and Martin Blume). With saxophonist Matthias Petzold. he participated on the albums Lifelines and Psalmen Und Lobgesänge.

Dörner has resided in Berlin since 1994, and occurs in the most diverse settings like "The London Jazz Composers Orchestra" and with "Hedros" (together with Mats Gustafsson, Günter Christmann, Barry Guy and others). Since then he has contributed on more than 50 album recordings.

Dörner is distinguished mainly by his versatility. He bouth play the more traditional Bebop, just like he fits in to classic Free Jazz or electronic music. He playd with Otomo Yoshihide at the Donaueschinger Musiktage in 2005. Dörner play both solo concerts and collaborates with his trio "TOOT" (together with Phil Minton and Thomas Lehn) and "Die Anreicherung" with Christian Lillinger, Håvard Wiik and Jan Roder, and in Ken Vandermarks "Territory-Band". Dörner is an integral part of the Berlin scene of experimental new improvisational music. Dörner was given special attention for his interpretation of all compositions by Thelonious Monk, with the pianist Alexander von Schlippenbach and his own band "Die Enttäuschung" released on a three CD album (Monks Casino, Complete 2005)."-Wikipedia

-Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Axel_D%C3%B6rner)
7/7/2025

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^ Hide Bio for Axel Dorner

Track Listing:

1. Le Ring 41:16

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