


A long-awaited reunion between pianist Georg Graewe and drummer Hamid Drake, joined for the first time by bassist Brad Jones, captured live at the 2024 Konfrontationen Festival in Austria in three expansive improvisations, the trio's chemistry igniting in deep rhythmic interplay, fluid abstraction, and Graewe's seamless movement between jazz traditions and contemporary sensibilities.
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Georg Graewe-piano
Brad Jones-double bass
Hamid Drake-drums
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UPC: 9120036684218
Label: Random Acoustics
Catalog ID: RA 041CD
Squidco Product Code: 36395
Format: CD
Condition: New
Released: 2025
Country: Austria
Packaging: Cardboard Gatefold
Recorded live during Konfrontationen, in Nickelsdorf, Austria, on July 28th, 2024, by Christian Gorz and Jens Jamin.
"In the mid-1990s German pianist Georg Graewe was among a number of free jazz veterans attracted to the young improv scene in Chicago. In 1997 he spent six months in the city and formed one of the finest groups of the decade with drummer Hamid Drake and bassist Kent Kessler, along with German reedist Frank Gratkowski. The quartet stopped working around 2001, but in 2019 the pianist found and released a searing live recording of the group from 1998, which sparked a desire to reconnect with Drake. That finally happened in the summer of 2024 at the storied Konfrontationen Festival in Nickelsdorf, Austria, in which Lisbon based American expat bassist Brad Jones rounded out the trio's first-time meeting. Lightning was indeed captured in a bottle with this recording, revealing that the Graewe-Drake electricity remains undiminished. In his sleevenotes the pianist notes the stifling heat as they took the stage, but over the course of three fiery collective improvisations the new trio was fuelled by the hothouse environment, revealing astonishing chemistry. The rhythm section unspools endless ebb and flow movement, riding deep grooves and embracing wide open abstraction; the ideal foundation for Graewe's nonchalant versatility.
While the pianist often elides boundaries between jazz and contemporary music, here he unabashedly digs into the former even while drawing ideas from the latter. There's something unfortunate about the way veterans are often overlooked if they don't devise an endless profusion of new concepts or bands, but More Than Anything proves how misguided that metric is. These individuals have amassed incredible experience and knowledge, and their ability to summon those resources in the moment, with an unceasing flow, is something even the most talented young improvisors will always lack.
Of course, Graewe hasn't been resting on his laurels. He has several ongoing projects including the latest manifestation of his long-running exploration of large ensemble music, Sonic Fiction Orchestra. In Concert, Bochum 2022 features three diverse works, tightly arranged and residing more in the contemporary music milieu despite plenty of neatly plotted improvisation from the likes of clarinettist Gratkowski, guitarist Martin Siewert and harpist Sara Kowal. Few improvisors have managed to collide musical worlds with more rigour and fecundity." - Peter Margasak

Artist Biographies
• Show Bio for Georg Graewe "Georg Graewe began composing and performing professionally at the age of 15. He has since been leading a variety of ensembles - ranging from trio to chamber orchestra formats - which have involved some of the leading instrumentalists in contemporary music. His compositions, which include chamber music and works for full orchestra as well as scores for films, theater productions, radio drama, and video, have been performed and broadcast around the world. Graewe has had a long-standing trio with Dutch cellist Ernst Reijseger and US-based percussionist Gerry Hemingway since 1989. He has also performed and/or recorded with Anthony Braxton, Evan Parker, Dave Douglas, Phil Minton, Roscoe Mitchell, Barry Guy, Barre Phillips, Hamid Drake, John Butcher, Robert Dick, John Butcher, Mark Dresser among others. Over the last 10 years, he has also written three operas. Kopenhagen (based on the same-titled play by Michael Frayn) was produced by OPER KÖLN (Cologne Opera House) in 2003. His second opera, Quicksilver, (a commission by Semperoper Dresden) came out in November 2006. And his most recent opera, Barbara Strozzi oder die Avantgarde der Liebe, was staged by Theater Luzern in Switzerland in 2010 and Oper Bonn in Germany in 2011. Since 1999, Graewe has been closely associated with CNMAT (Center for New Music and Audio Technology) at UC Berkeley. From 2002 - 2007, he taught at Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler in Berlin. In 2010, Graewe curated a series of 27 events that presented different aspects of resonance between music, poetry, visual arts, and science as part of the European Cultural Capital RUHR 2010. A catalogue plus DVD edition documenting this project has been published on his own Random Acoustics label." ^ Hide Bio for Georg Graewe • Show Bio for Brad Jones "New York born Brad Christopher Jones is a bassist, composer, and educator. He has recorded, performed, and toured around the world with a diverse array of artists that include Ornette Coleman, Elvis Costello, Elvin Jones, David Byrne, Muhal Richard Abrams, Sheryl Crow, Deborah Harry, Dave Douglas, Vernon Reid, John Zorn, Don Byron, Marc Ribot, and The Jazz Passengers. Brad has released three recordings under his own leadership with two seperate projects:"UNCIVILIZED POISE" and "THE EMBODIMENT" with his band Aka Alias, and"POURING MY HEART IN" with the Brad Jones Quartet. Brad is also an experienced educator who has taught workshops and master classes in France, Italy, Canada, and Mexico and is part of the music faculty at Columbia University in New York City." ^ Hide Bio for Brad Jones • Show Bio for Hamid Drake "Hamid Drake (born August 3, 1955) is an American jazz drummer and percussionist. He lives in Chicago, IL but spends a great deal of time touring worldwide. By the close of the 1990s, Hamid Drake was widely regarded as one of the best percussionists in jazz and avant improvised music. Incorporating Afro-Cuban, Indian, and African percussion instruments and influence, in addition to using the standard trap set, Drake has collaborated extensively with top free-jazz improvisers. Drake also has performed world music; by the late 70s, he was a member of Foday Musa Suso's Mandingo Griot Society and has played reggae throughout his career. Drake has worked with trumpeter Don Cherry, pianist Herbie Hancock, saxophonists Pharoah Sanders, Fred Anderson, Archie Shepp and David Murray and bassists Reggie Workman and William Parker (in a large number of lineups) He studied drums extensively, including eastern and Caribbean styles. He frequently plays without sticks; using his hands to develop subtle commanding undertones. His tabla playing is notable for his subtlety and flair. Drake's questing nature and his interest in Caribbean percussion led to a deep involvement with reggae." ^ Hide Bio for Hamid Drake
9/10/2025
Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.
9/10/2025
Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.
9/10/2025
Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.

Track Listing:
1. Leanings 26:33
2. Spinel 16:03
3. More Than Anything 10:54

Improvised Music
Jazz
Free Improvisation
Collective & Free Improvsation
European Improvisation, Composition and Experimental Forms
Chicago Jazz & Improvisation
Trio Recordings
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