Jazzfest Berlin 2023 (2/2)

 

The main event of Saturday evening was a concert by AACM founding member and
ever creative composer and saxophonist Henry Threadgill, who had
written a piece specifically for the festival that melded his New York based
Zooid quintet with Berlin’s own ever creative composer and saxophonist
Silke Eberhardt and her 10-piece Potsa Lotsa XL group. The impetus for
the composition came from the 2020 Covid-impacted edition of Jazzfest in which
curator Nadin Deventer and her crew pivoted to an online format, and
Threadgill, who was supposed to be a part of the festival that year, instead
watched a livestream of Eberhardt and Potsa-Lotsa playing arrangements of his
music. Thrilled by what he saw and heard, a new collaboration was sparked.

Henry Threadgill_Zooid_Silke Eberhard_Potsa Lotsa XL (© Berliner Festspiele, Photo Camille Blake)

There was a lot of anticipation for the piece and the hall was completely
teeming with an eager audience. An interview with the composer the day before
with music journalist Peter Margasak revealed a restlessly energetic
79-year-old who indicated no flagging of creative energy. On stage, the group,
fifteen strong, were arrayed in a semi-circle facing conductor Silke Lange,
were multiple saxophones, tubas, guitar, bass, cellos, vibraphones and more,
promising – if nothing else – a rich pallet of tonality.  As the piece
began, Libetry Ellman’s acoustic guitar work cast a spell through the
auditorium. It was both exacting and atmospheric and set the tone for the
series of solos that made up the bulk of the hour long piece. Eberhardt’s
contribution was as scintillating as one would image, and the solo from tubist
José Davila  was also a delight. Shifting tonal colors and composed
sections connected each solo and Threadgill’s own feature spot provided a
bridge between contrasting sections of lush orchestration. However, it was
Potsa Lotsa clarinetist Jürgen Kupke who, wielding his Bb clarinet like a
deadly weapon, left the biggest mark.

The late night sets that followed presented a hard choice: would it be the
sure thing searing free-jazz and burning poetics of Irreversible Entanglements
or the wildcard of pianist Kaja Draksler‘s new “matter 100” project? A
completely unspecific and unknowable algorithm chose Draksler’s  project,
which featured herself and Marta Warelis on keyboards and piano along with
sound-sculpting guitarist Andy Moor, prepared hurdy gurdy player Samo Kutin,
drummer Macio Moretti and vocalist Lena Hessels. I was a tiny bit skeptical
but something about prepared Hurdy Gury suggested that something unusual was
going to happen … a hunch that proved to be 100% accurate.

The group began with a gurgle of electronics and some classic chord changes
from Moore. Hessels began warming up on the vocals, her part-spoken,
intervalically akimbo melodies invoking a real art-rock vibe. The hurdy gurdy,
a fascinating hand-cranked violin-like instrument, was somehow also connected
to two frame drums that add extra churning growl to the mix. The hum of sound
soon broke and a gentle parlor melody emerged and decayed. There were moments
of noisiness but much of the set was spent building atmosphere, especially on
the last tune, an epic formed around an exchange between Hessels and Moore
regarding “true or false” statements. Hessels states “one, true or false” to
which Moore has a statement … “we are shadows cast on a cave wall” …”two,
true or false” … “I sometimes hear voices” … this repeated a 100 times
over a slow, hypnotic groove that always seemed just about ready to explode
… but never does. 

 

Amba, Takara and Cajado (© Photo by Cristina Marx/Photomusix)

 

Closing out the night in this side hall, American saxophonist
Zoh Amba performed an exuberant set with the support of two new
collaborators, Berlin-based Brazilians, bassist Vinicius Cajado and drummer
Mauricio Takara. After a brutal opening salvo with Amba leading the way, which
was as intense as any acoustic group could be, the trio began exploring other
harmonic textures, heading in some unexpected directions. Cajado’s bass work
was a revelation, his playing was both resistant and reactive, reflecting back
the saxophonist’s primal blasts, as well as supporting her more reflective
moments. Takara, also drummer in Rob Mazurek’s Sao Paolo Underground, is a
subtle crafter of groove and intensity. His compatibility with Cajado was
obvious from the set’s opening moments, and their rapport helped pull the trio
back from the brink during a mid-set breakdown in which Amba migrated to the
piano perched on the stage and the bassist engaged in a feedback solo.

So, here we are, back to where the review
began, leaving the Dephi theater after listening to Alexander von Schlippenbach in
a podium discussion with film director Tilman Urbach about
Tastenarbeiter. The sun was now out, warming up the early afternoon,
and a lot of music still lay ahead.

Later that evening, back at the Festspielhalle, pioneering avant-garde drummer
Andrew Cyrille took the stage with saxophonist Bill McHenry
and proceeded to dig into a series of duets from their 2016 project
Proximity. The music, accessible and polished – McHenry has a rich,
well-rounded tone and Cyrille’s drumming is encompassing – has a charming
intimacy and the duo’s compatibility and musical warmth was palpable. Their
musical dialog contained some ear-worm worthy melodies and engaging rhythmic
exchanges, Cyrille’s playing was tuneful, often employing a dampened approach
that gave his drumming a warm tone, while McHenry played short and elliptical
phrases to engage his partner. In general, the tight tunes struck the right
tone.

Percussion also played a large part in French pianist
Eve Risser Red Desert Orchestra‘s set. The large group is a mix of
European and African musicians, blending traditional African percussion with
traditional jazz instrumentation, like piano, saxophone, trumpet, guitar, and
bass, and the music they create together is a rich blend of traditions without
ever succumbing to world music cliches. Red Desert Orchestra’s debut recording
on Clean Feed Records,
Eurythmia, made several best of the
2022 lists
and the evening’s set was a little reminder as to why. The group began with
hand drumming leading to a fuller rhythmic passage that simply invited Susana
Santos Silva’s bright trumpet to sail over the intensifying groove. The music
shifted and segued from one arresting melodic and rhythmic idea to the next.
Stand out work from all the soloists ensued, with a spotlight on the balafon
(an African marimba) and djembe players Ophélia Hié  and Mélissa Hié.
After an excitedly chaotic  announcement with a short thank you speech
included, Risser, like Takase on Thursday, dedicated a piece to Carla Bley.
The later pieces from the group also highlighted the trombone work of Matthias
Mueller and baritone saxophone of Grégoire Tirtiaux, all played with a
delicate balance between exuberance and deliberateness. Quite an upbeat,
enjoyable set.

Over the years, the prestigious Albert-Mangelsdorff-Preis from the Deutschen
Jazzunion has been given to musicians during the festival, and this year,
trombonist Conny Bauer received the honor. Certainly deserved, Bauer
has been a force in German jazz since his emergence as a singer and guitarist
and then later as a trombonist in the early 1970s, and was a driving force in
groups that shaped free and improvised music in the German Democratic
Republic, like Synopsis (later Zentralquartet), FEZ and Doppelmoppel. This
evening, German jazz critic Bert Noglik gracefully introduced Bauer and
bestowed the prize. Then, with hardly a pause, Bauer, along with drummer
Hamid Drake and bassist William Parker proceeded to
deliver a masterful headlining set. Parker and Drake are simply one of the
best rhythm sections in the creative music world, and with Bauer providing the
melodic lead, there is little this trio cannot accomplish – check out
their  2013 Jazzwerkstatt recording
Tender Exploration.

The set began with Parker drawing his bow across the strings, generating
elongated tones, and then, with Drake at the drum kit, a final flourish and
quick solidifying of the rhythmic foundation. The two operate on a
subconscious level, pushing, pulling, generating, neither one ‘soloing’ but
both standing out. Over, under, through and around this harmonic and rhythmic
mesh, Bauer ebbs and surges with tonal texture and melodic intentions: Parker
is now working with high harmonics as Bauer squeezes out some slippery notes
and Drake slips into a deep, laid back groove. A later improvisation slinks
along like an upbeat crime-noire with a spy-movie melody, however, it’s the
last improvisation that sets a new standard for … well … everything. It
could be a composed song, as the parts are so coherent interlocking. No matter
how complex and poly-rhythmic Drake gets, no matter how far out Bauer or
Parker go, the music rolls and flows, a peerless masterclass in collective
improvisation. It’s worth the prize alone.

There were a couple other shows later that night, sort of a winding down
and/or a celebration but after this set, it felt rather complete. The 60th
edition of Jazzfest Berlin had been a rich serving of old and new delights
pulling from both the festivals own legacy as well as it looking ahead. 

 

Read: Part 1 | Part 2