18th SEATTLE IMPROVISED MUSIC FESTIVAL
Paul Lovens, Rudi Mahall, Torsten Müller & Jeb Bishop
Saturday, February 15 · Polestar Music Gallery
1412 18th Ave. at E Union · 8 PM · $5-15 sliding scale suggested donation
Since 1969, acclaimed German percussionist Paul Lovens has worked almost exclusively as an improviser, performing with most of the leading musicians in free improvisation including the Alexander Schlippenbach trio, Globe Unity Orchestra, Berlin Contemporary Jazz Orchestra, Quintet Moderne, Company, and a duo with percussionist Paul Lytton. He has undertaken concert tours in more than 40 countries, is a founding member of a musicians cooperative, and has produced recordings for his own Po Torch label since 1976. Lovens epitomizes the free music percussionist who is not there to lay down the beat and direct traffic but to listen, color, contribute, and occasionally direct the overall cooperative sound. In concert, Paul’s intensity and concentration give rise to a feeling that even the most random events are somehow planned in time. A genuine original, Lovens’ arhythmic approach, intense precision, and hyperactive bent have played a crucial role in the European free aesthetic.
Rudi Mahall is considered one of the most innovative bass clarinetists since Eric Dolphy. Born in Nürnberg, Germany in 1966, Mahall studied classical clarinet at first and subsequently began exploring twentieth century music and free improvisation. He has also absorbed the music of Thelonious Monk, Ornette Coleman, and Eric Dolphy. In 1992, along with German guitarist Frank Möbus he founded the group Der Rote Bereich which literally translates as “the red area” and is a reference to the red zone that indicates distortion on the recording level meter of most recording machines. Der Rote Bereich is appropriately named: the group’s music brazenly skirts the outrageous as it traverses the ground between sublime and ridiculous. It is currently a trio with Mahall, Möbus, and John Schröder on drums. Mahall also works with Tiefe Töne Für Augen und Ohren (with Henning Sievert and Bill Elgart) and Die Enttäuschung (with Axel Dörner, Jan Roder, and Uli Jenneßen). Rudi has also performed with Aki Takase, Lee Konitz, Barry Guy, Karl Berger, Jim Black, Ed Schuller, and Alex von Schlippenbach.
Disappointed with the European music scene and seeking new musical discoveries, bassist Torsten Müller left his home in Hamburg, Germany two years ago and moved to Vancouver. On the West Coast, Müller was shocked to find a new music scene that was not only open and inviting but also one that in its sophistication and high calibre rivaled any in the world. Shortly after his arrival he formed a trio with clarinetist François Houle and drummer Dylan van der Schyff. Müller has also collaborated with Rudi Mahall in a trio with Chicago reed player Ken Vandermark. In Europe, Müller was a frequent collaborator with trombonist Günter Christmann, with whom he performed at many international festivals and released recordings on FMP Records and Moers Music, and he was a co-founder of the 11-piece European free-improv ensemble King Übü Orchestra which features saxophonist Wolfgang Fuchs, drummer Paul Lytton, and others. Over the years Müller has worked with improvisers from around the world including John Zorn, Arto Lindsay, Phil Minton, Charles Gayle, and Evan Parker, to name a few. Currently he works in a duo with the phenomenal bass clarinetist Rudi Mahall and in a new trio with Ken Vandermark and percussionist Michael Zerang. In a recent interview writer Jeffrey Allport wrote, “Eschewing the traditional role of the bass, Müller’s playing expands the instrument’s voice, utilizing highly developed extended techniques ... under his control the bass becomes an instrument that provides a wide range of texture and colour.”
Trombonist Jeb Bishop has been one of the most active players in Chicago’s exciting free jazz/improvised music community since 1993. He currently performs and records with groups like the Ken Vandermark 5, the Peter Brotzmann Chicago Tentet, School Days, Terminal Four, Territory Band, and his own Jeb Bishop Trio (with bassist Kent Kessler and drummer Tim Mulvenna), and frequently performs with renowned improvisers at home and abroad. In 2001 and 2002, he was voted Talent Deserving Wider Recognition in Downbeat Magazine’s International Critics Poll. Bishop has two CDs of improvised duets on the Wobbly Rail label, and appears on many CDs on the Okkadisk label, including two by the Jeb Bishop Trio. Commenting on the trio’s music, British magazine The Wire wrote, “Eschewing avant-trickery, Bishop applies his robust tone to the business of no-nonsense jazz improvisation. Strong melodies supply the impetus ”
18th Seattle Improvised Music Festival