"The three spontaneously weave compact pieces full of intricate, multi-threaded interaction. (…) The group can construct spare, riveting music from the quiet hush of bristling detailed textures. They can also shape improvisations that build to a full-bore rush of heated intensity. But what stands out most is how they do this with such a highly-developed group sound…"
Michael Rosenstein, Signal to Noise magazine
a little history…
We first played together as a trio right after New Year's 2002 at "Zaal 100", Amsterdam's classic underground venue for improvised music of all sorts.
We were familiar with each other - I had played duo with Wilbert, besides various improvised settings at Zaal 100; Wilbert had played with Frank in different projects (Bentje Braam, among others); Frank and I had had a trio together in Cologne in the '80s - although our ways parted a bit after that. Curiously enough, we started playing together again after I had moved to Amsterdam.
Anyway, on that January night in Zaal 100, we felt a rare balance in the way we played together: There was a lot of energy and at the same time subtlety, transparency, a shared attention to sonic detail. As Frank put it later on, "everybody played stuff he wouldn't have played in any other constellation".
This trio had a good group spirit, our temperaments seemed to complement each other in inspiring ways…
In 2003, the trio embarked on a tour to various European countries (Germany, Switzerland, Austria, and Italy). We were invited to the 'Ars Nova' festival, a contemporary music event in Southwestern Germany, sponsored by SWR radio.
As a result of that tour, the cd
kwast was released by the Berlin-based label Konnex in early 2004.
The trio's second disc,
unearth, was released by the nuscope label the following year. About this recording, taken entirely from a concert at the Loft in Cologne, the Montréal-based writer Marc Chenard wrote in his liner notes:
"In this follow up release, pianist Achim Kaufmann, reedist Frank Gratkowski and bassist Wilbert de Joode have succeeded in meeting one of the prime challenges of improvised music, i.e. of achieving a very different sounding set of music than in its previous effort. In
Unearth, these musicians focus moreso on discursive strategies, whereas its predecessor emphasized timbral explorations."
Our third release,
palaë, consists of 2006 live recordings and got released by Leo Records in December 2007.
After five years and dozens of concerts, I feel the music has now reached a new level of intensity and radicality, a heightened perception of group counterpoint.At its best and most inspired moments, there is a seamless feel of continuity in our improvisations. At the same time, the improvised forms turn out to be much quirkier and more unpredictable than before.
The trio played an intense and highly successful tour in North America in November 2007. We did eleven concerts and four workshops in two weeks.
Our next tours are planned for the following periods:
September 1 - 20, 2009
November 1 - 10, 2009 - USA
February 2010 - European tour with special guest
Lê Quan Ninh !
Single dates outside these periods are avalable on request!
If you are interested in booking us, please e-mail : achim (at) achimkaufmann.com
(please replace "at" with @)
more info and sounds:
www.myspace.com/kaufmanngratkowskidejoode
