Frank Gratkowski – alto sax, clarinets | Sebastian Gramss – double bass, bows | Tatsuya Nakatani – percussion, bowed gongs
Recorded live at the Loft, Cologne, Germany, December 2008. Mixed by Wolfgang Stach and Sebastian Gramss at Maarweg Studios Cologne, Germany, March 2009.
Photos by Lothar Fietzek (black and white). Anne Kotzan (color). Layout by Marek Wajda.
Tracklist: 1. Yuragi 2. Nejire 3. Karami 4. Togire 5. Nagashi 6. Mitate 7. Ahahi
Frank Gratkowski | Sebastian Gramss | Tatsuya Nakatani | Photo by Anne Kotzan
The OIRTRIO started furiously
Tatsuya Nakatami diligently moved along with the band steeping into scratching, beating and violonizing his instruments…where Gratkowksi is brash and experimental at every turn, the bassist, Gramss, is almost chameleon-like in his ability to mimic and build upon the lines Gratkowski is playing. He’s the ultimate support player here, as integral to the sound as any of the others, but sometimes almost disappearing until you listen carefully and realize that the horn line is being doubled, or tripled, by the bowing of the bass… Compelling, experimental, but also quite beautiful and even… poetic — MIB Bremen
Reedist and composer Frank Gratkowski is one of the brightest lights in the music today.– One Final Note
Sebastian Gramss is a masterful bass player, establishing his ability to play full dark lines, then demonstrating a consistently firm grasp of arco technique… — Cadence Magazine, New York
Tatsuya is a creator of great sonic spaces-including silences that are overwhelmingly loud, silences that have a granite-like strength and weight — Bob Falesch
All this hits me like a vibrating temple of metal – a sense of vastness in a small room — Eric Zinman
Steely, flexible, streamlined, honed –astonishing technique, serious shapes, a distinct approach…. More please.– The WIRE
Frank Gratkowski |Photo by Lothar Fietzek
Frank Gratkowski – Reeds
…played on nearly every German and on numerous international Jazz Festivals including Vancouver, Toronto, Chicago, New York, Seattle, Quebec, Les Mans, Muelhuus, Groeningen, Nickelsdorf, Barcelona, Lithuania, Warsaw, Zagreb, Prague, Bratislava, Sofia, Bucharest, Odessa and Roma.Frank Gratkowski has been working as a soloist in various international formations (Grubenklang Orchester, Klaus Koenig Orchester, Musikfabrik NRW, Tony Oxley Celebration Orchestra, Bentje Braam, BikBentBraam, All Ears, Zeitkratzer, WDR Big band, etc.). Since 1990 he has been giving solo performances throughout Europe, Canada and USA. With his first solo program, he was a 1991 prizewinner in the Musik Kreativ contest. The release of the solo CD “Artikulationen” followed the same year and a another one “Arikulationen II” in 2002. Furthermore he has performed with Robert Dick, Phil Wachsmann, Radu Malfatti, Herb Robertson, Marcio Mattos, Eugenio Colombo, Peter Kowald, Ray Anderson, Michael Moore, Ken Vandermark, Greg Osby, Kenny Wheeler, Louis Sclavis, John Betsch, Jane Ira Bloom, Connie and Hannes Bauer, Xu Fengxia, James Newton, Muhal Richard Abrams, John Lindberg, Michael Formaneck, Ernst Reijseger, Fred van Hove, Theo Jörgensmann, Phil Minton, Peter Brötzmann, Mark Dresser, Mark Feldman, Hamid Drake, Michiel Braam, Han Bennink, Zeena Parkins, Mal Waldron, Misha Mengelberg a.m.o.
Tatsuya Nakatani | Photo by Lothar Fietzek
Tatsuya Nakatani –Percussionist
Tatsuya Nakatani (percussion) is originally from Osaka, Japan. In 2007 he performed in 80 cities in 7 countries and collaborated with 163 artists worldwide. In the past 10 years he has released nearly 50 recordings on CD. He has created his own instrumentation, effectively inventing many instruments and extended techniques. He utilizes drumset, bowed gongs, cymbals, singing bowls, metal objects, bells, and various sticks and bows to create an intense, organic music that defies category or genre. His music is based in improvised/ experimental music, jazz, free jazz, rock, and noise, yet retains the sense of space and beauty found in traditional Japanese folk music. In addition to live solo and ensemble performances he works as a sound designer for film and television. He also teaches Masterclasses and Workshops at the University level. He also heads H&H Production, an independent record label and recording studio based in Easton, Pennsylvania. He was selected as a performing artist for the Pennsylvania Performing Artist on Tour (PennPat) roster as well as a Bronx Arts Council Individual Artist grant.
Sebastian Gramss | Photo by Lothar Fietzek
Sebastian Gramss – double bass
worked/performed with:…Fred Frith, Sidsel Endresen, Tom Cora, Peter Kowald, Tyshawn Sorey,Peter Brötzmann, John Tilbury, Stefano Scodanibbio, Gerry Hemingway, Zeena Parkins, Tatsuya Nakatani, Elliot Sharp, Wolfgang Mitterer, Herb Robertson, Carlos Zingaro, Michel Doneda, Billy Elgart, Karl Berger, Robert Dick, Taylor Ho Bynum…Tony Oxley Celebration Orchestra, Chun Lee, Jeff Zhang Shouwang, Scott Fields, Rick Moody…. …Axel Dörner, Nils Wogram, Frank Gratkowski, Gunda Gottschalk, Johannes Bauer, Rudi Mahall, Matthias Schubert, Hayden Chisholm, Emex Ensemble, Tippet Ensemble, Heinz von Kramer, Hans Kresnik, Florian Weber, Marjana Sadoswka, James Choice Orchestra… and many more. Besides his own projects he also composed for radio plays, film and theatre and -among others- for choreographer Pina Bausch. Extensive touring led him to clubs and festivals all over the world. He was nominated several times for the jazz award of the south-west german broadcast. In 2007 he took part in the “Art Omi” residency in New York. He orginated the “Spacebass” ( “basso d..amore”), a modified 4 string double bass with the addition of 12 resonance strings. Sebastian Gramss is mostly active in the field of improvised music, jazz and contemporary music. He participated in several premieres in the field of contemporary music (among others G. Hajdus.. “Der Sprung”, Allende-Bin, Karin Haussman…). Sebastian Gramss is currently teacher for double bass at the cologne music conservatory.
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