KLIPPE:* Thomas Heberer – trumpet, quarter-tone trumpet; | Joachim Badenhorst – clarinet, bass-clarinet; | Pascal Niggenkemper – bass
ONE: Thomas Heberer – trumpet, quarter-tone trumpet.
All music for KLIPPE composed by Thomas Heberer (GEMA). * Recorded by Ziv Ravitz at Douglass Street Music Collective, Brooklyn, June 2010 * All music for ONE composed by Thomas Heberer (GEMA) * Recorded and mixed by Thomas Heberer at 420 CPW, New York City, April 2010 * Mastered by Arunas Zujus at MAMAstudios * Cover design by Oskaras Anosovas * Producer Danas Mikailionis * Co-producer – Valerij Anosov
Tracklist: Side A 1. Törn 2. Mole 3. Insel 4. Stapellauf Side B: 1. Luv und Lee 2. Kleiner Bruder 3. Rah 4. Blanker Hans 5. Einlaufbier Side C: 1. Bone 2. Network 3. Ether 4. Runoff 5. Festival Side D: 1. Axis 2. Sweven 3. Weight 4. Canine 5. Utensil
Thomas Heberer is called “a European master” and “new trumpet genius”.
The music in his new double LP brings a fresh approach to blending improvisation and composition, which allows for the highest amount of freedom on the musicians’ side while incorporating significant structural tools on the composer’s side as well. His solo recording applies a vast variety of conventional and extended techniques, among which the most distinctive component is the exclusive use of circular breathing.
Thomas Heberer
born 1965 in Schleswig, Germany, started playing the trumpet at age 11; from 1984 to 1987, he studied under Manfred Schoof at the Cologne conservatory. He has performed on 6 continents; was a part-time lecturer at the conservatory Frankfurt/Main (1993-97) and a guest lecturer at the Banff Centre in 2007; served as Germany’s representative with the European Broadcast Union Big Band in 1998; recorded over 50 CDs as a sideman and has a dozen CDs under his own leadership. Before moving to New York City in 2008, Thomas served as a member of the regular band supporting German television talk show host and entertainer Harald Schmidt for 12 years.
The Tanztheater Wuppertal uses Stella and Mouth (two CDs released under the pseudonym T.O.M.) in the performances titled Für die Kinder von gestern, heute und morgen (2002) and Ten Chi (2004), both choreographed by Pina Bausch. Collaborations past and present include: Muhal Richard Abrams, Anthony Braxton, Willem Breuker, Peter Brötzmann, Eugene Chadbourne, Dave Douglas, Frank Gratkowski, Christoph Haberer, Gerry Hemingway, Guus Janssen, Maria Joao, Achim Kaufmann, Steve Lacy, Oliver Lake, George Lewis, Paul Lovens, Albert Mangelsdorff, Butch Morris, David Murray, Sunny Murray, Evan Parker, Alexander von Schlippenbach, Elliott Sharp, Tomasz Stanko, Norbert Stein, Attila Zoller, John Zorn.
The Penguin Guide to Jazz called him “an outstandingly gifted trumpeter,” colleague Dave Douglas “a European master,” and critic Steve Lake “our new trumpet genius.” He was awarded both the SWR-Jazzpreis, and the Preis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik with Heberer/Manderscheid, in 1990. As a member of Misha Mengelberg’s and Han Bennink’s Instant Composers Pool (ICP), he won the Down Beat Critics TDWR Poll in 2002, and the Jahrespreis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik with Aki Takase’s Band in 2004.
Joachim Badenhorst
Belgian reedplayer Joachim Badenhorst is currently living in Brooklyn, New York. He is a Co-Leader of groups in different European countries: Mogil (iceland), Red Rocket (Ireland), Rawfishboys (France), Ploug/Pettersen/Badenhorst (Denmark), Os Meus Shorts (Belgium), Taro (Austria). Joachim is a member of the Han Bennink Trio, the first group that the legendary Dutch drummer fronts as a leader. Their record `Parken` (available on the Danish ILK label) was chosen by all about jazz ny as `best new release of 2009`.
In New York he is currently working on a few new projects: a collaboraive trio with trombonist Steve Swell and drummer Ziv Ravitz. Joachim is writing music for his own trio with drummer Devin Grey and viola player Frantz Loriot, he is one third of Clarino: a trio that works on the new compositional language of trumpeter Thomas Heberer; Baloni: a collaborative trio with Pascal Niggenkemper and Frantz Loriot. Joachim is a member of Tony Malaby`s new octet `Novela` and plays is Jean Carla Rodea`s Azares (with Joe Morris, Pascal Niggenkemper and Gerald Cleaver).
Pascal Niggenkemper
German-french bassist PASCAL NIGGENKEMPER played from early age on the violin and the piano. At the age of 17, he experienced the impact of improvised music and started to play the double bass. In 1999 he moved to Cologne where he studied jazz and classical double bass at the Hochschule für Musik. He coleaded the audio visual dance project Turbo Pascale. This formation toured Germany, Kazakhstan, Czech Republic, Slovenia, and France, as well as appeared at Festivals such as the Moers Festival, Jazzmesse “Jazzahead Bremen“ and the “WDR Jazznight” with live radio broadcast on WDR Radio. In 2005 Pascal Niggenkemper was granted the DAAD Award and moved to New York.
It is in NY that Pascal met Robin Verheyen and Tyshawn Sorey and formed the PNTrio. The trio recorded the CD “pasàpas” (Konnex 2008) and “urban creatures” (JazzHausMusik 2010). PNTrio toured extensively in Europe (Belgium, Germany, Switzerland, France and Austria) They performed at the Jazzcologne Festival and the Jazzherbst Konstanz. Their performances were recorded for the WDR and the BR Radio. In June 2010 the Trio performed at the Kennedy Center in Washington. With guitar player Scott DuBois and drummer Jeff Davis Pascal formed the group pascal’s newfield, that explores an area where post-modern jazz aesthetic, rock music and contemporary classic music fuse together. The group toured in 2009 in Europe and will release the new CD ‘metamorphose’, documenting this work soon.
Pascal is also coleading the groups BaLoNi and Rosco Paje. With Frantz Loriot and friends, Pascal curates in NY the house concert series ze couch, where every two weeks artits meet to present their work. He is a member of Thomas Heberer’s Clarino, Jean Carla Rodea’s Azares, Joe Hertenstein’s HNH (HNH on clean feed 2010) and Carlo Costa’s Minerva. Festival presece includes: Vision Festival, Viersen Jazz Festival, Strade del Cinema, Jazzcologne, NewAdits, Font, Moers etc…
He has played with musicians such as Louis Sclavis, Wolfgang Puschnig, Henning Berg, Claudio Puntin, Frank Gratkowski, Robin Verheyen, Scott DuBois, Gunther Schuller, Rudi Mahall, Terrence N’Gassa, Lionel Loueke, Phil Woods, Arve Henriksen, Frantz Loriot, Hans Lüdemann, Jeff Davis, Billy Harper, Thomas Heberer, Kris Davis, Beñat Achiary, Eddie Daniels, Jean-Paul Dessy, Daniel Carter, Joachim Badenhorst, Maria Schneider, Simon Nabatov, Gerald Cleaver, Steve Slagle, Tyshawn Sorey.
This double vinyl LP is a real treat for fans of small ensembles or chamber jazz.
The first sides, called “Klippe”, bring us the trio of Thomas Heberer on trumpet and quarter-tone trumpet, Joachim Badenhorst on clarinet and bass-clarinet, and Pascal Niggenkemper on bass, three stellar musicians from respectively Germany, Belgium and France/Germany combined, but who all met in New York. The trio improvises based on Heberer’s self-developed compositional development which gives clues to the players on pulse, density, pitch etc allowing also for spontaneous phrases to be repeated. The end result are quite intimate and abstract miniatures, quite gentle and full of mutual respect, no doubt the result of very attentive listening to each other. Sometimes the music itself has few references to jazz, but more linked to ethereal new music, but at other times, both trumpet, clarinet and bass play deeply emotional bluesy tones, giving the overall tone one of fragile sensitivity.
On the second LP, called “One”, Heberer goes solo, demonstrating his incredible skills, especially when his circular breathing allows him to play an entire piece seemingly in one breath, or when he kind of shouts and creates multiphonics on his horn. Yet he is of course too good a musician to just demonstrate technique on his instrument, which is entirely in function of the music. I must say that I prefer the austerity of the solo pieces above the trio. They give the fragility a different, deeper, more personal dimension, of the lone individual struggling, moaning, singing. Unlike other trumpeters like Peter Evans or Nate Wooley, Heberer keeps his tone voiced throughout, which makes this overall somewhat more accessible, although that is of course an extremely relative concept. Some pieces are absolutely astonishingly beautiful.-– Stef
Double LP version (incl. shipment cost world-wide)
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German born/New York-based trumpeter Thomas Heberer reveals dual facets of his personality on Klippe One—a 300-set limited edition double-LP. Although part of the Dutch Instant Composers Pool since 1990, and lately part of veteran multi-instrumentalist Karl Berger’s Workshop Orchestra, Heberer here goes to the opposite extremes, with the first disc (Klippe) featuring his current trio and the second (One) finding him alone.
In consort with clarinetist Joachim Badenhorst and bassist Pascal Niggenkemper, the trumpeter explores an austere chamber environment. Even though there is no obvious thematic material, the leader’s cool compositional intelligence holds sway, courtesy of his “cookbook” notation. Heberer’s scores combine a series of graphical figures, reminiscent of flags, which govern pitch, tempo, duration, repetition and dynamics, resulting in pieces which abound with casual lyricism and measured counterpoint, as well as the occasional burst of extended technique.
On trumpet, Heberer demonstrates his clarity of thought with purposeful yet drifting lines and clarion fanfares etched against the backdrop of Niggenkemper’s resonant but sparse underpinning. But the interplay with Badenhorst’s pure-toned clarinet provides the key which unlocks appreciation. Sustained notes bounce between the horns on the opening “Törn,” before interweaving with increasing ardor, while after an icy start the pair quickly lose their inhibitions on the mercurial “Mole.” Both are muted on “Stapellauf” until the trumpet soliloquies are answered by twinned arco bass and bass clarinet rejoinders. “Blanker Hans” is the standout track, however, graced by Badenhorst’s excitable but controlled overtones.
Left to his own devices, the German takes a more determinedly experimental tack, entering the arena staked out by adventurous brass exponents like Peter Evans and Nate Wooley. Melodic fragments alternate with harsh metallic rasps (suggesting the use of a foil pie pan mute perhaps) or a demented mosquito buzz. Circular breathing allows Heberer to explore the alien sounds inherent in familiar tropes, whereby just a slight change of embouchure or pressure transforms the routine into the bizarre: a careening helicopter or a revving motorbike. Of special note is “Ether,” where Heberer obsessively fixates on phrases within a singsong rhyme, and “Weight,” which creates the illusion of two simultaneous voices, once near and one far away. Though impressive technically, it’s not always a comfortable listen, and is likely to be of greater interest to aficionados of modern trumpet.
Trumpet stalwart Thomas Heberer is doing in his own way what a guy like Peter Evans is doing in the States. Making it new.
Heberer’s double LP Clarino (No Business LP 31/32) gives you two aspects of his music: “Klippe,” a chamber trio offering, and “One,” a solo trumpet record. Joachim Badenhorst brings his post-Giuffre clarinet and bass-clarinet into the mix; Pascal Niggenkemper holds forth on contrabass. It’s a program of free music that can be relatively placid or energetic alternatively, but in a pretty quiet way. It has the kind of modern dialogic interactions that have a modern classical ring to them. Yet the personalities of Heberer and Badenhorst especially give the sound the expressivity of “free jazz.” It’s very nice to hear and wears well after a bunch of listens.
For “One” Heberer goes it alone. He lays back more so than what Peter Evans does in this sort of context. Thomas gets a sound that reminds me of a weed wacker–something to do with a shift in the embouchure–and he uses that timbre along with a more clarion (yet soft) tone to good effect. It has a more tranquil approach than one usually expects, and that is not at all off-putting once one gets with the program.
An interesting free session, well played.