Karl Berger | Kirk Knuffke | Moon | No Business Records

Karl and I met when we shared the bill for an “Arts for Art” night of music dedicated to Ed Blackwell. Karl was a longtime associate of Ed’s. There were two duets featured that night. Karl played duo with the great William Parker and I was invited by drummer Gerald Cleaver to play duets from the record “El Corazon” and other tunes in tribute to Ed Blackwell and Don Cherry. Karl of course played a ton with Don too! After this meeting Karl and I became fast friends. Karl invited me to teach with him at the Creative Music Studio in Woodstock NY, and now I have 2 times. It was there that we played duo for the nightly Guiding Artist concert and the concept of this album was born. Playing with Karl is so free and natural. It is my sincere pleasure to have him as a friend and a musical brother. — Kirk Knuffke Continue reading

Stefan Keune | John Russell | Excerpts & Offerings

Stefan Keune & John Russell share an abiding interest in free improvisation. A music that relies on an appreciation of, and a willingness to adapt to, the circumstance of the moment. What, when or how to play was left to the musicians’ discretion at the time of making the music. The “Excerpts and Offerings” on this CD are presented chronologically and are essentially un-edited i.e. real time recordings of the improvisations. Titles are all cryptic allusions to events that took place between 15th – 21st of November 2000. Continue reading

Stefan Keune | Sundays Sundaes

German saxophonist Stefan Keune first got noticed on the free improvisation scene in the 1990s with his trio and his duo with John Russell. His choice of the sopranino saxophone as main instrument gives him an uncommon sound, which he pairs with a textural approach reminiscent of John Butcher. He has performed with many improvisers from the German and British scenes, namely Matthias Bauer, Hans Schneider, Paul Lovens, and Paul Lytton. Continue reading

Satoko Fujii Tobira | Yamiyo Ni Karasu | Libra Records

The Satoko Fujii New Trio (Fujii-Nicholson-Itani) released its debut CD, “Spring Storm” in 2013. Since then, we have performed throughout Japan, Europe and North America. Sometimes Natsuki Tamura joined the trio as a guest artist. He brought energy and humor, so the band had more color. So I decided to change the band name from “New Trio” to “Tobira.” “Tobira” means door in Japanese. I wanted to open the door to bring some fresh air to the music and keep it from becoming closed. I wrote the music on paper and this band made it sound so alive. They know which spices to use. I am so lucky to always can get such great collaborators. I really like our music which is full of energy and hope you also enjoy it. — Satoko Fujii Continue reading