Draksler // Amba / Cajado / Takara

Four avant-garde performances make up the late-night program at the Festspielhaus, two of them in the box office hall: Kaja Draksler combines abstract sounds with text in her brand-new project "matter 100" with a group of European improvising musicians, while the U.S. free-jazz saxophonist and newcomer Zoh Amba gives a taste of her instinctive and organic playing in her Jazzfest Berlin debut as a trio.

22:00 / German premiere

Kaja Draksler: "matter 100"

(NL, UK, PL, SI)

Slovenian pianist Kaja Draksler is a familiar face at Jazzfest Berlin. In 2021 she performed as a duo with Portuguese trumpeter Susana Santos Silva, and in 2018 together with bassist Petter Eldh and drummer Christian Lillinger in their highly original trio Punkt.Vrt.Plastik. As one of the scene's most active and curious musicians*, she is always on the lookout for new artistic challenges - be it creative new settings of Robert Frost's poetry or her role as a member of the improvisation quartet Hearth alongside Santos Silva and saxophonists Mette Rasmussen and Ada Rave. At this year's Jazzfest Berlin, she will present her new project "matter 100," of which she says: "I deal with songs and sound; songs on a formal level and sound as a source of ideas and navigation system." To realize this vision, Draksler has assembled a band that draws from very different musical imprints. Young singer-songwriter Lena Hessels - the daughter of Teri Hessels, guitarist for Amsterdam post-punk improv band The Ex - plays guitar and sings between melody and spoken word. Amsterdam pianist Marta Warelis joins Draksler on keyboard. Also on the bill are The Ex's second guitarist Andy Moor, Polish drummer Macio Moretti - a member of Shofar and Mitch & Mitch - and Slovenian instrument maker Samo Kutin, who plays a prepared hurdy-gurdy.



Line-up

Lena Hessels - vocals, guitar

Andy Moor - guitar

Marta Warelis - keyboards

Kaja Draksler - keyboards, piano

Samo Kutin - prepared hurdy-gurdy

Macio Moretti - drums

23:30

Amba / Cajado / Takara

(US, BR)

23-year-old Zoh Amba was in the spotlight early on in her creative career - a circumstance that can also slow down musicians in their artistic development, especially since this often takes time, especially in jazz. It was different for Amba: The saxophonist grew up in rural Tennessee; she pursued her musical interests largely self-taught. Two years after moving to San Francisco for her studies, she dropped out, frustrated by the orthodox straitjacket that U.S. jazz schools sometimes try to put on their students. Instead, Amba studied with various mentors, including David Murray, and honed her skills on stage boards and in recording studios, working with some of the best musicians in the U.S., including drummers Tyshawn Sorey, Joey Baron and Chris Corsano, bassists William Parker, Thomas Morgan and Luke Stewart, and pianist Micah Taylor. Their gospel-like playing references the influence of free-jazz sax virtuosos* such as Albert Ayler, Frank Wright, and David S. Ware, while at the same time their own musical voice defies any traditional guidelines or expectations.

Some of her most compelling pieces to date have been created and released by Amba outside of established circles. On the album "The Flower School," a collaboration with Corsano and guitarist Bill Orcutt, her playing is marked by an intense, approachable tenderness. For her debut at Jazzfest Berlin, she will be joined by two new collaborators, both native Brazilians residing in Berlin: bassist Vinicius Cajado, an integral part of the current scene who deftly blends tradition with innovation, and stylistically diverse drummer Mauricio Takara, who brings an experimental rock background and most recently wowed audiences at Jazzfest Berlin in 2019 and 2021.



Line-up

Zoh Amba - saxophone

Vinicius Cajado - double bass

Mauricio Takara - drums