{"id":2259,"date":"2024-09-03T15:52:50","date_gmt":"2024-09-03T13:52:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gratkowski.com\/?page_id=2259"},"modified":"2024-09-05T12:36:48","modified_gmt":"2024-09-05T10:36:48","slug":"kaufmann-gratkowski-de-joode","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/gratkowski.com\/de\/projects\/kaufmann-gratkowski-de-joode\/","title":{"rendered":"Kaufmann \/ Gratkowski \/ de Joode"},"content":{"rendered":"

Achim Kaufmann \u2013 piano
\nFrank Gratkowski \u2013 clarinets and alto saxophone
\nWilbert de Joode \u2013 double bass<\/p>\n

In early 2002, Achim Kaufmann, Frank Gratkowski and Wilbert de Joode first got together as a trio at a small venue in Amsterdam.
\nSince then, the three musicians have been touring and performing internationally on a regular basis, while constantly developing, deepening and enriching their musical rapport now documented on five CDs so far: kwast<\/a> on Konnex; unearth<\/a> on nuscope; pala\u00eb<\/a> and oblengths<\/a> on Leo Records; and ge\u00e4der<\/a> on gligg records.
\nIn 2023, the trio released their first vinyl album, recorded at the SoundOut Festival in Canberra, Australia.<\/p>\n

The trio\u2019s music has been completely improvised from the outset, created in the moment. There have never been any rehearsals prior to concerts, premeditated structures or concepts \u2013 a fact that frequently flummoxes listeners, critics or even fellow musicians, as the three often manage to evoke the impression that their music could indeed be adhering to compositional presets.<\/p>\n

Kaufmann\/Gratkowski\/de Joode combine the transparency of early 21st century chamber music \u2013 silence, the moving into and out of noise regions, textural juxtapositions, the relics of almost tonal harmony surging up then evaporating just as quickly\u2013 with the energy, the rhythmic momentum and unpredictability of jazz and other rhythmically more aggressive musics.<\/p>\n

To celebrate their ten-year anniversary as a trio in 2013, Kaufmann\/Gratkowski\/de Joode invited Richard Barrett, Tony Buck, and Okkyung Lee to form the sextet SKEIN which led to a series of concerts and a release on Leo Records in 2014.
\nThe current lineup of SKEIN consists of Liz Allbee, Kazuhisa Uchihashi, Richard Barrett and Tony Buck.
\nTeaming up with Tony Buck in a quartet, the trio toured extensively in Europe in 2018 and subsequently released the disc Flatbosc and Cautery.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

upcoming concerts<\/h3>\n

 <\/p>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t \n\t\t \n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t
19.04.2026<\/span><\/td>\n\t\t\t\t\tSKEIN<\/a><\/span><\/td>\n\t\t\t\t<\/tr>\n\t\t\t\t
15:30<\/span><\/td>\n\t\t\t\t\t

Liz Allbee – trumpet
\nFrank Gratkowski – woodwinds
\nKazuhisa Uchihashi – guit + daxophone
\nAchim Kaufmann – piano
\nWilbert De Joode – bass
\nSteve Heather – drums<\/p>\n<\/div><\/td>\n\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\tIndustriesalon<\/a><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\tReinbeckstr. 9, 12459 Berlin-Sch\u00f6neweide, DE\t\t\t\t\t<\/td>\n\t\t\t\t<\/tr>\n\n\t\t \t\t <\/table>\n\t\t\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

press pictures<\/h3>\nngg_shortcode_0_placeholder\n

 <\/h3>\n

quotes<\/h3>\n

„The dynamic range is unheard of and unique, even within the world of (free) improvised music. These guys are grandmasters – that should be evident after all those years.“
\nHerman te Loo – Jazzflits (The Netherlands) \u2013 about oblengths<\/em><\/p>\n

„That album [pala\u00eb] is a stunner from its opening moments, where it may take you a minute to sort out who\u2019s playing what. Plasticity of timbre is one of this trio\u2019s hallmarks. (\u2026) The players are so sensitive to dynamics, they\u2019ll play spatial games with your perceptions\u2014make one instrument sound like it\u2019s in the foreground, and the others far in the distance.“
\nKevin Whitehead, liner notes for „Oblengths“<\/em><\/p>\n

„Although it\u2019s an acoustic ensemble, sounds that might ordinarily be heard as ‚electric‘ figure that plasticity: There is ’static‘ generated by the bass, buzzy rumbling, spooky echoes, etc. plus characteristically clanky preparations, scraping, and generally a wide variety of techniques for mixing overtones & resonance \u2014 including ample ’straight‘ tone. (\u2026) There are surely few ensembles that combine this level of individual talent & broad technical creativity with so many years of developing a collective style: The musical language they\u2019ve developed is quite versatile, and they certainly seem to be at no loss for ideas. Might they just keep getting better?“
\nTodd McComb, medieval.org – about oblengths<\/em><\/p>\n

„From hot, Dolphy-esque cascades to piano-roll pointillism, to unresolved twelve-tone tales, it\u2019s improvised chamber music of the highest order.“
\nClifford Allen, Signal to Noise magazine (review of pala\u00eb)<\/em><\/p>\n

„…the power of their collective history is highlighted during their third album\u2019s opening number, where de Joode\u2019s athletic and falsetto bass is matched with unerring timbral precision by the blunted subtone of Gratkowski\u2019s clarinet. The two musicians jive around each other, their counterpoint gelling into a cracked continuum, which Kaufmann bolsters using the inside of his piano. It\u2019s like the three musicians are channelling themselves through the same default sound \u2013 a strikingly original opening gambit to a savvy hour of improvised music.“
\nPhilip Clark, The Wire (review of pala\u00eb)<\/em><\/p>\n

„The three spontaneously weave compact pieces full of intricate, multi-threaded interaction. (\u2026) 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\u2026“
\nMichael Rosenstein, Signal to Noise (review of kwast)<\/em><\/p>\n

„Yes, this trio is pretty astounding (\u2026) The ways in which this group interacts and creates new environments for improvisation reminds me of the Graewe\/Reijseger\/Hemingway trio, despite the different instrumentation. They create a new world every time they perform. This was one of the best improvised concerts I have seen in quite some time, and is right up there with performances by other long-time groups that I have witnessed live such as G\/R\/H, the Schlippenbach Trio, and Parker\/Guy\/Lytton.“
\nRussell Summers, nuscope recordings<\/em><\/p>\n

„\u2026it\u2019s like nothing you\u2019ve ever heard before.“
\nGreg Buium – down beat magazine (review of ‚kwast‘)<\/em><\/p>\n

„The best band I heard [at the 2008 Dutch Jazz Meeting] was the free-improvising Wilbert de Joode\/Achim Kaufmann\/Frank Gratkowski trio.“
\nKevin Whitehead<\/em><\/p>\n

Kevin Whitehead’s liner notes for oblengths<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

some video links<\/h3>\n

VPRO Amsterdam 2016 part 1<\/a>
\nVPRO Amsterdam 2016 part 2<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

„Canberra“ album review<\/h3>\n

https:\/\/www.freejazzblog.org\/2024\/01\/achim-kaufmann-frank-gratkowski-wilbert.html<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Achim Kaufmann \u2013 piano Frank Gratkowski \u2013 clarinets and alto saxophone Wilbert de Joode \u2013 double bass In early 2002, Achim Kaufmann, Frank Gratkowski and Wilbert de Joode first got together as a trio at a small venue in Amsterdam. Since then, the three musicians have been touring and performing internationally on a regular basis, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":20,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gratkowski.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2259"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gratkowski.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gratkowski.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gratkowski.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gratkowski.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2259"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/gratkowski.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2259\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2285,"href":"https:\/\/gratkowski.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2259\/revisions\/2285"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gratkowski.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/20"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gratkowski.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2259"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}