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Elias Stemeseder

Born in Salzburg, Austria in 1990, Elias lived in Berlin from 2010 and moved to New York in 2015. Besides his main instrument, the acoustic piano, he also plays synthesizers. He performs in a variety of musical idioms ranging from the song-oriented music of Jim Black's trio to contemporary classical pieces by John Zorn to the electric music of Eyebone.

Current projects include collaborations with John Zorn (John Zorn's Bagatelles), the Greg Cohen Quintet, Philipp Gropper's "Philm", Jim Black's "Malamute" Anna Webber's "Percussive Mechanics", Robert Landfermann Quintet and "OTIS+WEDDING".

Elias Stemeseder has performed solo concerts at the Nuoro Jazz Festival (IT), Haus Der Berliner Festspiele (DE), 12points Festival Dublin (IRL) and Südtirol Jazzfestival (IT). He leads a Berlin - based quartet with Eldar Tsalikov, Igor Spallati and Ugo Alunni and co-leads the bands Jagged Spheres (with Anna Webber and Devin Gray) and Eyebone (with Nels Cline and Jim Black).

Since 2008 Elias has been working extensively with the American drummer Jim Black. The Jim Black trio (with Thomas Morgan on double bass) has released the critically acclaimed recordings Somatic and Actuality on the German label Winter&Winter Recordings and The Constant on the Swiss label Intakt Records. In 2013, Elias formed the collective trio "Eyebone“ with Jim Black and guitarist Nels Cline, in which he plays the Wurlitzer piano and bass synthesizers.

Elias has received scholarships and grants from SKE/austro mechana and BKA Österreich Kunst und Kultur.


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10
Album Review

Stemeseder Lillinger + Craig Taborn: Umbra III

Read "Umbra III" reviewed by Mark Corroto


Sometimes, the subversion of established paradigms unfolds through incremental variations and subtle shifts in the status quo--so gradual they can be almost imperceptible. Other times, transformation arrives in the form of unexpected revolutions, seismic and undeniable. Somewhere between these two extremes lie the musical experiments of Elias Stemeseder and Christian Lillinger. The Austrian-German duo--pianist, composer, and electronic musician Elias Stemeseder and drummer, composer, and producer Christian Lillinger--conceived Umbra, a modular ensemble framework that interweaves musical notation with fluid ...

2
Album Review

Elias Stemeseder / Christian Lillinger: Umbra II

Read "Umbra II" reviewed by John Sharpe


Austrian pianist Elias Stemeseder and German drummer Christian Lillinger capture the Zeitgeist in a nervy, occasionally anxiety inducing, pairing under the moniker Umbra. Although extant as a duet, they often supplement the numbers with like-minded collaborators, and on Umbra II trumpeter Peter Evans and bassist Russell Hall take to the full on interaction like ducks to water. Unlike their debut recording, this time out they swear off the electronics for an all acoustic outing, although, truth be told, such is ...

Live Review

Elias Stemeseder & Thomas Morgan a Firenze

Read "Elias Stemeseder & Thomas Morgan a Firenze" reviewed by Neri Pollastri


Elias Stemeseder & Thomas Morgan Duo Sala Vanni A Jazz Supreme--Musicus Concentus Firenze 4 ottobre 2024 Riapertura in grande stile per la rassegna del Musicus Concentus di Firenze, A Jazz Supreme, con un concerto attesissimo e di livello assoluto: quello del pianista austriaco Elias Stemeseder e del contrabbassista americano Thomas Morgan, come sempre in Sala Vanni. I due si conoscono da quasi quindici anni, avendo a lungo fatto parte dell'apprezzato trio di ...

84
Album Review

Stemeseder Lillinger Quartet feat. Peter Evans & Russell Hall: Umbra II

Read "Umbra II" reviewed by Glenn Astarita


Imagine a musical universe where jazz's avant-garde explorers join forces with the precision of Swiss watchmakers. In this paradoxical realm, the Stemeseder Lillinger Quartet thrives, crafting intricate sonic tapestries that defy conventional melodic structures. At the helm of this audacious ensemble are Elias Stemeseder (piano) and Christian Lillinger (drums), two maverick minds whose collaborative chemistry could power a small city. The Quartet features Russell Hall (bass) and Peter Evans (trumpet), crafting a complex and intriguing follow-up album with Umbra II. ...

7
Album Review

Anna Webber: Shimmer Wince

Read "Shimmer Wince" reviewed by John Sharpe


There is often an underlying rigor to the work of Canadian saxophonist and flautist Anna Webber, be that inspiration from the digital world on Binary (Skirl, 2016), her investigation of multiphonic intervals on Idiom (Pi, 2021) or contemporary classical percussion repertoire on Clockwise (Pi, 2020). On Shimmer Wince, she derives her compositions from her study of Just Intonation, a system which many believe offers a more “pure" way of tuning and allows greater timbral and sonic possibilities ...

1
Album Review

Ferdinando Romano: Invisible Painters

Read "Invisible Painters" reviewed by Neri Pollastri


Non ama cullarsi sugli allori Ferdinando Romano: dopo i meritati riconoscimenti ricevuti grazie anche al suo progetto Totem, cambia completamente scenari, lascia da parte il jazz moderno, ancorché strutturato e complesso, e si dedica all'esplorazione di sonorità in equilibrio tra acustico ed elettronico e di atmosfere maggiormente sospese e frammentate. Per farlo l'artista --beneventano d'origine e toscano d'adozione --ha chiamato con sé tre musicisti giovani, che ciononostante già godono di grande attenzione: il pianista e tastierista austriaco, ma ...

7
Album Review

Anna Webber: Shimmer Wince

Read "Shimmer Wince" reviewed by Mark Corroto


Some mechanical wristwatches have clear faces which allow the owner to observe the inner workings of the marvelous object. It is a wonder just how the timepiece utilizes its mainspring and gear train to drive the harmonic oscillator which keeps near perfect time. The same can be said of composer, saxophonist and flautist Anna Webber's investigation into unique tunings using the overtone series known as Just Intonation (JI). It is an ancient system based on the natural vibration of physical ...

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Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

Umbra III

Intakt Records
2025

buy

Shimmer Wince

Intakt Records
2024

buy

Umbra II

Intakt Records
2024

buy

Deranged Particles

Self Produced
2024

buy

Invisible Painters

Jam/UnJam - Universal Music
2023

buy

Solo Piano

Intakt Records
2022

buy

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