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John Eckhardt
Seeking to combine scope with depth, John Eckhardt is constantly involved in the creation of new music and has both collaborated with a wide spectrum of artists and created his personal brand of solo projects. He worked with many composers including Helmut Lachenmann and Pierre Boulez, top new music groups such as Ensemble Modern, Klangforum Vienna and musikfabrik, improvisors from Evan Parker, Elliott Sharp and Peter Evans, to today’s new blood in a wide field of today’s music.
John Eckhardt has performed on over 30 recordings, among them Iannis Xenakis’ masterpiece “Theraps” (Mode Rec.) and three internationally acclaimed solo releases. These share an interest in low frequency and spectral immersion, spatial depth, and themes of repetition and evolutional process.
The Evan Parker produced “Xylobiont” (Psi Rec. 2008) turned into a work in progress with 40 solo double bass recitals all over the world up to today. “Forests” (Depth of Field Music, 2014) expanded these themes into a set of branching, overdubbed bass string quartets. Along with high resolution audio and 200 photographs, they were released on a wooden USB memory stick in a transparent box containing actual forest material - nearly selling out an edition of 250 within one year.
As Forresta, John Eckhardt performs on bass guitar and live electronics, and released “Bass, Space & Time” (Depth of Field Music, 2016) in a special edition of 100 moss-green, marbled double-vinyl records in a hand made, embroidered carton box. Each contains a foto print as front cover chosen by the listener from 100 images of John Eckhardt’s corresponding photographic project. This music is also the musical foundation of visual bassic, his long standing collaboration with analog light projection artist Katrin Bethge.
Driven by curiosity and passion for different styles, cultures and artistic means, John Eckhardt keeps drawing new connections and expands a bass cosmos of unusual dimensions. The latest addition is his Basswald DJ project that presents a diverse spectrum of bass music with a special ear for sound system culture. It is accompanied by a steady flow of downloadable podcasts.
John lives within earshot of the Hamburg harbor.
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Big Bad Brötzmann Quintet: Bambule!
by Glenn Astarita
This set finds legendary free jazz innovator Peter Brotzmann leading his Big Bad Quintet, along with fellow German improvisational champions, keyboardist Oliver Schwerdt, drummer Christian Lillinger, bassist John Eckhardt and fabled British bassist John Edwards to round out a sweltering session, teeming with notions of turmoil, and enduring interchanges. Brotzmann is like a turbo-charged bulldozer flattening all the unwieldly routes throughout these two extended tracks. As the German translation of the album moniker infers, a non-violent prison protest. ...
read moreBig Bad Brötzmann Quintet: Karacho!
by Mark Corroto
Good free jazz is like a trip to a carnival with its exotic and unfamiliar sights and sounds. Even for an experienced listener, the surprise of great instant composing never grows old. A prime example is Karacho! by the befittingly named Big Bad Brötzmann Quintet. Like visiting the carnival, there are innumerable sound experiences encased within an all-embracing vibe, not disparate parts that fail to integrate. Recorded in 2017 at the naTo club in Leipzig, Germany, pianist Oliver ...
read moreJohn Eckhardt: Xylobiont
by Eyal Hareuveni
John Eckhardt's solo improvised double-bass disc, Xylobiont, is the second solo bass release on Evan Parker's Psi label, and it is as outstanding and illuminating as Adam Linson's Cut and Continuum (2006).
The Hamburg-based Eckhardt received classical training and performs regularly with renowned European 20th century, contemporary, and chamber ensembles including Klangforum Vienna, Kammerensemble Neue Musik Berlin and Ensemble Integrales. He has recorded compositions by the mystical Italian composer Giacinto Scelsi, as well as Iannis Xenakis' ...
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