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Jan Roder
Silke Eberhard Trio: Being-A-Ning
by John Sharpe
Adventurous German saxophonist Silke Eberhard has long favored the trio format as a proving ground, even as she splits her time with her larger Potsa Lotsa ensemble, and other projects. With bassist Jan Roder and drummer Kay Lübke, she has cultivated a rapport that feels both intuitive and restless. Being-A-Ning, the group's fifth release--each one bearing the word “being" in its title--reaffirms that bond while pushing it forward. Although all three principals are well-versed in convention, rather than confining their ...
Continue ReadingSilke Eberhard Trio with Jan Roder and Kay Lübke: Being-A-Ning
by Mark Corroto
It is rare to describe an audio recording as brave, but that is precisely what the latest release by the Silke Eberhard Trio is--bold, fearless, and unflinchingly original. Being-A-Ning, the group's fifth album, borrows its title from Thelonious Monk's “Rhythm-A-Ning," nodding to the jazz giant while continuing the trio's thematic naming convention. Previous albums--Being (2008) and What A Beauty Being (2011) on Jazzwerkstatt, followed by The Being Inn (2017) and Being The Up And Down (2021) on Intakt--have all explored ...
Continue ReadingStephen Gauci / Joe Hertenstein / Alexander von Schlippenbach / Jan Roder: Soundlift Berlin-New York
by John Sharpe
Soundlift Berlin-New York is the second release documenting NYC tenor saxophonist Stephen Gauci's visit to the German capital following Live At Sowieso, Berlin (Gaucimusic, 2023). It finds him in different company, with drummer Joe Hertenstein, who divides his time between the two cities of the title, the familiar face this time out. Also on this studio date are acclaimed pianist Alexander von Schlippenbach and bassist Jan Roder, a pair with common ground in Die Enttäuschung and their rendition of Thelonious ...
Continue ReadingAnna Kaluza / Jan Roder: Am Frankfurter Tor
by Mark Corroto
The remarkable debut Am Frankfurter Tor by the duo of alto saxophonist Anna Kaluza and double bassist Jan Roder is both an introduction (sort of) and confirmation (absolutely) of two complete musicians. It is a sort of introduction because listeners are more likely to be familiar with the recorded output of Roder in ensembles such as Die Enttäuschung, JR3 with Olaf Rupp and Rudi Mahall, the Silke Eberhard Trio, Ulrich Gumpert's ensembles, and Alexander von Schlippenbach's Monk Casino. Kaluza, is ...
Continue ReadingBroede Schirmer Unit: Berlin, Germany
by Troy Dostert
Listeners continually on the search for new instrumental configurations in jazz would be well-advised to check out the Broede Schirmer Unit. On the one hand, these four Berlin-based musicians walk in well-trodden territory, with a commitment to working within both composed and free musical forms; bassist Jan Roder and drummer Bernd Oezsevim have extensive experience in the European free jazz circuit. But it's the unique textures provided by the other half of the quartet that give the music its distinctive ...
Continue ReadingSilke Everhard Trio: Being The Up And Down
by Mark Corroto
Sometimes one must pass through the flames to get free. That thought has shadowed the career of Silke Eberhard. The saxophonist has been consumed with the firebrands Eric Dolphy, Charles Mingus, and Ornette Coleman for years now. She has recorded Dolphy's complete oeuvre with her band Potsa Lotsa, both in small and large configurations. Covered Mingus in the trio I Am Three. She also took on a large chunk of Coleman's music in duo with pianist Aki Takase on Ornette ...
Continue ReadingRuf Der Heimat: Secrets
by John Sharpe
Originally an outfit exploring perspectives on free jazz from either side of the Berlin Wall, Ruf Der Heimat continues to thrive on Secrets, only its fourth release over the near three decades since its 1992 birth. Leader and reedman Thomas Borgmann remains at the helm beside his longtime accomplice drummer Willi Kellers but, in the meantime, the former East German contingent of saxophonist Ernst Ludwig Petrowsky and bassist Christoph Winckel has departed to be replaced in the current incarnation by ...
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