Albrecht Maurer (D) – violin
Katrin Mickiewicz (PL) - viola
Kent Carter (USA) – double bass
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Kent Carter String Trio
The Kent Carter String Trio is probably the first string trio in Jazz. It started 1983, with a combination of contemporary jazz and improvised music.
Due to the combination of violin, viola and double bass, the Kent Carter String Trio belongs to the particular fascinating rarities of the music scene.
"I have just listened to your new CD "Intersections". It is magnificent! thanks to you and the trio for making this wonderful music." Evan Parker, London
reviews international
top 10 - Chicago Jazz Radio WNUR in the list of the Year 2006
“... The new string trio disc is absolutely amazing. I had very high expectations for this, as I had voted the last one in my top ten in 2003 or whenever it came out. And the Maurer/ Carter duets has been one of my favorite recordings since the first day I heard it. But this new one is absolutely skullsmashingly beautiful. I've been listening to it on repeat now for four hours straight and just can't believe how great it is. Thank you, again. ” Andrew Choate - Radio IMC / Los Angeles
Legendary bassist Kent Carter’s broad musicality is about much more than simply dabbling within fleeting interests, as evident on this quasi-chamber jazz session. Glenn Astarita - All about Jazz / USA
“... What strikes most with this trio is that it offers a music that seems to belong to no school, even if one can feel it is rooted in the double tradition of African-American music and occidental classical music. Yet the listener never has the impression of patchwork or blending. Between the written parts and the improvisations, and thanks to the contrasted personalities of the three protagonist of the group, Kent Carter fully succeeds in proposing a unique sound “ ... designing very pure landscapes that slowly takes the listener into a different universe. Its softness – which covers some very strong inner dynamics – and its subtle structures offer a definitely new direction in the music of today. ” Laurent Goddet - Jazz Hot Magazine / Paris
“ ... For the most part (there are a couple of brief intonation glitches), both the playing and recording are so lush and accurate that you might think this music had been produced by the Julliard Quartet. Those wishing there were more chamber music for strings in the Shostakovich-Schnittke tradition (and those believing that no elements of such works could ever be made up on the spot) should certainly give this excellent disc a try. ” Walter Horn
“ ... Through years of being a hub on which crucial European and expat American groups have turned, Kent Carter has internalised the malleable diction of “spontaneous group growth.” But the slippery dialectic of orchestral architecture and improvisational process is its foundation. The Kent Carter String Trio shines through nine sensitive pieces (three written by Carter, one each by Maurer and Mickiewicz and four collective ones). Understanding what's scored and what's instead improvised is quite difficult, as everything sounds extremely arranged even in the most indescribable sections. There are lots of directions one can look to, minimalism and a sort of 'modern baroque' being a couple of them; yet, the elegant eloquence of these tracks sets a very high standard, which is all the more appreciated given the absolute lack of pretentiousness and pomp characterizing the playing. Delicately melancholic themes and Reichian tapestries enrapture through their sheer exquisiteness; dissonant pluralities and almost sorrowful counterpoints ask for some space in the silence of apparently wasted autumnal afternooons. Carter, Maurer and Mickiewicz are linked by an invisible thread which gives their music its coherence, making them sound always conscious of what happens to the others despite the fact that they're completely absorbed by the very same incantations they create. INTERSECTIONS is a splendid album, one that instantly captures your attention yoking it to the seductive power of its adamant beauty. As far as I'm concerned, it's one of 2006's best releases and comes very highly recommended." Massimo Ricci - Touching Extremes
„The Kent Carter String Trio offered one of those graceful moments reconciling us with all music. The members of this trio takes us into a universe of an incredibly rich profusion of sounds, of melodic and harmonic inventions, nourished from classical references, « jazzistic » references and rhythms from traditional music. Never a note too much, never escaping the requirement and the strictness which is the great value of their respective compositions, and putting their formidable virtuosities at the service of their musical statements, never too long. In a world where so called serious music seems to frighten the public by being too esoteric and intellectual, where the jazz scene seems to search for new ways and audiences, it is comforting to see that musicians can still have a personal language which, according to the reaction of the audience, respond to a thirst of live music, rich, jubilating and original.“ Jacques Bréjoux, La Charente Libre 2 août 2005
biographics
Kent Carter – double bass
born june 1939 - USA. Studied piano, cello and bassoon as a child. Father was a viola player and conductor. Started the bass in 1959 Studied music in Boston, Mass. During the late 50’s early 60’s. Participated in the "October Revolution" (a creative music movement in New York in early 60's) and performed and recorded with the "Jazz Composers Guild Orchestra under the direction of Michael Mantler and Carla Bley.
From 1964 toured and recorded in Europe with Paul Bley, Carla Bley, Michael Mantler, Steve Lacy, Don Cherry, Gato Barbieri, Alan Silva, Mal Waldron, Michael Smith, Bobby Bradford, Max Roach, Enrico Rava, Roswell Rudd, Derek Bailey, John Stevens, Trevor Watts, Steve McCall , to name a few. Member of the Steve Lacy Quintet from 1970-81 in Paris. Member and co-founder of the trio TOK with Takashi Kako and Oliver Johnson, touring Europe and Japan with extensive recordings on TRIO records in Japan and ECM in Europe. Founder of the Kent Carter String Trio with Carlos Zingaro - violin and Francois Dreno - viola. Tours and radio concerts in France and „East“-Germany. A CD recording "The Willisau Suites" was recorded in the 80's. Teaching at the Beaux Art School in Angouleme for 6 years. During this period toured with The Magic Circus theater co. (Jerome Savory ) performing Stravinsky's "Histoire du Soldat" through - out the south of Europe. Played with the Poitou-Charntes symphony. Performing with the Limousin Chamber Orchestra for 20th century music. Member of the trio DETAIL with the late John Stevens - drums and Frode Gjerstad - tenor sax. Concerts and festivals in Norway and England. Recordings - "Less is More" with Billy Bang on violin.
Recent projects include collaborations in Germany with; Albrecht Maurer - violin and composer. CD "Albrecht Maurer Quartet Works with Wolter Wierbos - trombone and Achim Krämer - percussion. Kent Carter Project with Klaus Kugel, Charlie Mariano, Karl Berger and Albrecht Maurer, touring in Germany, Austria and Luxembourg. Member of Vysniauskas - Jörgensmann Quintets, and Theo Jörgensmann Fellowship with Charlie Mariano, Petras Vysniauskas, Karl Berger, Klaus Kugel. Played with Petras Vysniauskas Group with Oliver Lake, Karl Berger, Klaus Kugel in Litauen, Russia and Germany. With St. Christopher Chamber Orchestra – (Vilnius Litauen) and Petras Vysniauskas Quartet Jazz Festival Berlin. In France member of Don Cherry Memorial Ensemble with Dewey Redman. Founded Trio VOYAGE with Singer Benat Achiary und David Holms - percussion.
Guillamune Roy – viola
A violist and an improvisor, Guillaume Roy has been omnipresent on the contemporary jazz and improvised music scenes. He founded Quatuor iXi in 1994 actually with Régis Huby, Irène Lecoq et Atsushi Sakaï. Besides performing with Quatuor iXi, he works « solo » with marco, Claude Tchamitchian (double-bass) and Vincent Courtois (cello), in trio with Hasse Poulsen (guitar), et Bruno Chevillon (double-bass), with Station MIR Christophe Monniot (saxophones), and Didier Ithursarry (accordeon), Dominique Pifarély’s ensemble "Dédales", as well as David Chevallier’s "Gesualdo variations" and C. Tchamitchian ‘s new great Louzadsak. In 2011 he created a new quartet with saxophonists François Corneloup and
Christophe Monniot , as well as with pianist Julien Padovani. He also performed with Denis Colin (nonet et les arpenteurs), Pierrick Hardy, Joëlle Léandre and Christophe Marguet, Didier Petit, François Raulin (projet chine), Hélène Labarrière, Eric Brochard (quartet), Kent Carter and Albrecht Maurer, Antoine Hervé, Edward Perraud and Jean Luc Cappozzo ( la mécanique du charme) ... He regularly plays in music theater works, such as ''Neige rien'', based on texts by Valérie Rouzeau, with the Compagnie Vertigo, directed by Michel Froehly. He also worked with Jacques Templeraud, Dominique Vissuzaine, Gilles Zaeppfel, le théâtre des cuisines, le théâtre du campagnol ... Guillaume Roy is a very active performer on European and North American stages, but also in South America, in the Middle East and in China.Keen on transmitting his art, Guillaume Roy has been the director of the jazz department of the Evry Conservatory of Music since its creation.
Recent discography : Cixircle (quatuor iXi) (2011) on the Abalone productions label Amarco (Tchamitchian, Courtois, Roy) on the Emouvance label (2011) Une certaine forme de politesse (Roy, Poulsen, Chevillon ) (2009) on the Quark records label. Nommer chaque chose à part(Ensemble Dédales D. Pifarély) (2009) for the Poros label Gesualdo variations (D. Chevallier ) for the Zig-Zag territoires label (2009)
Albrecht Maurer – violin
The violinist, fiddler and composer Albrecht Maurer studied violin at the Musikhochschule Köln and taught himself the piano, which he then later studied. In addition, he pursued the study of non-European tonal systems and computer music. In the last few years Albrecht Maurer has concentrated on the composition and interpretation of partially improvised music. Additionally, he has focused on expanding and re-inventing the violin's musical place: his works are characterized by sounds and loops, a broad timbral spectrum, and percussive imitation and grooves all in combination with the energy of jazz and a classical technique. Albrecht Maurer was part of more than 50 radio recordings and he was intensively supported by the WDR radio Cologne, who followed his personal developement as player, as well as composer.
Albrecht Maurer has performed throughout Europe as a soloist, as well as with varying groups, and he is regularly a guest at international festivals. He has worked with many jazz musicians including Theo Jörgensmann, Kent Carter, Wolter Wierbos, Benoit Delbecq, Peter Jacquemyn, Achim Krämer, Bobo Stenson, Lucian Ban, Klaus Kugel, Claudio Puntin, Norbert Stein, Charlie Mariano, Karl Berger, Steve Argüelles, Lauren Newton, Kate Westbrook and Barre Phillips.Since 2003 he is a member of the Ensembles Dialogos directed by Katarina Livljanic. In this Ensemble he plays a gothic fiddle and a rebec and he plays improvisations and accompanies in medieval style. Together with Norbert Rodenkirchen he performed his own contemporary style on medieval instruments.
Recent discography : Albrecht Maurer Trio Works Movietalks (JHM 2002). Albrecht Maurer & Norbert Rodenkirchen Hidden Fresco (Nemu Records 2006), Kent Carter String Trio Intersections (Emanem 2006), Trio Hot Jink (Nemu Records 2008), Rivière Composers' Pool Summerworks, 2010), Lucian Ban & Jon Hébert Enesco Re-Imagined (Sunnyside Records 2010, Jörgensmann & Maurer Melencolia, Nemu Records 2011)
“ ... Through years of being a hub on which crucial European and expat American groups have turned, Kent Carter has internalised the malleable diction of “spontaneous group growth.” But the slippery dialectic of orchestral architecture and improvisational process is its foundation. Yet it’s a subtle fact that the trio’s connection to the lineage of string ensembles is actually quite tenuous. Maurer’s violin often appears to echo the trills and self-reflective phraseology of Steve Lacy, and Carter’s “March 17” is a seaworthy ballet grown out of these chirps and trickles. There is hardscrabble physicality in the unit’s collective spontaneity, and a regal poise in group unity. This trio has transcended aesthetic boundaries for something entirely too rich and pure to be anything but art. ” Clifford Allen – Austin Texas / USA March 2006
„Entering into the music of the Kent Carter String Trio can be an unsettling experience. One has the feeling that fiction and reality have conspired to ensnare us in their own magic web. We arrive, curious and confident, ready to listen to the music that a famous American double bass player Kent Carter, a prominent exponent of contemporary jazz, has written for a string trio, a traditional line-up in European chamber music. And this is such music, even though in this case the double bass has replaced the 'cello to create, almost imperceptibly, an unusual atmosphere...“ Bernard Prouteau - Portier / France
KENT CARTER - contrebassiste
Kent Carter faisait partie de la scène foisonnante de jazz à Boston puis à New York dans les années 1960-70. Il est arrivé en Europe vers 1965 avec Carla Bley, Paul Bley et Steve Lacy et décide de rester en France. Membre du groupe de Steve Lacy durant quinze ans, il s'en éloigne pour se consacrer à ses propres compositions et à sa passion pour les instruments à cordes. Son premier « String Trio » avec Carlos Zingaro et François Dreno, voit le jour en 1970. Il joue parallèlement avec des musiciens tels que Archi Shepp, Don Cherry, Mal Waldron, Anthony Braxton, Derek Bailey, Max Roach, Benat Achiary ….Il compose pour des compagnies de théâtre, de danse et pour des films/vidéos, et collabore avec des plasticiens dans des lieux tels que la Saline Royale d'Arc et Senan, Eglise troglodite d'Aubeterre, Abbaye de Puypéroux...Il s'installe en Charente où il ouvre un lieu de création et enseigne à l'école des Beaux Arts d'Angoulême. Il tourne avec le Grand Magic Circus (Jérôme Savary) dans l'Histoire du Soldat.
Il continue à se produire sur les scènes de musiques d'aujourd'hui avec son trio à cordes à travers l'Europe, à Paris, Berlin, Amsterdam, Copenhague, Cologne, Génève, Bucarest, Vienne etc., et crée également le Rivière Composers' Pool avec Teo Jörgensmann,cl. Etienne Rolin,cl.fl., et Albrecht Maurer, vl..Sa discographie, depuis 1964 (avec Paul Bley Trio), est impressionnante, les derniers CD sont parus sous les titres « Intersections » avec le String Trio et « Summerworks 2009 » avec Rivière Composers' Pool sur le label anglais Emanem.
GUILLAUME ROY - alto
Altiste improvisateur, omniprésent sur les scènes du jazz contemporain et de la musique improvisée, fondateur du quatuor iXi en 1994, actuellement avec Régis Huby, Irène Lecoq, et Atsushi Sakaï, Guillaume Roy n'a de cesse d'explorer la relation de l'écrit à l'improvisé. Avec iXi, il a multiplié les rencontres tant avec des solistes, Louis Sclavis, Joachim Kühn, François Raulin, Pablo Cueco, Veli Kujala (finlande), Pierrick Hardy, le vidéaste Thierry Salvert, qu’avec d’autres formations, le trio danois Sound of Choices, le duo Pifarély Couturier, le Quatuor Danel, Antoine Hervé Trio. Actuellement, outre le quatuor Ixi, il travaille en solo, avec Amarco,Claude Tchamitchian (cb) et Vincent Courtois (vlc), en trio avec Hasse Poulsen (guit), et Bruno Chevillon (cb), avec Station MIR, Christophe Monniot, et Didier Ithursarry, l'ensemble "Dédales" de Dominique Pifarély, mais aussi le "Gesualdo variations" de David Chevallier et le nouveau grand Louzadsak de C. Tchamitchian ....En 2011 il créé un nouveau quartet avec François Corneloup et Christophe Monniot, ainsi que le pianiste Julien Padovani. Il a aussi joué avec: Denis Colin, Pierrick Hardy, Joëlle Léandre et Christophe Marguet, Didier Petit, François Raulin, Hélène Labarrière, Eric Brochard, Kent Carter, Antoine Hervé, Edward Perraud et Jean Luc Cappozzo ...Il travaille régulièrement à des spectacles musicaux, le dernier en date étant ''Neige rien'' sur des textes de Valérie Rouzeau, avec la compagnie Vertigo, mis en scène par Michel Froehly. Il joue régulièrement partout en Europe et aux Etats Unis, mais aussi en Amérique du sud, au moyen orient ou en Chine.
ALBRECHT MAURER - violin
Violinist et compositeur, Albrecht Maurer a étudié à la Musikhochschule, Cologne, Allemagne. Il a joué avec beaucoup de compositeurs de musique contemporaine et expérimentale, d'où son expérience et sa recherche autour de la place du violon dans la musiqaue d'aujourd'hui. Il s'est produit dans des ensembles de jazz avec Kent Carter, Theo Jörgensmann Charlie Mariano, Karl Berger, Steve Argüelles, Wolter Wierbos, Benoit Delbecq, Lucian Ban, Klaus Kugel, Bobo Stenson, Norbert Stein, Markus Stockhausen, Carla Bley, Lauren Newton, Barre Phillips et beaucoup d’autres. Albrecht Maurer interprète le répertoire médiéval depuis 2004. Il collabore sur les projets « Aura Christina » avec Norbert Rodenkirchen et Maria Jonas dans et « Salon Mediéval » avec Norbert Rodenkirchen, Benjamin Bagby, Eric Mentzel et Wolgang Klein Richter. Depuis quelques années, il se concentre sur la composition et l'interpretation de la musique partiellement improvisée. Son travail est focalisé sur la recherche de timbre, de sons percussifs, de “groove” en relation avec l'énergie du jazz et la technique classique. Il se place entre la musique avant garde et le jazz sur la scène européenne et figure parmi les violoniste innovant, non conventionnel. Son style personnel du jeu du “fiddle” l'amène à joindre le préstigieux ensemble médiéval DIALOGOS avec lequel il tourne dans le monde entier. Avec Norbert Rodenkirchen il crée de la musique contemporaine sur instruments édiévaux et sort le CD « Hidden Fresco ». Il a fait plus de 50 enregistrements radiophoniques et environ 25 Ds....
reviews german
“... Deutlich hörbar in dieser Freiluft- "Kammermusik" ist die gemeinsame Neigung zu warmen, feinen Nuancen und melodienahen Klängen, die im südfranzösischen Licht ihre Wurzeln in einer romantischen Emotionalität kein bisschen verleugnen... ” Bad Alchemy / Österreich
“... Sie setzen in wunderbarer Übereinstimmung ihre Saiten in Schwingung... Bestechend ist der zwanglose spontane Umgang mit den musi- kalischen Parametern, und eine außer ordent-liche Empfindsamkeit auf ihren Streifzügen durch einen emanzipierten Klangkosmos. Am Ende kann man diese Musik nicht mehr aus dem Gedächtnis streichen... ” HAN - Jazzlive / Österreich
