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![téchne]( "téchne")
Jazzrausch Bigband
Jazzrausch Bigband
téchne
VÖ: 26.03.2021
Genre: Jazz, Electro Jazz, Bigband
“Jazzrausch Bigband is making jazz sexy again” (Bayerischer Rundfunk)
Jazzrausch Bigband
featuring:
Jelena Kuljić, Nesrine, Viktoria Tolstoy, Wolfgang Haffner, David Helbock’s Random/Control, Kalle Kalima, Nils Landgren & Jakob Manz
“Jazzrausch Bigband is making jazz sexy again” (Bayerischer Rundfunk). Downbeat has singled out not just the band’s “high-voltage performances” and “party atmosphere”, but also the amount of experimentation going on. The ensemble’s ingenious mix of techno and big band jazz has proved to be just as accessible to people listening to the band from the comfort of their seats in a concert hall as it has to those sweating it out on the dance floor. Since 2015 Jazzrausch Bigband has been in residence at Harry Klein in Munich, a club renowned for its house and techno acts as well as for its stunning live visuals; this cooperation between a techno club and a big band is truly unique in the world. From its base at the club, the pioneering ensemble has defined a completely new genre, “techno jazz”. The band’s music is getting noticed on the other side of the Atlantic too: Jazzrausch Bigband has performed at New York’s Lincoln Center, and Downbeat magazine has pinpointed this unusual band’s remarkable strengths: “A high-voltage performance with party atmosphere and yet plenty of experimentation. The mix of jazz and techno initially might seem surprising, but actually makes perfect sense.”
On their previous albums “Dancing Wittgenstein” and “Beethoven’s Breakdown”, Jazzrausch Bigband impressively demonstrated its process of finding new perspectives on the artistic interaction of themes and elements from a wider cultural context. The focus of all the group’s trailblazing creativity has now turned to “téchne”. This ancient Greek term, “τέχνη”, is still significant in today’s European-influenced philosophy and its understanding of the arts, science, and technology. Indeed, the element which was decisive in sparking Jazzrausch Bigband’s interest in “τέχνη” was the fact that the original concept of both ‘making’ and ‘doing’ can be applied indistinguishably to any of the three.
The idea of “téchne” was particularly appealing to composer Leonhard Kuhn because it drew him into a musical exploration not just of the relationship between art and technology, but also made him want to go further and work his way through bigger questions in science and philosophy, and notably existentialism. Thus, “What It Is” looks at the politics of widening wealth inequality in the current Corona crisis. He shows in Sartre‘s words, that there is an alternative to the famous “It is what it is”. In “Der Literat” Stravinskyesque harmonies are in-terwoven with complex rhythms and melodies, as Kuhn places words by Dada poet Hugo Ball into a wild techno setting. In “AI 101”, the technology of Artificial Intelligence is combined with the art of music by the use of AI as a composition tool: “This piece raises the question of whether AI is progressively taking on more of the characteristics of human beings, or whether in fact it’s the reverse. Don’t we some-times
Jazzrausch Bigband
featuring:
Jelena Kuljić, Nesrine, Viktoria Tolstoy, Wolfgang Haffner, David Helbock’s Random/Control, Kalle Kalima, Nils Landgren & Jakob Manz
“Jazzrausch Bigband is making jazz sexy again” (Bayerischer Rundfunk). Downbeat has singled out not just the band’s “high-voltage performances” and “party atmosphere”, but also the amount of experimentation going on. The ensemble’s ingenious mix of techno and big band jazz has proved to be just as accessible to people listening to the band from the comfort of their seats in a concert hall as it has to those sweating it out on the dance floor. Since 2015 Jazzrausch Bigband has been in residence at Harry Klein in Munich, a club renowned for its house and techno acts as well as for its stunning live visuals; this cooperation between a techno club and a big band is truly unique in the world. From its base at the club, the pioneering ensemble has defined a completely new genre, “techno jazz”. The band’s music is getting noticed on the other side of the Atlantic too: Jazzrausch Bigband has performed at New York’s Lincoln Center, and Downbeat magazine has pinpointed this unusual band’s remarkable strengths: “A high-voltage performance with party atmosphere and yet plenty of experimentation. The mix of jazz and techno initially might seem surprising, but actually makes perfect sense.”
On their previous albums “Dancing Wittgenstein” and “Beethoven’s Breakdown”, Jazzrausch Bigband impressively demonstrated its process of finding new perspectives on the artistic interaction of themes and elements from a wider cultural context. The focus of all the group’s trailblazing creativity has now turned to “téchne”. This ancient Greek term, “τέχνη”, is still significant in today’s European-influenced philosophy and its understanding of the arts, science, and technology. Indeed, the element which was decisive in sparking Jazzrausch Bigband’s interest in “τέχνη” was the fact that the original concept of both ‘making’ and ‘doing’ can be applied indistinguishably to any of the three.
The idea of “téchne” was particularly appealing to composer Leonhard Kuhn because it drew him into a musical exploration not just of the relationship between art and technology, but also made him want to go further and work his way through bigger questions in science and philosophy, and notably existentialism. Thus, “What It Is” looks at the politics of widening wealth inequality in the current Corona crisis. He shows in Sartre‘s words, that there is an alternative to the famous “It is what it is”. In “Der Literat” Stravinskyesque harmonies are in-terwoven with complex rhythms and melodies, as Kuhn places words by Dada poet Hugo Ball into a wild techno setting. In “AI 101”, the technology of Artificial Intelligence is combined with the art of music by the use of AI as a composition tool: “This piece raises the question of whether AI is progressively taking on more of the characteristics of human beings, or whether in fact it’s the reverse. Don’t we some-times
Jazzrausch Bigband
"A meltdown of big band sound with house and techno
music." (Süddeutsche Zeitung)
With an average of 120 concerts per year, the Jazzrausch
Bigband is one of the busiest big bands in Europe. Through their concerts in
Europe, America, Asia, and Africa, they bring together jazz enthusiasts and
dance enthusiasts with "sonic power, groove, and tremendous stage
presence" (FAZ) like no other ensemble currently does. Groove with
intellect, electronic music with brass, jazz in a frenzy.
The driving forces behind the project are Munich-based
trombonist and music manager Roman Sladek and guitarist and composer Leonhard
Kuhn, who also resides in Munich.
The musical journey's nucleus and starting point is a Munich
institution: the "Harry Klein," one of the most renowned electronic
clubs in Europe. In 2015, just one year after its formation, the Jazzrausch
Bigband became the Artist in Residence at "Harry Klein," and the
young Munich audience went wild. A big band in a techno club. Truly unique. For
Munich and the world. Quickly, the stages grew larger, and the band filled
venues like the Muffathalle as well as high-culture temples like the Munich
Philharmonic, and they performed at renowned festivals across Germany. The
circles the band moves in continue to expand: concert tours have taken them to
the Lincoln Center in New York, the JZ Festival in Shanghai, the Safaricom
International Jazz Festival in Nairobi, the Ural Music Night in Yekaterinburg,
and the SXSW Music Festival in Austin.
It is not an exaggeration to call the band a phenomenon. One
that, in its own unique way, demonstrates what has been simmering and working
in this music called "jazz" for a long time: it is more than ever the
label for what doesn't fit into any box. And everyone, both musicians and the
audience, enjoys tearing down boundaries with delight. The music of the
Jazzrausch Bigband, it seems, fulfills several desires in this context: the
desires of clubgoers for something more authentic, handmade, fresh, and original.
And the desires of jazz and classical music listeners for more punch,
entertainment, big sound, and a fat groove.
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Jazzrausch Bigband
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