KLAENG Festival #1

Fuensanta feat. Pablo Held, Shannon Barnett & Louis Cole / Köster, Sprangers & Godard / Tobias Hoffmann Quartett

In spring we are looking forward to the KLAENG Festival at Stadtgarten. Artist in Residence is the double bassist, composer and singer Fuensanta Méndez from Mexico, who will be heard in various formations during the festival. The program will be complemented by no less interesting projects and encounters of musicians from the German and international music scene.

Program 31.3.

►Fuensanta Méndez Cologne Project (KLAENGresidency)
(Fuensanta Méndez feat. Pablo Held, Shannon Barnett & Louis Cole)

►Frederik Köster, Kika Sprangers & Michel Godard

►Tobias Hoffmann Quartett
(Tobias Hoffmann, Benjamin Omerzell, Frank Schönhofer, Jan Philipp)

Fuensanta Méndez feat. Pablo Held, Shannon Barnett & Louis Cole

Fuensanta Méndez - voice, double bass
Pablo Held - mellotron
Shannon Barnett - trombone
Louis Cole - drums

Whether as an expressive solo artist, courted side-woman or charismatic leader of her own ensemble, Fuensanto Méndez fascinates audiences in her native Mexico as much as in the rest of the world. From an early age, she absorbed the influences of Latin American culture and was equally enthusiastic about the diversity of European arts, from literature and poetry to dance, theater and music. The lyrics of her songs, it is said effusively in one tribute, weave rich paintings whose poetic realism resembles that of frescoes. In this entirely new quartet line-up, sensational things could now emerge: Pablo Held focuses on the idiosyncratic and unique electronic sound of the Mellotron, fused with Shannon Barnett's expressive trombone and the boundary-breaking percussion artistry of American multi-instrumentalist Louis Cole - and above it all: Fuensanta!

Frederik Köster, Kika Sprangers & Michel Godard.

Frederik Köster - trumpet, flugelhorn
Kika Sprangers - alto and soprano saxophone
Michel Godard - tuba, serpent

KLAENGster Frederik Köster in a new, completely different constellation: without harmony instrument, without rhythm band, concentrated on the radiant power of highly individual blown brass and wood. The initial idea: three distinctive voices of fundamentally different origins and from different generations come together, are each given their own sound space, and then open up to musical dialogues and finally play as a collective. No one seems more suited for these encounters than the fresh, highly emotional voice of young saxophonist Kika Sprangers from the Netherlands in tandem with Michel Godard, the Grand Monsieur on tuba and historic serpent. "Michel and I," says Frederik Köster, "know each other from the Oriental environment and have played a lot with musicians from the Middle East. Now we are joined by Kika, one of the most exciting up-and-coming Dutch artists."

Tobias Hoffmann Quartet

Tobias Hoffmann - guitar
Benjamin Omerzell - Hammond organ
Frank Schönhofer - bass
Jan Philipp - drums

KLAENGster Tobias Hoffmann is opening a brand-new chapter in his musical career - and that's saying something in view of this creative, world-experienced guitarist who has been washed in almost all musical waters and who wanders so soulfully between jazz, blues, surf and much more. With his quartet, he fulfills two, long-awaited wishes: "On the one hand, to play together with a Hammond organ, and on the other hand, to finally put together a program again that consists exclusively of my own compositions." After working more and more on his own compositions recently, the feeling of not only being able to write music that works, but also of having found his own sound to some extent, finally set in. Hoffmann: "I am very happy with the music, and the line-up with Benny on Hammond organ, Frank on bass and Jan on drums is really my dream band for these pieces."

Go here for KLAENG Festival #2 (Apr. 01)
Go here for KLAENG Festival #3 (04/02)