KLAENG Festival #3

Deadeye feat. Otis Sndsjö / Ella Zirina Solo / Fuensanta & Ensamble Grande

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 02.04.

►Deadeye feat. Otis Sandsjö

►Ella Zirina Solo

►Fuensanta & Ensamble Grande

Deadeye feat. Otis Sandsjö

Kit Downes - Hammond organ
Reinier Baas - guitar
Jonas Burgwinkel - drums
Otis Sandsjö - saxophone

Kit Downes, Reinier Baas and Jonas Burgwinkel have succeeded in doing something very special: The trio gets going with enthusiasm and vivacity, lets it crash, groove and rock and creates a seductive vintage sound from diverse influences - music that is as familiar as it is unfamiliar, as compact as it is rich in musical references and yet always absolutely present. Could there be more? Deadeye meets Otis Sandsjö and the "Liquid Jazz" of the Swedish saxophonist - well matured in his project Y-Otis, should fit over the Deadeye trio like a tailor-made glove. An exciting encounter, open to any surprise. Whether jazz, rock, hip-hop or ambient: the sound is addictive.

Ella Zirina Solo

Ella Zirina - guitar

Ella Zirina is no stranger to Cologne either: during Pablo Held's "Standards Week" festival at the Loft, the Latvian guitarist shone in a string duet with Jesse Ruller and proved her high level of elegance, stylistic confidence and empathy as a guest musician in the other bands. As striking as her knowledge of jazz history, as imaginative and empathetic are her approaches to Billy Strayhorn, George Gershwin or Björk. But also in her own compositions, the string artist virtuously harmonizes melodic subtleties and improvisational ingenuity.

Fuensanta Méndez & Ensamble Grande

Fuensanta Méndez - voice, double bass, et al.
Marta Arpini - voice, analog synthesizer
Sanem Kalfa - voice
Līva Dumpe - voice, percussion
Laura Polence - voice
Alistair Payne - trumpet a.o.
José Soares - alto saxophone a.o.
Sun-Mi Hong - drums, Korean drum
Louis Cole - drums

Fuensanta's Ensamble Grande is a magical work of sound art. Latin American poetry and folklore fuse with multiform voices and rhythms, infused with motifs of militant revolution, deep love and archaic myths. As if from a melting pot, the "hot" timbres flow into their form, finely chiseled from harmonies, textures and temperaments. The Conservatorium van Amsterdam is the birthplace of this world music with musicians from all over the world: with voices from Mexico (Fuensanta), Italy (Marta Arpini), Turkey (Sanem Kalfa) and Latvia (Līva Dumpe), the polyphonic rhythm from the USA (Louis Cole) and from South Korea (Sun-Mi Hong). Above them float the jazz colors of Scottish trumpeter Alistair Payne and Portuguese, Luxembourg-born saxophonist José Soares. Truly an "Ensamble Grande"!

Go here for KLAENG Festival #1 (Mar. 31)
Go here to KLAENG Festival #2 (01.04.)