Glod / Piket / Tokar / Kugel - Op Der Schmelz Live [Nemu]

Roby Glod - alto and soprano saxophones
Roberta Piket - piano
Mark Tokar - double bass
Klaus Kugel - drums

Nemu Records 2013

This is an international quartet with US citizens Roby Glod on saxes and Roberta Piket on piano, Klaus Kugel on drums from Germany and Mark Tokar on bass from Ukraine (a rhythm section that appears together in other groups as well, ie Undivided or the trio with Andre' Pabarciute). 

The name of the collective means "At the Foundry" which is metaphorically quite accurate.  There are six pieces on the cd, everyone with a seed of sketched melody, to be filled and surrounded differently with each execution, not unlike working with a fused metal in a factory.

Theo Jorgensmann & Albrecht Mauer [Nemu]

Theo Jorgensmann -  g low clarinet, voice
Albrecht Maurer - violin, viola, voice

Nemu Records 2011

"Melancolia" is inspired by Albrecht Durer's engraving from the 1514, symbolic picture produced in times scarred by the inhumane Peasant Wars. Nonetheless the improvised suite presented on the cd is not necesseraily sad.

André / Tokar / Kugel - VARPAI [Nemu Records]

VARPAI
André Pabarciute - voice
Mark Tokar - double bass
Klaus Kugel - percussions


Nemu Records 2010

I grabbed this one after the Zimpel/Tokar/Kugel/Kusiolek concert during the Silent Movie Festival. And definitely find no reason to regret this decision, even if I'm not such a big fan of vocals in improvised music. 

This is musical journey into the centre of the earth. Peaceful, meditative, with lots of extended techniques, little 'melody' but all sound, very organic and natural. Stripping the instruments (including the voice) of all expected notions of how it "should" be used. The silence and the resonance of the long-gone sounds are here as important as the sounds themselves.