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Grünwalder Weg 30 82041 Oberhaching Achim Kaufmann Release date: September 1, 2015

Shuffle Montgomery 5. Callista Snow No. 2 6. Misterioso 7. Cuk 8.

1 Grünwalder Weg Oberhaching Achim Kaufmann Release date: September 1, 2015 Achim Kaufmann piano 1 1. Blue-Brailled 2. The Mystery Song 3. Dominoes 4. Shuffle Montgomery 5. Callista Snow No Misterioso 7. Cuk 8. Portrait of Ucha / In den Weiden 9. Dave 10. Moon Dripping 11. The Embalmers Waltz 12. It s All Over Now, Baby Blue

Grünwalder Weg 30 82041 Oberhaching Music with a magnetic field Pianist Achim Kaufmann is a bold tonal explorer whose idols traverse diverse musical worlds.

2 Grünwalder Weg Oberhaching Music with a magnetic field Pianist Achim Kaufmann is a bold tonal explorer whose idols traverse diverse musical worlds. On his PIROUET CD, Kaufmann plays pieces ranging from Duke Ellington to Bob Dylan along with his own exciting compositions. There is a serenity to the music that has a magnetism all its own. Achim Kaufmann is a player who explores new territory: the prestigious Frankfurter Allgemeine newspaper called him the most daring of the German pianists. Kaufmann, who was born in Berlin in 1962 and currently lives in Berlin, goes exploring on his own on his new PIROUET CD. The results: an exciting amalgam of musical influences from Duke Ellington to Bob Dylan, with nods towards such jazz greats as Herbie Nichols and musicians such as Pink Floyd co-founder Syd Barrett. Together with five of Kaufmann s own compositions, there emerges an astonishing kaleidoscope of sounds providing for a profound musical adventure. Kaufman plays with an exceptional atmospheric density an integral component of his style. This pianist s play has an irresistible attraction, even in the slowest of ballads and the most minimalistic passages it s music with a built-in magnetic field. 2

Grünwalder Weg 30 82041 Oberhaching He conjures up new visions in sound so declared Jazz Podium magazine on reviewing Kaufmann s trio CD on Pirouet.

Until now Kaufmann has recorded only a single CD in the demanding discipline of solo piano, Knives (Leo Records, 2004).

3 Grünwalder Weg Oberhaching He conjures up new visions in sound so declared Jazz Podium magazine on reviewing Kaufmann s trio CD on Pirouet. Concerto magazine called his music intense and sensual, and the U.S. music journalist Joe Higham praised Kaufmann as an excellent pianist who deserves to be discovered. Until now Kaufmann has recorded only a single CD in the demanding discipline of solo piano, Knives (Leo Records, 2004). Like many other musicians, he has great respect for the many classic solo piano recordings that are a part of jazz history. At the same time, the genre holds a special attraction. Kaufmann says that, playing solo is a special challenge, since every tone is so exposed. The whole situation has something vulnerable and fragile about it. Meanwhile, I have a lot of fun playing solo. This has to do with this awareness of being completely exposed and vulnerable. You can quickly reach your limits, both mentally and physically and fail spectacularly. On the other hand there is a lot of freedom and space. It is also a part of the music to leave a place for the silence between the tones. For me, this is very important when playing solo. These are the key sentences to this recording. Achim Kaufmann is a musician who scans the horizon connecting diverse worlds. Pianists are not his only influences: such jazz greats as bassist Dave Holland and soprano saxophonist Steve Lacy have also been inspirations. Kaufmann is not looking to make an impression through the number of notes he plays; rather, as in the present recording, he often impresses through reduction. Kaufmann draws on an open pool of pieces that have been rattling around in my head for a long time, pieces that, for the most part, I know well through listening or playing, and feel comfortable with. Ideally, I imagine that these pieces rise unintentionally out of my subconscious almost as in free improvisation to be spontaneously interpreted. Here the pieces surface in the repertoire like found objects, as Kaufmann puts it, charged with new meaning. Duke Ellington and Thelonious Monk were early influences, and they led further on to pianist Herbie Nichols, who lived from 1919 until Thelonious Monk Plays Duke Ellington was one of the first albums that Kaufmann owned; a collection of Monk scores inspired Achim to begin composing on 3

press release Grünwalder Weg 30 82041 Oberhaching phone: +49-89-55 077674 his own. They are three of my favorites, also as pianists.

4 press release Grünwalder Weg Oberhaching phone: his own. They are three of my favorites, also as pianists. Ellington and Monk combine their percussive touch with their economy of resources. Nichols play is more kaleidoscopic. The way he improvises, varying and transforming the material, is unique, and allows for even more occasions to dive deep into the music. Kaufmann plays Ellington s Mystery Song with a couple of inspirations from the recording from Steve Lacy and Don Cherry. With Kaufmann, Thelonious Monk s Misterioso appears even more jagged and halting than the original traits that the composition s enigmatic aura underline. Kaufmann employs Herbie Nichols 4 Portrait of Ucha as the prelude to an instrumental version of In den Weiden a song from composer Hanns Eisler (with text from Bertolt Brecht). Incidentally, it shows that musical styles are often much closer to one another than many listeners would think. Herbie Nichols had a very strong connection to classical music; he admired Bartok and Prokofiev. And as for the Austrian Eisler the pieces from his Hollywood Songbook were written during his exile he hits the mark through the combination of an almost archaic lack of sophistication and complexity.

Grünwalder Weg 30 82041 Oberhaching Bob Dylan and Syd Barrett, two icons of folk and rock music, are represented on the CD.

5 Grünwalder Weg Oberhaching Bob Dylan and Syd Barrett, two icons of folk and rock music, are represented on the CD. Kaufmann takes a roundabout route on psychedelic rock pioneer Barrett s Dominoes: Achim was influenced by a TV portrait of Barrett in which Englander Robyn Hitchcock, another powerful singer-songwriter, sang this piece. Hitchcock introduced the piece by saying, This is a really good one when it starts to rain. Bob Dylan is an important point of reference for Kaufmann. This holds especially true for the 1966 concert in Manchester, England, released as a bootleg under the false name Royal Albert Hall Concert. Kaufmann heard self-exposure, helplessness, vulnerability that comes close to loosing it in Dylan s tracks, things that have a strong connection with the challenges that Kaufmann senses as solo pianist. He chose a special Dylan piece for the CD: It s All Over Now Baby Blue works partly because of the bridge and a certain Thelonious Monk-filter with which I reworked a few chords. Initially, Dylan fans may well be dismayed by this version, but it lives up to the edginess of the original. Its melancholy is rephrased in the contemporary language of jazz. Achim Kaufmann s own sparkling compositions round out this musical adventure. Blue Brailled is a sort of folk melody with polytonal underpinnings. It was originally tailor made for clarinetist-saxophonist Michael Moore. Cuk refers to a little owl and lends itself to the most diverse settings. Callista Snow is named after Kaufmann s niece in Canada. Moon Dripping is an Ellingtonesque ballad with a solo that unfolds over a continually recurring two-chord riff. The Embalmer s Waltz is in the broadest sense inspired by Charles Mingus and Eric Dolphy. Some of these original compositions have been a part of Kaufmann s repertoire for some time. They coalesce with his picks of jazz, pop and rock classics to form a homogeneous solo repertoire. Achim Kaufmann s music allows the listener room to discover and contemplate, so open the door and enjoy. 5

press release Grünwalder Weg 30 82041 Oberhaching phone: +49-89-55 077674 Achim

PIT3084 2011 Verivyr (Achim Kaufmann, p Valdi Kolli, b Jim Black, dr) PIT3057

2012 Christian Weidner: Dream Boogie (Christian Weidner, as Achim Kaufmann, p

(Jürgen Friedrich, composer, conductor Hayden Chisholm, as Achim Kaufmann, p John

Sieverts Symmetry: Blackbird (Henning Sieverts, b, cello Chris Speed, cl, ts

Sieverts: Symmetry (Henning Sieverts, b, cello Chris Speed, cl, ts Johannes

6 press release Grünwalder Weg Oberhaching phone: Achim Kaufmann Discography on Pirouet Records As Leader 2015 (Achim Kaufmann, p) PIT Verivyr (Achim Kaufmann, p Valdi Kolli, b Jim Black, dr) PIT Kyrill (Achim Kaufmann, p Valdi Kolli, b Jim Black, dr) PIT3034 As Sideman 2012 Christian Weidner: Dream Boogie (Christian Weidner, as Achim Kaufmann, p Henning Sieverts, b Samuel Rohrer, dr) PIT Jürgen Friedrich: Monosuite (Jürgen Friedrich, composer, conductor Hayden Chisholm, as Achim Kaufmann, p John Hébert, b John Hollenbeck dr Sequenza String Orchestra) PIT Henning Sieverts Symmetry: Blackbird (Henning Sieverts, b, cello Chris Speed, cl, ts Johannes Lauer, tb Achim Kaufmann, p John Hollenbeck, dr) PIT Henning Sieverts: Symmetry (Henning Sieverts, b, cello Chris Speed, cl, ts Johannes Lauer, tb Achim Kaufmann, p John Hollenbeck, dr) PIT design and photography: Konstantin Kern

Christian Weidner Every Hour of the Light and Dark. press release PRESS CONTACT:

Christian Weidner Every Hour of the Light and Dark. press release PRESS CONTACT: Grünwalder Weg 30 82041 Oberhaching christian weidner e v e r y h o u r o f t h e l i g h t a n d d a r k Release date: July, 1st 2016 alto saxophone Achim Kaufmann piano Henning Sieverts bass Samuel Rohrer