Georg Graewe / piano
Paul Dunmall / tenor saxophone
Gail Brand / trombone
John Edwards / bass
Mark Sanders / drums

Improvising quintet comprised of one of the key figures of European free improvisation, Mark Sanders on drums, German pianist and composer Georg Graewe, uncompromising and powerful saxophonist Paul Dunmall, the widely feted Gail Brand on trombone, and the boundlessly restless John Edwards on bass.

MARK SANDERS / drums

Mark Sanders has been acclaimed as “the most exciting, original and overwhelmingly powerful drummer alive” (Steve Reynolds, Jazz Corner) and is one of the key figures of European free improvisation, unostentatiously experimental, never using exactly the same kit twice and always seeking out new sonic possibilities and musical potential, his precise and propulsive drumming has graced projects with, to name but a few, Evan Parker, Jah Wobble, Broadcast, Agusti Fernandez, John Butcher, Roswell Rudd, and Otomo Yoshihde Axel Dörner to Wadada Leo Smith, Peter Brötzmann and Matthew Shipp.

"ubiquitous, diverse and constantly creative, drummer Mark Sanders always outdoes himself, whether playing with restraint or erupting like a dynamo." - Bruce L Gallenter, Downtown Music Gallery. NY

GEORG GRAEWE / piano

A German pianist and composer of exquisite technique, Georg Graewe has worked with some of the best performers in avant-garde jazz, contemporary, and improvised music from around the world; including British saxophonist Evan Parker, Swedish saxophonist Mats Gustafsson, American percussionist Gerry Hemingway, Dutch cellist Ernst Reijseger, and Italian trombonist Sebi Tramontana.

Born in 1956 in Bochum, Germany, Graewe started out playing guitar in local rock bands while a teenager. He also got into jazz, and in 1974, formed the Georg Gräwe Quintet. Since, he has led groups ranging from chamber orchestra to trios. For 11 years, starting in 1982, Graewe directed the ten-piece chamber ensemble, GrubenKlangOrchester, which included such extraordinary musicians as Franz Koglmann and Theo Jorgensmann. Since 1989, he has had a trio with Gerry Hemingway and Ernst Reijseger that has toured Europe and the United States. Their first recording was released on the HatArt label that first year, followed by releases on the Music & Arts and Sound Aspects labels, and on Random Acoustics, a label that Georg Graewe created in 1993. He also performs on the FMP, Okka Disk, and Wobbly Rail labels, totaling over 30 recordings.

Other new music artists Graewe has worked with include Anthony Braxton, Dave Douglas, Joelle Leandre, John Tchicai, Barre Phillips, Ken Vandermark, and many more. Graewe's work as a composer includes compositions for symphony orchestras, chamber music, and works for solo piano. The end of the 1990s found him leading a quartet with reedsman Frank Gratkowski, Chicago jazz percussionist Hamid Drake, and bassist Kent Kessler; performing in a group called Torque with Melvyn Poore and Peter van Bergen; and touring the U.S. with Reijseger and Hemingway.

PAUL DUNMALL / tenor saxophone

For thirty years Paul Dunmall has carved out a reputation for himself and is now widely recognised as one of the most uncompromising and talented reed players on the International jazz/improvised music scene. Whether playing in small groups or big bands his musical sensitivity and imagination combined with a powerful sound make him one of the most distinctive improvisers playing today. His octet and Moksha big band showcases his abilities both as a composer drenched in the Jazz traditions and Folk traditions and as a sympathetic leader able to give maximum freedom to a elite group of fellow improvisers.

He has performed with Alice Coltrane, Johnny Guitar Watson, Danny Thompson, LJCO, Mujician, Chris Corsano, Henry Grimes and Andrew Cyrille and many more...

www.pauldunmall.com

"I think what's actually happened in free improvisation...there's nothing that's barred. We want to use it all. We want everything. We want melody, we want time, we want abstraction, we want no time, we want the whole package so that you are truly free to play what you want."" - Paul Dunmall interview in AllAboutJazz

GAIL BRAND / trombone

Described as "the most exciting trombone player for years” (The Wire), Gail has recorded and performed on the international jazz and improvising scene since the early 1990s with Billy Jenkins, Elton Dean, Evan Parker, Phil Minton, Pat Thomas, Lol Coxhill, Veryan Weston, Oren Marshall, Maggie Nicols, Georg Graewe and countless others. Recent projects include work with comedian Stewart Lee and appearing in both series of ‘Stewart Lee’s Comedy Vehicle’ (BBC TV); the duo with US improvising vocalist Morgan Guberman; long standing duo with drummer Mark Sanders and Gail Brand Sextet performing her pieces with edgy improvisation at the heart of the music.

"..an outrageously earthy tone and original, fluid style" All Music Guide

JOHN EDWARDS / bass

John Edwards' staggering range of techniques and boundless musical imagination have redefined the possibility of the double bass and dramatically expanded its role, whether playing solo or with others. Equally at home with fragile acoustic improvisation or driving free jazz, Edwards is quite deservedly one of the most in demand players of today, and has propelled encounters with Evan Parker, Roscoe Mitchell, Matthew Shipp, Wadada Leo Smith and many more.

"There are those round these parts who posit that free improvisation is a cerebral, sexless art, arguments that are annihilated by the rough structural and timbral shag of this music." - Philip Clark, The Wire