ESCALATOR
Ken Vandermark - saxophones, clarinets
Mark Tokar - double bass
Klaus Kugel - drums

Next concerts
March-15, Gdansk, Jazz Jantar Festival @ club Zak (PL)
March-18, Warsaw, Club Spatif (PL)

Booking: +49 173 25 450 25, Email: mailҨklauskugel.com

latest cd on
NotTwo Records
NO-EXIT CORNER
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„The second of two releases of this trio recorded live in Krakow in 2016 finds Chicago reedist Vandermark, German drummer Kugel and Ukranian bassist Tokar blowing holes in walls. There are occasional respites, say when Tokar takes one his fascinating, focused solos. But generally this is tough stuff. Vandermark is a master of taking a phrase and working it repeatedly, wringing out the last drops as he modulates his ideas to the boiling point. His clarinet playing brings to mind what Artie Shaw might have done had he lived in the free-jazz era. Kugel is one of the great contemporary European drummers, and plays all over the kit with a sharp hard pulse. Ultimately I found the 1st of these two releases, “Escalator,” to be more appealing, but both showcase the vitality of Vandermark’s Eastern European trio. Not, however, daytime mix music.“ - Carl Pearson, Jazz Director, WFHB Bloomington, IN USA

Listen to the trio: [
MP3]
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First trio cd ESCALATOR on NotTwo Records

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The trio’s first cd ESCALATOR is listed two times in the TopTen of the 11th Annual Jazz Critics Poll 2017 [hullworks.net/jazzpoll/17/ballots-05 - hullworks.net/jazzpoll/17/ballots-03] and in the 5th Annual NPR / Francis Davis Jazz Critics Poll Ballot [5th-annual-npr-francis-davis-jazz]

Past concerts

April-02-2022, Geneva, AMR
April-04-2022, Heidelberg, Jazzclub
April-07-2022, Bonn, Kreuzung an Sankt Helena
April-08-2022, Saarbrücken, FreeJazzSaar

June-13-2019, Krakow, Alchemia (PL)
June-14-2019, Warsaw, Club Spatif (PL)

October-26-2018, Schorndorf, Club Manufaktur (DE)
October-27-2018, Weikersheim, Club W71 (DE)
October-28-2018, Wroclaw, II Festival WROCloveUKRAINA (PL)
October-29-2018, Srem, Scena na Strychu (PL)
October-30-2018, Bydgoszcz, klub Mozg (PL)
October-31-2018, Gorzow Wielkopolski, MagnetOffOn (PL)

November-01-2018, Poznan Jazz Ring Festival @ Dragon (PL)
November-02-2018, Bonn, Kreuzung an Sankt Helena (DE)
November-03-2018, Leer, Kulturspeicher (DE)
November-04-2018, Jena, Jazzmeile / Café Wagner (DE)

February-22-2018, Gdansk, Instytut Kultury Miejskiej (PL)
February-23-2018, Torun, OdNowa Jazz Festival (PL)
February-24-2018, Lodz, Ciagoty i Tesknoty (PL)

December-11-2016, Lviv, Festival JazzBezz (UA)
December-12-2016, Kracow, Alchemia (PL)

April-29-2016, Lublin, Centre for Culture (PL)
April-30-2016, Wroclaw, Jazz Nad Odra (PL)
May-01-2016, Gdynia, Club Cyganeria (PL)
May-03-2016, Vienna, Martinschlössl (AT)
May-05-2016, Krakow, Alchemia (PL)
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Multi-reedist Ken Vandermark has been investigating cutting-edge improvisational strategies within a vast array of musical contexts for nearly 30 years now. He’s been a vital link between the Chicago and European improvising communities. In 1999, he was awarded the MacArthur prize for music.

"I've praised the qualities of both Kugel and Tokar before ... Both men are extremely precise instrumentalists with a shared musical vision of sculpting jazz into a more universal musical language." - Stef Gijssels, Freejazz-stef, Belgium

"Mark Tokar is a key figure in the ukrainian jazz scene" - allaboutjazz.com, USA
"Tokar's larger-than-life tone and impeccable intonation is front-and-center ... " - John Vincent Barron, Jazzreview.com, USA

"Percussionist Klaus Kugel is a commanding force behind the drum set." - John Barron, Jazzreview.com, USA
"These three discs... show Kugel as a drummer whose nearly boundless energy and imagination cannot be confined by neat categories." - Ed Hazel, Signal To Noise, USA

Press contact: Klaus Kugel, phone: +49 173 25 450 25, klauskugel@posteo.de