Paal Nilssen-Love & Ken Vandermark European Tour; St. Georgen/Gusen, Austria: Jazz im Bäckerhaus, Kulturverein Tribüne

The high impact duo of Paal Nilssen-Love (drums) and Ken Vandermark (reeds) has been working together for more than two decades, touring in Europe, the United States, Japan, and Brazil, and releasing 11 albums of critically acclaimed, wide ranging improvised music throughout that period.  Though they have both worked in many other exceptional groups- such as the Peter Brötzmann Chicago Tentet and Lean Left (with Terrie Hessels and Andy Moor of The Ex)- they have continued to return to their duo for more than 20 years because it remains crucial to their creative output.

Their approach to the duo context is ferocious in its intensity, combining extreme rhythmic velocity with formal deconstruction and re-assembly, with the freedom to use any genre as a resource at any time. In many ways, Nilssen-Love and Vandermark are more open in this context than with any of their other playing situations, creating a unique approach to improvised music that is riveting in its ideas and execution.

Their most recent release is the seven CD boxset, Paal Nilssen-Love & Ken Vandermark: Japan 2019, which came out in January of 2024.  This co-production from PNL Records and Audiographic Records includes live recordings by the duo from a 16-date concert tour of Japan, as well as new collaborations with legendary Japanese musicians: Akira Sakata (reeds/voice), Masahiko Satoh (piano), and Yuji Takahashi (piano).  For more details and link to purchase:

https://paalnilssen-love.bandcamp.com/album/japan-2019

[photo by Any Moor]