EOS Kammerorchester Köln feat. Ingrid Laubrock

The EOS 21st Symphony concept has been developed with great success in recent years: Outstanding jazz musicians* write as composers* and perform as instrumentalists* and soloists* for EOS.

In this concept, the combination of notated and improvised music is always a central aspect. The Kammerorchester ensemble is extended by improvising musicians*. The freedom of individual and spontaneous expression of the improvising musicians* is usually supported by the compositionally clearly defined space created by the orchestra.
But not exclusively: the orchestra sometimes also improvises. Under the condition of specific parameters, which can be varied and combined again and again, the body of sound itself becomes an improvising instrument. In this way, beyond genre-specific organisational principles, a living music is created in the union of two musical worlds. An intensive dialogue of new music and jazz in the broadest sense emerges.

After the premiere of the commissioned composition for chamber orchestra and soloists "Contemporary Chaos Practices" at the moers festival 2017 with the EOS Kammerorchester, the conductor Susanne Blumenthal and the composer Ingrid Laubrock knew that they wanted to continue their collaboration as soon as possible. From her deep roots in jazz and improvised music, the composer has increasingly approached New Music in recent years. This results in new ways to transfer improvisation into an unprecedented context. For this, you need a team of open-minded musicians*, who also spare no effort in bringing this musically progressive vision to life - Susanne Blumenthal, the EOS Chamber Orchestra Cologne and the guest musicians* selected by Laubrock are just such a team.

For the proposed project the pianist Cory Smythe, the electronic composer Sam Pluta and the drummer Tom Rainey from New York were won. Ingrid Laubrock has been working closely with these musicians for years. The bassist Robert Landfermann from Cologne, one of the most renowned musicians of his generation, joins the band.
All invited musicians had developed an individual, unmistakable style: Cory Smythe is a musician who is at home in both new music and jazz. One of his specialties is to bring quarter tones into the piano playing by clever sampling. Sam Pluta is a member of the contemporary group 'Wet Ink' and himself a renowned composer, and Tom Rainey and Robert Landfermann move with ease through the most diverse musical worlds and know how to combine them in a highly original way. In the context of an orchestral chamber ensemble such as the EOS Kammerorchester Köln, there are still numerous, never-before-heard possibilities open both in the field of free improvisation and electronic music - Ingrid Laubrock and her fellow musicians* look forward to exploring these further!

This event is part of our subscription series "BIG ENSEMBLES". The tickets for this subscription (3 events) are available here from Freie Volksbühne e.V.: https://volksbuehne.de/abonnement/jazz-im-stadtgarten-big-ensembles/

Further events:
Mo. 27.01., Blue Art Orchestra