Schlippenbach Trio

Winterreise

The Schlippenbach Trio has been an institution in European improvisational music for over fifty years. Alexander von Schlippenbach founded the trio in 1970, with Evan Parker on saxophone and Paul Lovens (in recent years Paul Lytton) on drums. Apart from many performances on different continents, they went on their famous European "Winter Tour" every December.

In 2020, the trio's line-up changed when clarinettist Rudi Mahall and Norwegian percussionist Dag Magnus Narvesen joined Von Schlippenbach. They have since played several concerts together, and now in December 2023 the three improvisers will embark on their first winter tour.

Alexander von Schlippenbach on the trio:
"Among my earliest favorites in jazz, which also influenced me sonically, are certainly the Benny Goodman Trios with Lionel Hampton, Teddy Wilson and Gene Krupa in 1940/50. The absence of the bass - often overplayed today - gives the music a certain coherence: more clarity and transparency. I got further confirmation of this later when I listened to the live recordings of Cecil Taylor, Jimmie Lyons and Sunny Murray at the Café Montmartre.

Evan Parker, Paul Lovens and I formed a trio in 1970. From the beginning, we only played improvised music. In 40 years we have released a whole series of albums on FMP, Psi and INTAKT Records. We have performed at many important European festivals and the Goethe Institute has sent us on tour to Asia, Australia, the USA and Brazil. Every year we have done the Winterreise: an established regular tour in early December."