Kirke Karja: Paul Hindemith "Ludus Tonalis" / La Litanie des Cimes (Prantsusmaa) • Sügisjazz 2023

Kirke Karja: Paul Hindemith „Ludus Tonalis“ / La Litanie des Cimes (France)

Saturday, 23 Sept 2023 20.00 Philly Joe’s Jazz Club

As a pianist and composer, Kirke Karja seeks new sounds, and as a band leader – interesting collaborations. In Estonia, Kirke leads the 10-member Pae Collective and the Kirke Karja Quartet. Internationally, she has managed to attract several renowned foreign musicians to her projects, contributing to genre-crossing ensembles like Captain Kirke and The Klingons, Karja/Renard/Wandinger, and the recent KRW goes XL. Kirke has represented Estonia at numerous prestigious festivals and has successfully passed a rigorous selection process to perform at international jazz events such as jazzahead!. Kirke's compositions have been performed by symphony orchestras, big bands, various chamber ensembles, and groups. In addition to distinctive solo performances, Kirke Karja has shared stage with top European musicians, including Verneri Pohjola, Ludwig Wandinger, Maria Faust, Etienne Renard, Liudas Mockunas, Mikko Innanen, Bojan Z, Nick Smart, Pol Belardi, Mathias Eick, and many others. In recent years, Kirke Karja has performed at prestigious European festivals, including Jazzfest Berlin, Punkt, Südtirol Jazzfestival, and more.

This time, Kirke presents a solo performance where the works of the 20^th century German composer Paul Hindemith intertwine with her improvisations. She has performed this program internationally, including at the Magnet Festival in Wiesbaden, where the concert received very positive feedback. Renowned music critic Henning Bolte (Jazzhalo, 2023) wrote: "As a furioso force she acted onto, into and deeply through Hindemith material in wild severity thereby audaciously extracting from his work and then extending and transforming it ecstatically - a unique buffing performance, mama mia!".

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The Paris-based trio La Litanie des Cimes (The Litany of the Peaks) was formed in 2019 by a violinist Clément Janinet with Elodie Pasquier on clarinets and Bruno Ducret on cello. La Litanie des Cimes plays with long movements, seemingly slow tempos, and harmonic contemplations. Within this trio, improvisation is free and introspective without being recluse. The exchanged harmonies are constantly re-beaten by the repetition of the themes. One could almost hear agitated dialogues. It’s a blast of energy. Intimate jumble against common clarity, line vivacity against melodic delicacy. This very open music could sound like the soundtrack of a disaster movie about the end of the world, heard from the top of tall trees. At Autumn Jazz the trio will perform music from their upcoming album, scheduled for release in September under the Hungarian label BMC.

Violinist Clément Janinet has studied, among others, under jazz violin guru Didier Lockwood and has performed concerts alongside him. Initially inspired by African and Latin American music, Clément now feels at home in various musical genres, having performed with top musicians like Han Bennink, Richard Bona, Mark Turner, Etienne Mbappe (with whom he's currently playing), and many others. As a violinist and composer, he has given over 700 concerts in 35 countries.

Clarinetist Élodie Pasquier participates in several music collectives and leads her own quintet "Mona," for which she also composes music. In the duo "OrTie," she performs alongside pianist Grégoire Gensse and is part of "The Very Big Experimental Toubifri Orchestra." She also hosts her own radio show "Seul la mer" (Only the Sea).

Cellist and guitarist Bruno Ducret may not be as well-known in Estonia as his guitarist brother Marc Ducret, with whom they have performed together. Like the other members of the trio, Bruno is a member of numerous modern music ensembles and has collaborated with musicians belonging to the forefront of French new jazz such as Louis Sclavis, Dominique Pifarelly, Hélène Labarrière, and others.

In cooperation with the booking agency Vapaat äänet.