Kasper Tranberg: Strawboss

Release date: 15-06-2018
Cat. no.: ILK279CD

Danish trumpeter/ cornetist, composer and bandleader Kasper Tranberg has been a mainstay of the european music scene for the last two decades, and lately he is known for his work with a.o. Yusef Lateef, Marc Ducret, Jesper Zeuthen, Jacob Anderskov and Peter Bruun.

With his album, Strawboss, Tranberg debuts his new international sextet and also marks the first release of the upcoming trilogy “Suite Dilation” – all on ILK.

This album was recorded live in Jazzhouse in Copenhagen after a weeklong tour in Denmark during VinterJazz 2017. It captures the raw and intense feeling of the music beautifully.

“Strawboss” is an exciting frame for Tranberg’s heartfelt playing, and is also an explosion of improvisations based on Tranberg's compostions which focus on tonal constructions, abstract soundscapes, longer forms and grooves.

Tranberg says: “I am listening for the beautiful, powerful and surprising in music, and my compositions create the platform for what we can find and achieve together. We seldom leave the material when we improvise..we play jazz – that’s the essence and pulse of this music”

The Strawboss sextet consist of a very strong cast of today's leading improvisers:

Tony Malaby: is one of the leading sax-improvisers of the world. He is leading his own spectacular ensembles from New York and has also been active in bands lead by Paul Motian, Charlie Haden, Ches Smith and many others. - “a hero of today’s improvised music scene” –Jazztimes

Pandelis Karayorgis: is a true piano-original and from his base in Boston he has been working with the solo format, as well as working and releasing albums with Mat Maneri, Joe Maneri, Randy Peterson, Ken Wandermark, Han Bennink, Taylor Ho Bynom og Jorrit Dijkstra. “Karayorgis has established himself as one of the singular and significant pianists of his generation.” –Art Lange

Nils Davidsen: has presented his solid and creative bassplaying in the soloformat and as a bandleader, and for years Nils has been the anchor of countless bands – here is a short list: John Tchicai, Eugene Chadbourne, Peter Brōtzman, Joachim Kühn, Butch Lacy,Bobby Previte, Luther Thomas, Ikue Mori, Jacob Anderskov og Simon Toldam.

Adam Pultz Melbye: from his base in Berlin APM is a true road-warrior in improvised music. His unique approach to playing the bass can be heard with London Improviser’s Orchestra, Tony Buck, Axel Dōrner, Jack Wright, Magda Mayas, Peter Brōtzman, Frank Gratkowski, Sofia Jernberg, Paul Lovens a.o.

Yasuhiro Yoshigaki: has in the last 30 years been one of the strongest voices in jazz and improvised music from Japan. His original approach as a bandleader and sideman is rooted in jazz, japanese folkore, post-rock, improv etc and could be heard with Masabumi Kikuchi, Otomo Oshihide, Koichi Makigami, John Zorn and Bill Laswell o.m.a

"Don't buy this album for your mother-in-law for Christmas.. unless she needs a shock treatment" - (Politiken)