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Musicians: Brigitta Schäfer sax, Ludger Singer p,key,tb,tp,voc, Urban Elsässer g,voc, Markus Proske b, Thomas Lieven dr, Ray Federman poetry
Recording date: 1998
Recording place: -
New cooperation of the German avantgarde band art de fakt and one of the leading American postmodern poets, writers, novelists and critics of today Ray Federman. Since over six years the author and the German quintet work together in a very special deeply hearted and very creative way. „surfiction jazz No. 2“ is the third record of art de fakt and the second in collaboration with Ray Federman. On this new album two different generations of avantgarde artists meet one another and reveal the different elements which belong to the respective era without being contradictorily. The band’s complex compositions emphasize the stylistically varied lyrics of Ray Federman’s works, who gives his poetry a very special sense by reciting in his own inimitable voice and intepretation.
Raymond Federman was born in Paris 1928 and lives in the USA since 1947. After different casual jobs (among others as a jazz musician) he studied at the University of California in Los Angeles. He is one of the leading exponent of the lyrical avantgarde of the USA. Ray Federman is professor for literally studies at the State University of New York, Buffalo.
The ensemble art de fakt was founded at the beginning of 1990 by guitar player/composer Urban Elsaesser and multi-istrumentalist/composer Ludger Singer. Both artists give their personal touch by their highly sophisticated compositions. Their tunes present a fine and well-balanced mixture of jazz, rock, and New Music. So the different tracks are located between fusion („Words Out of a Bad Dream“), sound experiments („Morning Rain“), balladesc melodies („Fear“) and free improvisation („History of the Balloon“). Elements of rock music („The Potato That Became a Tomato“) and harmonies of the pop genre („Duel“) can also be found as well as elements of the classical music. The inspiring spaces of the literally patterns give the band a lot of different possibilities to build a setting of composed playing and free improvisations.
„surfiction jazz No. 2“ is an original, creatively impressing and deeply moving project. The musicians of art de fakt present themselves as high masters on their instruments. The compositions are fine arranged and well-reasoned mood paintings and sound collages and the perfect completion to the dadaistic und minimalistic sounding works of Ray Federman: poems of sounds and words, notes and letters, melodies and sentences!
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