j(A)zz!│Shake Stew (A), with special guest Shabaka Hutchings (UK)
- Shabaka Hutchings - saxophone
- Lukas Kranzelbinder - bandleader, double bass
- Clemens Salesny - alto and tenor saxophone
- Johnny Schleiermacher - baritone and tenor saxophone, flute
- Mario Rom - trumpet
- Manu Mayr - bass
- Niki Dolp - drums, percussion
- Mathias Koch - drums, percussion
As the youngest musician so far in the history of the Jazzfestival Saalfelden, the double bass player and composer Lukas Kranzelbinder had the honour to play the opening concert in 2016 with his band Shake Stew. Both audience and press were thrilled. Der Standard from Vienna described the septet’s performance as a “magical opening hour”, to the Kurier Shake Stew sounds “like an intergalactic road movie for the ears.” The Süddeutsche Zeitung calls the bassist and composer Kranzelbinder a whizz kid and credits him with “an intelligent game of deception with tradition framed by two wonderful alpine gospel songs”. The Oberösterreichische Nachrichten verifies the “concert was celebrated with good reason” and adds: “The 28-year-old writes fantastic pieces, which optimally feature the exciting instrumentation with its three-part horn section and two basses and drummers. The saxophones of Clemens Salesny and Johannes Schleiermacher sound magnificent and Mario Rom’s trumpet shines. With such up-and-coming talent the Austrian jazz stands on solid ground.”
Shake Stew brings together seven unconventional musicians, all of them interesting characters of the young European jazz scene. They are united with bandleader Kranzelbinder by the pursuit of new, enhanced sound possibilities and by concepts beyond boundaries of genre, which are by now already considered a guarantee with Kranzelbinder. His own distinct combination of virtuosity, entertainment and uncompromising energy comes out in many of his projects and has meanwhile become a kind of trademark of the hard working musician, composer, and arranger.
On four exclusive occasions of their 2017 April tour the outsanding saxophonist Shabaka Hutchings joins the septet. Shabaka Hutchings, a saxophonist, band leader and composer is part of London’s community of younger jazz musicians as well as the city’s thriving improvised music scene. Shabaka’s primary project is the group Sons of Kemet, which won the 2013 MOBO Award for Jazz Act of the Year. In June 2014 Shabaka was invited to join the Sun Ra Arkestra, performing with them and recording a session for BBC Radio 3. He has performed and recorded with Courtney Pine's Jazz Warriors, Mulatu Astatke and the Heliocentrics, Polar Bear and Soweto Kinch. Some of the many notable musicians he has shared the stage with include Jack DeJohnette, Charlie Haden and the Liberation Music Orchestra, Louis Moholo, Evan Parker, King Sunny Ade and Orlando Julius to name a few.
His recent effort, The Wisdom of Elders by Shabaka and the Ancestors was recorded across one day whilst Shabaka was out playing with a group of South African jazz musicians he has admired for a long time. The CD was released in 2016 on Gilles Peterson’s record label Brownswood and earned serious critical acclaim.