Gianni Mimmo & Nicola Guazzaloca
Biography Gianni Mimmo & Nicola Guazzaloca
Gianni Mimmo
has built an international reputation for his unique treatment of musical timbre and his exploration of the advanced techniques on the soprano saxophone. His peculiar work is mainly focused on the relationship among distant artistic declinations and his style is based on a deep knowledge of the instrument and on a sound consciousness which is the constitutional element of his voice.
Gianni has developed a unique blend of abstract lyricism and contemporary flavours. His projects have been excellently reviewed by international magazines and webzines.
In the last few years some features of his music have shifted to unsuspected directions and his personal curiosity led him to new connections adding some fresh subtleness to his instrumental tone and developing a more compositional attitude to his improvisation.
As composer he often works with graphic scores where elements coming from different musical languages find a new form where fragments and more unbound ideas ask for a fresher interpretation and performing responsibility.
His pantheon is pretty crowded and includes several names coming from art, music and philosophy: painters like Jackson Pollock, John McLaughlin, Toti Scialoja, Mario Sironi, Felice Casorati; adventurous jazz musicians like Steve Lacy, Roscoe Mitchell, contemporary souls like John Cage, Robert Ashely, Earle Brown, philosophers and beautiful minds like Giorgio Agamben and John Berger, writers like Yasunari Kawabata and Herman Melville, poets like Marina Cvetaeva and Wisława Szymborska.
His current projects include collaboration with musicians as Harry Sjöström, Alison Blunt, John Russell, Daniel Levin, Hannah Marshall, Elisabeth Harnik, Clementine Gasser, Gianni Lenoci, Cristiano Calcagnile, Lawrence Casserley, Martin Mayes, Vinny Golia, Garrison Fewell, Benedict Taylor, Gino Robair, Jean-Michel van Schouwburg, Nicholas Isherwood, Ove Volquartz, Nicola Guazzaloca, Xabier Iriondo, Michele Marelli, Teppo Hauta-hao ,Mario Arcari, Peter Brötzmann, Achim Kaufmann, Matthias Bauer, Veli Kujala, Enzo Rocco, Angelo Contini, Stefano Pastor, Stefano Giust, Alessio Pisani, with dancers Marcella Fanzaga, Norontako Bagus Kentus, Sebastian Prantl, photographer Elda Papa, video artists and poets as well.
He extensively tours in Europe and USA invited by international festivals and venues and runs the indie label Amirani Records.
John Hughes
is an American doublebassist, currently residing in Hamburg. He is an active member of the jazz and improv. community in Hamburg, performing regularly both in Hamburg and in Germany. John has worked with numerous groups and projects, dancers, poets, artists and light technicians. John has been organizing the occasional improv. concert in Hamburg since his arrival in 1998. In Nov. 2004, John curated the first , annual "Phenomorphonic" festival in the Christianskirche, Hamburg. This festival for experimental accoustic and electronic music brought together musicians from New York, Berlin, Switzerland, Italy, and Hamburg.
Johns' current associations include the improv. groups, "Tripwire"(L.Scherzberg , J.Arnal , J.Hughes) , "fünf" (L.VanHaussen , C.Ogiermann , H.Neumann , L.Scherzberg , J.Hughes), the electro/accoustic "HSW trio"(L.Scherzberg, N.Wiese, J.Hughes), "Immortal Vommiting Sound"(H.Wienert, C.Popple, J.Hughes), and duo colloborations with Italian pianist Alberto Braida, German saxophonist Lars Scherzberg, trumpeter Helmuth Neumann, American percussionist Chad Popple, and contrabass clarinetist Chris Heenan. John also composes and performes with the free jazz trio"CHIMERA" (R.Pifnitzka , C.Popple , J.Hughes). In 2005, John formed "Rocket No.9" together with Chad Popple, and M.Pfleiderer, a jazz group which focuses on presenting the music of the great composers of the past, such as Duke Ellington, Sun Ra, Thelonious Monk, and others.
Ove Volquartz
Player, improviser and composer in the fields of jazz and improvised music since the 70's. He originates from the German free jazz scene but developed to the more open field of improvised music. The treatment of musical timbre and the advanced techniques on deep clarinets, have become the distinguishing features of his style.
He worked with many important musicians like Cecil Taylor, Roscoe Mitchell, Peter Kowald, Gunter Hampel, Barre Phillips, Sabu Toyozumi, Perry Robinson, Peeter Uuskyla, Gianni Mimmo, Gianni Lenoci, among others.
On the other hand he works with pipe organ player Peer Schlechta and contemporary composers like Daniel Ott. Furthermore he more and more works in interaction projects with dancers like Tadashi Endo, painters, poetry or films. Volquartz played at many festivals like Moers, Leipzig, Leverkusen etc.
He toured as far as to Africa where he worked with drummer Kojo Samuels in Liberia. He recorded with Annexus Quam, Gunter Hampel, TAG Trio, Second Exit, and Cecil Taylor among others.
As a musicologist he worked about flow experiences in improvisation.
Peer Schlechta
regularly gives concerts as a performer and improviser. He received important inspiration for his artistic organ playing from working with historical instruments of various instruments of various provenance as well as from Hans-Ola Ericsson, Bernhard
Ericsson, Bernhard Haas and Jean Guillou.
In addition, Peer Schlechta devotes himself to important technical questions as an organ and bell expert.
important subject-specific questions.
One focus of his work is research into the history and the instruments of the organ
instruments of the organ-building dynasty Kohlen-Heeren-Kuhlmann-Euler from
Gottsbüren and Hofgeismar.
He is equally concerned with the further development of keyboard instruments, especially in the field of organ building.
keyboard instruments, especially in the field of organ building. A further field of work lies in questions relating to the inventory and documentation of organ works.
Since 2006 Peer Schlechta has also been on the board of the International Association for Organ Documentation (IAOD) e.V. active.
