Kaufmann, Klare, Kneer

German Musicians under Dutch Influence
SUN 7 FEB 2010 15.00, PIANOLAB GOETHE INSTITUT, AMSTERDAM (NL)

Achim Kaufmann – piano, Jan Klare – alto sax, Meinrad Kneer – bass

Three improvisers whose musical world has been influenced by the Dutch innovations in the field of improvisation. Achim Kaufmann and Meinrad Kneer live in Amsterdam, where they are an integral part of the jazz and improvisation scene. Jan Klare studied in the Netherlands and lives in Münster (D).

This trio is an example of the international outreach of Dutch improvised music, which has been able to develop more comfortably here than elsewhere since the 1970s.

Achim Kaufmann (piano, composer, electronics) was born in Aachen (D), and has been living in Amsterdam since 1996.
As a pianist, Achim strives to combine polyphonic pianism with subtly prepared and manipulated strings and interiors. Very recently, he has also added amplification and electronic processing to his vocabulary.

Achim has toured in most European countries, as well as in Australia, New Zealand, Canada, the U.S., and Eastern Africa.
He performed (often with his own projects or as co-leader) at most of the renowned festivals, He has worked and recorded for most of the German radio/TV stations, and toured for the Goethe Institute. Achim has also played and/or recorded with musicians from different backgrounds such as Han Bennink, George Lewis, Mark Helias, Tomász Stanko, Steve Swallow, Chris Speed, Jim Black, Paul Lovens, Wolter Wierbos, Tristan Honsinger, Gerry Hemingway, Mark Dresser, Misha Mengelberg, Ab Baars, Tobias Delius, and many more.

Jan Klare (sax, fl, cl, comp) born 1961. Lived in Düsseldorf from 1979 to 1987. WDR production with folk-jazzgroup Gandalin (1985 winner of “WDR- Stadtmusik”). moved to London in 1987, where he worked with Harry Beckett, Ricardo Santos amongst others and was involved in many record productions. Since 1990 back on the “European continent”, saxophone studies at the “Amsterdam school of arts”. activities since 1990: many club- and festivalappearances: such as Berlin, Copenhagen, Leeds, Frankfurt, EBU- Festival Karlsbad, Amsterdam international tours in the USA and europe. CD productions with Das Böse Ding, Toytones, WDR Big Band, Supernova, Autofab, Bhavan a.o.
Since 1992 regular work with leading european and american improvisers. Theatre projects, electronic music, dance productions, leader of projects for “big orchestras”, regular spot at jazz club Domicil on the “Real Book”, curator “Solo Virtuosos” Festival 2001 Gelsenkirchen, leader of the “off domicil orchester”.

Double bass player and composer Meinrad Kneer (D) has lived in Amsterdam/ Holland since 1995 and moves musically mainly on the borderline between jazz, improvised music, ethnic music and contemporary composed music.

Recent projects/ ensembles include the piano trio Veenendaal/ Kneer/ Sun, Bite the Gnatze, a duo with Ab Baars, Spoon 3, Play Station 6, The Gravitones, the Joost Buis Tentet and ‘President of the Globe’. He played a.o. with Najma Akhtar, Han Bennink, Fred Frith, Tobias Delius, Touria Hadraoui, Tristan Honsinger, Denise Jannah, Anne la Berge, Roscoe Mitchell, Corrie van Binsbergen and groups like Barana & Co, Roomtone, Tetzepi, the AXYZ-Ensemble, the Henneman String Quartet and the Ab Baars Quartet.

Together with flautist Mark Alban Lotz he organizes the weekly free improvisation nights u-ex(perimental) at the SJU Jazzpodium in Utrecht. In the year 2006 he founded the label Evil Rabbit Records together with pianist Albert van Veenendaal.