Jazz as the art of dialogue: two of the great musicians of today's jazz from different continents and generations make music sparkle.
Born in Osaka in 1948, Aki Takase moved to Berlin where her musical partners included Han Bennink, Evan Parker, Rudi Mahall, David Murray, Louis Sclavis and Fred Frith as well as her husband and pianist Alexander von Schlippenbach.
Ingrid Laubrock, born in 1970 in Stadlohn in North Rhine-Westphalia, moved to London at the age of 19 where she studied with the saxophonists Jean Toussaint and Dave Liebman. She has lived in Brooklyn since 2008. In her publications she shows a wide musical spectrum ranging from the quintet AntiHouse to the orchestral recordings of "Contemporary Chaos Practices" from 2018.
"Ingrid is one of my favorite saxophonists," says Aki Takase. "She is a talented player with a lot of technique, very creative, smart and above all I love her dedicated approach to making music". And Ingrid Laubrock says about Aki Takase: "It feels great to play with Aki. She's so unique and the feeling of serious playfulness and communication I'm looking for musically is there immediately".
The album Kasumi presents wonderful dialogues, which radiate joy, wit and warmth or hold the breath in silent intensity, so as not to break the spell.