Alba Markus Stockhausen & Florian Weber

• 1 What Can I Do for You? 04:52
• 2 Mondtraum 05:10
• 3 Surfboard 02:31
• 4 Ishta 04:43
• 5 Emergenzen 05:45
• 6 Barycenter 01:00
• 7 Emilio 05:40
• 8 Possibility I 01:50
• 9 Befreiung 04:54
• 10 Resonances 02:08
• 11 Die Weise Zauberin 05:07
• 12 Synergy Melody 05:07
• 13 Better World 05:15
• 14 Zephir 06:25
• 15 Today 01:17
• Total Runtime 01:01:44

Info for Alba

Alba is the premiere recording of trumpeter Markus Stockhausen’s duo with pianist Florian Weber, a formation in existence for some six years now. Though very different in their connections to the language of jazz, both musicians share a deep interest in the process of creative expression: of looking inwards and outwards with intensity at things, for echoes, resonances, insights.

The dramatic arc and palette of the duo’s music is wide, from the joyous melodic roll of “Befreiung” (Liberation) and refracted optimism of “Better World”, to the chill sobriety of “Die weise Zauberin” (The Wise Witch) and the intriguingly reflective cast of “Emilio” (written for Florian’s son). At times, for the listener at least, lines blur imperceptibly between composition and improvisation. In limpid settings, subtly shifting contrasts of mood and feeling mark the music.

Stockhausen and Weber developed their musical rapport inside Markus’s six-piece world music ensemble Eternal Voyage. Duo concerts followed, one in their hometown of Cologne and a mini-tour in and around Munich. At first, all the material was written by Stockhausen but as the relationship grew, Weber brought in tunes and then began writing expressly for the duo.

Initially, the duo experimented with electronic sounds, also to create the “opening sounds” that have attracted Stockhausen since he first played with Rainer Brüninghaus’s trio in the early 1980s, as on the ECM album Continuum. Stockhausen says his subsequent Aparis project, with brother Simon and drummer Jo Thönes, sought to further the Continuum experience (yielding ECM releases Aparis in 1990 and Despite the Firefighters' Efforts, 1993). But with Weber, the realization soon came that the duo sounded stronger playing acoustically. “Florian has this incredible touch and possibilities to modulate the sound of the piano. There are so many colours available”.

On “What Can I Do For You?,” an unconventional CD opener, Weber draws the listener into an aural tapestry, strumming and drumming on the strings of the piano, a weaver’s shuttle unspooling the sound, before Markus’ plangent entry on muted flugelhorn . The tune is named in honour of the late John Taylor, Florian’s first piano teacher. “‘What can I do for you?’ was always the first question he asked when I came to a lesson, which I realized meant: ‘I don’t have anything to say, except in combination with whatever you would like to do’. And that’s how I experienced John. His genius playing with Kenny Wheeler – and Kenny also played this way – was that there is no ego. It was always about something other than themselves. Well, I have a feeling that when we play there’s no ego either.”

Two compositions on Alba come from recent commissions of Stockhausen: the melody of “Mondtraum” from “Olivers Abenteuer”, a song cycle for nine-piece children’s orchestra and choir and “Synergy Melody” from an ensemble piece for otherwise improvising musicians cued by hand signals from the conductor/composer. “Zephir” was previously recorded on a more classical basis with Dutch clarinetist Tara Bouman and is largely repurposed here, to beautiful, room-filling effect.

With “Emergenzen” a complex melody based on a polyrhythm, Weber had an image of sand on a beach in his mind’s eye “with its structures and (notions of) how those structures are created”. By tiny urgencies, “by minimal fluctuations” he says, caused by the movement of wind and water. “Out of these minimal fluctuations something bigger starts to develop which then creates the structures ...“

For “Resonances”, Stockhausen blew impromptu phrases into the body of the piano and the sonic results hang in the air. The album’s three short piano pieces – “Possibility I”; “Today” and “Barycenter” – were also impromptu performances.

As always, Stockhausen began the first recording session with intuitive improvisation, or “intuitive music”, the term coined in the 60s by his father, the pioneering electronics composer Karlheinz Stockhausen. “Ishta” is the glowing result. Stockhausen says he has sought to further his father’s concept of not using any kind of musical pre-agreement – not a melody, chord or scale – by removing even the word texts Stockhausen senior used around the time of From The Seven Days. “There’s no tune. Nothing. And this is sometimes when things really happen, when you become a channel of something.

Florian Weber makes his ECM debut with Alba. A German Jazz Critics prize winner who played with Albert Mangelsdorff, his Minsarah trio became a Lee Konitz rhythm section resulting in three CDs with the great altoist.

Alba is Markus Stockausen’s first ECM recording since Karta was released in 2000. Previously, he recorded Cosi Lontano...Quasi Dentro alongside Gary Peacock and appeared on Ralph Towner’s City of Eyes (both 1989). Continuum drew him widespread critical attention at 26, the album winning the 1984 German Record Critics’ Prize. For ECM New Series, he recorded his father’s Michaels Reise, a trumpet concerto in all but name, released in 1992.

Markus Stockhausen, Fluegelhorn, trumpet
Florian Weber, piano

Markus Stockhausen
was born in 1957 and began playing the piano at the age of six. In 1975 he began to study piano and trumpet at the music school in Cologne. One year before his final exams he was the 1981 winner of the Deutscher Musikwettbewerb prize. Since then he has regularly performed as a soloist, including many premieres such as the trumpet concerto “Jet Stream” composed for him by Peter Eötvös in 2002 and performed for the first time with the BBC Symphony Orchestra in London. He is also a regular guest at renowned international music festivals.

Markus Stockhausen is one of the most versatile musicians of our time. He is as much at home in jazz as in contemporary and classical music. For about 25 years he collaborated closely with his father, the composer Karlheinz Stockhausen, who composed many beautiful works for him. With his brother Simon he realised several internationally acclaimed musical projects.

As soloist, improviser and composer Markus Stockhausen is in international demand. He leads or collaborates in various ensembles with musicians like Arild Andersen, Patrice Héral, Mark Nauseef, Jörg Brinkmann, Angelo Comisso, Christian Thomé, Ferenc Snétberger, Florian Weber, and plays intuitive music in the duo Moving Sounds with his wife the clarinettist Tara Bouman. His group Eternal Voyage features musicians from India, the Netherlands and Lebanon. From the year 2000 until 2010 he directed a concert series called Klangvisionen with intuitive music in the church of St. Maternus in Cologne. Rolf Zavelberg was responsible for the artistic light design.

As a composer he has received commissions from, among others, the RIAS Chamber Choir, The London Sinfonietta, the Orchestra d‘Archi Italiana, the Winterthur Chamber Orchestra, the Cheltenham Music Festival and the 12 Cellists from the Berlin Philharmonic. In 2007 he wrote “Tanzendes Licht“ for trumpet, big band and string orchestra for the Swiss Jazz Orchestra and the Camerata Bern, as well as “Symbiosis“, a double concerto for clarinet and trumpet with string orchestra, comissioned by the Franz Liszt Chamber Orchestra. In 2009 he composed “Oliver’s Adventures“ for children’s orchestra and choir, in 2011 “Yin“ and “Yang“ for the Metropole Orchestra, premiered at the Muziekgebouw Amsterdam for the Holland Festival. Also in 2011 he wrote “GeZEITen“ for about 600 musicians, comissioned by the Niedersächsische Musiktage in Cuxhaven. In 2012: “Ein Glasperlenspiel“ for solo trumpet and accordeon orchestra, 2013: “Das Erwachende Herz“ for solo trumpet, clarinet and voice and symphony orchestra, commissioned and performed by the Hamburger Symphoniker.

Markus Stockhausen also teaches in various situations, including “Intuitive Music and More” and “Singing and Silence”. To date he has released or participated in more than 70 CDs. In 2005 he was the winner of the WDR jazz prize.

Florian Weber
At the age of 4 Florian began taking private lessons and by the time he graduated from high school he had participated in both classical and jazz ensembles, winning 1st place competition prizes and had the opportunity to tour as a soloist with various philharmonic orchestras.

In 1999 Florian won a scholarship to study at Berklee College of Music in Boston but instead decided to study mathematics, physics and biology first. Years later when the calling of music became too strong to deny Florian began to study with John Taylor in Cologne, Germany, JoAnne Brackeen and Paul Bley in Boston and Richie Beirach and Lee Konitz in New York.

Since 2001, Florian won the Steinway & Sons prize at the Montreaux Jazz Festival Solo Piano Competition, the Gotrian Steinweg prize of Weimar, the 1. Prize at the Jazzcompetition Monaco and the award of the german critics. He performed or recorded with Eddy Henderson, Lee Konitz (Florian was the first german piano player to record live at the renowned Village Vanguard. The album was rewarded with the Choc de l´Anne, Jazzman magazine), Pat Metheny, Ralph Alessi, Lionel Loueke, Dan Weiss, Thomas Morgan, Markus Stockhausen, Thomasz Stanko, Albert Mangelsdorff, and Benny Bailey.

With his group Minsarah and other projects he toured in America, all over Europe, Asia, Southamerica and Japan at some of he most important festivals and venues like Paris JVC festival, Berlin Jazzfestival, Jazz festival Montreal, Kennedy Center NY etc. and played with numerous philharmonic orchestras performing piano concertos e.g. by Mozart, Ravel, Gershwin and Piazolla as well as contemporary composers.

Today Florian lives in Cologne, Germany and part of the year in New York being part of the immensely lively scene of this city which led to his latest project „Biosphere“ which was released September 2012 on enja records. In 2013 Florian received the Echo Jazz as best national instrumentalist piano/keyboard. In January 2014 Florian was awared the WDR Jazz Prize for "Jazz Improvisation".

Booklet for Alba