Markus Stockhausen Albums (10)
'Es War Einmal...Instanti Infiniti'
Release Date 1/27/2007
Tracks 10
Label Aktivraum
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What The Critics Say
This end-of-the-millennium quartet session probably best defines all the inherent contradictions in who ECM attracts to the label -- what kind of musician records for them -- and what concerns these artists and ECM's chief producer (and creator) Manfred Eicher hold in common. This set, although clearly fronted by Markus Stockhausen and Arild Andersen on brass and bass, respectively, allows space for the entire quartet to inform its direction. Héral and Rypdal are not musicians who can play with just anybody; their distinctive styles and strengths often go against the grain of contemporary European jazz and improvised music. Of the 11 compositions here, four are collectively written, with two each by Andersen and Stockhausen. "Flower of the Now" uses space and texture to create a harmonic architecture, skeletal though it may be. Stockhausen states a theme that acts as the syntax for the painterly drumming of Héral and Rypdal's interlocution between all the drifting parties. "Sway" begins with Héral's trans-African drumming, followed by the fury of Rypdal's own brand of guitar improvisation. He edges through musical frameworks of the past in rock, blues, and jazz, cutting them down in the process of playing knotty arpeggios and deconstructed riffs that rely on harmonic rather than lyrical language. When Stockhausen moves into the fray, it's sparingly in stark contrast to Rypdal's splatter and roll methodology and brings things to a near halt, with only Andersen to slip a groove through the band's abstractions. This is a record of "sonics," an area not unlike the forbidden "Zone" filmmaker Andrei Tarkovsky's hero, who guides people through in the film Stalker -- forbidden, wasted, and beautifully desolate. When listeners reach the place in "Auma" where Andersen's bass employs electronic devices to give it an "orchestra" or chamber section quality, they can hear how attentive this crew really is to one another. They move about slowly and purposefully in the musical spheres where sound, language, and harmonic monoliths all give way into something less definite, less shapely or contoured in favor of the unspeakable, the unmentionable, the inarticulate speech of the heart as it enters, through sound's language: one of tension, dynamic, nuance, and texture, the various places where spoken language fails so miserably. In all, Karta is an effort that showcases the very best of its collective: It contains aesthetic grace and elegance as well as great violence and chaos. For all the recordings in "popular" music made at the end of the century, this is the one that sums up best where Western music has traveled these last hundred years, and points to just how far it yet needs to journey in the next thousand. Karta is soulful, tender, and frightening. ~ Thom Jurek, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Markus Stockhausen, the virtuosic trumpet soloist for many of his father Karlheinz Stockhausen's works such as "Hymnen," "Sirius," and "Michael's Reise," released this solo recording in 1995. Of it he stated: "The idea was to create a unique kind of music that is neither totally improvised nor composed. 'Comprovisation' was the word that came to my mind. The basic piano, cello, and trumpet tracks were improvised in one take. Synthesizer, percussion, and additional trumpet tracks were later added in a more compositional way." Markus Stockhausen also states that his father and Miles Davis were the principal models when devising his comprovisational approach. Engineer Walter Quintas and Stockhausen used the recording studio to assemble "Possible Worlds" -- a single track nearly one hour long -- much as Teo Macero and Miles Davis did with tape edits to produce tracks from the groundbreaking Bitches Brew sessions of 1970. Like Bitches Brew, the creation of Possible Worlds is also noteworthy for its reversal of roles: The improvisations were performed first and the compositional elements incorporated later. Shadows of Davis' Aura, a collaboration with Danish composer/trumpeter Palle Mikkelborg, also flicker throughout Possible Worlds. Possible Worlds is a finely sculpted work that elaborates on the many likenesses of composition and improvisation. Like much contemporary improvised music from Europe, the syntax of Possible Worlds is not filtered entirely through a jazz lens. A subtle balance of quiet ambience, contemporary European classical music, and electronics forges a shifting palette of timbres and textures from which Stockhausen's arching statements emerge. Stockhausen's trumpet playing is a transparent blend of traditional virtuosity, extended (non-traditional) techniques, muted colors, and lyricism, with particular sensitivity to the dichotomy of solo/ensemble playing. He makes especially expert use of the piccolo and slide trumpets and the somewhat intractable quarter-tone flügelhorn. Throughout Possible Worlds, Stockhausen resourcefully draws from his well-chosen collaborators, who include his brother Simon Stockhausen on synthesizers and electronics, then-Arditti Quartet cellist Rohan de Saram, Fabrizio Ottaviucci on piano and voice, Ramesh Shotham on gatham and kanjira, and Quintas. Possible Worlds is beautifully recorded and mixed, and comes cloaked in attractive graphics by Stockhausen's stepmother, Mary Bauermeister. Possible Worlds verifies that Markus Stockhausen has developed a personal vision by learning from his mentors, and in keeping with the Stockhausen tradition, Possible Worlds is, in part, a family affair. After repeated hearings, this aptly titled work continues to offer not only possible worlds, but also a world of possibilities. ~ Mark Kirschenmann, All Music Guide
'Cosi Lontano...Quasi Dentro'
Release Date 1/25/1991
Tracks 8
Label ECM
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What The Critics Say
1988 release with light jazz content. Great sound quality. ~ Ron Wynn, All Music Guide
