Takase/Mahall Duo

Aki Takase “Fats Waller Project” JUNE 22 Vancouver East Cultural Centre Osaka-born, Berlin-based pianist/composer Aki Takase is one of the most versatile figures in contemporary jazz, running the gamut from conventional structures to free improvisation. While remaining steeped in the musical traditions of her native Japan, she has collaborated with a wide range of diverse musicians from Dave Liebman, Joe Henderson, and John Zorn to Alexander von Schlippenbach, Maria Joao, and Reggie Workman. Takase has phenomenal technique, a bizarre sense of humour, a rich imagination, and digs all eras of jazz. Since 1990, she has recorded a series of tributes to the genres’ seminal musicians such as Duke Ellington, Thelonious Monk, Eric Dolphy, W.C. Handy, and Ornette Coleman. Her recent CD Aki Takase Plays Fats Waller (Enja) lovingly salutes one of the early jazz masters—though this is definitely not a nostalgia piece. Like its antecedents, it goes beyond homage to something original, unique, and completely new. Aki won the prestigious German Record Critics Award for this project. You’re going to love it! With Nils Wogram trombone, Eugene Chadbourne guitar/vocals, Paul Lovens drums,... more...