Volker Jaekel - pianist

He had his stints at Halle, Weimar and Berlin. And studied with the famous Japanese pianist Aki Takase. It is learnt that he has widely traveled and worked with theatre companies in Dresden, Berlin, and Heidelberg as a composer. In 1998 he created a project Lichtpiano with the artiste Matthias Bolz.

Was Volker Jaekel using the piano as a big brush and the notes as paint, and what fell in our ears was Space and Colours? Quite unfortunately, Itacyr Bocato Jr. who was to have joined the music trio with Trombone took ill and the evening was a two men show.

Now about Tunji Beier. As a boy he had lived in several countries. He went to Nigeria to study Yoruba drum playing with Muraina Oyelami. In 1986, he had come to South India to study Carnatic music and has performed with an array of top performers. Does Space and Colours defy categorization and on its own creates a new category, combing as it does elements of jazz, classical music and Indian music as well? Is it a new blend?

Isn't it exactly what our music tornado Rahman is doing? Mixing voices for a deep penetration into the mind and the heart. The evening itself was, no doubt, interesting and the audience assembled there enjoyed what was provided by the duo. It began in a theatrical way with appealing music emanating from some dark corners of the auditorium.

As it came closer, one noticed Volker playing on a Portative (portable organ) and Tunji sent accompanying sounds from the Kanjira. Once they got onto the stage, and the Portative went into the wings, and Tunji took to the drums, it was a different story.

Volker was improvising quite a lot and the two had to have a mental rapport - music wise. And it was there in great measure and one could sense it. The pieces like Bells of the Night, Lisbon Fantasy, and the one as a tribute to an Indian experience were short, crisp and mildly, haunting medley.

Volker played all the tantrums that jazz pianists are prone to. Where he went out of bounds was while asking the air conditioning to be switched off. Worse still, when a stray catcall disturbed him, he made an obscene gesture angrily. It is plainly a discourteous act and in an academy dedicated to music.

If the audience chose to ignore this and gave the duo a vibrant ovation, it speaks volumes of the generosity of the city audience and our culture. If a question is asked who fared the better, it was undoubtedly Tunji. He was quiet at ease with drums of all varieties, and our audience having listened to the greatest of thani avartanams (solo pieces) could see (hear) sparks of originality, and discover hard practice.

Volker suddenly declared an intermission, and the post intermission performance was so brief that one wondered if the intermission was necessary at all. It was only then that the performance was warming up and was about to take off. Devoid of fresh air, for the first time the audience had to sweat it out to listen to music. ICCR and the Maxmueller Bhavan, Madras, hosted the show. Dr. S. Gopalie

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Listen to mp3

Space of Colours
track 1.mp3
track 2.mp3
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dva
ebenezer.mp3
soursop.mp3
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ZYKADO
Sommerregen.mp3
553333355.mp3
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Okuta Percussion
track 1.mp3
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Ross Daly & Friends
Tekez.mp3
Band-e-Amir.mp3