Malakoff Kowalski & Johanna Summer - Songs with Words

Description

“Their virtuosic, fiery playing has its own inner life. Detached from author and interpreter, from skill and will, from past and present. Unfathomable. The pianist Johanna Summer makes me dizzy with happiness.” With these lines, Malakoff Kowalski recently attempted to illuminate the music of his colleague in ZEIT. Johanna Summer, in turn, says about the musician and composer: “Saying so much more through restraint than through many notes – Malakoff Kowalski is an absolute master of this art. A magic 'between' the musical events and contrasting gestures that superficial virtuosity could never achieve.” For the first time, Johanna Summer and Malakoff Kowalski will share the stage with a joint duo program. The occasion is two new releases: on one hand, the jazz EP “Upright” (ACT 2025) by Johanna Summer, and on the other, the album “Songs With Words” (Sony Classical 2025) by Malakoff Kowalski as a singer together with Igor Levit, Johanna Summer, and Chilly Gonzales on piano: a pairing of miniatures by classical composers with sung poems by Beat poet Allen Ginsberg. During the recordings for this album, a seven-piece jazz suite by Johanna Summer emerged from a studio whim, linking her own works with standards and an elegy by Richard Wagner. “Upright” and excerpts from “Songs With Words” as well as solo piano music from the previous albums of this unusual duo now form a concert repertoire of improvised jazz, European classical piano tradition, and American Beat poetry. Pianist Johanna Summer studied in Dresden, among others, with free jazz legend Günter Baby Sommer. Her last studio albums “Schumann Kaleidoskop” and “Resonanzen” (ACT) were unanimously praised by critics; she regularly appears at national and international jazz and classical festivals. Malakoff Kowalski is a German-American-Persian artist. In addition to his solo music, recorded on six albums so far, he also works as a theater and film composer.

Highlights

• First joint duo program by Malakoff Kowalski and Johanna Summer
• Features new releases: 'Upright' and 'Songs With Words'
• A blend of jazz, classical piano, and Beat poetry

General Information

Malakoff Kowalski and Johanna Summer will perform together for the first time at Jazzhaus in Freiburg im Breisgau. The concert will showcase their new works, combining elements of jazz, classical music, and poetry.

Location

Schnewlinstraße 1, 79098 Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany

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