Jazz at the Kaisersteg – outdoors & free / Dan Blake Quartet + Cricket

• Dan Blake – reeds
• Elias Meister – guitar
• Jan Roder – bass
• Joe Hertenstein – drums

He has toured and recorded with jazz and contemporary music greats such as Esperanza Spalding, Julian Lage, and NEA Jazz Master Award winner Anthony Braxton, and has released his own critically acclaimed albums, which have been hailed as “the perfect soundtrack for a better world” (Monarch Magazine).

His latest work, “Got My Wings,” is a ballet score released in 2025 that earned him a grant from the New York Foundation for the Arts.

For this concert at Jazz am Kaisersteg, Dan Blake presents new compositions from his growing cycle “Sages and Fools.”

The music combines electronic soundscapes, experimental modal compositions, and the kind of spontaneous interplay that is only possible with experienced improvisers like Elias Meister, Jan Roder, and Joe Hertenstein.

• Rudi Mahall – bass clarinet/tenor saxophone
• Felix Wahnschaffe – alto saxophone
• Rodolfo Pacapelo – bass
• Jan Leipnitz – drums

Pacapelo & Wahnschaffe had finished a stack of their handwritten original compositions and were looking for a way to bring what they heard inside to life.

They called Mahall & Leipnitz into the rehearsal room and placed the sheet music on a single music stand that everyone shared.

One by one, they counted in: ballads, up-tempo pieces, freer forms, blues with unusual chord progressions, and even a bit of odd-time meter.

Everything resonated, came together—the room filled itself with musical color and warmth. “Okay,” the four said to themselves, “this works right away and without much fiddling around.”

Of course, this wasn’t a total surprise; the four musicians had often had the opportunity to play together in various contexts throughout their respective careers. However, the ease with which a band sound emerged here was remarkable.