Björn Lücker Berlin Ensemble

In the organizer's words:

On the Björn Lücker Berlin Ensemble's debut album "Tea For Five", jazz unfolds with lively interplay, expressive soloists, deep emotionality and subtle abstraction.

Moments from blues, hard bop, free jazz, Charles Mingus, Ornette Coleman or Alexander von Schlippenbach touch each other, through which the Björn Lücker Berlin Ensemble maneuvers masterfully. There is no chance of drawing a clear dividing line between jazz tradition and contemporary adaptation. The five musical personalities become a collective, playing with form and freedom like birds with the sky.

Hamburg drummer, composer and bandleader Björn Lücker has recruited a "real dream line-up" from the Berlin scene with Rudi Mahall (clarinets), Henrik Walsdorf (tenor saxophone), John Schröder (piano) and Lars Gühlcke (double bass). "I've had the idea for a long time to get these colleagues together in a band and play my own pieces with them!" Lücker has composed tailor-made pieces for the line-up of his current album "Tea For Five". "I love the expressive sound of these players and wanted to write something that coupled my ideas with this sound." Lücker feels most comfortable in the mixed forms of composition and free playing. "I like blurriness played with a lot of authority and the roughness and oUeness that can arise from it."

Björn Lücker plays with swing and edges, diUerence and vitality. He is a partner with a lot of experience. With its outstanding musicians, the Björn Lücker Berlin Ensemble is a contemporary expression of these qualities. With "Tea For Five", the quintet has produced a remarkable debut album. Jazz as we always think we hear it, but haven't heard it like this for a long time.

Rudi Mahall - clarinets

Henrik Walsdorf - tenor saxophone

John Schröder - piano

Lars Gühlcke - double bass

Björn Lücker - drums, compositions