Two Band Festival by Silvan Strauss: SILVAN STRAUSS X RAY LOZANO

In the organizer's words:

Two Band Festival by Silvan Strauss:

SILVAN STRAUSS *live*

RAY LOZANO *live*

Doors 19.30

Show: 20.30

With the Two Band Festival, Hamburg producer and drummer Silvan Strauss has had a residency with us at the Gretchen since January. The name says it all: Silvan Strauss comes to us with his band to play new material or familiar material in a new guise and each time invites another act that he likes for very different reasons. For the upcoming edition, he has invited Ray Lozano, one of the new big soul artists who is causing a stir with her lo-fi future soul productions.

If you don't know Silvan Strauss yet, you should definitely get to know him: his dynamic live performances are characterized by groovy beats and experimental sounds and seamlessly merge jazz, hip-hop and beatmaking into what could be called the jazz of tomorrow. His debut LP "FACING" (via KFR 2021) was a grandiose collection of Madlib-infused beats with foggy contemporary jazz and showcased his talent for loops and bounces. On his latest album "FLUKIN" (January 2025), he now does what he does best: playing and capturing the organic moments of communication in real time and making every idea sound really clear and strong. More improvisation, less programming and, above all, more interaction.

The title of the album "FLUKIN'" is an invented extension of the word "fluke" - a word used, for example, to describe an unlikely chance event or a surprising stroke of luck. Here it stands for the moments of serendipity that can occur in improvised music when collaborating with different artists.

A number of artists have contributed to FLUKIN': Kabul Fire Records founder and mentor Farhot, TOYTOY bandmate Alex Eckert, longtime collaborator and singer SALOMEA, British rapper Oscar #Worldpeace, keys wizard Joe Armon-Jones, Gnawa musician Mehdi Qamoum and bassist Giorgi Kiknadze.

Ray Lozano is a singer, bassist, saxophonist and pianist from Cologne and creates her own forward-looking and innovative soul sound from indie, low-fidelity pop and hip-hop influences. Her latest and second album "Silk Sorrow" (2025) takes her special lo-fi future soul to a whole new level: uncompromising, playful and deeply powerful. It captivates with virtuoso soul vocals, electronic shimmering, soft, haunting beats and has a deep, haunting vibe that is second to none.

The album revolves around a central area of tension in life. "Silk" provides warmth and comfort, while "Sorrow" hits you with an emotional punch to the gut. A reminder that gentleness and pain are not mutually exclusive - they are two sides of the same coin that are constantly present in our daily lives, whether we are ready for them or not.

Ray Lozano has already become a true great in the indie soul scene with her debut album "Pairing Mode" (2023), which she produced together with Samon Kawamura (Max Herre, Joy Denalane, Megaloh), just like her current work. Her sketchy songs, often less than a minute long, have won her listeners all over the world and received praise and recognition from the BBC, WDR, 1Live, Cosmo and Der Spiegel. Her work has been honored with the prestigious Holger Czukay Award and a NICA artist residency, while delighting audiences with shows across Germany. As an artist, she leaves nothing to chance and creates a holistic vision and unity of sound, videos and artwork.