CONCERT | PHILIP YAEGER: HUNTER
The Austrian Cultural Forum NY is proud to present the American debut of the Austrian-American sextet Hunter.
Every generation produces individuals who stand a little apart – who are in but not of their world, who are destined to go their way at their own pace. These individuals are wanderers in a trackless forest, hunters for things concealed, patient explorers of hidden depths.
Music is the wood through which Hunter roams. Trombonist/composer Philip Yaeger has assembled a group of musicians from the old world and the new: rhythms David Cinquegrana, Nathan Peck, and Yonadav Halevy are steeped in the great American musical traditions of jazz, rock, and soul; trumpeter Martin Eberle and saxophonist Andreas Broger hail from Vienna – a cultural melting pot in its own right – and combine a love for these same musical traditions with a bone-deep knowledge of their native folk and classical music. The band balances the contrarianism of Pharoah Sanders and modern rock with the poise of European art music, contrasting pastoral excursions with bursts of pure energy, graceful architectures of line and form with intuitive leaps, the Logos with the purely visceral. And through it all, deep as the change of seasons, the groove prevails.
Hunter stands at the crossing of the ways, the jumping-off point, the axis upon which worlds of music turn. Here is the potential to express all that the human heart can understand: the swooping joy of swallows in flight, the frigid gloom of winter fog, the vast revelation hidden in the pattern of the evening sun through the trees. Few penetrate so deep into the wild, but those who do have by far the best stories to tell – and the members of Hunter are gifted storytellers all.
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
Philip Yaeger (trombone/composition) was born in the northeastern United States, spent time in New York and Philadelphia, and now lives in Vienna. His musical experience began with jazz (mostly of the freer variety) and alternative rock. He later ventured into the soul and African pop, and since his emigration to Austria, he has further expanded his horizons to include Eastern European and contemporary classical music. His music is a unique blend of these diverse influences and has found expression in long associations with the Jazzorchester Vorarlberg and the Vienna ensemble Studio Dan, as well as with musicians such as Uri Caine, Ari Hoenig, Max Nagl, David Murray, and Elliott Sharp.
Trumpeter Martin Eberle, a native of Vorarlberg, is well-known in Austria and internationally as a co-founder of the highly acclaimed quartet Kompost 3, the Jazzorchester Vorarlberg, and the innovative trio Rom-Schaerer-Eberle. His soulful sound and mastery of extended technique have made him a sought after sideman; he also performs with Die Strottern, the JazzWerkstatt Wien, and a wide range of other formations.
Andreas Broger (saxophone/clarinet) hails from the Bregenz Forest region of western Austria and lives in Vienna. He studied both jazz and classical music and is best known for his work in recent years with the successful folk/jazz crossover group Holstuonarmusigbigbandclub (HMBC). Broger has also performed with Peter Herbert, David Helbock, the Jazzorchester Vorarlberg, and Rigmor Gustaffson.
David Cinquegrana grew up steeped in R&B and soul music in New Jersey and studied jazz guitar with Vic Juris, among others. He is a member of the live hip-hop band Spokinn Movement, founders of the legendary NYC hip-hop session Freestyle Mondays. Besides performances in the Tri-State Area, he regularly tours the United States with the Jersey Boys.
Nathan Peck is a first-call bassist in New York, equally at home on acoustic and electric and in jazz, soul, and rock music. Besides leading his own group, The Funky Electrical Unit, Peck has performed with Sting, Vernon Reid, Mark Murphy, Alex Skolnik, and many others.
Yonadav Halevy was born in Haifa, Israel, and toured for a number of years with saxophonist and jazz education guru Arnie Lawrence. He has performed with a cross-section of the American jazz scene, including Sheila Jordan, Donny McCaslin, Avishai Cohen, Aaron Goldberg, Tim Berne, Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings, and Frank London, and is also a member of the hip-hop band Spokinn Movement.
For more info about Hunter please click >>here.
Photo by Severin Koller