Klaus Kugel's website

Klaus Kugel
drums, percussions

"Most ensembles can only wish for a percussionist with such high skill and perceptive musicianship as Klaus Kugel" - Frankfurter Rundschau, Germany

"Percussionist Klaus Kugel is a commanding force behind the drum set. He creates layers of tension drawn out from intuitive listening. There is a constant emotional swelling underlying every fill and cymbal crash." - John Barron, April 2007, JAZZREVIEW.COM, USA

"These three discs ... show Kugel as a drummer whose nearly boundless energy and imagination cannot be confined by neat categories."
- Ed Hazel, SIGNAL TO NOISE, USA, 2006

press photo
discography
past concerts
unreleased recordings

phone: + 49 2261 911 403
mobile: + 49 173 25 450 25
email: klauskugel@gmx.de

photo by Nuno Martins

Klaus Kugel studied at the School of Jazz in Munich. Since 1989 he has been playing intensively with the outstanding lithuanian soprano-saxophonist Petras Vysniauskas in many different international projects.

Klaus Kugel is one of the most inventive and adventurous German drummers. He attracted attention worldwide through projects with Petras Vysniauskas, Karl Berger, Tomasz Stanko, Charlie Mariano, Kent Carter, Michel Pilz, Theo Jörgensmann, Kenny Wheeler, Vyacheslav Ganelin, Bobo Stenson, Glen Moore, Steve Swell, Sabir Mateen, Robert Dick, Ken Filiano, Peter Evans, Bruce Eisenbeil, Perry Robinson, Albrecht Maurer, Arkady Shilkloper, Sirone, Eric Vloeimans, Burton Greene, Hilliard Greene, Vijay Iyer, Charles Gayle, John Lindberg, Herb Robertson, Louie Belogenis, Matthew Shipp, William Parker, Bobby Few, a.o..

Over the past 20 years, he gave numerous concerts and appeared at festivals throughout Europe, the Baltic States, Canada, USA, Syria, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Ukraine and China.

upcoming concerts:

VYSNIAUSKAS-TOKAR-KUGEL: Petras Vysniauskas (ss), Mark Tokar (b), Klaus Kugel (dr)
March-22-2008, Kharkov, Jazz Festival, Ukraine
March-23-2008, Zaporizhzhya, DK "Metalurgov", Ukraine

MOONDOC-CAMPBELL-GREENE-KUGEL : Jemeel Moondoc (as), Roy Campbell (tp, flh, fl), Hilliard Greene (b), Klaus Kugel (dr)
april-04-2008, Berikon, Jazztomate, Switzerland
april-05-2008, Milano, Gheroartè, Italy
april-07-2008, Celje, Celjski Dom, Slovenia
april-08-2008, Graz, Stockwerk, Austria
april-10-2008, Lugano, Radio Swizzera (Studio 2), Switzerland
april-11-2008, Vilnius, Lithuania
april-12-2008, Berlin, Rebirth @ Lovelite, Germany
april-13-2008, Berlin, Rebirth @ Lovelite, Germany
april-14-2008, Cottbus, ObenKino, Germany
april-15-2008, Bochum, Stanzwerk, Germany
april-17-2008, Bucarest, Jazz Festival, Romania
april-19-2008, Ilmenau, Jazz Festival, Germany

GANELIN TRIO PRIORITY : Vyacheslav Ganelin (p, syn), Petras Vysniauskas (ss), Klaus Kugel (dr)
April-23-2008, Zagreb, Jazz Festival, Croatia

LINDBERG-KUGEL-GLOD : Roby Glod (ss, ss), John Linberg (b), Klaus Kugel (dr)
May-27-2008, Berlin, A-Trane, Germany
May-28-2008, Berlin, A-Trane, Germany

GANELIN TRIO PRIORITY : Vyacheslav Ganelin (p, syn), Petras Vysniauskas (ss), Klaus Kugel (dr)
June-20-2008, Bochum, SilentArt Festival, Germany

NATALKA : Natalka Polovinka (voc), Yuriy Yaremchuk (ts, ss, cl, bcl), Mark Tokar (b), Klaus Kugel (dr, perc)
June-22-2008, Bochum, SilentArt Festival, Germany

YATOKU : Yuriy Yaremchuk (ts, ss, cl, bcl), Mark Tokar (b), Klaus Kugel (dr, perc)
July-25-2008, Lublin, Jazz Festival, Poland

GANELIN TRIO PRIORITY : Vyacheslav Ganelin (p, syn), Petras Vysniauskas (ss), Klaus Kugel (dr)
24-September-2008, Kaliningrad, Club Universal, Russia
26-September-2008, Prague, 3rd Free Jazz Festival, Czech Republic
17-April-2009, Bucarest, Jazz Festival, Romania
19-April-2009, Tallin, Jazz Kaar, Estonia
23-April-2009, Amherst MA, Magic Triangle Jazz, USA

Projects:

GANELIN TRIO PRIORITY
Vyacheslav Ganelin - piano, synthesizer, percussion
Petras Vysniauskas - soprano saxophone
Klaus Kugel - drums, percussion

" ... and they’re still playing highly interactive, tensile music." - THE NEW YORK TIMES, June, 2007

... !!!
www.GanelinTrio.com ... [printable quote sheet] ... trio photos by Matthias Creutziger

DVD: "GANELIN TRIO PRIORITY - LIVE AT THE LITHUANIAN NATIONAL PHILHARMONY VILNIUS 2005" (Nemu Records)
"The new Ganelin Trio is without comparison in European music." - from the linernotes by Wolf Kampmann, Berlin, 2006

"The Ganelin Trio Priority played a staggering set on the penultimate evening of the June, 2007 Vision Festival, a continuous and constantly morphing shock-and-awe campaign in which all national and international demarcations were obliterated." - Marc Medwin, allaboutjazz.com, August, 2007, USA

POKSIS
Petras Vysniauskas - soprano saxophone
Juozas Milasius - e-guitar
Vladimir Volkov - bass
Klaus Kugel - drums

"Soprano saxophonist Petras Vysniauskas, a Lithuanian, is I believe one of the most profoundly original musicians concentrating on that instrument -- his jagged phrases expanded on determinedly original intervals and his sound is powerful -- stronger and more pointed than Sam River's has become, for instance, more densely concentrated than the late Steve Lacy's, if not polyphonic in the manner of Evan Parker." - Howard Mandel, 2007, NYC, USA

... !!!
_____www.petrasvysniauskas.com/

recent concerts: EUROPHONICS 2006 - BALTIKUM (WDR recording) & tour in Germany
Free Jazz Festival Prague 2007 @ Csassa Gelmy, Czech Republic

CARNIVAL SKIN
Peter Evans - trumpets
Perry Robinson - clarinet
Bruce Eisenbeil - guitar
Hilliard Greene - double bass
Klaus Kugel - drums

"Carnival Skin is a killer quintet formed by guitarist Bruce Eisenbeil and drummer Klaus Kugel ... to make one of the hottest line-ups in free jazz of the past ten years. Maybe twenty." - Dan Warburton, PARIS TRANSATLANTIC, January 2007

... www.CarnivalSkin.com ... !!!
Acclaimed Performers at the DU MURIER FESTIVAL DE JAZZ MONTREAL 2006, Canada, and at the EDGEFEST 2007, Ann Arbor, MI, USA

MOONDOC-CAMPBELL-GREENE-KUGEL

Jemeel Moondoc - alto saxophone
Roy Campbell - trumpet, fluegelhorn, flute
Hilliard Greene - double bass
Klaus Kugel - drums
First Europe Tour : 5th until 20th of April 2008 !!!
Contact : European Booking, Gunnar Pfabe, phone: +48 58 622 64 18, email: gpfabe@aol.com

NATALKA
... !!!
Natalka Polovinka - voice
Yuriy Yaremchuk - tenor & soprano saxophone, clarinet, bassclarinet
Mark Tokar - double bass
Klaus Kugel - drums, percussion

Traditional Ukrainian folksongs and avant-garde improvisation by the famous Ukrainian singer and actress Natalka Polovinka and the trio of the outstanding Ukrainian saxophonist Yury Yaremchuk.

GAYLE-GREENE-KUGEL
Charles Gayle - saxes
Hilliard Greene - double bass
Klaus Kugel - drums

"There is no player on the scene today with the emotional wallop of Charles Gayle. His later discs - particularly Ancient of Days - manifest a mature improvisational talent that can stand with any saxophonist's today." - Robert Spencer, ALL ABOUT JAZZ
During their Europe tour in April 2007 the trio recorded a CD live in Club Jazzga, Lodz (Poland) that will soon be released on NotTwo Records !
[Short Video from Cees van de Ven] Photogallery from Jan Bebel www.JanBebel.pl
Next Europe tour : Oktober 2008
Contact : European Booking, Gunnar Pfabe, phone: +48 58 622 64 18, email: gpfabe@aol.com

DICK-ELLIS-KUGEL
Robert Dick - flutes
Lisle Ellis - bass & circuitry
Klaus Kugel - drums, percussions
... !!!
Robert Dick, Lisle Ellis and Klaus Kugel are three singular creators whose collective effort has resulted in a remarkable trio. In even as varied an epoch as our current one, where creative musicians now regularly and easily traverse seemingly disparate styles, there are few ensembles that impress as convincingly in their ability to bridge idioms, blend the sonic textures and timbres of the ancient with present sensibilities of technology, and fire a listener's imagination with possibilities of future music. The international complexion of the trio - American, Canadian, and German - and their broad array of musical experience as composers, interpreters, leaders, and instrumental as well as technological innovators results in collective creations that are kaleidoscopic in nature.
Upcoming Europe tour : November/December 2008
Contact : European Booking, Gunnar Pfabe, phone: +48 58 622 64 18, email: gpfabe@aol.com

BLOSSOMLINK
Herb Robertson - trumpet
Roby Glod - alto & soprano saxophone
Christian Ramond - double bass
Klaus Kugel - drums
... !!!
CD "Live @ KunstWerk Cologne 2007" will soon be released on Ruby Flower Records !
“Herb Robertson has a voracious appetite for the jazz past, with an eye toward the future” - The New York Times
"Glod’s alto and soprano are a drizzle of crystalline notes , bunched with massive and coloured cadences and dissonant floods , making his sound « mineral » with a majestic hallmark ." - JazzReview.com
CD contact and booking : Association La Belle Usine a.s.b.l., Ana Isabel Ordonez, phone: + 352 691 787 596, email: blossomlink@inbox.com

WINDSLEEPERS
Christine Clément - vocals, trumpet
Roby Glod - alto & soprano saxophone
Stefan Heidtmann - keyboards
Peter Schönfeld - electric double bass
Klaus Kugel - drums, percussion
__ __ www.windsleepers.shaa-music.de
CD "la fiancée du pirate" on www.shaa-music.de. Reviews in www.jazzreview.com, allaboutjazz.com and progressia.net
"La Fiancée du Pirate is a timeless album which is only pure remarkable music." - Dr. Ana Isabel Ordonez, Jazzreview, USA, 2005

SECOND APPROACH (Moscow/Cologne)
Andrej Razin - piano, synthesizer
Tatyana Komova - vocals
Igor Ivanushkin - double bass
Klaus Kugel - drums
__
last tour was in Russia september 2006, incl. a concert and live broadcasting with RADIO CULTURA MOSCOW all over Russia.
The CD "Live in Kalyga 2006" will be released 2008 on NotTwo Records.

MICHEL PILZ QUARTET (Japan/Germany)
Michel Pilz - bassclarinet
Itaru Oki - trumpets, flutes
Christian Ramond - double bass
Klaus Kugel - drums

"Michel Pilz, whose sole instrument is the bassclarinet, has carried the Eric Dolphy legacy into the Free Jazz Era through the Globe Unity Orchestra. He is a master of contradictory musical lines, flowing from the strong and furious, to the soft and warm" (Joachim Ernst Behrendt) . The french "Jazz Magazine" wrote about the trumpet-player Itaru Oki that he is one of the most Interesting and most representative "new music players" made in Japan.

STEFAN HEIDTMANN PROJECT
Reiner Winterschladen - trumpet
Gerd Dudek - tenor & soprano saxophone
Stefan Heidtmann - piano, composition
Dieter Manderscheid - double bass
Klaus Kugel - drums
(photos by Cees Van De Ven)
"The Desire for Sound - (...), that´s an illustrious group. And it would not be remotely exaggerated to claim that there isn´t much better in German jazz. Or in Europe." (Frankfurter Rundschau, 2001)
The Stefan Heidtmann Project played 2002 at the Euro Jazz Festival Mexico City & and toured in Mexico
The cd "blue sand and green sky" (shaa-music) was awarded 5 stars in the german magazine FONOFORUM.
To get a quick access to all reviews please go to: www.reviews.heidtmann.info
You'll find soundfiles at: www.soundfiles.heidtmann.info and you can buy the recent CD "Hay Que Salir Adelante" in the iTunes Music Store.

KAN (Japan, Lithuania, Germany)
Makiko Tominaga - butoh dance
Petras Vysniauskas - soprano saxophone
Klaus Kugel - percussion, wood-bells, chimes, drums, ballast-string
___ photo M. Tominga & K. Kugel by Ute H. Kaiser
last performance: SilentArt festival Bochum 2007, Germany

YAREMCHUK-TOKAR-KUGEL
Yuri Yaremchuk - soprano & tenor saxophones, clarinet, bass clarinet
Mark Tokar - double bass
Klaus Kugel - drums
... ** photogallery from Krzysztof Penarski **
last concerts: december 2006, Jazz Festival Bezz & tour in Ukraine and Poland
"... the concert of the trio was considered to be the gem of the festival." - Kiev Weekly

SYNTOPIA QUARTET (Germany/Switzerland)
Albrecht Maurer - violin, gothic fiddle
Claudio Puntin - bassclarinet, clarinet
Dieter Manderscheid - double bass
Klaus Kugel - percussions, sound objects

CD"MARS"was released june 2005 on NEMU RECORDS
__ __ photos by Christiane Resch

Pick of the Week: Syntopia Quartet “Mars” (Nemu, 2006)
review by Justin Glick, Jazz Music Director, WNUR 89.3 FM, Chicago, march 2006

"The first release from the brand new Berlin based label Nemu, owned and operated by Maurer and Kugel, represents an incredibly auspicious beginning. “Mars” is a beautifully unclassifiable record that blends contemporary classical with free improvisation to such an extent that it’s not always easy to tell which parts are scored and which are not. But intricacy and interplay take the forefront throughout creating a new kind of modern chamber music. Musicianship is exemplary with each player on the same page as the others at all times making this music and the album as a whole firmly gel. Highly recommended that you all try to find this one."

Reviews by Bill Shoemaker in www.pointofdeparture.org and by Glenn Astarita in www.allaboutjazz.com
The CD "MARS" (nemu 001) has been selected by jazztokyo.com to be among the 15 best international albums of the year 2006

THEO JÖRGENSMANN QUARTET
Theo Jörgensmann - clarinet
Christopher Dell - vibes
Christian Ramond - bass
Klaus Kugel - drums
___ photo by Ruth Hommelsheim

The Theo Jörgensmann Quartet is a top-class German Jazz Quartet. Their CDs "Snijbloemen" (hatOLOGY 539) and "To Ornette - Hybrid Identity" (hatOLOGY 576), have been enthusiastically reviewed by many critics worldwide. "Snijbloemen" was awarded four stars in the July 2000 issue of the renowned American magazine Downbeat and "To Ornette - Hybrid Identity" (hatOLOGY 576) was awarded 5 stars in the german magazine FONOFORUM and in allaboutjazz/italia. In 1999, 2001 and 2003 the quartet played three USA/Canada tours sponsered by the German Government of the Federal State North-Rhine Westphalia (NRW).

Vibrating and stunning communication on the finest technical level imaginable. This worlwide suceeding German jazz ensemble stands for: -music against the law of purity (...) dancing elegance, humorous intelligence, sensitive poetry (...), the ultimate improvised chamber music.- (Weltwoche, Switzerland, 2002) -highly interactive (...) simply magnificent- (highest score in FONO FORUM, Germany, 2002) -Collective motion is electric: a charging, spasmodic from all sides. (...) Jörgensmann's dancing, fractured improv couldn't find a warmer nest.- (CODA MAGAZINE, Canada, 2003)