BROETZMANN-PLIAKAS-WERTMUELLER

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"(...)God bless European audiences. (JazzTimes)"

"(...)das pralle Leben. Brutal, hart, Jazz als Dauer-Schrei und lebendig ohne Ende. (Jazznetz.de)"

“(...) Berlin’s greatest underground jazz party since years. (Christian Broecking, TaZ)”

“NYC performance of the Year 2007 (All About Jazz New York)”

Download PDF info BROETZMANN-PLIAKAS-WERTMUELLER

New:

Limited numbered bootleg CD edition BROETZMANN-PLIAKAS-WERTMUELLER, "Farewell Tonic" Live at Tonic Club, New York, April 11 2008 [rec. Bruno Soria, Ulrich Petereit] Only available directly from the artists!

Still available!
BROETZMANN-PLIAKAS-WERTMUELLER, "Full Blast" (JW 001, 2006)

Order from the label: on Jazzwerkstatt (Berlin)
- or buy it in any good record store
- or get it directly from the artists (30 CHF or 20 EURO incl. shipping): mai[at]marinopliakas.com
- for press/bookers: promotional copies on demand

Short info:

Back from very successful tours through USA/CAN/Europe/Egypt/Israel/Russia (Seattle/Earshot Jazzfestival, Winnipeg/Send&Receive Festival, New York/Knitting Factory, Berkeley/ Jazzhouse, Victoria/Openspace, Trondheim Jazzforum, Tampere Jazz Happening, Academy of Arts Berlin, AudioArt Krakow, Angelica Festival Bologna, Moers Festival, Lisbon Jazzfestival, Long Arms Moscow, Aposition Festival St.Petersburg, Beta Project Pau, Mediawave Györ, Sonic Protest Paris, Enjoy Jazz Festival Heidelberg, All Frontiers Festival Gradisca, NoJazz Festival Zagreb, Festival De Jazz San Juan Evangelista Madrid, Unerhoert Festival Zurich, Ha'pzura Festival Tel Aviv etc.) I would like to introduce you to our trio with German jazz legend Peter Broetzmann, reeds:

BROETZMANN-PLIAKAS-WERTMUELLER

Peter Broetzmann (D), reeds (Broetzmann Chicago Tentett, Machine Gun, Die Like a Dog, Globe Unit Orchestra etc.: www.shef.ac.uk)
Michael Wertmueller (CH), drums (KK.NULL-PLIAKAS-WERTMUELLER, William Parker Trio, Alboth!, 16-17, W2, etc; www.michaelwertmueller.com)
Marino Pliakas (CH/GR), ebass (steamboat switzerland, sludge 2000 etc.: www.marinopliakas.com/)

Peter Broetzmann (Germany, reeds) - the living legend of the European new jazz.
He has exemplified European improvised music for over 40 years and participated in countless international collaborations.
A founder of European Free Jazz movement, his work includes collaborations and recordings with Last Exit (with Bill Laswell, Sonny Sharrock and Ronald Shannon Jackson), Evan Parker, Misha Mengelberg, and Borah Bergman. Recent projects include Die Like a Dog (with William Parker, Hamid Drake and Toshinori Kondo), his homage to Albert Ayler, the Chicago-based Broetzmann Tentet and many more.
His first album Machine Gun released in 1968 still represents the reference for the musicians and critics. Considering his 40-years-career and more than 100 albums, but also many current projects, Broetzmann is still one of the most influential figures of the new music.

In this new trio his associates are bassist Marino Pliakas (Switzerland) and drummer Michael Wertmueller (Switzerland/Germany).
Broetzmann-Pliakas-Wertmueller toured since fall 2004 in USA, CAN, Germany, Norway, Finland, Netherlands, Belgium, Portugal, Poland, Austria, Slovenia, Hungary, Italy, France, Switzerland, Egypt, Israel, Russia. Choice of Festivals: Seattle Earshot Jazz Festival, Winnipeg send+receive, Tampere Jazz Happening, AudioArt Krakow, Angelica Festival Bologna, Moers Festival, Lisbon Jazzfestival, Long Arms Moscow, Apositia St.Petersburg, Beta Project Pau, Mediawave Györ, Enjoy Jazz Festival Heidelberg, All Frontiers Festival Gradisca, NoJazz Festival Zagreb, Festival De Jazz San Juan Evangelista Madrid, Unerhoert Festival Zurich, Ha'pzura Festival Tel Aviv etc.

Wertmueller and Broetzmann toured for years as a duo and in various contexts: Broetzmann's Chicago Tentett, very successful record of the two together with William Parker (www.intonemusic.com/nothung) etc.
Wertmueller and Pliakas worked together on various occasions (touring together in various bands on festivals all over Europe e.g. SKIF-Festival St.Petersburg/Russia, Kaunas Jazzfestival/Lithuania, RingRing Festival Belgrade/Serbia, Nozart Festival Cologne/Germany, Xperipheria Budapest/Hungary, Long Arms Festival Moscow/Russia, Cross-linX festival Enschede and Utrecht/Netherlands, Festival Victoriaville/Canada etc. together with Peter Broetzmann, Caspar Broetzmann, Stephan Wittwer, John Cale, Jaki Liebezeit, Holger Csukay, KK.Null, Olaf Rupp, Marian Gold and others; cooperation with Pliakas' avant trio STEAMBOAT SWITZERLAND). Both of them toured the whole world with their various bands (MW: William Parker Trio, Alboth!, 16-17, W2; MP: steamboat switzerland, sludge 2000 etc.).

some voices:
«The [Winnipeg] concert was an unbelievable experience. (...)everyone was really into the music. Brroetzman came out blowing extremely hard on tenor sax, with a sound that was just gigantic. The drummer, Wertmueller, took a solo on the opening piece that was like a volcanic eruption of the highest magnitude. His limbs were seemingly flailing all over the place, but the torrents of sound and the extreme colours that came from the drumset showed that he was, indeed, in control; the wildest drum solo I've ever witnessed. The bassist was really versitile as well, producing a variety of tones and effects that contributed greatly and enhanced the group sound. (...) If this group stops at a location near you, make sure to check them out. Trust me on this one.» (Organissimo Jazz Forum)

«I saw this trio at Villa Aurora in Los Angeles last Friday night. Really a superb trio. (...)They played one piece for about an hour, then a very brief encore. Great fiery waves of music with subdued interludes, sometimes all three, sometimes their solos. (...) Wertmueller and Pliakas were also great. Can't recommend Wertmueller enough. And Pliakas played electric bass, from which I normally shy away, but he produced marvellous sounds from it, repeating figures, accompaniment to the others, almost the piano role.(...)» (Organissimo Jazz Forum)

«[Tampere] Best gig I have seen EVER! Aggressive and violent free jazz with speed of grindcore. There is no way to analyze the gig. It was just pure energy! Marino Pliakas played bass with overdrive effects and it is hard to even image how brutal his sound was. Drum playing of Wertmüller was something between Mick Harris and Rashied Ali, chaotic, intense and fucking raw. The maestro Broetzmann himself screamed through the reeds aggressive way and his playing was just amazing. For fuck sake grindcore is easy listening if you compare it to the intense of Broetzmann, Pliakas and Wertmueller!» (Wonderful World of Master Sweetcore)

«(...) [Berkeley, Ca.] the trio brought their last piece to an extended, thundering conclusion. They reached the state where so much is going on that players and audience all get hypnotized by the vortex.(..) the audience roared.» (bay review: http://www.transbaycalendar.org/archive/TB_2004_11.pdf)

«(...)Pliakas et Wertmueller jouent leur rôle de backing band avec beaucoup d'intelligence, construisant par une technique similaire à celle de Broetzmann un mur du son sur lequel les longs souffles du saxophoniste peuvent prendre appui. Tout cela produit forcément beaucoup de bruit, de quoi rendre jaloux nombre d'artistes noise, d'autant que l'énergie sous-jacente retient l'attention de l'auditeur de manière presque hypnotique.(...)» (Knitting Factory NYC concert; EtherReal magazine)

«(...)by far the most intense and affecting set I witnessed [at Tampere festival] was the following performance by the trio of saxophonist Peter Broetzmann, electric bassist Marino Pliakas and drummer Michael Wertmuller. God bless European audiences, because no American venue of the Customs House's size would be near to full for a Broetzmann concert. And it'd certainly take a specially selected Stateside group to hang in there and withstand the kind of full-on attack the German reedist delivered in Tampere. Playing just three improvisations before leaving the stage, Broetzmann was a ferocious presence onstage, bellowing through his tenor with a bulldozing forcefulness from his first note to his last. Pliakas and Wertmuller were equally assertive at filling every last bit of space in the thick canvas of sound and matched Broetzmann's fire with accompaniment worthy of an Ozzfest booking.» (JazzTimes, Russell Carlson)

"Full Blast: critics charts 2006" (JazzThing)”

"(...)Mit dem Bassgitarristen Marino Pliakas und dem Schlagzeuger Michael Wertmüller stehen Brötzmann zwei Vertreter der nächsten Generation zur Seite, die seinen Tongewittern eine andere Haltung entgegenbringen. Sie holen den Saxophonisten, wie jüngst eine grosse deutsche Tageszeitung nach Moers schrieb, “aus der Stilfalle der nur sich selbst reflektierenden Avantgarde” herunter. Das neue Brötzmann Trio ist bei strikter Konzentration auf die Energie der Musik ein Hörgenuss. Fürwahr, sie enthält eine Sprengladung, “Full Blast” natürlich." (Jazzpodium, Rainer Kobe)

"(...) these guys would slay your favorite death metal band (...)" (mudslinging birds)

"(...)Seit zwei Jahren hat er eine neue Formation, die weltweit für Furore sorgt.(...) die erste CD-Einspielung von Brötzmann-Pliakas-Wertmüller (Full Blast) Jazzwerkstatt JW 001) erhielt frulminante Kritiken." (Schwarzwälder Bote, Christoph Wagner)

"(...)Einen hervorragenden Auftritt [Moers Festival] hatte am Sonntag der Saxophonist Peter Brötzmann(...)Mit den beiden jungen Schweizern Marino Pliakas (E-Bass) und Michael Wertmüller (Schlagzeug) hat Brötzmann perfekte Mit- und Gegenspieler gefunden. Beides sind Musiker, die eher in musikalischen Strukturen als in Energiekurven denken. Als wäre alles ausgedacht, finden die beiden immer wieder zu klaren Formen, rhythmischen Mustern und Klangpatterns, die sie dann sehr wohl hochenergetisch aufladen, ineinander schieben und verdichten, aber meist bleibt die Ausgangbasis klar. In diesem Spannungsfeld von Struktur und Freiheit hat auch Brötzmann seine besten Moment, er wird gefordert. Soviel technische Perfektion, intellektuelle Arbeit und gegenseitige Aufmerksamkeit, wie sie Pliakas/Werthmüller zeigten, suchte man beim aus unerfindlichen Gründen weit überschätzten amerikanischen Bassisten Bill Laswell vergeblich(...)" (Christian Rentsch)

"(...)Ein alter Bekannter aus Zeiten, als das Label "NewJazz" noch die Festivalplakate bestimmte, fand den Weg zurück an den Niederrhein: 20 Jahre nach seinem ersten Moers-Auftritt blies der Wuppertaler Saxofonist Peter Brötzmann den Besuchern die Ohren durch. Der Protagonist des europäischen FreeJazz bewegte sich mit dem Schweizer E-Bassisten Marino Pliakas und dessen Landsmann und Drummer Michael Wertmüller permanent an der Grenze: Grindcore, Hardcore, Freejazz - das Publikum wusste schnell, was es in den vergangenen beiden Dekaden verpasst hatte." (TaZ, Holger Pauler)

"(...)Denn mit dem Bassgitarristen Marino Pliakas und dem Schlagzeuger Michael Wertmüller standen zwei Musiker der nächsten, rockgeprägten Generation an seiner Seite, die den Tongewittern des Urgesteins eine andere Haltung gegenüber stellten. Sie holten Brötzmann aus der Stilfalle der nur noch sich selbst reflektierenden Avantgarde und schufen gemeinsam ein Free-Update, das sich wieder ganz auf die Energie der Musik konzentrieren konnte." (Süddeutsche Zeitung, Ralf Dombrowski)

"Das Monstertrio" (NRW Zeitung, Moritz Rouwer)

"Peter Brötzmann at Tonic (...) packed the house. His trio with two younger players - bassist Marino Pliakas and drummer Michael Wertmueller - has been playing together for several years and were clearly up to speed with Brötzmann’s full on sound, meeting him with the fury of the Brö of yore and backing off for extended solo passages. Pliakas in particular is an enormously inventive player, tapping quick and soft pointillist passages, making civilized use of electronic effects and then sailing back into fast, grounding lines. He’s the rare electric bassist who has found extended techniques on the instrument beyond aping the upright bass or electric guitar. The trio was more than adept at breaking into high speed staccato sections, interrupting themselves with explosive blasts and snapping right back. On the metal clarinet, Brötzmann’s real power showed through. He plays clarinet harder, louder, than most people would think possible, dropping gracefully into its natural voice and then pushing back to the hilt to the almost speed metal backing of the rhythm section. “I know it’s a sad night for the town, for us all, but what can we do?” Brötzmann said from the stage in a fitting farewell. “We can just go on and I hope that you have some fun tonight." (All About Jazz, Kurt Gottschalk)

"I caught this trio at Tonic the week before Tonic closed and they were pretty f**king intense! Their electric bassist is one of the most incredibly creative players we've heard in a long while. Check them out! " (dmg)

"’Full Blast’: Right from the git-go the chips are on the table with Brotzmann immediately laying down sloping mountains of the post-Ayler blowisms you'd never mistake for anything else, while Wertmuller adds the kind of frantic/restrained combo drumming one might expect to hear in a band like Ruins. Pliakas is the blue blood coursing through the veins of the unit, steering the band in every direction from speed-reading through and on to molasses lullabyes (but usually only for a brief instant)... I find this whole disc to have a very "metal"-like atmosphere throughout...then again Brotzmann's always been more metal than half the jokers in the genre anyway." (OSG)

"’Full Blast’: Freejazz, (...) eine tonale Aktionskunst, die auf Ereignis, Erstmaligkeit und Präsenz- und Affirmationspflicht ihrer Akteure setzt (...) Die Nähe dieser Kunstform zu Ritualen wird hier deutlich. Peter Brötzmann (as, ts, Tarogato), Marino Pliakas (b) und Michael Wertmüller (perc) lenken und stauen diesen musikalischen Bewusstseinsstrom über die Dauer der fünf namenlosen und ineinander übergehenden Teile des Albums. Brötzmann, Referenzsenior der Freejazzszene [spielt] deklamatorisch und multiphonisch, Pliakas und Wertmüller (...) sekundieren brachial, mit [hyper]komplexen Rhythmen, hier und da so als durchschnitten Coppolas apokalyptische Rotorenblätter die aufgeheizte Luft. (...) von höchster Klangqualität." (Jazzdimensions, Thomas Götzelt)

"(...) Wertmüller was a revelation for me — this guy was amazing. It was his drumming that made the trio sound like a free-jazz take on grindcore and extreme metal: lots of double bass drumming, fills and rolls everywhere, only the occasional attempt to actually hammer out a mid-tempo, comprehensible beat. The result was a wall of sound that was immediately overwhelming but, over time, became totally exhilirating. They only played four or five pieces over the course of two sets — it was the kind of thing where fifteen minutes into a piece, I would think, "holy crap, they've been playing this hard for how long now?" and then they would keep doing it for another ten minutes. The endurance of these guys, especially Brötzmann (who is 66 years old!) was astonishing.

This was "free jazz" that would appeal [also] to noise-rock and extreme metal . (...) This was a pretty mind-expanding show, even if at times it was incomprehensibly overwhelming." (ground and sky, Brandon)

"(...) This trio is essentially a speed-metal rhythm section with a free jazz saxophonist as the front man. And it works well because of the musicianship of all the players involved. The aggressive physicality of this music is a welcome blast and a chance to hear all the intricate moving parts of this thick mass of sound. It's the details of this swirling, pounding sonic assault that makes this music so engaging.(...) I was awed by this group's ability to allow moments of solos to flow organically from this rough sonic fabric without allowing the overall energy level or musical consistency to falter. The skillful fluctuation in density is one of this trio's great strengths. The unflinching exploration into territories of extreme densities and hard-grooving, high-bpm pulse reveals beautiful shards of noise-laced, dissonant detail devoid of the mindless anger often associated with hard-core musics." (Hurdaudio)

"(...)Auf "Full Blast", der aktuellen CD des Trios, bahnt ihm Wertmüller mit bewusst grobkörnig geklapperten, gepeitschten und gerumpelten Stakkatobeats einen, was sag ich, viele Wege. Mit Pliakas und seinem E-Bass steht den beiden jemand zur Seite, der Laswell und Sharrock gleichzeitig vergegenwärtigen kann. Seine knurrige Elektrofräse bricht Schneisen, durch die Brötzmann souverän die Fackel der Free Music trägt, zugleich Träger und Flamme, zugleich der Sturm und die Ruhe selbst. Sein furioser, hartnäckig bohrender und fordernder Ton erreicht im Verlauf des dreiviertelstündigen Levitationsversuchs im Kölner Loft immer wieder Momente gesungener Intensität, Momente hymnischer Seligkeit. " (Bad Alchemy 52, Rigobert Dittmann)

Actual references from our 07/08 tour:

BROETZMANN-PLIAKAS-WERTMUELLER

April 10/07 USA-Buffalo/Hallwalls

April 11/07 USA-New York/Tonic

April 12/07 USA-Chicago/Empty Bottle

April 13/07 USA-Baltimore/An die Zeit, Red Room

April 14/07 USA-Philadelphia/Ars Nova Workshop, Community Ecucation Center

April 16/07 USA-Atlanta/Eyedrum

April 17/07 USA-Athens GA/40 Watt Club

April 18/07 USA-Providence RI/AS220

April 27/07 HUN-Gyor/Mediawave Festival

May 5/07 FRA-Paris/Sonic Protest Festival

May 6/07 FRA-Bourges/Emmetrop

Oct 11/07 GER-Heidelberg, Enjoy Jazz Festival, Karlstorbahnhof

Nov 2/07 GER-Berlin, Schlot / Broetzmann Total ‘Round Midnight I – Special at Schlot mit:

Peter Broetzmann, Mats Gustafsson, Ken Vandermark, Johannes Bauer, Conny Bauer, Toshinori Kondo, Marino Pliakas, Michael Wertmueller

Nov 3/07 GER-Berlin, Schlot /Broetzmann Total ‘Round Midnight II – Special at Schlot mit:

Peter Broetzmann, Marino Pliakas, Michael Wertmueller, Johannes Bauer, Conny Bauer, Toshinori Kondo, Mats Gustafsson, Ken Vandermark

Nov 6/07 HR-Zagreb, NoJazz Festival

Nov 8/07 FRA-Poitiers, Jazz à Poitiers

Nov 9/07 ITA-Gradisca d'Isonzo, All Frontiers Festival

Nov 15/07 ESP-Madrid, Festival de Jazz San Juan Evangelista

Nov 25/07 CH-Zurich, Unerhoert Festival @ Moods

Dec 20/07 ISR-Tel Aviv, Ha'pzura festival

Jan 11/08 FRA- Lille/Marcq-en-Baroeul, Festival Jazz en Nord

Jan 12/08 BEL- Brugge, De Werf

March 23/08 AUT-Vienna/ Porgy&Bess: BPW feat. Ken Vandermark!

March 24/08 GER-Berlin/ B-Flat: BPW feat. Ken Vandermark!

March 27/08 CH-Chur/ Stadttheater

March 28/08 CH-Bern/ Dampfzentrale

May 02/08 UK-Cheltenham/ JAZZ FESTIVAL (10th Annyversary), BBC3 live show

May 31/08 NL-Groningen/Grand Theatre

First half of June/08: Tour South America

July 19/08 GER-Glauchau/ Jazz Festival

(more tba)