Jazz at the Kaisersteg outdoors and free of charge with Ruf der Heimat and Conny Bauer / Kalle Kalima Duo

The German free jazz classic Ruf der Heimat was first documented in 1992, initially with Ernst-Ludwig Petrowsky as second saxophonist, then for a few years with Peter Brötzmann, or again and again in the extended formation with Petrowsky and Heinz Sauer. In between, however, there were also repeated tours with Charles Gayle, Roy Campbell, Johannes Bauer and Olaf Rupp.There are people who play soul or blues - the four of them play Ruf Der Heimat, someone once said.

The mission is as simple as it is complex: it's all about creativity and improvisation. Every note is a statement! That can become quite manifest with so many notes. 33 years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, a lot has changed in Germany. The mood is completely different. Uncertainty and radicalisation no longer dominate, rather than new beginnings and searching. What has remained of the homeland? Of its original idea.

Two members are no longer in the band - a new line-up is playing. However, trombonist Christof Thewes is not simply a replacement for the free jazz veterans, but gives the band a completely new dynamic: the music sounds different, but remains just as valid. Polyphonic melodies and polyrhythms have replaced the famous German power play and define the new sound. Jazz becomes even more of a home. The metamorphosis succeeds! The music fits like a glove in these times of climate change. Amen."

Otmar Klammer, Kleine Zeitung AT

To introduce Conny Bauer, the internationally acclaimed German improviser, to the jazz audience in detail would be like carrying owls to Athens.

The trombonist, who was also a guitarist and singer in the 1960s, has been associated with the Jazzkeller Treptow, whose tradition our club continues, since the early 1970s. He was a regular guest there, not only with FEZ and Synopsis, 2 style-defining GDR bands, but also with solo concerts, and was last heard at "Jazz am Kaisersteg" in 2023 in an outstanding concert with his brother Matthias (b) and Günter "Baby" Sommer (dr). It was the year of his 80th birthday, in which he received the prestigious Albert Mangelsdorff Prize from the German Jazz Union, and Conny Bauer meets Kalle Kalima at the end of this year's open-air season.

The music of the 30-year-old guitarist, who comes from Finland and lives in Berlin, combines elements of rock and improvised music, often paired with a dose of craziness.Kalle Kalima has already played with international greats such as Anthony Braxton, Tomasz Stanko

and Leo "Wadada" Smith.

One of his most enduring projects is the trio Klima Kalima with Oliver Potratz (b) and Oliver Steidle (dr), who regularly performed at Jazzkeller 69, most recently in December 2023.

This year's Kaisersteg will see the premiere of the two musicians' duo.

Letting the notes fly free - trombonist Conny Bauer