Album Notes

A koan is a riddle in the form of a paradox used in Zen Buddhism as an aid to meditation and a means of gaining spiritual awakening. The jazz trio Koan treats us to a musical awakening through their almost paradoxical variety of expressions. Recorded with all first takes, the tunes here display a constant rich interplay between the musicians, with fast dances, oblique pointillist melodies, wild outbursts of freedom, drum and bass grooves, soft primal moments and the occasional grunt. Koan is soulful, energetic, singing, and mysterious.

Koan: Three countries, three composers, three soloists / a trio
Oguz Büyükberber - bass clarinet, clarinet (Turkey)
Valdi Kolli - double bass (Iceland)
Uli Genenger - drums (Germany)

Three musicians, living in Amsterdam, all from different countries, get their hands on playing music that aims to look for a variety of emotional expressions in new sonic textures by combining composed and free music, with elements of complex rythms and surprising sound colors.

The trio was formed, recorded a CD and played at the North Sea Jazz Festival as a finalist of the Dutch Jazz Competition.

Tracks:
1. tuz - Oguz Büyükberber (6:46)
2. morning and the old cheese - Oguz Büyükberber (6:28)
3. oda - Oguz Büyükberber (4:09)
4. ballad - Oguz Büyükberber (3:20)
5. koan 1 - Koan (6:53)
6. mountain - trad. arr. by Oguz Büyükberber (3:28)
7. zimt - Uli Genenger (5:32)
8. wasser - Uli Genenger (3:50)
9. koan 2 - Koan (4:43)
10. hugmynd - Valdi Kolli (3:08)