A sound of jazz with exciting fraying into other musical styles, unconventional, atmospheric and varied – that’s exactly what the Viennese trio KO AX comes up with on their second album “Immersion” (Listen Closely).
The fact that this trio follows their very own musical ideas and knows how to create their very own musical language was shown in a really remarkable way on their 2018 debut “Loose Frames”. Let in the same musical score KO · AX are now releasing their second album “Immersion”. Once once more, Lukas Leitner (piano, synthesizer), Walter Singer (double bass) and Lukas Laimer (drums) position themselves – the three heads behind KO · AX – starting from contemporary jazz, the field of tension between the styles, which means that the sound they hear in their pieces cannot really be assigned to an exact musical category. And it is precisely this aspect of the approach of the three instrumentalists that makes the whole story so exciting.
The interpretation of jazz by Lukas Leitner, Walter Singer and Lukas Laimer follows a very unconventional path and shows many points of contact with other genres. Elements from rock, electronic music and new music find their way into the compositions in a wide variety of forms, which, coupled with the pronounced improvisational urge of the three participants, ensures a very atmospheric sound outside the norm. Above all, it is the play with opposites that makes “Immersion” so exciting. Leitner, Singer and Laimer know exactly when it is time to let the energy level rise and when it is the right time to drift back into calmer areas. They also skilfully switch between melodic straightforwardness and experimental rhythmic intricacy, which maintains the variety and unpredictability of the events over the entire length of the album.
KO · AX present an album with “Immersion” that really captivates with a very own note, with one that conveys contemporary jazz in a sophisticated and complex, but at the same time wonderfully accessible form.
++++
Links:
KO · AX
KO · AX (Facebook)
Listen Closely
