Label: Double Moon Records
Format: CD
Barcode: 0608917145823
Catalog number: DMCHR 71458
Releasedate: 21-03-25
Format: CD
Barcode: 0608917145823
Releasedate: 21-03-25
- Energy from within: strong debut of the German-Japanese trumpeter
- Deeply personal: trumpeter and composer Shogo Seifert with eight-member band
- Trumpeter and composer Shogo Seifert follows his intuition consistently
Rauke (trans: arugula): this peculiar word from the plant world is above all one thing for Shogo Seifert: Sound! Those who expect a deeper meaning behind the group name can relax. The trumpeter and composer from Berlin decides intuitively when in doubt—in every respect. This also applies to the music he conceived, felt and composed for this special octet. From a formal point of view, this is a classical jazz quartet line-up, complemented by a string quartet. Shogo Seifert considers the group to be a unit of eight and has composed for them accordingly. A rather handcrafted, rationally "technical" approach is foreign to him. "I need an emotional connection to transfer energy into music."
The title of the album, Seifert's debut, points to the origin of the music. The "Causes of Imagination” are "personal experiences that have nothing to do with music", he explained. Seifert's creative work is nourished by events and experiences that he tries to process. They create that energy in him from which he creates his compositions. This sometimes leads to pieces that have their own unique signature despite all their accessibility. The Berliner of choice is not concerned with questions of conventions. He is aware of the numerous, very different examples of the combination with a small string ensemble in jazz history, but these did not particularly influence him. Of course, some of them inspired him. But the way to the Rauke eight was a typical Seifert way: intuitive and pragmatic rather than systematic or even strategic.
Rauke was created after a phase in which Shogo Seifert had composed for a formation with five horns and rhythm section as well as for a big band. In contrast to the "wind-heavy" projects, a completely different sound came to mind: that of a string section. He formed the first edition of Rauke on the occasion of his final concert at the Jazz Institute Berlin, where he had started studies to obtain a Master's degree in 2021. The current line-up differs in some positions from the line-up of the premiere. He is particularly closely associated with bassist Vincent Niessen from Dresden, with whom he also plays in a freely improvising quartet called Vier Föhne. By the way: Seifert, who not only plays trumpet but also alto saxophone, piano and synthesizer, was and is of course also active in other bands. He still occasionally devotes himself to hard bop in the Seifert /Kontomichalis quintet, founded in Dresden. The BBP of drummer Lukas Hecker is a brand new groove jazz band with singer and rapper. He also plays in the idiosyncratic Oumuamua Orchestra from southern Germany. For a while, there was a duo with guitarist Alexander Ruess and the Shogo Seifert Quintet with brother Hiromu Seifert on drums, who has also made his home in Berlin.
Shogo Seifert comes from Heidelberg. He was born in December 1993. He is the son of a Japanese mother and a German father. He emphasizes that his Japanese half is an important part of his identity. "It is also reflected in my music. The spiritual aspects of my mother's Japanese way of life has had an especially strong influence on me." From the philosophy of Zen, he has derived one or the other aspect for his musical practice, for example, "to try to be in the moment, to make music with full attention, and to get into a special state."
His mother is a classically trained pianist who has developed an interest in contemporary music and improvisation over the years. At a music school, Shogo first got lessons on African percussion instruments together with his brother Hiromu, who is two years older. After he started experimenting on the piano in a playful, partly self-taught way–his second instrument—he starting learning to play the trumpet. The key experience was "a Miles moment”, as he himself noted with a laugh. When he was 11 or 12 years old, his father gave him, the young trumpet student, the album "Kind of Blue" by Miles Davis. He spent hour after hour with the Master's solos. “That was my first deeply spiritual experience with music.” As a result, there was no doubt about what he wanted to do in the future. "I was attracted to the jazz world that I had discovered." With his brother, he also immersed himself in hip-hop culture, tinkering with beats and trying his hand at graffiti and turntables. But even then, he was usually looking for links to jazz. "Jazz resonates with my nature and how I want to express myself." He felt this again and again.
Shogo Seifert moved to Dresden to study trumpet in 2014. He then spent a year abroad in Paris ("a super jazz city, a very inspiring time") before moving to Berlin in the middle of the Corona period. The creative climate of the city helped to expand his horizons even further to new, different things, and it also consistently left all kinds of space for intuition and ideas. The album Rauke, produced at the Jazzanova Studio in Berlin, is a first lasting, all-round impressive result. Concerts of the octet are being planned.
The title of the album, Seifert's debut, points to the origin of the music. The "Causes of Imagination” are "personal experiences that have nothing to do with music", he explained. Seifert's creative work is nourished by events and experiences that he tries to process. They create that energy in him from which he creates his compositions. This sometimes leads to pieces that have their own unique signature despite all their accessibility. The Berliner of choice is not concerned with questions of conventions. He is aware of the numerous, very different examples of the combination with a small string ensemble in jazz history, but these did not particularly influence him. Of course, some of them inspired him. But the way to the Rauke eight was a typical Seifert way: intuitive and pragmatic rather than systematic or even strategic.
Rauke was created after a phase in which Shogo Seifert had composed for a formation with five horns and rhythm section as well as for a big band. In contrast to the "wind-heavy" projects, a completely different sound came to mind: that of a string section. He formed the first edition of Rauke on the occasion of his final concert at the Jazz Institute Berlin, where he had started studies to obtain a Master's degree in 2021. The current line-up differs in some positions from the line-up of the premiere. He is particularly closely associated with bassist Vincent Niessen from Dresden, with whom he also plays in a freely improvising quartet called Vier Föhne. By the way: Seifert, who not only plays trumpet but also alto saxophone, piano and synthesizer, was and is of course also active in other bands. He still occasionally devotes himself to hard bop in the Seifert /Kontomichalis quintet, founded in Dresden. The BBP of drummer Lukas Hecker is a brand new groove jazz band with singer and rapper. He also plays in the idiosyncratic Oumuamua Orchestra from southern Germany. For a while, there was a duo with guitarist Alexander Ruess and the Shogo Seifert Quintet with brother Hiromu Seifert on drums, who has also made his home in Berlin.
Shogo Seifert comes from Heidelberg. He was born in December 1993. He is the son of a Japanese mother and a German father. He emphasizes that his Japanese half is an important part of his identity. "It is also reflected in my music. The spiritual aspects of my mother's Japanese way of life has had an especially strong influence on me." From the philosophy of Zen, he has derived one or the other aspect for his musical practice, for example, "to try to be in the moment, to make music with full attention, and to get into a special state."
His mother is a classically trained pianist who has developed an interest in contemporary music and improvisation over the years. At a music school, Shogo first got lessons on African percussion instruments together with his brother Hiromu, who is two years older. After he started experimenting on the piano in a playful, partly self-taught way–his second instrument—he starting learning to play the trumpet. The key experience was "a Miles moment”, as he himself noted with a laugh. When he was 11 or 12 years old, his father gave him, the young trumpet student, the album "Kind of Blue" by Miles Davis. He spent hour after hour with the Master's solos. “That was my first deeply spiritual experience with music.” As a result, there was no doubt about what he wanted to do in the future. "I was attracted to the jazz world that I had discovered." With his brother, he also immersed himself in hip-hop culture, tinkering with beats and trying his hand at graffiti and turntables. But even then, he was usually looking for links to jazz. "Jazz resonates with my nature and how I want to express myself." He felt this again and again.
Shogo Seifert moved to Dresden to study trumpet in 2014. He then spent a year abroad in Paris ("a super jazz city, a very inspiring time") before moving to Berlin in the middle of the Corona period. The creative climate of the city helped to expand his horizons even further to new, different things, and it also consistently left all kinds of space for intuition and ideas. The album Rauke, produced at the Jazzanova Studio in Berlin, is a first lasting, all-round impressive result. Concerts of the octet are being planned.