LeipJAZZig-Orkester

LeipJAZZig-Orkester_____________Dr. Bert Noglik

An orchestra? Certainly, a polyphonic ensemble - an orchestral body! But not a traditional orchestra? Neither one that sounds like a classical symphony orchestra, nor one that plays in the style of a swing orchestra? That's right - this is why it is also spelled a bit differently, this "Orkester". As the very name reveals to us, it is resident in Leipzig, and it plays lively music. This is very much in the spirit of Duke Ellington, who once postulated that a good leader must write the music in the sense of his band members - tailor the arrangements to them.

Only very few people can do this: Give an individual sound to an orchestra. Yet they need many people to do this: a band! The special feature in the LeipJAZZig-Orkester ensues from the mesh of individuals, from the relationships between bandleader and musicians. (... ) Stephan König has managed to delineate and to present a scene. In addition to perennially emerging playing constellations, there has been one collective expression of the creative energies since 1998 - the LeipJAZZig-Orkester.

Stephan König knows how to cluster the diversity of talents - indeed, to potentiate them. Like all good bands, it is also the hand-picked individuals themselves, not merely the instrumental colours - but also the characters of the personalities themselves that make the mix gel. The LeipJAZZig-Orkester is at the same time the König Band - an orchestral body with which he realises his individual musical visions. However, he does not assert his artistic ambitions against the band members; he picks up the thread of their personal styles and gives every single one of them opportunities to portray their musical talents. Whoever observes Stephan König at work will notice how circumspect, sensitive, quite carefully - but ultimately, how deliberately he goes about directing musical processes.

In the field of tension pertaining composition and structured leeway for improvisation the band ascends to top form because they all find themselves again in their musical sense. This is the difference as opposed to institutionalized "bureaucratic" bands. One also notices this in the sheer pleasure in playing, in the enthusiasm. Since the musicians participate in various formations and -due to economic as well as scheduling reasons - can only come together every now and then, the appearances of the LeipJAZZig-Orkester turn out to be a veritable festival every time - for those on the stage as well as for those in the audience. Undoubtedly, the large-scale formation has been considered among the cult bands since its first appearances in 1998.

The conceptual approach is a multi-stylistic one. Just about everything that interests Stephan König musically - what crops up in the everyday playing routine of those allied with him -can be transformed into the sonorous language of the LeipJAZZig-Orkester. The bandleader is among the multitalented: Pianist, keyboarder, composer, arranger and conductor - equally at home in jazz and classical, in the world of musicals, theatre and chanson, in the realm of contemporary music as well as in the perennially exciting transitional domains. Stephan König relates his orchestral ambitions:,, The music that I write for the LeipJAZZig-Orkester is as varied as the musicians whom I have chosen for this purpose. Under the stylistic realm of jazz there are influences of classical composition techniques, of rock, Techno, Indian folklore, HipHop, Balkan rhythmics, minimal music, twelve-tone technique and much more. "

In the process, compositions and improvisations interlock in a logical manner. The mutual playing adventures lead to the brink of chaos, yet everything ultimately coalesces again. Deriving from the experiences of his many years of theatre work, Stephan König knows best how one builds up arcs of suspense, effectively deals with contrasts, allows surprises to flash and arranges the various intrinsically striking parts into a coherent whole. The collective disbursement belongs to this music just as well as the solo or the duo, the big band sound as well as the chamber music dimension. With a cast that purports to imagine the sound impressions from jazz, rock and New Age music, Stephan König conjures up a multitude of moods - original, while at the same time not simplistically playing with effects, but rather trusting in the power of the musical ideas. If the finale turns into a round dance of quotes here, then this is a reminiscence of the variety of sources which have flowed into this music. They also effervesce there where they are not perceptible as motives. The LeipJAZZig-Orkester plays with an all-around musical perspective of 360 degrees. And all of these sonorous resources are freely circulated.

Two things seem remarkable and astounding: the band - foundet 1998 - remained in virtually unchanged casting. And the band has lost nothing of its freshness since then; it has even added to the dynamic and realised various programmes - lively, LeipJAZZig.