rejazz-festival 2024

The second day of the festival will make the hearts of mallet fans and fans of superlative anarcho jazz beat faster, as Taiko Saito brings three more mallet players to the stage with her Berlin Mallet Group, followed by the anarcho-soprano and guitarist Heidi Heidelberg with her award-winning duo Witch 'n' Monk.
“The music produced by the [Berlin Mallet] group is uniquely beautiful and should not be missed.” (John Eyles, All About Jazz)
Three warm, woody marimbas envelop the clear vibraphone sound, mallets banging and bows bowing sometimes melodically-meditative, then again rhythmically highly complex, through-composed, harmonic pieces alternate with improvisation, instant composing and excursions into atonality. This makes the Berlin Mallet Group the only improvising mallet ensemble of its kind.
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“Wow, these guys are certainly going somewhere fast! ... Pure anarchic chamber chaos” (BBC R3 Late Junction)
Witch 'n' Monk create a sound that is entirely their own by combining a wide variety of instruments - traditional Latin American flutes, unconventional vocals, electric guitar and bespoke electronics.
Radically manipulated flutes, anarchic soprano vocals and analog electronics mix with a jazz-punk-guitar-bass hybrid in this duo.

Witch 'n' Monk operate on the fringes of genres and are celebrated in the fields of jazz and contemporary classical music as well as in DIY and underground circles.