Āso Ensemble    (english)

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​The horizon - a line that separates the sky from the earth. At the same time, however, it is also an image of the endless, eternal expanse or the unity of our being.
In Kurdish, simply “Āso”, this expresses the unity and yet complexity of the ensemble and its musicians.

Two duos unite with a double bass player to form a new body of sound. As a duo, “Hussien & Felix”, as well as the “Lou-Duo” with Felix Schneider-Restschikow & Jonas Sorgenfrei, have already brought several releases and programs to the stage in recent years. The double bass player Simon Ort, who has been an integral part of the European gypsy jazz scene for many years and has toured Europe with the Gismo Graf Trio, among others, completes the sound diversity of this unique ensemble.

The influence and versatility in the sound of “world music” and the omnipresent search for new influences unites these four musicians - and they are now striving for an even more multi-layered sound with compositions from "Hussien & Felix" and their own repertoire. A kind of kaleidoscope of the most diverse European folk music in the cloak of improvisation, embedded in the western sound of the jazz tradition. Traditional elements of Balkan, Russian, Kurdish and Armenian music are mixed in compositions and arrangements with contemporary elements of Western jazz music, classical music and free improvisation.

Each composed piece or interpretation of traditional music is a short musical journey through the many facets of world music and the multitude of influences the four artists have gathered on their musical path to date. Meditative, lyrical moments meet with rhythmic, sometimes complex song structures and forms.
It seems as if the horizon is the limit of this ensemble - or is it just the beginning?

 

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Āso Ensemble //

Hussien Mahmoud - saz, baglama

Felix Schneider-Restschikow - piano

Simon Ort - bass

Jonas Sorgenfrei - drums