Axel Dorner
German trumpeter Axel Dörner is first and foremost a group player. Despite a growing discography and a very busy performance schedule, he is rarely seen leading a session or presenting a solo album. Yet, he has developed one of the most unique voices in free improvisation. Synchronized with other European horn players like Radu Malfatti, John Butcher, and Franz Hautzinger, he developed a completely different language for the trumpet in the late ‘90s, starting anew by focusing on the sound of his breath. With enough amplification, the most microscopic gestures sound like electronic flurries. But what distinguishes Dörner from the aforementioned players is that instead of turning this "new way" into a religion, he integrated it into his arsenal and continued to perform with maximalist free jazz groups.
Dörner came late to the trumpet. Born in 1964 in Köln, Germany, he studied the piano, first at the conservatory in Arnhem, The Netherlands, in 1988-1989, and then at the Musikhochschule in Köln. In 1991, he picked up trumpet as a second instrument, studying with Malte Burba. Avant-garde jazz became an escape from academia. While in Köln he performed with Bruno Leicht as the Streetfighters. It is during that period that he formed his first group, the Axel Dörner Quartet with Frank Gratkowski, Hans Schneider, and Martin Blume, whom he would later join in the international free improv group Lines. He recorded his first session in 1993 with the Remedy, a trio with Sebastian Gramß and Claus Wagner.
In 1994, Dörner moved to Berlin and dove head first in the free improv scene there, leaving the piano behind. With saxophonist Rudi Mahall he started the Thelonious Monk tribute band Die Enttäuschung. The pair also joined old-school free jazz drummer Sven-Ake Johansson's group and later formed the Electrics. The trumpeter was drafted for Lawrence "Butch" Morris' Berlin Skyscraper tour of 1995, which led to friendships with musicians based in London and membership in the Chris Burn Ensemble. He also became a regular collaborator with Alexander von Schlippenbach. All the while he began to develop his new techniques, a hint of the process being illustrated by Claque (1998), his first album as a leader, recorded with Chicago improvisers Fred Lonberg-Holm and Michael Zerang. He had a chance to explore his newly found interest with the new music ensemble Zeitkratzer where he held a tenure for a short while (recording two discs with them) and applied it in small group improvisation with John Butcher and Xavier Charles in 2000-2001, a project that yielded the influential album The Contest of Pleasures (2001). Trumpet (2001), his first solo CD, shows how far he went with the concept of microscopic sound.
© François Couture /TiVo
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Discografía
16 álbum(es) • Ordenado por Mejores ventas
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Vier Halbe
DIE ENTTÄUSCHUNG, Rudi Mahall, Axel Dorner, Jan Roder, Uli Jennessen
Jazz - Editado por Intakt Records el 16-11-2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Aphelia
Free jazz & Vanguardia - Editado por Relative Pitch Records el 18-08-2023
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Monks Casino
Alexander von Schlippenbach, Axel Dorner, Rudi Mahall, Jan Roder, Uli Jennessen
Jazz - Editado por Intakt Records el 11-03-2005
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Barcelona Series
Sven-Ake Johansson, Axel Dorner, Andrea Neumann
Jazz - Editado por hatOLOGY el 01-01-2001
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Die anreicherung
Axel Dorner, Jan Roder, Håvard Wiik, Christian Lillinger
Jazz contemporáneo - Editado por Jazzwerkstatt el 07-10-2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Johansson Sven Ake Fuer Paul Klee
Sven-Ake Johansson, Axel Dorner, Werner Dafeldecker, Alexander von Schlippenbach, Aki Takase, Paul Lovens
Jazz - Editado por Jazzwerkstatt el 01-01-2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Venexia
Mika Vainio, Kevin Drumm, Axel Dorner, Lucio Capece
Electrónica o musique concrète - Editado por PAN el 06-07-2012
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Huckleberry Friend
Axel Dorner, Marthe Lea, Birgitte Lyregaard
Jazz - Editado por Chant Records el 21-04-2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Six Little Pieces for Quintet
Free jazz & Vanguardia - Editado por hatOLOGY el 01-01-2000
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
A Journal of Elasticity
Electrónica o musique concrète - Editado por Bohemian Drips el 26-06-2021
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Dorner, Axel: Das Treffen (Axel Dorner)
Jazz - Editado por Jazzwerkstatt el 01-09-2010
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Root of Bohemian
Free jazz & Vanguardia - Editado por Atypeek Music - Improvising Beings el 30-09-2022
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Döner Kebab
Electrónica o musique concrète - Editado por Al Maslakh el 04-03-2022
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Black Box (Live)
Rock - Editado por Acheulian Handaxe el 01-01-2008
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Omejeno gibanje / Confined Movement
Alternativa & Indie - Editado por Zavod Sploh el 04-11-2019
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Three Rivers, One Flood
Axel Dorner, Marthe Lea, Birgitte Lyregaard
Jazz - Editado por Chant Records el 07-04-2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo