Across Mountains Markus Stockhausen, Arild Andersen, Vangelis Katsoulis

• 1 Beyond the Dark 10:06
• 2 To See 12:48
• 3 Invitation to the Unknown 05:29
• 4 Arco Flight 10:13
• 5 The Rebel 03:01
• 6 Across Mountains 13:38
• Total Runtime 55:15

Info for Across Mountains

Greek pianist Vangelis Katsoulis, German trumpeter Markus Stockhausen and Norwegian bassist Arild Andersen have known each other since 1996, when they met at a concert in Athens. Across Mountains was formed during a time when traveling and concerts were impossible. The musicians decided to use their time and creativity for a joint online recording project and thus embarked on a free journey of discovery. Vangelis and Markus started as a duo, soon joined by Arild. Sound tracks were sent back and forth, ideas were thrown at each other like balls. In this way, six pieces were created between August 2020 and May 2021.

This music is a document of a special time, because under normal circumstances the music would never have come into being like this if they had had the opportunity to record live together. Indeed, it might not have come about at all, as the musicians live far away from each other.

In the course of composing and recording, there were always communication and synchronisation problems, but the musicians took their time and gained valuable experience – and they had fun. It was precisely the unusual recording process that led to surprisingly idiosyncratic musical results. Thus, the title “Across Mountains” points on the one hand to the hurdles that had to be overcome in this creative process, but at the same time to the spatial distance that was bridged: from Athens to Erftstadt (near Cologne) to Oslo. The music travelled long distances in space and time, but it felt very close. This music is testimony to a long-lasting musical bond.

Markus Stockhausen, trumpet, flugelhorn
Vangelis Katsoulis, piano, electronics
Arild Andersen, bass, loops

Markus Stockhausen
was born in 1957 and began playing the piano at the age of six. In 1975 he began to study piano and trumpet at the music school in Cologne. One year before his final exams he was the 1981 winner of the Deutscher Musikwettbewerb prize. Since then he has regularly performed as a soloist, including many premieres such as the trumpet concerto “Jet Stream” composed for him by Peter Eötvös in 2002 and performed for the first time with the BBC Symphony Orchestra in London. He is also a regular guest at renowned international music festivals.

Markus Stockhausen is one of the most versatile musicians of our time. He is as much at home in jazz as in contemporary and classical music. For about 25 years he collaborated closely with his father, the composer Karlheinz Stockhausen, who composed many beautiful works for him. With his brother Simon he realised several internationally acclaimed musical projects.

As soloist, improviser and composer Markus Stockhausen is in international demand. He leads or collaborates in various ensembles with musicians like Arild Andersen, Patrice Héral, Mark Nauseef, Jörg Brinkmann, Angelo Comisso, Christian Thomé, Ferenc Snétberger, Florian Weber, and plays intuitive music in the duo Moving Sounds with his wife the clarinettist Tara Bouman. His group Eternal Voyage features musicians from India, the Netherlands and Lebanon. From the year 2000 until 2010 he directed a concert series called Klangvisionen with intuitive music in the church of St. Maternus in Cologne. Rolf Zavelberg was responsible for the artistic light design.

As a composer he has received commissions from, among others, the RIAS Chamber Choir, The London Sinfonietta, the Orchestra d‘Archi Italiana, the Winterthur Chamber Orchestra, the Cheltenham Music Festival and the 12 Cellists from the Berlin Philharmonic. In 2007 he wrote “Tanzendes Licht“ for trumpet, big band and string orchestra for the Swiss Jazz Orchestra and the Camerata Bern, as well as “Symbiosis“, a double concerto for clarinet and trumpet with string orchestra, comissioned by the Franz Liszt Chamber Orchestra. In 2009 he composed “Oliver’s Adventures“ for children’s orchestra and choir, in 2011 “Yin“ and “Yang“ for the Metropole Orchestra, premiered at the Muziekgebouw Amsterdam for the Holland Festival. Also in 2011 he wrote “GeZEITen“ for about 600 musicians, comissioned by the Niedersächsische Musiktage in Cuxhaven. In 2012: “Ein Glasperlenspiel“ for solo trumpet and accordeon orchestra, 2013: “Das Erwachende Herz“ for solo trumpet, clarinet and voice and symphony orchestra, commissioned and performed by the Hamburger Symphoniker.

Markus Stockhausen also teaches in various situations, including “Intuitive Music and More” and “Singing and Silence”. To date he has released or participated in more than 70 CDs. In 2005 he was the winner of the WDR jazz prize.

This album contains no booklet.