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Independent music since 1986.
Independent music since 1986.

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432: STEMESEDER LILLINGER with CRAIG TABORN. Umbra III

Intakt Recording #432 / 2025

Elias Stemeseder: Composition, Spinet, Synth, Effects
Christian Lillinger: Composition, Drums, Samp, Synth
Craig Taborn: Piano

Recorded live on August 21, 2021, at International Jazzfestival Saalfelden at Nexus. Mixed in 2022 by Christian Lillinger. Mastered in 2024 by Michael Brändli at Hardstudios Winterthur.

Original price CHF 12.00 - Original price CHF 30.00
Original price
CHF 30.00
CHF 12.00 - CHF 30.00
Current price CHF 30.00
Format: Compact Disc
More Info

Umbra Il is the new album by pianist, composer, and electronic musician Elias Stemeseder and drummer, composer, and producer Christian Lillinger with the outstanding pianist Craig Taborn. As a core duo, Stemeseder Lillinger are planning a long-term series of releases, each with guest musicians playing a key role. Umbra is their musical cosmos, which Stemeseder and Lillinger describe as a "modular ensemble structure with guest musicians." Now, joined by Craig Taborn, the full spectrum of the European and American avant-garde is present as an inter-textual reference point. Umbra Ill is the musically inspiring result of a live concert at the Saalfelden Jazz Festival. "This music is an invitation to give ourselves up to unknown sounds, which make mind and body move. Something new has been created here, something untamed, a space in which structure and expression pulsate through hitherto unknown channels and new musical forms find their expression", writes Roland Schmenner in the liner notes. An enriching musical expedition.

Album Credits

Cover art and graphic design: Paul Bieri
Cover Photo: Christian Lillinger
Liner notes: Roland Schmenner
Photo: Michael Geißler

All compositions by Elias Stemeseder (akm) and Christian Lillinger
(GEMA). Recorded live on August 21, 2021, at International Jazzfesti-
val Saalfelden at Nexus. Mixed in 2022 by Christian Lillinger. Mastered
in 2024 by Michael Brändli at Hardstudios Winterthur.
Produced by Elias Stemeseder, Christian Lillinger and Intakt Records.
Published by Intakt Records

Customer Reviews

Based on 12 reviews
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M
Mark Corroto
All About Jazz Blog

Sometimes, the subversion of established paradigms unfolds through incremental variations and subtle shifts in the status quo—so gradual they can be almost imperceptible. Other times, transformation arrives in the form of unexpected revolutions, seismic and undeniable. Somewhere between these two extremes lie the musical experiments of Elias Stemeseder and Christian Lillinger.

The Austrian-German duo—pianist, composer, and electronic musician Elias Stemeseder and drummer, composer, and producer Christian Lillinger—conceived Umbra, a modular ensemble framework that interweaves musical notation with fluid systems of improvisation, inviting collaborators to explore its ever-evolving contours. Their inaugural release, Umbra (Intakt, 2023), brought together Peter Evans, Russell Hall, DoYeon Kim and Brandon Seabrook in an intricate sonic experiment. The follow-up, Umbra II (Intakt, 2024), saw Stemeseder and Lillinger revisiting the project alongside Evans and Hall. Now, with Umbra III, recorded live at the International Jazzfestival Saalfelden on August 21, 2021, the duo welcomes American pianist Craig Taborn into their unpredictable musical architecture.

Taborn is, perhaps, the ideal counterpart for the Umbra venture. Renowned for his dazzling piano improvisations from a young age, he also harbors a deep fascination with computers and synthesizers, an interest evident in his collaborations with Rob Mazurek, Tim Berne, Evan Parker and Dan Weiss. Yet, in this performance, he forgoes electronics entirely, remaining solely at the piano. Stemeseder, by contrast, modifies his spinet piano with electronic manipulation, while Lillinger alternates between his percussive craft and a palette of samples and electronic textures.

The recording unfolds in two expansive pieces: the 37-minute "Signum" and the briefer, yet no less intense, "Typus" at nine minutes. The album's opening moments resemble a surreal wind-up music box, its chimes disrupted by fragmented percussion. As the piece expands, layers of electronics emerge, conjuring the eerie ambiance of a 1960s sci-fi film score. The trio oscillates between intimate small-scale improvisation and sudden thunderous surges of sound. Their interplay blurs the line between acoustic expression and electronic transformation—Stemeseder's spinet piano veering from calliope-like whimsy to the mechanical wonder of a steampunk dreamscape. The music shifts unpredictably, morphing in tone and momentum with each new passage. Lillinger's drumming is restless, a kinetic cascade of clattering textures punctuated by sampled interjections and bursts of mechanical whir.

Together, they craft a listening experience that is both meticulously structured and wildly unbound—a testament to the endless possibilities found in the tension between order and chaos.

https://www.allaboutjazz.com/umbra-iii-stemeseder-lillinger-craig-taborn-intakt-records

M
Mark Corroto
All About Jazz Blog

Sometimes, the subversion of established paradigms unfolds through incremental variations and subtle shifts in the status quo—so gradual they can be almost imperceptible. Other times, transformation arrives in the form of unexpected revolutions, seismic and undeniable. Somewhere between these two extremes lie the musical experiments of Elias Stemeseder and Christian Lillinger.

The Austrian-German duo—pianist, composer, and electronic musician Elias Stemeseder and drummer, composer, and producer Christian Lillinger—conceived Umbra, a modular ensemble framework that interweaves musical notation with fluid systems of improvisation, inviting collaborators to explore its ever-evolving contours. Their inaugural release, Umbra (Intakt, 2023), brought together Peter Evans, Russell Hall, DoYeon Kim and Brandon Seabrook in an intricate sonic experiment. The follow-up, Umbra II (Intakt, 2024), saw Stemeseder and Lillinger revisiting the project alongside Evans and Hall. Now, with Umbra III, recorded live at the International Jazzfestival Saalfelden on August 21, 2021, the duo welcomes American pianist Craig Taborn into their unpredictable musical architecture.

Taborn is, perhaps, the ideal counterpart for the Umbra venture. Renowned for his dazzling piano improvisations from a young age, he also harbors a deep fascination with computers and synthesizers, an interest evident in his collaborations with Rob Mazurek, Tim Berne, Evan Parker and Dan Weiss. Yet, in this performance, he forgoes electronics entirely, remaining solely at the piano. Stemeseder, by contrast, modifies his spinet piano with electronic manipulation, while Lillinger alternates between his percussive craft and a palette of samples and electronic textures.

The recording unfolds in two expansive pieces: the 37-minute "Signum" and the briefer, yet no less intense, "Typus" at nine minutes. The album's opening moments resemble a surreal wind-up music box, its chimes disrupted by fragmented percussion. As the piece expands, layers of electronics emerge, conjuring the eerie ambiance of a 1960s sci-fi film score. The trio oscillates between intimate small-scale improvisation and sudden thunderous surges of sound. Their interplay blurs the line between acoustic expression and electronic transformation—Stemeseder's spinet piano veering from calliope-like whimsy to the mechanical wonder of a steampunk dreamscape. The music shifts unpredictably, morphing in tone and momentum with each new passage. Lillinger's drumming is restless, a kinetic cascade of clattering textures punctuated by sampled interjections and bursts of mechanical whir.

Together, they craft a listening experience that is both meticulously structured and wildly unbound—a testament to the endless possibilities found in the tension between order and chaos.

https://www.allaboutjazz.com/umbra-iii-stemeseder-lillinger-craig-taborn-intakt-records

Reviews in Other Languages

G
Guido Festinese
Il Manifesto

Ultimamente c'è stata anche un'uscita editoriale (presto su queste pagine) per Patrick Landolt, patron dell'etichetta svizzera Intakt, che spiega in dettaglio il sogno di un jazz libero da confini di genere, nazionalità, poetiche: solo la creatività al primo e unico posto. Intanto qui si segnalano come di consueto le ultime dalla meditata ma implacabile cadenza di uscite, a cominciare da Umbra III dal rodato duo Stemeseder-Lillinger (rispettivamente spinetta ed elettronica, e batteria ed elettronica), questa volta arricchito dal piano imprevedibile di Craig Taborn, a ribadire che il duo è «ensemble a struttura modulare che ospita altri contributi>>. Dal vivo al Jazzfestival Saalfelden nel 2021: puntillismo, oasi di una quiete sovrannaturale, concitazioni fameliche e frenetiche. Il batterista di Berna Clemens Kuratle con i suoi multietnici Ydivide nel fresco The Default. quasi una summa di jazz contemporaneo senza cliché, con un tributo poetico agli Wilco. Guizzante la potenza e l'architettura di fraseggio del contralto della tedesca Silke Eberhard, sostanziosi riferimenti a Berne e Coleman, con il suo Trio in Being-A-Ning. Prezioso.

E
Eric Therer
Jazz Mania

Après « Umbra » et « Umbra II », voici « Umbra III », troisième épisode de la série initiée par Elias Stemeseder et Christian Lillinger. Cet opus complète une saison féconde en collaborations, dense en rebondissements. Rappelons-en succinctement le principe : Stemeseder et Lillinger construisent l’ossature de morceaux et invitent d’autres musiciens pour leur donner corps. « Modular Ensemblestruktur mit Gastmusikern » en allemand dans le texte. Après avoir convié Brandon Seabrook, DoYeon Kim, Peter Evans et Russell Hall, c’est au tour du pianiste Craig Taborn de rejoindre le duo le temps d’un chapitre. Taborn se prête à l’exercice avec une finesse et une résilience remarquables, son jeu ductile se lovant dans celui de ses hôtes. Autre pianiste et claviériste aventureux, audacieux, Elias Stemeseder fait montre d’un jeu habile en diable intense, jamais en reste. Pour sa part, Christian Lillinger confirme ce qu’on savait de lui : un batteur acrobatique hors pair. Si leur précédent album avait été enregistré au mythique studio de Rudy Van Gelder d’Englewood Cliffs, celui-ci a été capté live lors du Jazzfestival Saalfelden en Autriche en août 2021, entre deux périodes de confinement. Une atmosphère particulière se dégage de cette session, tenant à la fois de l’espérance et de l’urgence à vouloir la communiquer à un public chanceux d’y assister.

https://jazzmania.be/stemeseder-lillinger-taborn-umbra-iii/

E
Eric Therer
Jazz Mania

Après « Umbra » et « Umbra II », voici « Umbra III », troisième épisode de la série initiée par Elias Stemeseder et Christian Lillinger. Cet opus complète une saison féconde en collaborations, dense en rebondissements. Rappelons-en succinctement le principe : Stemeseder et Lillinger construisent l’ossature de morceaux et invitent d’autres musiciens pour leur donner corps. « Modular Ensemblestruktur mit Gastmusikern » en allemand dans le texte. Après avoir convié Brandon Seabrook, DoYeon Kim, Peter Evans et Russell Hall, c’est au tour du pianiste Craig Taborn de rejoindre le duo le temps d’un chapitre. Taborn se prête à l’exercice avec une finesse et une résilience remarquables, son jeu ductile se lovant dans celui de ses hôtes. Autre pianiste et claviériste aventureux, audacieux, Elias Stemeseder fait montre d’un jeu habile en diable intense, jamais en reste. Pour sa part, Christian Lillinger confirme ce qu’on savait de lui : un batteur acrobatique hors pair. Si leur précédent album avait été enregistré au mythique studio de Rudy Van Gelder d’Englewood Cliffs, celui-ci a été capté live lors du Jazzfestival Saalfelden en Autriche en août 2021, entre deux périodes de confinement. Une atmosphère particulière se dégage de cette session, tenant à la fois de l’espérance et de l’urgence à vouloir la communiquer à un public chanceux d’y assister.

https://jazzmania.be/stemeseder-lillinger-taborn-umbra-iii/

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