STAIRS & SHELLS

STAIRS & SHELLS

Brussels, Berlin, Paris and now the US blend together in Stairs & Shells (previously known as Eggs, Stairs & Shells), the quintet of Bo Van Der Werf (baritone saxophone – Jozef Dumoulin/Bo Van Der Werf Duo, Octurn, Lynn Cassiers, Sylvain Cathala, Brussels Jazz Orchestra…), Elias Stemeseder (piano, synths, electronics – Laurie Anderson, John Zorn, Greg Cohen, Anna Webber, Christian Lillinger, Eric McPherson, Lester St. Louis…), Felix Henkelhausen (double bass, electric bass – Vice Versa with Bram De Looze & Eric McPherson, Andrea Parkins, Marc Copland, Nate Wooley’s Knknighgh, Mirna Bogdanovic Group…), Samuel Ber (drums – Pentadox with Bram De Looze & Sylvain Debaisieux, Malaby/Dumoulin/Ber with Tony Malaby & Jozef Dumoulin, KARTET, Benoît Delbecq, Michaël Attias European Quartet, Marc Ducret, Lotte Anker, Michael Formanek…) and, joining the band, Mat Maneri (viola – Cecil Taylor, Michael Formanek, Tim Berne, Tony Malaby, Paul Motian, Craig Taborn…)

Samuel Ber and Bo Van Der Werf, who have often played together in projects like Pentadox and Mantra Magnets, are the duo from Brussels. On the Berlin side, we have Elias Stemeseder and Felix Henkelhausen, who know each other from the Jim Black Trio and Felix’ quintet. The two international pairs merge as four equals, each contributing compositions to this new project. Now, New York based viola player Mat Maneri, a leading man of the current generation of improvisers, has joined the band as a member.

Each of the musicians has, in their own way, a playful approach to rhythm; and has developed a personal vision of how to organize sounds in time. Angularity and switches, oscillations and flow, or interwoven rhythmic structures that open space for interpretation and meditation.

But their compositions also share one thing in common: They are full of potential, not yet structured in a final and only way to be interpreted, open to all directions at once.

Straight lines and curves, temps strié et temps lisse, discrete and continuous values. It’s Kandinsky meets Paul Klee.

Stairs & Shells: like the basic elements of a visual language for painting sounds into time.

Bo Van Der Werf (BE) – Baritone sax & compositions
Elias Stemeseder (DE) – Piano, synths, electronics & compositions
Felix Henkelhausen (DE) – Double bass, electric bass & compositions
Samuel Ber (BE) – Drums & compositions
Mat Maneri (US) – Violin , viola & compositions