All compositions by Yuriy Yaremchuk, Mark Tokar & Klaus Kugel
Recorded: Recorded at Alchemia, Krakow - December 11, 2006
Performed by: Yuriy Yaremchuk - saxophones Mark Tokar - double bass Klaus Kugel - drums
Additional Information: Recorded by Michal Rosicki Mixed and mastered by Yuriy Yaremchuk & Mark Tokar – February 2007 Front cover photo by Bartosz Winiarski Inside photos by Krzysztof Penarski Cover design by Andrzej Wojnowski Produced by Marek Winiarski
Review: "Yatoku" is an acronym that stands for Yuriy Yaremchuk on saxophones, Mark Tokar on double bass and Klaus Kugel on drums. Yaremchuk is a Russian who moved to Lviv in The Ukraine, the city where bassist Mark Tokar was raised and educated. Kugel is from Germany. Does that mean anything? Yes, to a certain extent, because the musicians are very much in the more European free jazz tradition, which is closer to free improv, a little harsher, less soulful at times, but no less interesting musically. Yet here they bring a mix. The first track starts quietly and slowly, then becomes a little fiercer without turning violent, ending emotionally strong, and evolving seamlessly in the second track which starts with a nice bass introduction, after which Yaremchuk plays some beautiful, almost sentimental phrases (and I've heard them before, and I've been wracking my brain for the past few days to find where I heard it before, and while writing this it now comes to mind : reminiscent of a Dewey Redman phrase on Keith Jarrett's Survivor's Suite), which turns into a pre-composed melody and even a bop vamp into great agonizing free frenzy, to the great delight of the Polish audience. The third track changes moods and modes completely, bringing a hesitant, gentle approach to sound and tension, apparently improvized on the spot and with great results. And the joy is continued on the following track, starting with a solo sax intro, in which Yaremchuk bares his soul in several minutes of highly controlled emotional tension, that makes you want to cry in sympathy, that deep he goes, suddenly released from his pain by the rhythm section which takes the sax on for a ride in some wild territory, bop-based, but wild, with a halting rhythm, with surprising turns and twists, some moments of fluid forward propulsion and screeching release of tension, with telepathic changes and shifts, unbelievably strong. The other tracks move on in the same vein : excellent jazz, excellent music, excellent and definitely under-exposed musicians. And the audience enjoys it. And rightly so. (freejazz-stef.blogspot)
Bios: (all info courtesy of artists' websites)
Yaremchuk Yuriy Grigorevich was born in 1951 in Novokuznetsk (Russia). Today he resides in Lviv, Ukraine.
In 1978 he completed the Saxophone Class at Jazz Performance Department at Rostov Institute of Art. He performed in Kim Nazaretov’s big band as an instrumentalist.
Yaremchuk is both a composer and an instrumentalist; he plays tenor-sax, soprano-sax, clarinet, percussion, piano; he is a master of voice performance as well. He is working in different genres (free jazz, contemporary music, improvised music), contemporary technique of sax play (multiphone, slap, double staccato). He can be recognized by his bright sound and brisk technique; in his solo concerts he prefers free improvisation with the use of contemporary playing technique.
His music has sufficient rhythm and melody; it is full of humor and philosophy. Yuriy Yaremchuk wrote music for theater, participated in numerous avant-garde performances with artists, actors and modern dancers.
In different projects he performed together with a number of famous jazz musicians: Claudia Binder and Marcus Eichenberger (Switzerland); Jim Menesis, Fred Frith, Ray Andersen, William Parker, Hamid Drake and Rob Brown (USA); Heinz-Erich Godecke and Hans Shutler, Vladimir Chekasin, Alex Nowic, Arkadij Shilkloper, Klaus Kugel (Germany); Vladimir Miller (GB); Dror Feiler (Sweden); Tatashi Endo (dancer Japan); Sainho Namchilak (Ireland); Ezas Mikashys and Vladimir Tarasov (Lithuania); Vyacheslav Nazarov, German Lukyanov, Vladimir Volkov, Vyacheslav Gayvoronsky, Andrey Razin, Sergey Letov, Vladimir Makarov, Mikhail Zhukov (Russia); Alexandr Nesterov (Ukraine).
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Klaus Kugel studied at the School of Jazz in Munich. Since 1989 he has been playing intensively with the Lithuanian soprano-saxophonist Petras Vysniauskas in many different international projects.
He is one of the most inventive and adventurous German drummers. He attracted attention worldwide through projects with Petras Vysniauskas, Karl Berger, Tomasz Stanko, Charlie Mariano, Kent Carter, Michel Pilz, Theo Jörgensmann, Kenny Wheeler, Vyacheslav Ganelin, Bobo Stenson, Glen Moore, Steve Swell, Sabir Mateen, Robert Dick, Ken Filiano, Peter Evans, Bruce Eisenbeil, Perry Robinson, Albrecht Maurer, Arkady Shilkloper, Sirone, Eric Vloeimans, Burton Greene, Hilliard Greene, Vijay Iyer, Charles Gayle, John Lindberg, Herb Robertson a.o..
Over the past 20 years, he gave numerous concerts and appeared at festivals throughout Europe, the Baltic States, Canada, USA, Syria, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Ukraine and China.
"Percussionist Klaus Kugel is a commanding force behind the drum set. He creates layers of tension drawn out from intuitive listening. There is a constant emotional swelling underlying every fill and cymbal crash." - John Barron, April 2007, JAZZREVIEW.COM, USA
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