AUFGANG_PORTRAIT
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the beat machine
Posted
12 Oct 09
Aymeric Westrich was barely 14 years, when he met Rami and his brother, Bachar Khalifé, at the conservatoire of Boulogne in France, where he studied Classical Percussions. Together with the two brothers, he went on tour around the globe with their father, Marcel Khalifé, the most respected Lebanese oud player.
Visiting Rami in NYC late 2000, he was introduced for the first time to Francesco Tristano, with whom Rami was already playing. The three boys started hanging around in the famous Downtown Manhattan Club “vinyl”, permeated with growing techno and house scene of the town. When Aymeric eventually left Paris to study at the Collective school of NYC, Rami and Francesco had already graduated at the Juilliard School. Whereas Rami and Francesco were fond of Minimal Techno and Contemporary Classic, Aymeric was mostly into East Coast Hip-Hop and French-style electro flavours.
Thus, back in Paris, not so surprisingly, Aymeric, starts collaborating with the rapper, Kery James, leading figure of the emerging conscious hip-hop scene in France. With strict guidelines, mostly based on live instrumentation and keyboard arrangements, he signed the productions of Kery’s album “Ma Vérité”.
Introduced by a common friend to Philippe Zdar, Aymeric joined Cassius as studio and live drummer. After a one-year tour with the band, he is still participating in the recent outtakes of the band and recently joined Phoenix for their French tour.
It´s not before 2005, under the request of the Sonar Festival programmers that Francesco put together officially for the first time the Aufgang project. Aymeric is the beat machine behind the two Grand Pianos, the plug infuriating the ivory twinkling melodies fuelling their first album and live performances with this distinctive and singular groove.
Lately, Aymeric has also co-produced with his cousin (member of the funk-electro combo from Nantes, Smooth) a soundtrack for a short film and has finished an album with Bachar Khalifé to be released soon.
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RAMI KHALIFÉ
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one man orchestra
Posted
22 Sep 09
Born in Beirut, Lebanon on September 25, 1981, Rami Khalifé exhibited a passion for music very early on. After a short initiation on the piano, seven-years-old Rami left Lebanon for France and the conservatory of Boulogne-Billancourt and later the prestigious Juilliard School of Music of NYC. Studying piano under Bela Bartok's last student and professors of the likes of Bruce Brubaker or Joel Sachs. Rami as quoted by The Detroit News is “An intellectual, free-wheeling musician of our time who is at home throughout the world.”
Leaving classical etiquette in the wings Khalife plays like no other, moving with his entire body, he stands, crouches and bends into the piano with powerfully harmonious, yet curiously jarring synchronicity. Khalife wrings music from every surface area; the innards plucked and tweaked like the strings of a lute, the frame transformed into a percussive sound board, the Piano rendered a one-man orchestra. His performance-art is unrestrained theatricality born from the depths of unbridled conviction.
Both his intense ability and artistry have enabled Rami Khalifé to create compositions and improvisations in a variety of styles and genres ranging from classical to contemporary, jazz and world music, continuously expanding his musical repertoire and accomplishments, while venturing into new territory.
Together with Francesco Tristano and Aymeric Westrich, Rami started to organize parties in NYC. Touring the world solo or with his father after graduating, Rami recorded a fistful of critically acclaimed records (Live in Beirut, Scene from Hellek Concertos). The story Aufgang started at the Sonar festival in june 2005 and will give birth to “1”, the first album of the band released in October in France.
Rami has recorded “Pop up” last year with Francesco and released this year his last album “Chaos”. In ‘Chaos’ the sounds of Lebanon under siege roar to life through the majesty of a grand piano. The wail of sirens, the detonation of shells, the whirr of tanks and war-crafts, the full-scale destruction are undercut with the quiet, resilient hope for peace …his latest masterpiece is an explosive amalgam, representing the dynamism of war and its after effects, woven together with finely nuanced pathos, creating the hauntingly monochromatic tapestry that is CHOAS.
Rami Khalife will be performing cinemix (Live soundtrack) for Murnau's cinematic classic 'Faust' with his brother Bachar Khalife 23/11/2009 @ Cinema Balzac, Paris France. 'Faust' will be also performed on the 23/1/2010 @ Ankara, Turkey.
Official website here
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FRANCESCO TRISTANO // NEW LIVE DATES ADDED
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diversity is his trademark
Posted
28 Aug 09
Diversity is his own trademark. Already an established artist in the Classic music networks, one-to-watch in the electronic circles, Francesco Tristano is one the most surprising and rarest profile of this decade. Live collaborator and studio partner of Carl Craig, Murcof, Agoria, Moritz von Oswald or les Siecles Orchestra and multi-tasking Grand Piano of Aufgang, he is one of the key-player of the recent intrusion of “Modern Classic” into electronic music.
No later than 30th August, Francesco will head to London´“Get Loaded in the Park” festival with Carl Craig`s Innerzone Orchestra and a full section of cellos. September 5th, following the first exercise of last year in Paris, the “Versus” project bringing together Moritz von Oswald, Carl Craig, les Siecles and Francesco will showcase its third appearance in Milan Alcatraz. September 16th in Bologna, still with Carl Craig and Moritz von Oswald, Francesco will run a live of his own project “Shape” associated with Bachar Khalifé, Justin Messina and David Bruti. After a couple of dates in Luxembourg and in Roma, he will share the stage of Murcof at the mythic Avant-Garde club of New York “Poisson Rouge” before heading back to Europe for a live with Jordi Carnel in BCN and eventually a Club date in Torino with Carl Craig and Moritz, November 5th.
Aufgang, teaming up Francesco Tristano, Rami Khalifé and Aymerick Westrich (drummer of Cassius) will release on InFiné / Discograph its first album in October in France, later during winter 2009-2010 in the rest of world. Hard to classify the band composed of two Grand Pianos and a drum-set rapidly gained attention from Jeff Mills after a first appearance at Sonar festival in 2005. Next to "Sonar" released in May, Sutek, Cubenx, John Talabot and Robert Hood are currently working on some remixes for the coming EPS of the band.
*30/08/2009 – Live with Innerzone Orchestra – Festival Get loaded in the Park - London
*05/09/2009 – Live with “Versus” - Les Siecles Orchestra feat. Carl Craig, Moritz – Alcatraz – Milan
*16/09/2009 – Live with “Shape” – Carl Craig, Moritz, B. Khalifé, D. Bruti, Justin Messina - Bologna
*01/10/2009 – Duet with Pascal Schumacher – Luxemburg
*02/10/2009 – Live with Aufgang – Lyon
*03/10/2009 – Live pianolaptop – Rome Europa Festival – Roma
*14/10/2009 – Live with Murcof – Poisson Rouge – New York
*24/10/2009 – Live with Gemeaux Strings – Zug
*29/10/2009 – Live with Jordi Carnell – Barcelona
*05/11/2009 – Live with Carl Craig, Moritz von Oswald – Club Torino, Torino
*12/11/2009 – recital – Liege
*14/11/2009 – Live – Andora
*15/11/2009 – recital – Dudelange – Lux
*19/11/2009 – Live with Aufgang – Café de la Dance – Paris
Versus Live on Grandcrew
Video, sound and infos on AUFGANG
Francesco Tristano – EPK
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