Jonathan Nagel (GER), double-bass player, composer and poet, in an interview from July 2018!
Jonathan Nagel is one of the members of the trio Cleaning Each Others, with Rieko Okuda (JP) on piano and Chris Hill (GER) on drums. This trio is Berlin / Amsterdam based, mining the uncategorizable intersection between long-form free improvisation, minimal composition, jazz and electronic music.
What a kaleidoscope does to light, Cleaning Each Other does to sound. Harmonics, grooves and ambiences get broken up and then put together in myriad new ways, creating constantly new facets of music.
This trio sounds bizarre, yet completely natural, embracing both the order and the chaos of life.
"Jonathan Nagel‘s artistic output reflects in many various ways: comprising the restless search for new artistic discoveries in aspects of technique, texture, concept and approach of contemporary improvised performance, dance, physical theater, and a deep love for jazz and rock music, full of driving beats and colorful harmony, solid and strong. In all his work, all those facets shine through to some degree, creating a hybrid, half avant-garde art, half Sex, Drugs and Rock’n’Roll. Also words are an important part of Jonathan’s work, and his poems and songtexts found their way into many of his projects.
After graduating in jazz double bass at the Prins Claus Conservatorium (Groningen, NL) and the University of the Arts (Philadelphia, USA), Jonathan is currently a selected student of the European Jazz Master program. He has worked with internationally esteemed improvising artists such as Michael Moore, Axel Dörner, Tristan Honsinger, Simon Rose, Katie Duck and many others. Jonathan is currently living and working in Amsterdam (NL) and Berlin (DE)."
Source: www.jonathannagel.com