March 1, 2007
NEXUS
Bob Becker, Bill Cahn, Robin Engelman, Russell Hartenberger, Garry Kvistad
Releases A New Compact Disc “Out of the Blue” – NEXUS CD #10814
Recorded Live with Guest Soloist, Fritz Hauser
While NEXUS has been credited with expanding the modern percussion ensemble’s world of possibilities, Fritz Hauser is doing the same for the modern drum-set. NEXUS and Fritz Hauser first heard each other at the Stockholm International Percussion Festival in 1998. That Stockholm experience created a desire that was satisfied six years later when Fritz Hauser and NEXUS performed together before an audience of percussion artists, educators, students and manufacturers at the Percussive Arts Society International Convention in Nashville, Tennessee. The excitement and energy of that performance has been captured in this live recording.
NEXUS, the Toronto-based percussion quintet has performed its music in solo recitals and with symphony orchestras worldwide. Since the group’s first all improvised concert in 1971, NEXUS has captivated audiences with an eclectic mix of music that includes contemporary percussion masterworks, novelty ragtime, world music, group improvisations and compositions by the member of NEXUS themselves. Their virtuosity and innovative programming have inspired compositions from some of the greatest composers of our time.
Fritz Hauser was born in 1953 in Basel, Switzerland. He develops and performs solo programs for drums and percussion worldwide and he has performed on numerous CDs as soloist as well as with various groups. He is a leading advocate for improvised music. About his music, Michael Rieth wrote in the Frankfurter Rundschau, ‘Hauser is the contrary of a loudspeaker, he is a softsounder, one who starts by structuring the silence, spreading out the sounds in layers, then progressing to the third dimension, developing himself into the room and finally opening up the fourth: time.’
This newest CD by NEXUS, ‘Out of the Blue’ is the fourteenth compact disc to be released on the group’s own ‘NEXUS’ label. The music featured on the CD includes:
1) ‘Away without Leave’ by Bob Becker (performed by NEXUS)
2) ‘time flies’ by Fritz Hauser (performed by Fritz Hauser)
3) ‘out of the blue’ improvised by NEXUS and Fritz Hauser
Nexus acknowledges the support of the Canada Council for the Arts and the Ontario Arts Council.
