Elephant9

Ståle Storløkken (keyboard, organ) Nikolai Hængsle (bass) Torstein Lofthus (drums)

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Elephant9 is a musical monster, because music is at its purest and most powerful when it feels free, dynamic, and constantly evolving. In an era when music is—for the most part—constrained by electronic devices, fixed time frames, and rigid song structures, it’s refreshing to experience the exact opposite. The group’s members have a long history in bands such as Bigbang, Shining, Motorpsycho, and Supersilent, but it is only in the Elephant9 lineup that these three musicians have found the ultimate playground to showcase their eclectic tastes and musical abilities.

Torstein Lofthus’ thunderous and daring drumming, bassist Nikolai Hængsles’s steady, pounding rhythm, and the rich, uncompromising layers of sound from keyboardist and organist Ståle Storløkken deliver sounds and rhythmic structures that transcend boundaries, prompting music journalists to dig deep into their bag of tricks to find fitting descriptions: Tangerine Dream’s circular melodic themes have been mentioned, as has the fiery, phasing world of Jimi Hendrix. Other critics have cited John Coltrane, Deep Purple, and Fela Kuti—all artists who share the trait of having defied conventions and thereby stood the test of time. Nevertheless, Elephant9 has no desire whatsoever to be viewed as “retro,” as they embrace a new, chaotic era of music with open arms—one in which technology seems to have led people to leave hackneyed descriptions and references behind.

The blend of their shared tastes and unique musical talents allows Elephant9 to create an uncontrollable and extroverted sound that aims to enchant the audience.

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Venue:

Stadtgarten

The first concert in the newly built Stadtgarten concert hall in the mid-1980s launched a program unlike anything Germany had seen: an independent, artistically driven concert series devoted to contemporary improvised music. It was guided neither by attendance figures nor by public subsidies, yet it guaranteed musicians minimum fees and was run on professional terms. The conditions mattered just as much: an acoustically optimized, street-level concert space offering a strong setting for audiences and performers alike. Operations were financed through the adjoining hospitality business, the Stadtgarten restaurant and beer garden, a model that drew attention well beyond Germany.

Today the Stadtgarten Köln ranks among Europe's internationally recognized venues for contemporary and improvised music. The American magazine Down Beat features it regularly in its listings; it has received Germany's federal APPLAUS venue program award several times, including "Venue of the Year" in 2016, followed by the German Jazz Prize in the same category in 2022. More than 400 events across the full spectrum of contemporary music now take place there each year. Its international standing rests above all on the high proportion of demanding, experimental programming.

A programming mission of this kind depends on reliable public support. The venue's 30th anniversary in September 2016 opened that prospect: through a partnership between the City of Cologne and the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, programming work is being substantially strengthened, and from 2017 onward the Stadtgarten Köln is being developed step by step into a "European Center for Jazz and Contemporary Music" – with the goal of becoming one of Europe's leading music centers.

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