Fly Magic — Timo Vollbrecht

Line-up: Timo Vollbrecht - sax // Keisuke Matsuno - guitar & sfx // Elias Stemeseder - piano & synths // Dayeon Seok - drums

Timo Vollbrecht is a “luminously-fine German saxophonist-bandleader” (NYC Jazz Record) who has been an important voice on both the German and the New York improvised music scenes. He has performed alongside Branford Marsalis, Ben Monder, Theo Bleckmann, and Joe Lovano and appeared at the Village Vanguard and Winter Jazz Fest NYC. In addition, he completed a Ph.D. with a dissertation on the creative recording process of ECM-producer Manfred Eicher.

Keisuke Matsuno is a Berlin-based guitarist who has earned his reputation on the international improvised music scene thanks to his skillful creations of textural soundscapes. As a sound artist and innovative improviser, he plays in Jim Black’s New Guitar Quartet and has performed with Dave Liebman, Chris Cheek, and Chris Potter. Appearances have included Carnegie Hall and the Village Vanguard.

Elias Stemeseder is a piano and synthesizer player who lives between New York and Berlin. He works with John Zorn, Jim Black, and Laurie Anderson. In 2021, he received the German Jazz Award for his work with the band PHILM, and he is a member of the KIM Collective that organizes a yearly festival for composed and improvised music in Berlin. His debut solo record will be out on Intakt Records, followed by a residency at the iconic New York venue THE STONE.

Dayeon Seok is among the most exciting modern drummers and has built an outstanding reputation on the New York jazz scene by working with Dave Douglas, Michaël Attias, Ralph Alessi, and Adam O’Farril. She grew up in South Korea, got her B.A. in Jazz Drums at Berklee College of Music, followed by a Master’s at NYU. Dayeon belongs to the most interesting voices in contemporary improvised music. Her progressive sound in combination with her rootedness in the jazz tradition results in an almost limitless source of novelty and renewal.

FLY MAGIC - “Givers & Takers”

Fly Magic is an “avant-garde song band” with a matured band sound of 10 years in the making. Passionate for electro-acoustic timbres, this genre-exploding unit draws from the lineages of jazz, post-rock, groove, new and experimental music. “The whole thing is both organic and dynamic, and the band has what is so essential in jazz - its own sound, its own voice” (Deutschlandfunk Radio).

Their new album “Givers & Takers” on Berthold Records focuses on music as a social praxis. It highlights Community as an intrinsic element, and not as ‘extra-musical.’ In this vein, bandleader Timo Vollbrecht assembled some of his closest friends and collaborators. Their improvisatory interplay is as intimate and courageously fragile as friendships can be, and - albeit instrumental - they collectively tell us their story of being human in the 21st century.

“Givers & Takers” has gathered international acclaim and is available on all platforms. The record was JAZZIZ Magazine’s “Editors’ Pick”, Jazzthing Magazine published a full-page feature, and radio stations across the US, UK, Australia, Germany, Argentina, Canada, and Spain have given the record a spin. Further, Fly Magic previously released their celebrated albums Faces in Places (2018) and Fly Magic (2016) and appeared internationally - at the Jazzycolors Festival in Paris, Leopolis Jazz Fest in Ukraine, Perth Jazz Festival Australia, TIJC Festival in Bangkok, EuroJazz Festival Chile, and Izmir Jazz Festival in Turkey. Together with the Goethe Institute, they led an Open Music Night with local musicians in Ramallah.

Fly Magic is a community project, and, hence, more musicians from Timo’s close circle of friends and collaborators are part of the family. Such as…

Jason Burger - a drummer from Orange County, CA with an unparalleled touch and sound. He is a graduate from Manhattan School of Music who has appeared at important music venues including the Jazz Gallery, the Iridium, Shapeshifter Lab, while appearing TV channels such as MTV. A stellar jazz drummer, Jason moves beyond by incorporating groove from indie-rock and today's song culture. The receiver of the Louis Armstrong Award for outstanding musical achievement has also performed with legendary pianist Ted Rosenthal.

Sebastian Merk - one of Germany's most in demand drummers. He is professor for jazz drums at Dresden's conservatory Hochschule für Musik Carl Maria von Weber. Prof. Merk has gained international acclaim for his solo work as a composer, as well as for his collaborations with Johannes Enders, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Lee Konitz, Spaniol4, Bartmes, and Sebastian Studnitzky.

Martin Nevin - a composer and double bassist originally from Los Angeles, who has become a household name on New York's contemporary music scene. He studied music at Columbia University and Manhattan School of Music and performs with notable artists such as Albert "Tootie" Heath, Billy Hart, Greg Osby, Jason Moran, Ambrose Akinmusire, Ethan Iverson, and Aaron Parks. In 2017, Martin was awarded a grant by the Jerome Fund for New Music, awarded by the American Composers Forum.