Moon Sessions

25/02/2022

Moontalk with Moonbach @ Moon Sessions [take3]

https://youtu.be/vAdRPLMXU7g

You know, if the moon sessions had an Artist in Residence, it would be MoonBach. Come to think of it, we would need a residence for that, which we don’t have at the moment, but don’t let that worry you. It’s enough if we worry about it. Where was I?! Oh yes, Moonbach would be artist in residence cause well, first they have Moon in their name, second they can improvise, third, they combine the old with the new and the baroque with the rock’n’roll and fourth, Azadeh Magstdudie and Andis Paegle look the part. Lol!

MoonBachAzadeh Maghsoodi - Violine Andis Paegle - Fender RhodesMoon Sessions [take3] at Clinker Lounge Concerts, Berlin

07/02/2022

Martin Klett plays George Crumb @ Moon Session [take 3]

https://youtu.be/lohY9t_r9cQ

R.I.P. George Henry Jr. Crumb (October 24, 1929 – February 6, 2022)

Martin Klett - Piano & Harpsichord

Robert Crumb (1929 - 2022) / Makrokosmos III PISCES. ProteusIII TA**US. PastoraleMartin Klett | piano

02/02/2022

Marin Klett plays Claude Debussy @ Moon Sessions [Take 3]

https://youtu.be/XLcUM4LVkEY

You know, in our line of work, we have to do a lot of syncing footage of musicians performing to prerecorded music and I always dread when the name Debussy comes up cause Debussy pieces never get played the same way twice. A good thing on most accounts, but a real bitch to edit with footage of multiple run throughs. Here at Moon Sessions we do (almost) everything in one take and record sound and vision at the same time, so everything fell nicely into place with this performance by Martin Klett - Piano & Harpsichord

Claude Debussy (1862-1918) Préludes (Premier Livre) - XII Minstrels Martin Klett | pianorecorded live at moon sessions [take 3]September 26th 2020 at Clinke...

01/02/2022

Far East Trio live @ Moon Sessions [Take 3]:"The Queen's Suite, Pt two

https://youtu.be/_vZjdYsfjN8

Everybody digs Duke Ellington, right?! The first time I became aware of Ellington was in 1982, I was 15 at the time when I went to see the Rolling Stones at Müngersdorfer Stadion in Cologne and for some strange reason, the Rolling Stones had chosen Ellington's signature tune ‚Take the A Train‘ as their intro music. The Show was horrible, awful sound and the Band was well past their sell by date, but the intro tune kinda stuck with me from then on, though I was never really a fan of Big Band Jazz. So all the better now to revisit Ellington in my favourite Jazz setting, the Piano Trio. Take it away Declan:

"The Queen's Suite: Sunset and the Mocking Bird" (Billy Strayhorn) performed by Far East TrioDeclan Forde | PianoSidney Werner | Double BassAidan Lowe | Dr...

27/01/2022

Far East Trio live @ Moon Sessions [Take 3]:"The Queen's Suite, Pt one

https://youtu.be/nJvU_LoKZUg

There is this stereotype of Jazz musicians getting up late and performing all through the night. Truth be told I have no idea at what time of day ‚Kind of Blue‘ or was recorded, but I always imagined it to be during the night. And also, it’s not called ‚A day in Tunisia‘, you know. However due to a broken string we had to redo the session with the Far East Trio the following morning and I had this notion that we probably recorded the first ten o’clock Jazz Session ever. But what do I know. Maybe Jazz music get’s recorded in the morning all the time.

"The Queen's Suite: Sunset and the Mocking Bird" (Duke Ellington, Billy Strayhorn) performed by Far East TrioDeclan Forde | PianoSidney Werner | Double Bass...

06/01/2022

HOLON Trio - Magnolia / You Vs Me @ Moon Sessions [take 3]

https://youtu.be/Lfl186BEI0E

And from one flower to another we fly from Classical to Jazz. “Magnolia“ written by Povel Widestrand (piano) and "You Vs Me" written by Mathias Højgaard Jensen (double bass) are the pieces captured in the following video performed together with Lukas Akintaya (drums) as the HOLON Trio. Enjoy!

recorded live @ moon sessions [take 3]
at Clinker Lounge Concerts




Special thanks to C. Bechstein Pianofortefabrik AG

"Magnolia" written by Povel Widestrand"You Vs Me" written by Mathias Højgaard Jensenperformed by HOLON TrioPovel Widestrand | pianoMathias Højgaard Jensen | ...

06/01/2022

Rachmaninoff Op. 8 Nr.2 - Yannick Rafalimanana & Karolina Errera @ Moon Sessions [take3]

https://youtu.be/5wUa1WduTgU *New Video Online - Rachmaninoff Romances (arranged for viola & piano): Op. 8 Nr.2: ДИТЯ! КАК ЦВЕТОК ТЫ ПРЕКРАСНА… (Child, You Are Beautiful Like a Flower)

So there is romance in the air again, philosophers might say, narrow-minded technology seeks its contradiction. When man wants to break out of his formerly steel shell, he seeks things outside the world and climbs into worlds that promise hope beyond this one. For a poet it might be the kiss between heaven and earth, "feel the God you think", said Schiller. For a music lover it might be listening to the following three minutes of a Rachmaninoff romance..

recorded live @ moon sessions [take 3]
at Clinker Lounge Concerts
Viola - Karolina Errera
Piano - Rafalimanana Yannick




Special thanks to Bechstein

Yannick Rafalimanana - KlavierKarolina Errera - ViolaRachmaninoff (1873-1943) Romanzen(Für Gesang und Klavier arrangiert für Viola und Klavier)Op. 8 Nr.2: Di...

03/01/2022

Rachmaninoff Op.21 Nr.7 - Yannick Rafalimanana & Karolina Errera @ Moon Sessions [take3]

*New Video online* - https://youtu.be/mp5Xgd7RgSI
Karolina Errera & Yannick Rafalimanana: Rachmaninoff Romances (arranged for viola & piano): Op.21, No.7: Здесь хорошо (How Fair this Spot)

Здесь хорошо... Взгляни, вдали
Огнем горит река;
Цветным ковром луга легли,
Белеют облака.
Здесь нет людей... Здесь тишина...
Здесь только Бог да я.
Цветы, да старая сосна,
Да ты, мечта моя!

It's nice here... Look, in the distance
The river burns with fire;
The meadows are a carpet of colour,
The clouds are white.
There are no people here... There is silence...
There's only God and me.
Flowers and an old pine tree,
You, my dream!

recorded live @ moon sessions [take 3]
at Clinker Lounge Concerts

Viola - Karolina Errera
Piano - Rafalimanana Yannick

Yannick Rafalimanana - KlavierKarolina Errera - ViolaRachmaninoff (1873-1943) Romanzen(Für Gesang und Klavier arrangiert für Viola und Klavier)Op.21, No.7: Z...

05/11/2021

https://www.youtube.com/embed/DkQZee6uIPM

Brahms is supposed to be the third big ‚B‘ next to Bach and Beethoven, right?! But I’ve got to admit, I don’t know much about him, despite him being one of my mothers all time favourites. So I did a bit of research on Wiki and came across the fascinating picture of the house he was born in (first floor). The photo is from 1891, which means, Brahms was still alive when it was taken. And there is a lot of posing going on here, as I don’t suppose the people in front and in the windows usually hold that position for long amounts of time. So I wondered how this came about. Did the photographer went there and encouraged the people to pose for this picture, or where photographers back then such a rare sight, that people naturally fell into a stance? Were they aware that Brahms was born there and did they listen to his music? Well, records had just been invented, but the sound quality was still awful. So consider yourself lucky that we bring you the finest sound quality from this performance by Martin Klett - Piano & Harpsichord from Moon Sessions [Take 3}.

06/10/2021

Martin Klett @ Moon Sessions [take3]: Carlos Guastavino - Bailecito Martin

https://youtu.be/0gawXw-gEEQ

There are many reasons why videos turn out black and white. If you want your work to appear artsy-fartsy, you do it in black and white; if you are too lazy to bother with colour corrections, you do it in black and white, if you are on the Christian Lindner Social Media Team, you do it in black and white. In this case however, when I edited this performance by Martin Klett, for some strange reason I started daydreaming about the Charles Vidor classic ‚Gilda‘, the film that basically started the career of Rita Hayworth and an all time favourite of mine. Well the movie is set in Argentina and being done in 1946, around the same time as Carlos Guastivano composed this track, as my understanding of it. And whenever I think of film noir classics I get the uncontrollable urge to smoke and also wish the world was black and white, and since I couldn’t smoke in this co-working space where I do my editing and I quit 12 years ago anyway, doing this video in black and white provided me with some kind of relief. Enjoy. Martin Klett - Piano & Harpsichord

Carlos Guastavino (1912-2000)Bailecito Martin Klett | pianorecorded live at moon sessions [take 3]September 26th 2020 at Clinker LoungeBerlinaudio producer a...

28/09/2021

Martin Klett: Johannes Brahms (1833-1897 Intermezzo Op. 118 No. 4 @ Moon Sessions [take3]

https://youtu.be/uxDMPnwki7c

You know, when you think of famous people, or people you know, or famous people you know, you have a mental image of them and in my case they are usually in the middle of some activity. Like, if I think of Monet, I picture him in his later years sitting in the graden painting water lilies, or when I think of Stalin, he’s usually at his desk signing death warrants, Amelia Earhart in her little plane crossing the vast ocean or in the case of my mother, she’s sitting in my kitchen writing her diary. When I think of Martin Klett, I envision him tango dancing in some historical golden era ballroom, which is odd, cause I never saw him dancing actually, but we covered his fantastic Cuarteto Soltango so many times, that I’m still kind of surprised to hear him play anything non-tango. Which of course he does all the time. But up until Moon Session [Take 3] we just didn’t film a lot of it. But there’s gonna be a bit of that in the weeks to come. Starting with Brahms. Enjoy.

Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)Intermezzo Op. 118 No. 4Allegretto un poco agitato Martin Klett| pianorecorded live at moon sessions [take 3]September 26th 2020 a...

15/09/2021

Violetta Khachikyan - Alexander Glasunow Etüde C-Dur op. 31/1 ([email protected] Sessions Berlin [take3])

https://youtu.be/Ft-CAHksKnQ - *New Video Online*
Violetta Khachikyan plays Alexander Glasunow Etüde C-Dur Op. 31 Nr 1.

„Anyone nowadays can take a good picture“, that’s what one of our camera men said during the last session - so if its not about the image, what is it what they try to capture then? The same to ask regarding the brilliantly played scale sequences of the pianist.

(A little anecdote…) Once a pianist said to a opera singer: „Lucky you! As a singer (if you work hard to become very good) its very likely that you get to the top. In a piano audition you can hardly hear any differences anymore.“

So, what do we do with this perfection in Technique and Expression?

Alexander Glasunow // Etüde C-Dur Op. 31 Nr 1 Violetta Khachikyan - pianorecorded live at Moon Sessions [take 3] September 2020 at Clinker Lounge Concerts, B...

16/08/2021

HOLON Trio - Infinity @ Moon Sessions [take 3]

https://youtu.be/pBKr8-6BiSA - *New video online!
titles, labels, names - a particular challenge to find the right term that gets to the heart of what the "it" is. The ensemble-it or the concert-it or the music-it must be both understood and mystified in a unity of meaning. Scientific terms are a wonderful source for this, as they combine both definition and ancient linguistic roots. Holon (from Greek ὅλος, hólos and ὀν, on "that which is part of a whole") was coined by Arthur Koestler and means a whole that is part of another whole. In this way, holon is a node in a hierarchy that describes the relationship between entities that are themselves complete wholes and entities that are considered other dependent parts. As a person's focus moves up, down and/or across the nodes of a hierarchical structure, their perception of what is a whole and what is a part also changes.

What better term to capture the "it" we were pleased to record in our Moon Sessions [take3]: The HOLON Trio with their "piece Infinity" written by Povel Widestrand. (Courtney Love’s Band Hole on the other hand was named in reference to the female reproductive system, but that’s Rock’n’Roll for you I guess. - Anm. d. Red.)

With special thanks to Clinker Lounge Concerts and C. Bechstein Pianofortefabrik AG!

https://youtu.be/pBKr8-6BiSA - *New video online!

HOLON Trio: Infinity

Povel Widestrand | piano
Mathias Højgaard Jensen | double bass
Lukas Akintaya | drums

Infinitywritten by Povel Widestrandperformed by HOLON TrioPovel Widestrand | pianoMathias Højgaard Jensen | double bassLukas Akintaya | drumsrecorded live at...

11/08/2021

MoonRiver - MoonBach @ Moon Sessions [take3]

https://youtu.be/ONhl6G_J8GE *New Video online*
Usually at the Moon Sessions we play unplugged, but we could not refuse to bring this rar and endangered species of musical instrument in front of our cameras and microphones. Andis Paegle and Azadeh Maghsoodi performed a version of the song „Moonriver“ on violin and Fender Rhodes piano. After the concert Andis gave us a few insights into what is hidden under the instrument's lid: Instead of strings, as on a piano, the hammers strike thin metal tines that vibrate between an electromagnetic pickup. This characteristic sound fits very well to the song composed by Henry Mancini and Johnny Mercer for the movie Breakfast at Tiffany’s in 1961. A throw back in time.

"Moonriver" performed by Moonbach, a project by Azadeh Maghsoodi and Andis Paegle Sessions [take3] -->
https://www.facebook.com/azadeh.magstdudie
https://www.facebook.com/andis.paegle
and instagram for more:

Live recorded [take3]
Clinker Lounge Concerts

MoonBachAzadeh Maghsoodi - Violine Andis Paegle - Fender RhodesMoon Sessions [take3] at Clinker Lounge Concerts, Berlin

23/07/2021

🌗🍸🎬STREAM MOON SESSIONS TAKE 4 TODAY! 19:30!

In Digital-Land it’s simple to miss and hard to choose (shouldn‘t it be the other way around?) - If you missed the moon sessions [take 4] live concerts you can now choose to watch them online:

FriI, 23.07. - 19.30h // https://www.clinkerloungeconcerts.com/moonsessions9-7
Sat, 24.07. - 19.30h // https://www.clinkerloungeconcerts.com/moonsessions10-7
Sun, 25.07. - 19.30h // https://www.clinkerloungeconcerts.com/moonsessions11-7

📽 The video shows an excerpt from Christoph Heesch and Friedrich Thiele performing David Popper’s Suite for Two Cellos Op16 🎻

16/07/2021

Framing and stage design in a new Spotlight 🎬🌗
One week ago we set up for Moon Sessions [take4]. The film team decided to go for a different orientation this time and prepped the stage with the entrance door in the background. Thus, giving the image more shape and depth, the audience a better overlooking perspective and the musicians more space around to resonate. And, thanks to the sexy lamp equipment the Clinkerlounge turned into a industrial romantic berlin underground wonderland.

14/07/2021

New Moon Weekend is over and so is our latest Moon Sessions. Take 4 was full of hidden treasures: new compositions and unknown arrangements. We travelled through centuries, genres and line-ups... three special evenings we want the artists, the Moon Sessions team and the Clinkerlounge to thank for! And last but not least: our audience, that brought life to our live recordings. It was still a small crowd, but we want to thank you, people, who made the way to our moon sessions [take 4].

Photos by Daniel Schellongowski