Oùat

Oùat: “What Love”

(DE, FR, SE)

The three musicians of Oùat have consistently demonstrated their versatility and wide interests. But when French pianist Simon Sieger, Berlin-based Swedish bassist Joel Grip and German drummer Michael Griener first worked together, they pursued a rather focused model, tapping into the idiosyncratic strain of vibrant bebop derived from a lineage of pianists starting with Thelonious Monk and winding through Elmo Hope and Herbie Nichols and up to Per-Henrik Wallin, whose classic mid-1980s album “Coyote” they interpreted front-to-back. But something happened to Oùat last year, as they suddenly unleashed their collective knowledge and remarkable improvisatory ability to utterly blow open those original strictures.

The process of embracing all possibilities is ongoing, but last December they unveiled early discoveries with a musical advent calendar they presented online, sharing four-and-a-half hours of music that borrowed widely from disparate traditions, but was all fed by their own peculiar aesthetic filter. Suddenly, Oùat have arguably emerged as Berlin’s most vivacious and ambitious improvising band. The trio isn’t afraid to groove or play tunes, but each performance highlights familiar and utterly alien stops along an unplanned journey. Oùat are also hosting a late night jam session at Quasimodo each night of the festival.

Line-up

Simon Sieger – piano, flutes, vocals, percussion
Joel Grip – double bass, guimbri, percussion
Michael Griener – drums, percussion

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23:30

Jam-Session & Afterparty

On all four days of the festival, the daily jam sessions at Quasimodo will revive an old Jazzfest Berlin tradition. Musicians from the festival programme will be invited to improvise together in entirely new constellations in a relaxed atmosphere until late at night.