Krakauer & Tagg

Grammy-nominated star David Krakauer and acclaimed composer/performer Kathleen Tagg present a passionate, eclectic and highly personal musical journey called “Breath & Hammer”. Their program offerings range from completely acoustic programs, to programs with loops and samples to large-scale projects with live visual projections, visual design and surround-sound.

Visit www.krakauertaggmusic.com for details of all programs, videos, technical information and more.

KRAKAUER & TAGG PROJECT WEBSITE

EXCERPT FROM PERFORMANCE at the PIERRE BOULEZ SAAL, Berlin, OF KRAKAUER & TAGG’s LARGE-SCALE WORK “The Ties that Bind Us” with visual designer Jesse Gilbert.

Krakauer & Tagg share a constant quest to redefine the sounds and roles of their instruments. This project pushes far outside the boundaries of the traditional clarinet and piano recital by including extended techniques, loops and samples in a program of compositions by the duo and a host of performer-composers from around the globe.

LATEST TABLE POUNDING RECORDS RELEASE:
Breath & Hammer by David Krakauer & Kathleen Tagg

"...You almost have to take their word for it when they tell you it is nothing but clarinet and piano... Krakauer is a clarinetist who is capable of a mind-boggling array of sounds…"
-John Shaefer, host of WNYC New Sounds

"‘Breath and Hammer’ is a masterful and joyous journey that rewards and delights the listener every moment of the way. I was beaming through the entire album, reinvigorated by the energy and imagination of each track and so happy to know that David Krakauer and Kathleen Tagg have made a musical adventure that pulls us out of the static isolated silence of our fraught time. They have found a way to give music a huge refreshing burst of energy only true explorers are able to give. They bound to ecstatic heights of fantasy and show us a new bright path forward."
-David Harrington, violinist & founder of the Kronos Quartet

"The most compelling thing about this project from clarinetist David Krakauer and pianist Kathleen Tagg is the way three different sources culminate in one convergence. The influences of klezmer, modern jazz, and classical find any number of meeting points."
- Dave Sumner, Bandcamp Daily (The Best Jazz on Bandcamp: May 2020)

“Creation and recreation elided in an astonishing display of indescribably stunning, mesmerising musicianship…joyful abandonment without a trace of inhibition….”
  	— Jeffrey Brukman, CUE Magazine
  
“…Krakauer sailed through virtuosic passages before taking off on a passionate, soul-stirring improvisation…. Throughout their compelling duo set, Tagg joined prepared piano to electronics in increasingly brilliant applications.”
  — Bill Milkowski, Downbeat Magazine
  

Widely considered one of the greatest clarinetists on the planet, David Krakauer has been praised internationally as a key innovator in modern klezmer as well as a major voice in classical music. South African-born pianist, composer and producer Kathleen Tagg has performed on four continents in leading venues such as Carnegie Hall, had her original music performed in venues such as New York’s Lincoln Center, appeared on a host of classical, world music and multi-genre recordings and produced numerous CDs and inter-disciplinary programs from South Africa to Los Angeles.

Individually they have an impressive track record of creating innovative programs that stretch the boundaries of traditional concert presentations. In “Breath & Hammer”, they bring together their disparate backgrounds to make something new and uniquely their own.

Enhanced by an immersive video feed, this unique collaboration is made up of Krakauer & Tagg’s arrangements of “simple songs” by composers as diverse as New York-based visionary John Zorn, Syrian clarinetist Kinan Azmeh, Cuban percussionist Roberto Rodriguez, as well as original compositions by Krakauer and Tagg, with influences ranging from interlocking African drumming patterns to romantic symphonic music to minimalism to klezmer. These diverse and seemingly disparate musical influences intermingle, transformed into something entirely new, a hybrid art form that bridges the cultures of the past and new work that looks towards the future.

To Find out about Touring Periods, Technical Information and more, visit Krakauer & Tagg at www.krakauertaggmusic.com

Krakauer & Tagg Website