Silke Eberhard is an alto saxophonist and composer based in Berlin who leads the Potsa LotsaXL, a band formed by some of the key improvisers in Germany. The band’s name is a playful take on “Pestalozzi”, the street on the corner of which the city’s musician-friendly A-Trane club sits. Originally formed as a quartet, Potsa Lotsa has expanded to a tentet. In 2020 Eberhard arranged several of Henry Threadgill’s compositions for it, and in 2024 some of its members collaborated with Henry Threadgill and members of his Zooid band to play these arrangements at the Berlin JazzFest.
The compositions on the current album, Amoeba’s Dance, come from a residency for Eberhard in 2024 at Banff Centre in Canada, and coincided with Eberhard’s fascination for amoebas. Sketches of the various types of amoeba proved to be the inspiration for the compositions, the focus of which was on building small intricate pieces. Thus we have 18 compositions all with titles taken from the names of amoebas, thus Dactylopodial, Polytactic etc..
All the compositions are quite short, varying in length from 0.36 to 7.14 minutes. Each one is a delicate and focussed piece that integrates the composition and the improvisation with great skill. In the first two pieces, Dactylopodial and Polytactic, the writing is quite abstract, whereas in later pieces, such as Orthotactic or Lingulate the writing is more melodic. There is, in fact, a pleasing progress from the more abstract pieces to the more melodic or rhythmic pieces.
Most pieces feature one or two short solos well integrated into the ensemble textures. Most members of the ensemble have a solo, but those by vibraphonist Taiko Saito, trombonist Gerhard Gschlössl, Patrick Braun on tenor saxophone and clarinet and Eberhard herself particularly stand out.
Each of the 18 compositions on Amoeba’s Dance is a beautifully crafted piece, and the album as a whole makes a unique contribution to ongoing tendency in contemporary jazz to integrate the compositions and the improvisation.
Line Up:
Silke Eberhard alto saxophone, soprano recorder
Jürgen Kupke clarinet, percussion
Patrick Braun tenor saxophone, clarinet
Nikolaus Neuser trumpet, percussion
Gerhard Schlössl trombone
Johannes Fink cello
Taiko Saito, vibraphone, percussion
Antonis Anissegos piano
Igor Spallati bass
Kay Lübke drums
