Kaleidoscope Kickoff Concert | Kathleen Tagg, David Krakauer, Chanda Bupe Lupambo & Rustenberg Girls High School String Quartet

David Krakauer and Kathleen Tagg perform at the launch of the Kaleidoscope Festival alongside Chanda Bupe Lupambo and the Rustenburg High School String Quartet.

Grammy-nominated “genre-fluid clarinet genius David Krakauer” (NPR) and celebrated New York-based South African pianist-composer Kathleen Tagg (“superbly turned out artist” – NY Concert Review) come to Cape Town from New York City with their unique music that has travelled to the world’s biggest stages, such as Carnegie Hall, to leading jazz festivals and clubs big and small across the USA, Europe, Asia and South Africa. This program lives at the intersection of classical, world music and improvisation and is a unique opportunity to see the pair’s unorthodox playing styles unplugged at close quarters.

Krakauer & Tagg share a constant quest to redefine the sounds and roles of their instruments, bringing together all aspects of their music making– influences range from interlocking African drumming patterns to jazz to Romantic symphonic music to minimalism to klezmer. Their acrobatic and highly virtuosic arrangements of tunes by a host of performer-composers from around the globe are placed alongside original compositions and complete reimaginings of traditional tunes and standards close to their hearts.

Reviews:
– Paris-Move: “Indispensable” rating. “A musical alchemy is the key word of this superb album…” (translated, orig. French)
– Bandcamp: Best Jazz of May 2020. “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…”
– Le Monde: “Joyful, clever, full of winks and fantasy… sparkles with lightness, even in its most introspective moments.”
– JazzAround: “Jazz, classical music and klezmer collide to offer music that transcends all stylistic and cultural boundaries.”
– Amina Magazine: “The harmonies of jazz and the creative impulse of the experimental join with classical tunes and the indescribable aromas of central European nostalgia: an original, unique repertoire that is the charm of this duo… intense colors, with unfathomable evocations and furtive escapades.”