Session VII-II-MMXXV is the sophomore album of the Berlin-based free improvising trio of sax player (and sound artist, photographer, and the head of cassette-only Loft Editions) Michael Klotz, (bowed) bassist-synth player-drummer (and autodidactic player of lost and found instruments and toys) Karla Wenzel, and (processes and modulated) electric cellist-drummer Tobias Vethake (aka ka Sicker Man, who runs the Blankrecords label), who have been collaborating with Lotz on several projects since 2017, and composes music for film, theatre, radio plays, installations and performance art. The album consists of elements from a concert that took place in February 2025.

This trio has been working since 2022 and released the debut album Burst (Blankrecords, 2024). Its music of this trio offers a volatile and uncompromising lest-of-center mix of punk, free jazz and noise drone, reflecting a similar passion for the music of Ornette Coleman (quoting the master who said: «It was when I found out I could make mistakes that I knew I was on to something»), Caspar Brötzmann, and Cecil Taylor, but wanted to create «something with a similar attitude, but different means and structures».

Klotz, Wenzel, and Vethake say that their music «ignites an extreme openness and courage in their improvisations, free from every restriction or code», and devoid of any ego or leadership. The three pieces are indeed intense, searching for a new fiery aesthetic and blending generous doses of freedom and subversive noises. But Klotz, Wenzel, and Vethake opt for layered, unsettling, but reserved, almost lyrical, and dark drones, and less for the mind-opening, explosive, and cathartic eruptions of their idols.

Eyal Hareuveni

Manuel Klotz (saxophone, tapeloops, voice, sampler), Karla Wenzel (bass, noise box, synthesizer, voice, drums), Tobias Vethake (electric cello, drums)