Karlheinz Miklin/Heiri Kaenzig/Billy Hart

perform at the opening of Jazz.hr/jesen festival

"Original musical language"

The international trio  with Austrian multi-instrumentalist Karlheinz Miklin, Swiss bassist Heiri Kanzig and American drummer Billy Hart, has launched the 22nd Jazz.hr festival in the small lobby of Vatroslav Lisinski on Monday, organized by Jazz Club Zagreb HDS and KD Lisinski . According to the reactions of the gathered jazz fans, it was a great beginning of the four-day event that has been around for years to introduce the Croatian audience to the relevant world jazz scene. Namely, the musicians were overwhelmed with burning applause during the concert and rewarded the enthusiastic audience with two encores.

Miklin and Hart, one of the most prominent drummers in today's jazz scene, have been playing together for three decades, first with contrabass RonMcClure, who was replaced by Kaenzig on a new CD and current tour. For this occasion, Miklin wrote a number of new compositions - some of them still lacking the title - which he intended to perform with these musicians. It is about the work of a diverse character on the line of contemporary jazz that is discreetly referred to John Coltrane's work, Thelonious Monk or the Rhapsody of Roland Kirk, as well as ethnical elements, classical music ...

Miklin, who played soprano, alto and tenor saxophone (and delighted with attractive two saxophones simultaneously), bass clarinet and alto flute, accomplished his idea through communication with the partners, skilled improvisers of open-minded music. Each of them has developed a clean and powerful sound which is characteristic for their common music. All three listen carefully to each other, add to the ideas of the colleagues, complement each other, create different moods, engage in exciting improvisations, create a unique musical language.

                                                                                                             Davor Hrvoje

                                                                                                                                                         "www.jazz.hr"

Rezensionen "Cymbal Symbols"

Rezensionen "Encore"

gamsbART - Konzert im WIST Graz:

Miklin/Känzig/Hart

"Kraftvoll gebündelte Musikalität"

Karlheinz Miklin zeigte sich erfreut, mit US-Drummer Billy Hart sowie dem Schweizer Bassisten Heiri Känzig in einer "Luxus-Besetzung" zu spielen, und die drei Großkaliber des Jazz verstanden sich prächtig: Ihre Handschriften vereinigten sich im Grazer WIST zu einer überaus kraftvollen gemeinsamen Sprache.

Hier trafen Musiker aufeinender, die keine Leerläufe kennen, Humor und Aussagekraft, Souveränität und Risikofreude stets auf einen eleganten Nenner bringen. Ob entlang der schlurfenden Langsamkeit des Eröffnungsstückes "Ballad Mallett", über der das Sopransax zwischen unbeschwerten Melodiebrocken und

unheilvollen Trillern pendelte, der sinnierenden Intimität von "Fall", beim fröhlichen Endspurt "Pseudo Funk" oder im eindringlichen "Gone", wo sich die Bassklarinette nach Miklins unnachahmlicher Art aus seufzenden Tiefen in klagende Höhen schwang: Känzigs Präzision und Melodiensinn sowie Harts von Geistesblitzen

durchwirkte Regiearbeit betteten Miklins großteils neue Kompositionen in luxuriösen Formenreichtum.

Lebhaft, spontan und doch immer hochkonzentriert.

                                                                                                          Matthias Wagner

                                                                                                                                                   " Kronenzeitung" 07.05.2010

gamsbART - Concert at WIST Graz:

Miklin/Känzig/Hart

"Powerfully concentrated musicality"

Karlheinz Miklin showed obvious enjoyment at being able to play in a ‘luxury position’ with US drummer Billy Hart and Swiss bassist Heiri Känzig. The three high calibre jazz musicians understood each other magnificently: Their handwriting was united in the Graz venue, ‘WIST’ to create an overall powerful common language.

This was where these musicians met and knew no rest; humour and expressiveness, aplomb and the will to take risks constantly brought together in the form of an elegant common denominator.

Whether in the shuffling slowness of the opening piece ‘Mallet Ballad’, over which the soprano sax oscillates between jaunty melodies and ominous trills, or in the meaningful intimacy of ‘Fall’, in the happy  ending of ‘Pseudo Funk’ or in the urgent ‘Gone’, in which the bass clarinet swung in Miklins inimitable style from deeps sighs to shrieking heights: Känzig’s precision and musing melodies, and Hart’s spontanenaity in direction laid down Miklin’s compositions (most of which are new) in a luxuriously well sculpted form.

Lively, spontaneous and on top of all, highly concentrated.

                                                                                                          Matthias Wagner

                                                                                                                                                   " Kronenzeitung" 07.05.2010

Trio Karlheinz Miklin/Heiri Kanzig/Billy Hart

nastupio na otvorenju festivala Jazz.hr/jesen

Nastupom međunarodnog tria u kojem sviraju austrijski multiinstrumentalist Karlheinz Miklin, švicarki kontrabasist Heiri Kanzig i američki bubnjar Billy Hart, u ponedjeljak je u maloj dvorani Vatroslava Lisinskog započeo 22. festival Jazz.hr/jesen što ga organiziraju Jazz klub Zagreb HDS-a i KD Lisinski. Prema reakcijama okupljenih ljubitelja jazza, bio je to sjajan početak četverodevne priredbe koja već godinama skrbi o upoznavanju hrvatske publike s relevantnom svjetskom jazz scenom. Naime, glazbenici su tijekom koncerta bili obasipani burnim aplauzima, a oduševljenu su publiku nagradili s dva dodatka.

Miklin i Hart, jedan od najuglednijih bubnjara na današnjoj jazz sceni, već dvadeset i pet godina zajedno sviraju u trio formaciji, godinama s kontrabasistom Ronom McClureom kojeg je na snimanju novog CD-a i aktualnoj turneji zamijenio Kanzig. Miklin je za ovu prigodu napisao niz novih skladbi - neke od njih još nemaju naziv - koje je namijenio za izvođenje upravo s ovim glazbenicima. Radi se o djelima raznolika karaktera na tragu suvremena jazza koji se diskretno referira na stvaralaštvo Johna Coltranea, Theloniousa Monka ili Rahsaana Rolanda Kirka, kao i etno elemente, klasičnu glazbu...

Miklin, koji je svirao sopran, alt i tenor saksofon (oduševio je atraktivnim sviranjem dva saksofona istodobno), bas klarinet i alto flautu, svoje zamisli uspješno ostvaruje kroz komunikaciju sa suradnicima, vještim improvizatorima otvorenih pogleda na glazbu. Svaki od njih razvio je čist i moćan zvuk, što je karakteristika i njihovog zajedničkog muziciranja. Tijekom svirke sva trojica pažljivo osluškuju, nadovezuju se na trenutačne zamisli suradnika, nadopunjuju jedan drugoga, kreiraju različite ugođaje, upuštaju se u uzbudljive improvizacije, stvaraju jedinstven glazbeni jezik.

                                                                                                             Davor Hrvoje

                                                                                                                                                         "www.jazz.hr"

… spielte der Grazer Saxofonveteran Karlheinz Miklin groß auf. Angestachelt durch Drummerlegende Billy Hart, einen Mann, der mit Miles Davis und Herbie Hancock spielte, verlustierte sich Miklin in resche und dann wieder erstaunlich süße Klangwelten. Die ironisch betitelte Ballade „Born to Be Mild“ war von besonderer Eindringlichkeit.

                                                                                                          Samir H. Köck

                                                                                                                                                   " Die Presse" 30.10.2017

Festival „Jazz & The City“ Salzburg 2017

Als Leckerbissen herausgepickt zwei Konzerte mit Schweizer Beteiligung an vorderster Stelle:

Das Trio Karlheinz Miklins mit „unserem“ Heiri Känzig und dem großen Drummer Billy Hart.

Umwerfend, wie dicht, intensiv und raffiniert ihr Zusammenspiel vom ersten bis zum letzten Ton

ist – erste Liga und der Beweis, was eine langjährige Zusammenarbeit bringt.

Miklins Spiel wirkt trotz einer gewissen Nüchternheit facettenreich und mit einem archaischen Einschlag, Känzig ist zweifellos einer der virtuosesten und gleichzeitig am meisten geerdeten Bassisten überhaupt, und die Ausstrahlung, Freude, Kreativität und Sensibilität im Spiel Billy Harts bedeuten allemal Vergnügen pur.

                                                                                                          Steff Rohrbach

                                                                                                                                                   "JAZZ'N'MORE"  1/2018