Kaja Draksler (born 6 February 1987 in
Kranj
Kranj (, german: Krainburg) is the third-largest city in Slovenia, with a population of 37,941 (2020). It is located approximately northwest of Ljubljana. The centre of the City Municipality of Kranj and of the traditional region of Upper Carniol ...
, Slovenia)
is a Slovenian pianist and composer.
Biography
Draksler started playing the piano at the age of 4, and graduated from the
Ljubljana
Ljubljana (also known by other historical names) is the capital and largest city of Slovenia. It is the country's cultural, educational, economic, political and administrative center.
During antiquity, a Roman city called Emona stood in the ar ...
High School of Music in 2005. She graduated at the Conservatory in
Groningen
Groningen (; gos, Grunn or ) is the capital city and main municipality of Groningen province in the Netherlands. The ''capital of the north'', Groningen is the largest place as well as the economic and cultural centre of the northern part of t ...
where she studied jazz piano in 2009. Until 2013, she studied composition under Richard Ayres at the
Conservatorium van Amsterdam
The Conservatorium van Amsterdam (CvA) is a Dutch conservatoire of music located in Amsterdam. This school is the music division of the Amsterdam University of the Arts, the city's vocational university of arts. The Conservatorium van Amsterdam ...
. She wrote her final thesis on the structures within improvisation of the American pianist
Cecil Taylor
Cecil Percival Taylor (March 25, 1929April 5, 2018) was an American pianist and poet.
Taylor was classically trained and was one of the pioneers of free jazz. His music is characterized by an energetic, physical approach, resulting in complex ...
. She occasionally stayed in New York to have lessons with
Jason Moran Jason Moran may refer to:
* Jason Moran (criminal) (1967–2003), Australian mobster
* Jason Moran (musician)
Jason Moran (born January 21, 1975) is an American jazz pianist, composer, and educator involved in multimedia art and theatrical inst ...
and
Vijay Iyer
Vijay Iyer (born October 26, 1971) is an American composer, pianist, bandleader, producer and writer based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' has called him a "social conscience, multimedia collaborator, system builder, rhapsodist, histori ...
.
[
While studying in Groningen, Draksler performed with her ''Acropolis Quintet''. About the same time, she co-founded the ''BadBooshBand''. Her solo performance at the Ljubljana Jazz Festival was released on CD in 2013. She performed with Susana Santos Silva at the ]Moers Festival
The Moers Festival is an annual international music festival in Moers, Germany. The festival has changed from concentrating on free jazz to including world and pop music, though it still invites many avant-garde jazz musicians. Performers at Moers ...
. In 2016 she also played at the Moldejazz
Molde International Jazz Festival (MIJF) or Moldejazz (established 1961 in Molde) takes place annually in July, and is known as one of the oldest jazz festivals in Europe. It was initiated by the local Storyville Jazz Club. Since 1964 it has rec ...
with Susana Santos Silva. At the 2017 JazzFest Berlin
JazzFest Berlin (also known as the Berlin Jazz Festival) is a jazz festival in Berlin, Germany. Originally called the "Berliner Jazztage" (''Berlin Jazz Days''), it was founded in 1964 in West Berlin by the Berliner Festspiele. Venues included B ...
she impressed the audience in a trio with Petter Eldh
Frans Petter Eldh (born 19 September 1983 in Gothenburg) is a Swedish jazz bass player and composer, who predominantly has worked first in Denmark, and since 2009 he has lived in Berlin.
Biography
Eldh was raised in a family of artists. At ...
and Christian Lillinger
Christian Lillinger (born 21 April 1984) is a German drummer, composer and percussionist. He was born in Lübben, grew up in the German village of Kuschkow, and has been living in Berlin since 2003 working as a musician and composer. Christian ha ...
.[
In 2007 she was a part of the ''European Movement Jazz Orchestra'', for which she also composed music (the CD ''Live in Coimbra'' 2007).In 2007 she wrote the concert ''Orpheus and Eurydice'' for accordion and orchestra, which was premiered and recorded by Janez Dovč and the Slovenian Philharmonic. She also composed for the ]Metropole Orkest
The Metropole Orkest (Metropole Orchestra) is a jazz and pop orchestra based in the Netherlands, and is the largest full-time ensemble of its kind in the world. A hybrid orchestra, it is a combination of jazz, big band and symphony orchestra. Com ...
and the Italian Instabile Orchestra
The Italian Instabile Orchestra (IIO) is an eighteen piece experimental big band that performs orchestral jazz and avant-garde jazz. Its members include Alberto Mandarini, Bruno Tommaso, Carlo Actis Dato, Daniele Cavallanti, Eugenio Colombo, Gia ...
.
Style
Draksler's music has been described as being "in the border area and in the intersection of jazz, free improvised music, classical modernism and new music".[ It contains some elements of folk music of the Balkans and Slovenia, functioning "in the sense of an imaginary folklore".][ Draksler has been heavily influenced by Cecil Taylor; whom she wrote a dissertation on.
]
Honors
* 2009: Draksler won the Dutch ''Deloitte Jazz Award''.[
]
Discography
Albums
* 2008: ''Akropola'' (Goga), with Robert Jukič, Kristijan Krajnčan, George Dumitriu, Jure Pukl, and Goran Krmac
* 2010: ''Türkü'' (Goga/CDBaby), Kaja Draksler Acropolis Quartet feat. Sanem Kalfa
* 2013: ''The Lives of Many Others'' (Clean Feed
Clean may refer to:
* Cleaning, the process of removing unwanted substances, such as dirt, infectious agents, and other impurities, from an object or environment
* Cleanliness, the state of being clean and free from dirt
Arts and media Music A ...
)
* 2017: ''Gledalec'' (Clean Feed), Kaja Draksler Octet
* 2021: ''Soothe My Soul, Feed My Thought'' (Idyllic Noise) Vinyl only album
Collaborations
* 2011: ''EMJO Live In Coimbra'' (Clean Feed)
* 2014: ''The Best Of,'' BadBooshBand (ZKP Slovenija)
* 2015: ''Bums,'' Feecho, (El Negocito Records)
* 2015: ''Miniatures from our Living Room,'' Čudars-Draksler Duo (self-released)
* 2016: ''This Love'' (Clean Feed Records), with Susana Santos Silva
References
External links
*
*
*
INTERVIEW: Kaja Draksler at the London Jazz News
{{DEFAULTSORT:Draksler, Kaja
Women jazz pianists
Slovenian jazz pianists
21st-century pianists
Slovenian jazz composers
1987 births
Living people
Clean Feed Records artists
Intakt Records artists
21st-century women pianists