Nils Wogram Joe Sachse Duo - Jazz im Pappelgarten

Nils Wogram, trombone
Joe Sachse, guitar

Why does it all feel so natural, warm, and compelling? Probably because these two are genuine kindred spirits. Helmut "Joe" Sachse, nearly a quarter-century older than Nils Wogram, grew up in East Germany and carved his own path to jazz against all odds - from dance and rock music through free improvisation to a wholly distinctive voice on his instrument. Nils Wogram came of age in an established jazz scene and built his reputation both as an instrumentalist and through long-running band projects. What Joe admires in Nils is his versatility: "He can play anything." And Nils raves about Joe Sachse's self-sufficient musicality: "something truly rare and precious".

The two first crossed paths at the jazz festival in Clusone, Italy - Nils Wogram in a duo with pianist Simon Nabatov, Joe in a duo with fellow guitarist Uwe Kropinski. The real spark came in 2012, when Thomas Brückner, organiser of the Campus Jazz series at Leipzig's Mediencampus Villa Ida, gave Joe Sachse carte blanche and Joe chose to invite Nils Wogram. The duo launched brilliantly, was recorded, and released as the CD "Free and Tremendous" (Jazzwerkstatt). In November 2021 they finally managed to record together at the legendary Studio Nord in Bremen - pieces that both had largely written specifically for the occasion. Music that lifts off the page and finds its own way in a tight weave of composed and spontaneous playing. Precision and freedom in furious dialogue.

It is no coincidence that Joe Sachse has always loved playing with trombonists - in the quartet "Doppelmoppel" or in duos with Conny Bauer, Johannes Bauer, and Albert Mangelsdorff. Nils, too - who could fairly be said to carry a Mangelsdorff gene - plays in a duo with Conny Bauer. Also worth noting is Joe Sachse's percussive use of the instrument...