FRANZ HAUTZINGER'S ORIENTAL SPACE
Franz Hautzinger (Austria) | trumpet
Helge Hinteregger (Austria) | sampler
Mazen Kerbaj (Lebanon) | trumpet
Sharif Sehnaoui (Lebanon) | electric guitar
"Oriental Space" was formed in late 2003 by Austrian trumpet player Franz
Hautzinger following his two visits to Lebanon, the first to play
traditional quartertone trumpet with Palestinian folk singer Marwan Abado,
and the second to work and perform with Mazen Kerbaj in the frame of the
"Irtijal" festival for experimental and improvised music. The quartet came
as an enhancement of his ongoing duo work with Mazen Kerbaj, both bringing
in their most regular partners: Helge Hinteregger and Sharif Sehnaoui.
Hautzinger and Hinteregger have both been central figures of the prolific
Viennese contemporary and improvised music scene, taking part in the extreme
minimalist tendency of the 90s as well as electronic music. Recently their
style has diversified and they may take part in various projects ranging a
wide variety of styles both with their own groups: Regenorchester,
Zeitkratzer, Conforts of Madness... or in collaboration with artists such as
Radu Malfatti, Otomo Yoshihide, Phil Niblock, John Tilbury, Lou Reed, Luc Ex
or Roger Turner to name but a few.
Kerbaj and Sehnaoui have been two of the main boosts for the burgeonin
Lebanese improvised music scene that they contributed to launch in the year
2000, both by creating the "Irtijal" festival and "Al Maslakh" label. Their
style has primarily focused on dense textural improvisation based on an
extreme hijacking of their respective instrument by means of extended and
prepared techniques. They have widely performed around the globe both in duo
and with their main groups: "A" Trio, Moukhtabar Ensemble, Rouba3i... or in
collaboration with musicians such as Michael Zerang, Stéphane Rives, Lê Quan
Ninh, Axel Dörner or David Stackenäs among many others.
Franz Hautzinger's "Oriental Space" is the opening of an undetermined
subjective space that does not correspond or refer to any specific style of
music but rather to Hautzinger's unique inner experience of the orient that
he tries to share with both his partners and the audience.