Shake Stew | Tourismusverband Salzburger Altstadt

Shake Stew

Lukas Kranzelbinder: bass | Astrid Wiesinger: alto sax | Johannes Schleiermacher: tenor sax | Mario Rom: trumpet | Oliver Potratz: bass | Niki Dolp: drums | Christian Eberle: drums | With the septet Shake Stew, founded in 2016, bassist Lukas Kranzelbinder consciously took the path less trodden in jazz. The name is part of the concept for appealing to a wider audience. Each programme has its own art work and dress code and a sophisticated stage and light design. For this Austrian all-star formation – with its dual line-up of two drums, two bass and two saxophones as well as Mario Rom’s trumpet which could easily count as two – jazz, above all, only forms the starting point for the big adventure of music. Kranzelbinder and his crew succeed in the fine art of distilling a very distinctive sound from a surprising number of ingredients which has catapulted them to become one of Europe’s most successful bands in recent years.

Artist biography Lukas Kranzelbinder

The mastermind is once again a bassist: Lukas Kranzelbinder from Klagenfurt is one of the most creative plan forgers of the European music scene. This is also reflected in his successful project Shake Stew, which with its own eclecticism-steeped concept ranges from post-modern gospel suite to hypnotic pop jazz. His talent can also be seen in his jazz adaptations of surf rock with the “Surf rock opera” Muchogusto and the Expressway Sketches quartet and his jazz adaption of “Jedermann” with Christian Reiner. Whether as curator of the SWR New Jazz Meeting, as artist in residence at various progressive festivals or as wildly passionate player who doesn’t shy away from any ad hoc improvisation and therefore drags his double bass across mountains – when it comes to a highly promising experiment, nothing is too much for Kranzelbinder.

Artist biography Mario Rom

With his ever-astounding technique which results in a breathtaking tempo and moving sound, 33-year-old Mario Rom is amongst the internationally outstanding trumpeters. Reassuring therefore that this is also reflected in success: Rom is a member of Austria’s two currently most successful jazz bands. One is his own, the Interzone trio with Lukas Kranzelbinder and Herbert Pirker which was founded in 2011 during his studies in Linz. In 2016 this then formed the basis of Kranzelbinder’s Shake Stew. Rom has also shown his excellence in the Jazzwerkstatt Wien, with Nouvelle Cuisine as well as by the side of Michael Mantler, Dave Liebman, Harry Sokal, Fiva and Lia Pale. So much so, in fact, that Dhafer Youssef even took him on his recent tour of Europe’s biggest concert venues and halls.

Artist biography Oliver Potratz

Oliver Potratz, aged 50 years, started out on the violin and e-bass before moving on to the double bass when he was 20 to then study classical as well as jazz double bass, in Berlin. His musical horizon is accordingly broad: he has played in classic orchestras and with stars such as Rolando Villazon and Tim Fischer, produced and composed audio dramas and film music (for example “Babylon Berlin”) and directed projects such as “Safar - Music from Afghanistan” as well as the “Kosmostage Festival”. In jazz, meanwhile, he can be heard on 60 CDs and with a wide range of musicians such as Christopher Dell, Gerd Dudek, Daniel Erdmann, Michel Godard, Christof Lauer and Almut Kühne and with bands like Shake Stew, Klima Kalima as well as the Andromeda Mega Express Orchestra.