eastPLUGGED®15
I: KYOTO MON AMOUR │II: FATHER & SON │08 June 2018
I: Eric Schäfer [dr] Kazutoki Umezu [kl] Naoko Kikuchi [koto] John Eckhardt [b] II: Ulf Wakenius [g] Eric Wakenius [g]
We did not expect so much "bad luck" during travelling to Ratingen, but in the end all 6 artists were not only physically present, but also in a good mood and full of motivation to perform the 15th eastPLUGGED® night (sold out again), which Ulf and Eric Wakenius started with the piece "Vagabond", reflecting their difficult outbound trip. In the afternoon, father and son had described their relationship as that of good friends, at the concert the harmony expressed in this way became audible to all guests through the extremely precise, energetic, dynamic guitar playing of the two. Beatles´ songs were part of the repertoire as well as own compositions and a reference to Esbjörn Svensson.
Tack så mycket för denna fantastiska familjuppträdanden! Thanks a million for this fantastic family performance!
After Eric Schäfer had finalized his unintentional flight adventure and reached Ratingen, his German-Japanese quartet was complete and took the audience on a partly meditative, partly lyrically inspired musical journey, during which the Asian sounds of the koto (played by Naoko Kikuchi) and the clarinet of Kazutoki Umezu (= Dr. Umezu from the KIKI BAND) symbiotically merged with the bass of John Eckhardt and the Eric´s percussion. Eric's monumental drum solo was not in contradiction to this, but rather the acoustic volcanic eruption on this musical trip to Asia.
【いろいろありがとう】 Thank you, Eric, for giving us a concert with these great musicians!