Stay alert, stay open, stay free!
Joëlle Léandre
in the bakery at MOIN
No one in the world plays the double bass like her. Joëlle Léandre is an exceptional performer, a phenomenal improvisation artist and an internationally renowned figure in the new European music scene. Between California and Belgrade, the self-proclaimed gypsy didn't want to miss the chance to stop by Glückstadt to perform in a bakery for the first time.
She has worked with prominent artists such as John Cage, Morton Feldman and Merce Cunningham, has recorded almost 200 albums and many contemporary composers have written pieces for her. "The new music scene is like an international tribe. We are happy when we play. Music is large and everyone can create so much," says the French-born artist, sharing a bit of her world with us. "We go on stage to move people deeply, to push them to question themselves, to set them dreaming."
Real life is happening in the here & now
Joëlle's irrepressible desire to completely engage with the present moment is evident from the first minute of her performance. For example, a joyful duet with loudly chirping birds outside, a rendezvous with a sudden trickling of water in the pipes or a brief intermezzo with a clinking glass.
It gets particularly funny every time Joëlle seems to pick up on the different vibes from the audience and translate them into music. There is a lot of laughter as some of the audience members probably realize that it’s their own energy Joëlle draws on and puts on stage. Experiencing the creativity of this 72-year-old woman live in concert is great fun and infectious, too. We may intuitively feel that our individual happiness can be found in exactly this way - by becoming aware of the present moment over and over again.
Joëlle Léandre has been playing the double bass for over 60 years. She treats "the beast", as she calls her voluminous instrument, like a living being, offering it a sip of water and feigns stabbing it - as well as herself – through the heart with the bow during the final applause.
"I die on stage," she describes the feeling of improvising - welcoming everything at her disposal, infusing it with her life energy and leaving it behind in the very next moment. "Improvisation reveals that true life is now, not yesterday or tomorrow."
AUDIENCE COMMENTS
"She is a shaman on the double bass. I've never experienced anything like it."
"I had to live to be over 80 years old to experience something so great."
"This music reflects today's times and tells us: stay alert, stay open, stay free and act with your heart as well as your brain so that you can help shape the future."
THE BAKERY HUMS
Why give a concert in a bakery? To make it resonate.
Usually, the kitchen is the most popular room in the house. Where cooking and baking takes place, you can pick up a pleasant humming sound. It is the same in our bakery. This vibration is created by the baking itself, by the people who work here and by our processes. And sometimes we amplify the vibration by hosting presentations or concerts. This charges up the space a notch, which has a positive effect on what happens here. That's why we do "Kultur in der Backstube".