- critics
About Apphrodite Goes Shopping
Cadence (02/2005)
APHRODITE GOES SHOPPING is the second release by saxophonist KATHRIN LEMKE under the JAZZXCLAMATION banner, with both keyboardist Peer Neumann and bassist Stephan Bleier returning from 2001’s Psycho Potatoes. With John Schröder and Michael Griener manning the collective drumkits , and Lemke dolled up very smartly with a Dalmation on the front cover, this is a waywardly nutty affair that mixes groove music with the kind of hip humor one would expect from an associate of Willem Breuker. Neumann’s keyboards include Wurlitzer and Fender Rhodes, which he’s not afraid to modify, while the leader’s alto sax is pithy and playful. Consequently, much of this resembles a cross between Sun Ra’s 1978 quartet recordings, crossed with Medeski, Martin & Wood. Not so far out to alienate purists, yet not so far-in to dismay the adventurous, Lemke’s band is well worth hearing.
Stereoplay (01/2005)
“As if anyone could say that nothing is going on in Berlin. Aphrodite Goes Shopping, the second album by JazzXclamation, the quartet around saxophonist Kathrin Lemke, maneuvers with energy and humor past the clichés of the avant-garde, while at the same time bringing together psychedelic moments of intensity and sophisticated, arranged reduction. This music has breathed the air of the sixties, but counters it with the ironic, laid-back breath of the present. Clever.”
Ralf Dombrowski
TIP (12/2004)
“Elegance, groove, power and a trace of pretentiousness characterize the urban jazz of saxophonist Kathrin Lemke’s quartet JazzXclamation. Free of blinders, the band mediates between the free jazz of the sixties, the avant-garde of the eighties and contemporary lounge jazz. Music that never stops and one of the few jazz albums that adequately translates the streets of Berlin into sound.” Wolf Kampmann
Musik-Manna
“Nothing against Charlie Parker. But sometimes one has to set him aside. The band JazzXclamation is brilliantly able to do so.
Shit, one rarely hears such music which makes you feel like you’ve just taken a refreshing bath. Ellington? Oh yes, just remain in the grave, you eternal giant.
The music of JazzXclamation is like a continuation of Satie who copulates with the future. The nectar of sound drips and one licks one’s lips, my apologies, one’s ears! Yes, the ironic music of this combo is manna for the receiver. But not for those who wear moldy protectors against music over their ears.” Michael Naura
Der Tagesspiegel (10/2004)
“That’s what jazz could sound like that is made for the present: sometimes rough like a heavy metal riff, sometimes sweet and pretty like a pop ballad. The quartet around saxophonist Kathrin Lemke can play all of these sounds. Flickering sound-creations emerge. They could also provide the soundtrack to a thriller, since they emerge in such an exciting and suspense-filled way in songs with titles like “Kaputter Walzer” or “Liberation-Song of a Brave Woman,” only to dissolve in the wild-hammering and bright peeping of collective noise. That is sophisticated, precisely in its childlike gesture of destruction.”
Kai Müller
About The ConcertsDarmstädter Echo (04/2004) Advance words of praise filled the audience with excitement, and it was not disappointed: The bandleader, a native of Heidelberg, won the audience through her relaxed relation to the music. Beneath her compositions seemingly simple songs can be found, but their structures quickly alienate and are varied in a jazz-like way.
Rheinpfalz (04/2004) Kathrin Lemke sends a blazing, burning hymn out of the saxophone. A great sound that emerges from the horn like hot magma. In all its sophistication, this music intensely grooves and dances, which is why this jazz sounds as hip as it is experimental.
Heidenheimer Neue Presse (04/2004) With her formation JazzXclamation the Berlin saxophonist Kathrin Lemke makes music that is situated somewhere between experimental electronics and free jazz... With substantial tempo the four Berlin musicians reaped great praise from the audience and Kathrin Lemke reaped even more smiles with her witty (and subtle) announcements.
Gmünder Tagespost (11/2003) JazzXclamation, an unusual piece of music which calls itself jazz, with an entirely dissonant forerunner, with a striking but hidden approach that stems from reggae, from blues, which then melts like warm butter and turns into jazz. That is cheeky, that is innovative, that is endearing Berlin bluntness, sound in sound with compassion.
Saarbrücker Zeitung (10/2002) The quartet brilliantly spans the range from easy-listening-jazz to experimental sounds: music with its own signature and vibe, which resists well-worn categories.
Main-Spitze (10/2001) Experimental and very entertaining. The quartet makes it clear that progressive structures can nonetheless be catchy or at least comprehensible... Despite extremely delicate nuances in the solos, the musicians never lose themselves in technical games. The sound of the entire quartet always remains in the foreground.
Mannheimer Morgen (03/2000) Finally someone who does not take a streamlined approach to known bop-and-modal clichés. A bittersweet blues sound and a huge, inquisitive drive forwards characterize Kathrin Lemke’s playing as well as her improvisations, which she from time to time carries out in unusual registers.
contact:
mail@kathrinlemke.de 
