Aki Takase
& Daniel Erdmann
“Aki is one of a kind. She’s got so much energy!” says Daniel Erdmann of the grande dame of jazz piano, with whom he has been playing in a duo for around ten years. He himself is no couch potato either, but is a regular presence on jazz stages with numerous projects and bands. “Thérapie de Couple”, for example, is a German-French sextet that brings together modern, improvisational jazz ideas across borders. “Velvet Revolution” is a chamber-jazz trio featuring violin, vibraphone and, more recently, the addition of singer Jelena Kuljic, who contrasts Erdmann’s saxophone with a touch of cheerful theatricality. Indeed, all his projects share this special blend of grand sound and aesthetic doubt, which he prefers to dispel with musical humour.
The duo with Aki Takase, however, has a special quality. For the 78-year-old Japanese pianist, now a Berlin resident, manages to transform personality and universality into immense musical power.
She has played with legends such as Joe Henderson and David Murray, collected a string of awards and most recently received the German Jazz Prize for her life’s work. Her bands have been and continue to be springboards for the innovative avant-garde. Playing alongside her allows musicians to mature, as was the case with the young Daniel Erdmann, whom Aki Takase brought into her Berlin sextet in the nineties. The newcomer had previously made his mark as a student in ensembles at the Hanns Eisler University, where she taught as a visiting professor. A stroke of luck for both of them. For he was able to launch himself forcefully onto the scene from there, whilst she gained a powerful, tonally sensitive tenor saxophonist for her band. They then went their separate ways until they met by chance at Paris airport in 2017.
NEW CD: „TIMELESS“ , 08/2026,
At the terminal, they had time for a coffee and a chat, with a loose agreement to meet up for private sessions. This eventually led to the formation of the ‘Japanic’ quintet with Daniel Erdmann. And a duo emerged as the creative core, which has already released two albums: ‘Isn’t It Romantic?’ (2021) and ‘Ellington’ (2024).
‘Timeless’ builds on this and is more than just a new programme. “‘Timeless’ is a concept that opens up to all aspects of time,” explains Erdmann. “It includes, for example, workshops with young musicians, larger ensembles, but also small concerts in clubs, as well as a multi-faceted exchange based on the pieces we’ve now recorded. The term ‘Timeless’ means a great deal, after all. We both draw on tradition and both look to the future.”