KRAKAUER & TAGG IN THE PRESS:
IN PERFORMANCE:
Downbeat Magazine on a performance at LPR, New York Feb 16, 2016 by Bill Milkowski
”At the peak of their conversation, Krakauer sailed through virtuosic passages before taking off on a passionate, soul-stirring improvisation…Throughout their compelling duo set, Tagg joined prepared piano to electronics in increasingly brilliant applications."
CUE Magazine: Review July 7, 2016 by Jeffrey Brukman
“The Tagg-Krakauer duo took the Beethoven Room by storm as they presented one of the most remarkable concerts I have ever attended anywhere in the world. Each work on the programme was arranged or composed by either Tagg or Krakauer and this added a personal dimension to their performance, as creation and recreation elided in an astonishing display of indescribably stunning, mesmerising musicianship…Opening with Syrian clarinettist and composer Kinan Azmeh’s November 22nd – a work epitomising the essence of Middle Eastern aesthetics – Tagg and Krakauer embarked on what Krakauer termed “a multicultural journey”. It was far more than that; it entered into the heart of humankind exploring connective artistic tissues while teasing out and celebrating the differences... this was a phenomenal performance that stood at the heart of multicultural musicianship. This was music-making at its best: joyful abandonment without a trace of inhibition.”
What’s On In Cape Town: Review March 2016 by Marie Stines
“Both Krakauer and Tagg elicited astonishing tones from their instruments by what can only be described as unorthodox methods. Tagg used cloth and metal jewellery to manipulate the piano’s sound, and even stood up during her performance to pluck its strings, which had the audience in awe.”
BREATH & HAMMER ALBUM REVIEWS:
New Sounds on WQXR Radio April 30, 2020 by John Schaefer
“This record is kind of remarkable, you almost have to take their word for it when they tell you it’s nothing but clarinet and piano….A duo record- although it never sounds like just two players…”
MezzoTV: September, 2020
Top Jazz Album of September 2020
From David Harrington, Kronos Quartet, May 2020
”‘Breath and Hammer’ is a masterful and joyous journey that rewards and delights the listener every moment of the way. I was beaming through the entire album, reinvigorated by the energy and imagination of each track and so happy to know that David Krakauer and Kathleen Tagg have made a musical adventure that pulls us out of the static isolated silence of our fraught time. They have found a way to give music a huge refreshing burst of energy only true explorers are able to give. They bound to ecstatic heights of fantasy and show us a new bright path forward.”
Paris-Move: David Krakauer & Kathleen Tagg - Breath & Hammer June 18, 2020 by Thierry Docman
‘Indispensable’ rating.
“A musical alchemy is the key word of this superb album…” (translated, orig. French)
Télérama: Quadruple forte (ffff) rating (top rating possible), September 2020 by Anne Berthod
Bandcamp: Best Jazz of May 2020 on Bandcamp Jun 19, 2020 by Dave Sumner
“The most compelling thing about this project from clarinetist David Krakauer and pianist Kathleen Tagg is the way three different sources culminate in one convergence. The influences of klezmer, modern jazz, and classical find any number of meeting points…The compositional influence of a wide array of different musicians, as focused through the singular lens of Krakauer and Tagg, leads to new visions of older perspectives.”
Transglobal World Music Chart:
Album #28 out of top 40, September 2020; Album #30 out of top 40, October 2020; Album #40 out of top 40, November 2020
Le Monde: Albums September 11, 2020 by Patrick Labesse
”Joyeux, malin, truffé de clins d’œil et de fantaisie, ce pas de deux clarinette-piano pétille de légèreté, même dans ses moments plus introspectifs. De la musique klezmer? Oui, sans doute mais bien plus encore. Pendant que le clarinettiste David Krakauer régale de ses notes suraiguës ou tendres, Kathleen Tagg, pianiste new-yorkaise née en Afrique du Sud, joue la brisure, la cassure impromptue, martèle ou effleure ... Excellent.”
B! Ritmos: CD Recommendation September 3, 2020 by Candido Querol
”You come back relaxed after the summer period and the first thing you find in your musical novelties is this time bomb… When listening to the album, the first thing that surprises you is the large number of different sounds even though they only use two instruments, clarinet and piano… don't ask me how Tagg gets those percussions because I don't understand it either … An album that is already making people talk and a live show (as you can see in the video) that with the effects of the sound artist Jesse Gilbert should be quite an experience. Unfortunately, once again, the promoters of this country have escaped.” (translated, orig. Spanish)
JazzAround September 18, 2020 by Diane Cammaert
“Jazz, classical music and klezmer collide to offer music that transcends all stylistic and cultural boundaries.
This album will give you only one desire: to continue your wandering in search of their music as well as that of their companions. In short, a real electro-acoustic performance that will make you travel far beyond the confines of your living room. We are far from confinement …” (Translated, orig. French)
Amina Magazine Nov/Dec 2020 by Luigi Elongui
“The harmonies of jazz and the creative impulse of the experimental join with classical tunes and the indescribable aromas of central European nostalgia: an original, unique repertoire that is the charm of this duo, clarinetist David Krakauer and classical pianist South African Kathleen Tagg … intense colors, with unfathomable evocations and furtive escapades. All in the astonishing synergy of the two performers who share the same quest: a borderless journey in search of new sounds, illuminated by the heritage of two enormous musical movements.” (translated, orig. French)
NPR Classical May 21, 2020
“The genre-fluid clarinet genius David Krakauer joins pianist Kathleen Tagg for “The Geyser,” an appropriately titled outburst that kicks off their new album 'Breath and Hammer.'”
Citizen Jazz: Chronique, 28 June 2020 by Gilles Guajarengues, June 28, 2020
“it's the feverishness, and a kind of frenetic effervescence, that characterizes the album…” (translated, orig. French)
Keyboard Recording Home Studio Magazine Sept. / Oct. 2020 issue by Abel Durand
“David Krakauer, on clarinet, and Kathleen Tagg, on piano and “piano orchestra”, offer us an album where the musical alchemy is evident. These two outstanding musicians juggle between klezmer, jazz, and classical music.
Telerama Sortir: Review November 2020
“Sur la scène de ce concert berlinois, le clarinettiste américain et la pianiste sud-africaine jouent derrière des cloisons transparentes: un détail amusant quand on connaît les pratiques décloisonnées de ces deux concertistes. L’un a débridé son jeu aux avant-postes du swing yiddish, l’autre á la pointe de la musique contemporaine. Or, les projections vidéo de leurs avatars quasi holographiques amplifient justement l’effet de leurs audacieuses déconstructions: des thèmes brillamment réarrangés façon jeu de Kapla, dans un superposition complexe, remuante, mais non moins lyrique de sons trafiqués à la vue du public jusque dans la ventre du piano. Entre danzón cubain et lamento moldave, le charme puissant des mélodies demeure.”
MINYAN : FULL-LENGTH FEATURE FILM (2020)
Hollywood Reporter: 'Minyan': Film Review | Berlin 2020 Feb 22, 2020 by David Rooney
”He also benefits from strong collaborations with composers David Krakauer and Kathleen Tagg, whose score brings rich cultural specificity, and with accomplished cinematographer Ole Bratt Birkeland (Judy), who shoots the film in wintry tones that in retrospect feel almost like black and white.”
Indiewire: Minyan’ Review: A Brighton Beach Boy Finds His Tribe in Elegant Gay Drama Feb 24, 2020 by Jude Dry
"It’s just across the street, but may as well be a world away. At least, that’s what the zany klezmer score Steel uses to weave his disparate narratives together seems to be saying. Almost every transition is eased by the kelp of a dizzying clarinet solo or lilting violin riff. It’s a neat trick, but it works."
Movable Fest: Berlin Film Fest 2020: A Community Makes a Man in “Minyan” Feb 22, 2020 by Stephen Saito
“One knows from McCann’s restless turn and the competing clarinets in David Krakauer and Kathleen Tagg’s wonderfully docile score that David has yet to reconcile who he is internally, making his unease in any number of worlds that he’s naturally been assigned a place in particularly pronounced.”
Indiewire: 15 Must-See Films at the 2020 Berlin International Film Festival Feb 19, 2020 by David Ehrlich, Eric Kohn, Anne Thompson, Kate Erbland, Jude Dry
”There are a lot of moving parts in “Minyan,” glued together by a hauntingly frenetic klezmer score, but it ensures the film never courts cliche.”
Screen Daily: ‘Minyan’: Berlin Review 23 Feb 2020 by Wendy Ide
”Gentle rhythms and motifs are woven into the narrative: the covert draining and refilling of the ‘best’ vodka; the inspiring literature class; the score, klezmer infused jazz which anchors David’s story to the traditions of his family.”
The Arts STL: NewFest 2020 | Report 6 October 22, 2020 By Sarah Boslaugh
”Minyan is a leisurely film, running almost two hours, but it’s never boring thanks to the strength of the performances, the cinematography by Ole Bratt Birkeland, and especially the klezmer-inflected score by David Krakauer and Kathleen Tagg.”