Malakoff Kowalski & Johanna Summer - Songs with Words

"Her virtuoso, blazing playing has an inner life of its own. Detached from author and interpreter, from ability and will, from past and present. Unbelievable. The pianist Johanna Summer makes me dizzy with happiness." With these lines, Malakoff Kowalski recently tried to shed light on his colleague's music in DIE ZEIT. Johanna Summer in turn says of the musician and composer: "To say so much more through economy than through many notes - Malakoff Kowalski is an absolute master of this art. A magic 'between' the musical events and contrasting gestures that would never be possible through superficial virtuosity."

Johanna Summer and Malakoff Kowalski are now sharing the stage for the first time with a joint duo program. The occasion for this are two new releases: the jazz EP "Upright" (ACT 2025) by Johanna Summer and the album "Songs With Words" (Sony Classical 2025) by Malakoff Kowalski as a singer together with Igor Levit, Johanna Summer and Chilly Gonzales on the piano: a pairing of miniatures by classical composers with sung poems by beat poet Allen Ginsberg. During the recording of this album, a seven-piece jazz suite by Johanna Summer was created in parallel on a studio whim, combining her own works with standards and an elegy by Richard Wagner.

"Upright" and excerpts from "Songs With Words" as well as solo piano music from the previous albums of this unusual duo now form a concert repertoire of improvised jazz, European classical piano tradition and American beat poetry.

Pianist Johanna Summer studied in Dresden with free jazz legend Günter Baby Sommer, among others. Her last studio albums "Schumann Kaleidoskop" and "Resonanzen" (ACT) were unanimously acclaimed by critics; she is a regular guest at national and international jazz and classical music festivals.

Malakoff Kowalski is a German-American-Persian artist. In addition to his solo music, recorded on six albums to date, he also works as a theater and film composer.