Igor Lumpert’s Radium Bath plays Fight Songs

Friday, May 23, at 19:30
main stage

Igor Lumpert (tenor saxophone)
Gerald Cleaver (drums)
Felix Henkelhausen (double bass)

Photo: promo

Igor Lumpert has lived in New York since 2000, where he established himself on the vibrant jazz scene. In 2012, he released the acclaimed album Innertextures Live on the Clean Feed label, and later invited various musicians to join a band called Innertextures. One version of this band, which among others featured trumpeter Peter Evans, released the album I Am the Spirit of the Earth (Clean Feed) in 2022. This album features the beginnings of the Fight Songs project, which Lumpert will be presenting at this year’s festival. The album includes the songs Slovenian Fight Song, Part 1 and Slovenian Fight Song, Part 2, “a tribute to all the fighters who helped liberate Slovenia.” As Lumpert himself says, “Fight Songs continues to explore the themes of tension, struggle and liberation that already appeared in these songs, and develops them into even more expressive and improvised forms.” American drummer Gerald Cleaver is known for playing in the bands of many prominent jazz musicians, such as Henry Threadgill, Roscoe Mitchell, Tim Berne, Charles Lloyd and Bill Frisell. German double bassist Felix Henkelhausen received the esteemed German Jazz Prize in 2023, and has collaborated with musicians such as Mark Feldman, Lotte Anker and Nate Wooley.