frank gratkowski

simon nabatov

duo

German reed-player Frank Gratkowski and Russian-born pianist Simon Nabatov have been making music together in a wide variety of constellations and contexts for over 30 years. The fruitful collaboration began in Klaus König’s large ensemble projects, found the two interpreting Nabatov’s musical readings of Russian literature, or as members of numerous ad hoc settings. Playing in duo, however, always allowed them to get to the core of what is essential in improvised music – open dialogue, the joy of surprising oneself and each other, cohesive story-telling next to abstract entanglements. The duo documented their elegant yet powerful approach on two CD releases thus far.