©Lena Ganssmann
©Lena Ganssmann
SELECTED REVIEWS
“Der ursprünglich aus Österreich stammende Drummer Max Santner betreibt mit Sängerin Dora Osterloh, Trompeter Silvan Schmid und Bassist Simon Jermyn die Band MANKAI. Deren Album “Name The Color” (Boomslang/Bandcamp) dokumentiert den Prozess einer kollektiven kammermusikalischen Verschränkung, der es immer wieder gelingt, sich in der Improvisation selbst zu befreien. Dabei wird Reibung freigesetzt, aber auch ein Gefühl permanenter Erlösung, die sich wiederum in Leichtigkeit übersetzt. Wie all das passieren kann, wissen nur die vier Beteiligten selbst, doch das staunende Ohr lässt sich nur allzu gern auf dieses gefühlvolle Spektakel ein.”
- Wolf Kampmann (Jazzthing)
“Der in Berlin lebende österreichische Schlagzeuger und Komponist Max Santner ist ein vielseitig engagierter Musiker (u.a. bei Beatdenker’s Sinularia, Holler My Dear), der nun mit seinem eigenen Bandprojekt „Mankai“ (wobei wohl nicht die so gehypten Superfood- Wasserlinsen gemeint sind) aufhorchen lässt. Das ZEN-Sprichwort „Name the color, blind the eye“ liefert einerseits die Titel für den ersten bzw. letzten Track, andererseits die Ausgangsbasis für das erklärte Ziel des Kollektivs: „Musik als ein ganzheitliches, verbindendes Element zu begreifen“, sozusagen als Gegenpol zum weit verbreiteten Schubladendenken. Dabei bilden die Kompositionen von Max Santner den Rahmen, in dem er selbst sowie die Vokalistin Dora Osterloh, der Trompeter Silvan Schmid und der Bassist Simon Jermyn die verschiedenen Facetten ihrer Instrumente sehr individuell und virtuos erkunden und Sounds im Moment kreativ entstehen und fließen lassen können: von repetitiv/meditativ bis tanzbar, von melodiös bis fragmentarisch – Hauptsache mit offenen Sinnen für die anderen und für die Gesamtheit.”
- Concerto Magazin
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MANKAI
Dora Osterloh - Voice
Silvan Schmid - Trumpet
Simon Jermyn - Bass
Max Santner - Drums, Composition
MANKAI is a new project of Berlin-based drummer and composer Max Santner. The collective is comprised of Dora Osterloh (vocals), Silvan Schmid (trumpet), Simon Jermyn (bass) and Max Santner (drums, composition).
On the new album NAME THE COLOR they melt spontaneity, creativity and musical interaction into a unique band-sound. Tightly composed structures, open sound textures, repetitive melodic patterns and intertwined, overlapping rhythms build the framework for collective improvisation. MANKAI’s central aim is to constantly listen to each other and try to develop new sonic worlds by experimenting together.
The album title refers to a Zen proverb: „Name the color, blind the eye“. It describes a tendency in our society to focus too much on single aspects of an increasingly complex world and thereby lose track of the bigger picture. In a sense the need to categorize things and to look at them separately. The compositions on the album strive to be an antithesis to this tendency, inspired by the idea of thinking about music as a holistic and connecting force. An attempt to find one’s own creativity and become collective inventors, free of categories and genres.
DORA OSTERLOH
Berlin-based singer and composer Dora Osterloh’s musical expression combines the ease of improvisation with harmonic and melodic depth, as well as abstract, emotional lyrics and rhythmic complexity. As an integral part of the Berlin jazz and improvisation scene, she can be heard in a wide variety of constellations and bands. Compositionally, she has worked for her vocal ensemble ENSEMBLE O in recent years and developed various solo concepts, most recently the singer-songwriter project SONGS, as well as the new band project PHOENIX LOVE.
SILVAN SCHMID
Silvan Schmid is a trumpet player. He plays live and does recordings with people and projects such as: Solo, Alex Riva, Gamut Kollektiv, w/ Marina Tantanozi, w/ Bertrand Denzler, w/ Lotus Eddé Khouri, TOSCA w/ Fabian Saul, ТЕПЛОТА x RIVASCHMID, Mraolia w/ Timothée Quost, M.S.M w/ Makossiri, miaozhao, w/ Tom Wheatley, Eddie Prévost, TZUSSS w/ Tizia Zimmermann, Urška Savič, Take My Blood And Write On The Soil … by Daniela Ortiz Hum, Hunter-Gatherer, Bottom Orchestra, Urs Blöchlinger Revisited, MANKAI w/ Max Santner, Dora Osterloh, Simon Jermyn, Hans Kennel. He is a member of the Gamut Kollektiv, whose purpose is to explore, to seek and to set new things in motion. The collective serves as a fruitful breeding ground for ideas, experiments and new processes. In 2023, they launched their newest project LABYRINTH – a self-organized virtual playground curated by Artists. In 2023, he was curator in residence of Taktlos Festival, Zürich.
SIMON JERMYN
As a sideman and collaborator, Simon has worked with Jim Black, Chris Speed, John Zorn, Gerald Cleaver, Mat Maneri, Anna Webber, Tom Rainey, Chris Lightcap, Ingrid Laubrock, Mark Ferber, Michaël Attias, Tony Malaby, Ben Goldberg, Jeff Davis, Allison Miller, Nate Wood, Simon Nabatov, Loren Stillman, Satoshi Takeishi, Caleb Burhans, and many others. He has performed at the Village Vanguard, The Stone, Winter Jazz Fest, Joe's Pub, and many other clubs, festivals and performance spaces around the world. Simon holds a PhD in Music from the University of Ulster in Northern Ireland. He has given workshops and masterclasses at renowned institutions around the world, including The Jazz and Contemporary Improvisation Department at The Sydney Conservatorium, Australia; The Brisbane Conservatorium, Australia; University of Ghent, Belgium; Ulster University, Northern Ireland; Dublin City University, Ireland; and the Hochschule der Kunste, Bern, Switzerland.
MAX SANTNER
MAX SANTNER, born in Salzburg in 1991, is a Berlin based drummer, improviser and composer. Current projects and collaborations are Keao, Mankai, Beatdenker’s Sinularia, Magnetic Ghost Orchestra, Été Large, Holler My Dear, KIM Collective. He is performing all over Europe and at Festivals like Jazz Fest Berlin, XJAZZ Festival, Überjazz Festival, Moers Festival, Jazzwerkstattfestival Bern, Südtirol Jazzfestival, Leipziger Jazztage, Jazz Kollektiv Nights, Jazz And The City Festival, Mama Jazz Festival Vilnius, BeJazz TransNational. Max Santner studied Drums at the Jazz Institute Berlin from 2010-2014 with John Hollenbeck. In that context he had also lessons with Kurt Rosenwinkel and Greg Cohen. He is a founding member of KIM Collective, which organizes a Festival for improvised music in Berlin once a year. Furthermore KIM is doing art across concerts, performances and installations. In 2008 he received the Austrian Jazz Award Joe Zawinul Price and in 2016 he got the Austrian Scholarship BKA Austria for Art and Culture. In 2018 he won the BeJazz TransNational Price with his band HUM.