MUMBAI: Ragawerk (formerly known as Max Clouth Clan) will release a new Live EP on Spotify and Apple Music on December 4th.
The live concert took place after the first pandemic lock-down in Europe in July 2020.
“This is basically a pre-release preceding our upcoming new album. We are currently writing music that combines Krautrock, Jazz and electronic music with Indian influences. We’ll be recording this music in January and the album will be out in summer 2021,” added Martin Standke.
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The bands’ name Ragawerk mirrors their musical influences from both Germany and India – Indian ragas and the German word ‘werk’ meaning work or factory. The name Ragawerk also brings an emphasis on the collective; the artists share a vision of creating music where the steady process of reorientation draws listeners into spheres of soundscapes that bridge influences and contexts. The group’s music ultimately develops organically from the artists’ interactions, which is why everyone’s ideas contribute significantly to the final form of the Live EP Link: https://bit.ly/2Hujlcq
Why move in just one world when you can be at home in many?
The Indian subcontinent has long been a second home for guitarist and composer, Max Clouth. From 2009 to 2012, he studied the secrets of Indian ragas in Mumbai. His trademark double-neck guitars developed with luthier Philipp Neumann are based on oriental and Indian string instruments such as Oud or Sarod. In 2012, Max returned to Germany and formed a band with Frankfurt-based drummer Martin Standke. Together, they set out to realize Max’s vision of a sound that transcends European and Indian Music. Max is known for having developed and mastered the Indian jazz guitar style of music, which incorporates Indian techniques when playing guitar. Drummer Martin Standke brings European Jazz aesthetics and electronic sounds into the band. Ragawerk draws on the achievements of the Mahavishnu Orchestra.
After their debut record “Return Flight” (2015) the band received the jazz award of the City of Frankfurt in 2017. In 2018, followed Kamaloka (a term from Sanskrit, literally translating to “place of desire”), in which two Indian singers, a tabla player and three strings complement the quartet line-up. “Studio Konzert” (2019) – vinyl only – was recorded live at the legendary Bauer Studios, featuring a string section and electronic artist Kabuki on modular synthesizer.
Over the years, the band has toured extensively in Germany and India, having performed at the Jazzfest Brandenburg, Palmengarten Jazz Festival – Frankfurt, Giants of Jazz Festival – New Delhi and the Goethe Institutes in Chennai, Trivandrum and Hyderabad, among other venues. Ragawerk, formerly, Max Clouth Clan last toured Indian cities New Delhi, Kolkata, and Hyderabad in December 2019.
