Manu Katche "Playground" - Jazzbaltica (2008)

DVD Pro-shot.
Emmanuel 'Manu' Katche was born in St Maur des Fossés, near Paris, in 1958, though his family roots go back to Africa's Ivory Coast. He studied piano from the age of 5, switching to drums at 14 and studying classical percussion at the Conservatoire National Supérieure de Musique de Paris. He has often said that his drum style is essentially an amalgam of African rhythm concepts and classical drumming, illuminated by the in-the-moment interaction of jazz. “When I play jazz I get called a 'rock drummer'. When I do rock projects, critics write about 'the jazz drummer Manu Katché'. But I'm just being myself, trying to be innovative as the music is played, and I guess that is more of a 'jazz' attitude,"
Invited to participate in ECM's 20th anniversary concerts in Paris in 1989, Katche played first in a trio with Jan Garbarek and Indian violinist Shankar in a concert at La Cigale. The encounter was to lead to Katché's membership of the Garbarek Group and his presence on a series of albums: I Took Up The Runes, Ragas and Sagas, Twelve Moons, Visible World, In Praise Of Dreams. Manu rejoined Jan's band for several months of live work with concerts which continue until the end of 2007 in Germany, Belgium, Ireland, the Netherlands, Turkey, Portugal and Switzerland.

Tracklist:

1. November 99 (Trio)
2. Take Off And Land
3. Good Influence
4. Miles Away
5. Song For Her
6. Alan Bangs interviews Manu Katche
7. Rose
8. So Groovy
9. Lovely Walk

Musicians:

Manu Katche - Drums, Lead
Tomasz Stanko - Trumpet
Petter Wettre - Tenor sax
Marcin Wasilewski - Piano
Slawomir Kurkiewicz - Bass