Lettow / Erel

Hamburg-based prepared bass and electronics player Gunnar Lettow and Korhan Erel met in Istanbul in 2011 to play a concert at Gram with tenor saxophonist Robert Reigle, Korhan’s bandmate from Islak Köpek. The two decided to pursue this collaboration further when they saw that Gunnar’s electro-acoustic sounds and Korhan’s electronically treated field recordings and found sounds creates an fascinating, abstract sound world.

Gunnar and Korhan have been playing short tours in Germany every November since 2011. In 2011, they played in Hamburg (Hörbar), Hannover (Oberdeck) and Berlin (Ausland, Miss Hecker). At Ausland they played with Chris Heenan and at Miss Hecker with Axel Haller. In 2012, they had a guest from Istanbul, cellist Gülşah Erol, who had been touring with Korhan in Germany as a part of the Soundtrips concert series in the Ruhr area. They played in Hamburg, Hannover (Oberdeck), and in Berlin (Quiet Cue).

Gunnar and Korhan will repeat their November tour in 2013, with two concerts already confirmed at Oberdeck in Hannover (Nov 7) and Freitagsmusik in Hamburg (Nov 8). They have two more concerts in Berlin in January, with Liz Allbee (trumpet) and Chris Heenan (contrabass sax, alto sax) at Sowieso on January 10 and with Audrey Chen (cello, voice) at Miss Hecker on January 12. The duo will also perform in the Klub Katarakt Festival in Hamburg on January 18.

The duo have released their first CD “Bad Falling Bostel” on Creative Sources in 2014. The album consists of pieces recorded at Gunnar’s home in Hamburg in February 2013. Gunnar and Korhan will embark on a tour in Germany in September-October 2014 to promote this recording. So far the dates are:

September 26 / Hamburg – Hörbar (Frequenzgänge concert series)
September 27 / Hannover – Galeria Lunar
September 28 / Kassel – Galerie FBI
September 29 / no concert
September 30 / Duisburg – Djäzz
October 1 / Karlsruhe – Preview.Süd
October 2 / Stuttgart – Elektrobarklingelton
October 3 / Tübingen – Tressorraum
October 4 / Munich – Halle6

Gunnar Lettow and Korhan Erel, Bad Falling Bostel Tour, FBI Galerie, Kassel (excerpt) from Korhan Erel on Vimeo.

Lettow / Erel with Gülşah Erol at Quiet Cue in Berlin

Korhan Erel, Gülşah Erol, Gunnar Lettow live at Quiet Cue, Berlin from Korhan Erel on Vimeo.