Record release: Stefan Schönegg / Enso: A Simplified Space

“Enso: A Simplified Space” released on impakt Records

impakt Records presents the new album by Stefan Schönegg “Enso: A Simplified Space” with Marlies Debacker (piano), Stefan Schönegg (double bass) and Etienne Nillesen (extended snare drum).

Huge swaths of silence separate sounds on the latest album from Cologne bassist Stefan Schönegg’s long running project Enso. The absence frames each gesture - a surface rubbed, a string thwacked, and an expanse of wood struck - and frequently allows the listener to truly experience every utterance on its own, rather than as a component within a larger structure - even if that remains exactly what they are. Nearly all of the sounds produced by the bassist with his long-time collaborator, extended snare drum master Etienne Nillesen and pianist Marlies Debacker, deviate from what we expect from their respective instruments, but the various extended techniques at play aren’t the focus. Indeed, these musicians have all developed sophisticated, elusive languages over years of research and practice, yet they are merely tools in the context of this new transmission from Enso.

Line-up:

Marlies Debacker - Piano
Stefan Schönegg - Double bass
Etienne Nillesen - Extended snare drum

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Recorded April 2023 at Chamber Music Hall Deutschlandfunk, Cologne, Germany

Producer: Thomas Loewner
Recording producer: Stephan Schmidt
Recording engineer: Hendrik Manook, Philipp Wissler
Recording technician: Jens Müller
Mastering: Giuseppe Ielasi
Liner notes: Peter Margasak
Cover art and design: Markus Dorninger, Stefan Schönegg

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The album was released on CD and is also available as digital version.