Following on from their two acclaimed full-lengths, Gledalec (2017) and Out For Stars (2020) – albums
energised by the timeless poetry of Pablo Neruda, Gregor Strniša and Robert Frost – the Kaja Draksler
Octet turns its focus on the allusive haiku of Matsuo Basho for Bare, Unfolding, a captivating collection
rich with imagery, imagination and compositional ingenuity.
Like the poetic forms inspiring it, Bare, Unfolding conveys with minimalist clarity the salience of specific
moments, stripping away all that’s unnecessary and peripheral until only the essence of the instant
remains. This is meditative music, pregnant with pause and poignant stillness, positing a nexus where
Eastern and Western classical traditions collide in jazz’s oneiric outer zones.
Serenity exudes here in the hallucinatory pulse of Onno Govaert’s bespoke drum set-up, assorted hand
percussion and Ab Baars’ whispering shakuhachi, ritualistic elements drawn from Japanese Gagaku’s
“elegant music”, while Draksler’s piano casts subtle phrase-shifting beneath the undulating drones of
George Dumitriu’s violin and Ada Rave’s tension-ratcheting tenor sax. Hypnotic rhythms coalesce and
then fragment, abstract patterns mirrored by the incantatory wordplay of vocalists Laura Polence and
Björk Níelsdóttir, as they harmoniously recast Basho’s poems pungent with meaning and metaphor.
Into her alien court music, Draksler weaves other diverse tropes – incongruent threads in less adept hands
– her keys freighting influences from Morton Feldman to Cecil Taylor, while overt nods to Handel
materialise during the seraphic finale of ‘Flimsy Curtain/Plum’.
An ingenious, often joyous work, inhabiting what Alexander Hawkins refers to in his erudite liner notes as
“a space of near-suspended animation”, Bare, Unfolding is well named for a work toying with temporal
notions, an album boldly flaunting its disparate influences in blossoms of intimate and fearless creation.

All compositions by Kaja Draksler to the words of Matsuo Basho, except Mai Fu by Nicolò Minato.
Mai Fu and Plum are based on G.F. Händel’s arias Ombra Mai Fu and Lascia ch’io pianga, respectively.

(The LP does not include “Autumn Eve” and “Mai Fu”, which are only available digitally)

A Side:
1. Of Years Past
2. Come See
3. Skylark

B Side:
1. In Kyoto
2. Flimsy Curtain / Plum
3. Has it Returned

Plum is based on G.F. Händel’s aria Lascia ch’io pianga.
Mixing and mastering by Michał Kupicz
Released by Zavod Sploh / Co-released by Clean Feed
Design by Matej Stupica, Vasja Cenčič / Liner notes by Alexander Hawkins
Translation by Maja Lovrenov / English translation of Basho’s poetry by Lucien Stryk
Recorded on April 6 and 7 2025 at Studio 26, RTV Slovenia, Ljubljana
Music Producer: Kaja Draksler / Recording Producer: Brina Nataša Zupančič
Recording Engineer: Jean Markič / Production of audio recordings: © RTV Slovenija