Werner DURAND & John KRAUSBAUER
“Black Seraphim”

Separated by an ocean and a generation apart, German reedsman, Werner Durand and American stringsman, John Krausbauer, have both been devotees of the cosmic ur-drone for many decades. Their new recording on Moving Furniture Records, “Black Seraphim”, brings together for the first time their singular vision and approach in a half hour droning dirge. The setup finds Krausbauer on his oft-employed violin, while Durand continues to explore the possibilities of his self-invented reed instruments. The same foundations that lie at the heart of their musics: (electro)-acoustic instrumentation, long durations, alternate tuning systems, all can be found on the harmonically dense and rich offering. An unrelenting, buzzing choir of harmonics and overtones begets a timewarped hallucinatory trip into the black ooze of trance’d consciousness.

Werner Durand has been active as a saxophone player since the late 1970s. After studies of both indian as well as persian flutes, he has created his own unique wind instruments since the mid 80s, based on just intonation. He has collaborated with numerous composers and performers, including Amelia Cuni, David Behrman, Henning Christiansen, Catherine Christer Hennix, Arnold Dreyblatt and many others. Currently he performs as FLOCKS- a duo with multi-Instrumentalist Ulrich Hohmann as well as with singer Anna Clementi as ARTIFICIAL HIPSTERS. Together with Anna Clementi and Luciano Chessa he performs in the trio EFNI – performing on replicas of the Intona Rumori – futurist instruments invented by Luigi Russolo in early 20th century, Grants and residencies include Cité des Arts, Paris, 1989; Podewil, Berlin 1999; Worpswede artist colony, Germany 2004/5; AIR –Krems (Austria), 2011 & Civitella Ranieri (Italy)2013. He has curated festivals of traditional as well as avantgarde music in Berlin like “Urban und Aboriginal“, “Pipeline“ , “USArts“ , “Minimalisms” and “Intonations“ and “Musiksalon Berlin” at the Ethnological Museum.

John Krausbauer is an American musician, artist, and brend practitioner. As a tireless pursuer of the sonic arts for nearly 30 years, he’s had numerous recordings published, performed his musics in North America, Europe, and Asia, and has instigated and participated in countless musical group configurations. Since 2020 his wide ranging interests have led him to pursue critical writing and visual art as his primary activities, while occasionally engaging in solo and group musics. He has shown his A/V work around the globe and had his writings published in the US and New Zealand.