Pianist, composer and improviser Kaja Draksler is not only one of the most internationally acclaimed Slovene improvisers, but also one of the central pianists in contemporary jazz and improvised music of younger generation in Europe and beyond.
Besides her frequent solo concerts, she has been working internationally over the past years with Feecho, Punkt.Vrt.Plastik, Hearth and Draksler – Santos Silva duo. She is one of the founding members of the interdisciplinary group I/O and part of the internationally acclaimed Doek collective. In 2016, she formed her Amsterdam-based Octet. As a composer she has been commissioned by various international groups, ranging from vocal and chamber ensembles to big bands and orchestras: Looptail Ensemble, Sturi Quartet, EMJO, Doek/Tricentric Foundation, Slovenian Philharmonic Orchestra, Metropole Orchestra, EMJO, Looptail, Big Band RTV Slovenia, Italian Instabile Orchestra, and others. She regulary performs in acclaimed venues and festivals home and abroad and her records are issued by most prominent international labels.
Tomaž Grom spoke with her about her work, about the numerous ensembles with whom she participates, about the solo work, the difference between composing and improvising, about preserving the creative condition, about her own identity and about the still pressing issues of sexual inequality in art and the different position of women, also in the field of freely improvised music and jazz.
