Tap&Bass "BEATS" | Official Video
Tap&Bass
Created by Kurt Holzkämper & Thomas Marek
Tap&Bass is an internationally acclaimed performance duo by bassist Kurt Holzkämper and tap dancer Thomas Marek. With their unique concerts and shows they have been performing in festivals and theaters all over the world for the last 20 years. Highlights include the Joyce Theater NYC, Frankfurter Alte Oper, Kampnagel Hamburg, Internationale Jazztage Stuttgart, Tanzhaus NRW, St.Petersburg Russia and many more.
"BEATS"
Electronic music meets tap dance meets acoustic jazz
In their latest show, Tap&Bass celebrates the archaic elemental force of the beat, tracing it, experimenting with it and improvising upon it.
"BEATS" is a unique show combining tap dance and contemporary electronic music with elements of acoustic jazz. In this 75-minute performance Kurt Holzkämper and Thomas Marek create a captivating dance performance & live concert blending electronic music & beats, looped sequences of double bass and electric bass, alienated tap sounds and beautifully composed melodies. These collages from electronic and minimal music and jazz, create a pulsating web of grooves and virtuosic improvisations.
Their combination of eletronic and acoustic music is unique in the sense that both musical approaches seamlessly blend with one another. The use of laptops and sound effects become part of their musical expression and improvisations and therefore an extension of their instruments.
On stage they use various basses, electronic sound generators, laptops and a pair of tap shoes to create their magic. On certain occasions they invite a special guest performer/musician to join them perform "BEATS".
"BEATS" gets under your skin, creates contact with the ground and makes dancing unavoidable.
Tap&Bass live video | Premiere at Theaterhaus Stuttgart with special guest Flo König (CRO)
Photos
Press Reviews
Thomas Marek is a wolf of a dancer. Tall, rangy, feet apart, he gives the floor a resonant thrashing. Don't think just complex shuffles and brushes; think kicking a stone down the block. The Village Voice, New York
That's where Thomas Marek is really at home: at the interface where rhythmic mechanics become inner movement. Uwe Prieser, Welt am Sonntag
Certainly not a mere and pale copy of Fred Astaire: Thomas Marek further develops this American dance form. Relaxed, light and witty, thoroughly musical. Hans Kumpf, Jazz Podium
Anyone who previously believed that world-class tap dancers would only come from the USA was proven wrong by Thomas Marek's performance at the Stuttgart Liederhalle. He put everything to shame that you've seen from any tap dancer. Stuttgarter Wochenblatt
Celebrated with breathtaking precision.... Everything jazz has ever been or is, sparkles. Frankfurter Neue Presse
Thomas Marek shows a new dimension of tap dancing. Ludwigsburger Zeitung
Contact & Booking :
Kulturmanagement Hoffmann
Winfried Hoffmann
phone: +49 221 16 90 677
mobil: +49 176 57 98 44 30
mail: info@kultur-management.koeln
Winfried Hoffmann, Hackländerstraße 34, 50825 Köln, Germany
Thomas Marek (Tap Dance, Sound Design)
Thomas Marek has been a leading artist for contemporary tap dance in Germany and Europe for the last 20 years. In his work he is blending traditional and modern forms of tap dance with contemporary musical and theatrical elements.
Thomas Marek started tap dancing at age 14 and about two years after starting tap dance he met Brenda Bufalino at a workshop. She quickly became his most influential teacher in his beginning years. He later also had the opportunity to get to know and to study with tap innovators and masters like Honi Coles, Cholly Atkins, Chuck Green, Buster Brown, Lon Chaney and Jimmy Slyde.
After finishing school in 1992 and an intensive training period in the USA, Thomas Marek became a professional tap dancer. After touring in Florida with Brenda Bufalino's "American Tap Dance Orchestra" in the mid 1990s he started focusing on his own artistic performances and tap dance productions. He created, produced and directed over 8 original theater & dance productions and was invited to many festivals and shows to perform as a soloist. He is a regular guest in theaters and festivals all over Germany, Europe and the USA.
He performed in Spain, Brazil, Israel, France, the USA and in theaters all over Germany. Thomas has danced on stage with tap dance greats like Brenda Bufalino, Barbara Duffy, Sarah Petronio, Jimmy Slyde and Gregory Hines.
Kurt Holzkämper (Bass, Sound Design)
Kurt Holzkämper studied jazz bass, music production and music education at the Würzburg Conservatory. He has played with Frank Kimbrough and John King (NYC), Meschiya Lake (New Orleans), Johannes Enders (D), Daniel "Topo" Gioia (Argentina), the Brazilians Edmundo Carneiro (Tania Maria), Don Pi (Djavan, Tim Maya), Luiz Brasil (Gil Gilberto, Caetano Veloso), the Cubans Regis Molina (Till Brönner) and Olvido Ruiz Castellanos (Cuba Nova) as well as free improvisations with Fried Dähn and others.
Concert tours to Russia, Ukraine, the USA and Nicaragua constitute an important element of his musical career. In his bass playing, he combines jazz, Brazilian and Latin American elements.
His body of work as a composer, musician and performer includes various TV and dance productions together with tap dancer Thomas Marek, many concert readings with Grupo Sal together with the actors Dietmar Schönherr, Brigitte Karner, Joachim Król, the Nicaraguan poet Ernesto Cardenal, the writer Gioconda Belli and the collaboration with Trio Azul and actress Suzanne von Borsody in a show about Frida Kahlo.