Bertrand Denzler is a saxophonist, improviser and composer who works in fields related to improvised music, free jazz and experimental, new or contemporary music. Taking different approaches to sound, rhythm and the structuration of sonic spaces, he is interested in the challenges of collective practice, the implementation of uncertain processes and phenomena, and various forms of musical intensity.

 

He has played concerts in Europe, North and South America, Asia and Oceania, and has published dozens of recordings. He has composed pieces for various groups, ensembles and soloists, as well as for theatre and cinema. He has also collaborated with artists from other disciplines (dance, sculpture, video, poetry, performance), performed compositions, published texts on music, given lectures, organised concerts, produced albums, launched labels, and led improvisation workshops.

 

 

 

A founding member of groups and ensembles such as Sbatax, Protocluster, Trio Sowari, Hubbub, Onceim, Neuköllner Modelle, The Lair, Zoor, Denzler-Guionnet-Mattin-Unami, Propagations, Denzler-Koch or Sunny Murray Duo/Trio, he has played with hundreds of musicians and has released albums on labels like Potlatch, Matchless, Confront, Umlaut, Relative Pitch, Insub, Remote Resonator, Mikroton, Creative Sources and Leo.

 

He has composed pieces for Onceim, Umlaut Big Band, Félicie Bazelaire, Beliah-Heilbron-Majkowski-Shirley, Šalter Ensemble, CoÔ or Ensemble Hodos.

 

With Onceim, he has performed pieces by composers like Peter Ablinger, Ellen Arkbro, Patricia Bosshard, Christian Marclay, Genevieve Murphy, Stephen O'Malley, Jim O'Rourke and Eliane Radigue.

 

He has published several texts about music, including the books “Musique improvisée et questions politiques” (Bruit) with Frantz Loriot and “The Practice of Musical Improvisation” (Bloomsbury) with Jean-Luc Guionnet, and has given lectures with them, notably at Ircam and Imec.

 

He has co-programmed and co-organised concerts in Zurich, Geneva, Cologne, Paris and Berlin, and has founded the netlabel Remote Resonator with Pierre-Antoine Badaroux and Antonin Gerbal.

 

He has led numerous improvisation workshops, for example at Festival Météo (Mulhouse), Instants Chavirés (Montreuil), Eglise Saint-Merry (Paris) and Exploratorium (Berlin).