Beatdenkers Polyplay

His real name is Jo Wespel, he was born in 1984 in the Allgäu and grew up in a small village near Ravensburg. He had his first guitar lessons at the age of 10 and later studied jazz guitar at the Carl Maria von Weber University of Music in Dresden. His stage name Beatdenker is almost self-explanatory: As an improvisation artist, Wespel’s aim is to translate various intervals into polyrhythmic structures through improvisation; in other words, to think of a beat in a different way than just rhythmically or metrically. His concept is also evident in his trio Polyplay, which includes Olga Reznichenko (keyboards) and Philip Dornbusch (drums). Their sound is multifunctional and draws on many sources. However, it is not the origin and genesis of these sounds of imaginary origin that are important, but how they are constantly deconstructed, combined differently and reorganised. The focus is therefore not on the fixed result. Rather, the creative process that leads to it is important.