Tristano Unchained & Julian Bossert – ID Entity

In the beginning, the first part of the name of the quintet Tristano Unchained, led by saxophonist Julian Bossert, was important. The blind pianist Lennie Tristano experimented with the compositional technique of contrefact to add a new theme to an existing chord structure. In the meantime, the second part of the name has taken center stage. “Django Unchained” is the name of a film by Quentin Tarantino, whose work develops an immense complexity through references to film history, cross-references and self-quotes. For the five of them, this process is in a way a mission to deal with their own personality against the backdrop of a collective playing culture, which is also reflected in the polyphonic ramifications of the five voices. The collective attentiveness becomes clear in another detail. Tristano Unchained go on stage without a set list and leave it open as to who will play one of the 40 or so pieces from the repertoire, which the others can then join in with.