Flashback: Askesis 1992

A couple of days ago, I found an old videotape from January 1992. It contains a short passage where I practice Askesis, a Guitar Craft piece written by Tony Geballe. Tony was Robert Fripp's assistant on the first Guitar Craft course in Germany, back in 1987 - a week that changed my life. One of the GC pieces I eventually managed to play, mostly together with my GC friend Leander Reininghaus, was Askesis. I loved it for its relentless angularity.

Too bad the final seconds were cut off for some reason on this old tape!

A little bit later, I participated in two GC courses, held in 1995 and 1996 in Andreis, a small place in the Northern Italy mountains, and led by Askesis composer Tony Geballe. Tony is a wonderful teacher. We learned a lot and had big fun - I remember how we stood in a circle, stepped back and forth in fours, and at the same time, clapped in sevens or even more exotic meters.

Shortly after the Andreis courses, Leander, Markus and me formed Trio Gitarristik, a GC/livelooping oriented guitar/Chapman stick trio that stayed together for a year or two - we had a number of gigs, and played Askesis every time.

Leander, Markus, Andre, Cathy, Tony, Udo

Tony Geballe, 1995

Markus, Andre, Leander - 1995 in Venice

the house in Andreis