Carlo Costa
Diaphane
Frantz Loriot - viola
Raphael Loher - piano
Carl-Ludwig Hübsch - tuba
Carlo Costa - percussion
About Diaphane
Diaphane is a collective quartet featuring violist Frantz Loriot (Zurich), pianist Raphael Loher (Lucerne), tubist Carl Ludwig Hübsch (Cologne) and percussionist Carlo Costa (New York City).
Diaphane’s music ranges from quiet minimalism to dense, colorful tapestries of sound. The quartet makes use of a wide range of techniques, preparations and supplemental objects or to access a wide array of timbres and create intricate yet transparent textures. Although their sets are fully improvised, structures and forms arise naturally. Deep listening, patience, placement and precision are central to the quartet's music.
The band was initially assembled by Frantz Loriot in December 2018 while he was artist in residence at Moods in Zurich. The quartet has since toured in Europe in 2019, 2021 and 2023. In the fall of 2021 Diaphane’s first album, Paris, was released on Neither/Nor Records in 2021.
Press quotes
“Another fine addition to this splendid label’s discography and a top-notch example of intense, collaborative, and intelligent improvisation.” (The Sound Projector review of Paris)
“It is often clear who is doing what, but sometimes this isn't easy to identify. This sometimes evokes the experience of the music is one organic whole, one undivided movement where it is absolutely not relevant anymore to register who is doing what. Although the pleasure of listening to this (and any) kind of improvisation is also to experience the high communicative level reached, which certainly counts for this excellent recording. The vibrant improvisations continue in a very natural flow and are very lively. Fragile and full of details on the one hand, very focused and together on the other. There is much to be observed and to be enjoyed in these multi-coloured and strongly interconnected improvisations. A joy!” (Vital Weekly review of Paris)
“From the start they take the listener on a fascinating 36 minute journey of musical surprises. Regardless of the instruments used, all sounds are fresh, unexpected, and - like often in Costa's music - they have an organic or natural quality. Loriot and Costa have performed and recorded often before, and the match with the two other musicians is perfect. Carl Ludwig Hübsch's tuba is not only a fantastic addition to the ensemble, but his view on the flow and continuity of the development of musical narratives is really close to what the label has produced so far. Raphael Loher we did not know, and his piano work is a real discovery.” (Free Jazz Blog review of Paris)
Releases
Paris, Neither/Nor Records (2021)
Video footage
Bios
French-Japanese violist Frantz Loriot performs solo and is active in a number of international ensembles. He has contributed to interdisciplinary projects related to dance, image, theatre and poetry, and various installations. Loriot recently launched Recordedness, a website dedicated to the questions around recordings and act of recording. Loriot initiated and led two large ensembles, the European Notebook Large Ensemble and the NYC based Systematic Distortion Orchestra. Active in a number of international collective ensembles, his current projects include solo, various duos, trios and quartets including: Koch/Loriot/Kocher (with Hans Koch and Jonas Kocher), Natura Morta (with Sean Ali and Carlo Costa), Badrutt/Guionnet/Loriot (with Gaudenz Badrutt and Jean-Luc Guionnet), Khan/Loriot/Wolfarth (with Jason Khan and Christian Wolfarth), ViolaTwoViola (with Cyprien Busolini), Der Verboten (with Céderic Piromalli, Antoine Chessex and Christian Wolfarth).
Raphael Loher is a Swiss pianist and composer, working in various musical styles and interdisciplinary projects. Using preparations and extended techniques, he expands the sound of the piano and creates his personal and unique sound-world. With Post-genre Group KALI Trio (featuring drummer Nicholas Stocker and guitarist Urs Müller) he is pushing the boundaries between contemporary classical music, electronica, improv and minimal music. His other projects include Baumschule (with Julian Sartorius and Manuel Troller), Diaphane (with Frantz Loriot, Carl Ludwig H¨übsch and Carlo Costa) and a solo piano project. Raphael has been curating concerts in Lucern at Kulturbraurei and Mulbau.
German tubist Carl Ludwig Hübsch’s work focusses mainly on all kinds of Improvised Music and Composition for “active interpreters“. He co-leads, leads or is part of many ensembles and orchestras. He is well known for his unique solo concerts. Hübsch also leads workshops for tuba and/or improvisation.
Hübsch founded and curates the series “Plattform Nicht Dokumentierbarer Ereignisse“ (platform of non documentable events) which exists in Cologne since 2004. Based on his residencies Hübsch assembled three books about improvisation. His current projects include: Universe (Gerry Hemingway, Mathias Schubert, Wolter Wierbros), a duo with Phil Minton, the ten piece band Artblau, the large ensemble Ensemble X, the trio Hübsch/Martel/Zoubek (with Pierre-Yves Martel and Philip Zoubek, Primordial Soup (Axel Dörner, Frank Gratkowsky, Michael Griener), and several others.
Percussionist and composer Carlo Costa was born and grew up in Rome, Italy. Since 2005 he has been based in New York City. In the past several years he has been making music which is largely improvised and/or experimental in nature. Through the use of a variety of unusual techniques and added objects Carlo has meticulously developed a distinctive and wide-ranging sonic palette. His long standing projects are Natura Morta (with Frantz Loriot and Sean Ali), Earth Tongues (with Dan Peck and Joe Moffett) and Moritz/Ali/Costa (with Jonathan Moritz and Sean Ali). Newer projects include a duo with contrabass clarinetist John McCowen and the quartet Diaphane (with Carl Ludwig Hübsch, Raphael Loher and Frantz Loriot) and a duo with Canadian bass clarinetist and composer Philippe Lauzier. Carlo additionally performs solo concerts and has released two solo albums to date.
