KRISPER

KRiSPER is a project initiated in 2016 by Romanian pianist Adi Stoenescu. In 2017, KRiSPER released their debut album, Landing on the Comet. Since then, they have participated in major festivals across the country, such as Bucharest Jazz Festival, Smida, JazzTM, Sibiu Jazz Festival, and Jazz in the Park. After relocating to Berlin in 2023, the group underwent a transformation, adopting a new lineup featuring top local musicians. Recently, they have performed in prestigious jazz clubs in Berlin, such as Donau, Peppi Guggenheim, B-flat, and Schlot.

KRiSPER combines layers of electric jazz, rock, and pop sensibility to generate a controlled explosion of sound. With an interest in improvisation, chaos, instability, and the structure of musical forms, the band is as attentive to the process that gives birth to their music as they are to the final product.

Adi Stoenescu, initially trained in classical piano, transitioned into jazz improvisation under the mentorship of pianist and composer Marius Popp. As a Hammond Organ player in Arcuș Trio, he won the Best Composition award at the Sibiu Jazz Festival in 2015. Adi’s discography includes Allotropy (2016) with Arcuș Trio, Titan Suite with Iordache (2019), and Landing on the Comet (2017) with his band KRiSPER. In 2021, he launched Waking Light with Adi Stoenescu Group, followed by Surfacing in 2022 with Adi Stoenescu Trio. His collaborations extend to prominent artists and participation in key jazz festivals across Romania. Notable partners include Arcuș Trio, Iordache, Nicolas Simion, Paolo Profeti European Collective, Laura Benedek’s 7th Sense and Marta Popovici among others. Since his move to Berlin, Adi continues to explore modern jazz through his original compositions.

Omri Abramov is an accomplished Israeli saxophonist, composer, and producer. He serves as the musical producer and saxophonist for the Iranian-Israeli ensemble Sistanagila. Additionally, Omri showcases his skills as a saxophonist and EWI (Electronic Wind Instrument) player alongside the internationally acclaimed singer Noa. Beyond these roles, he leads the New York City-based trio Hovercraft, co-leads the Berlin based Big Berry and the jazz-fusion band Niogi. He extensively tours as a sideman with various musical groups throughout the year. Omri’s impressive musical journey includes noteworthy performances and studio collaborations with acclaimed artists such as Dennis Chambers, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Shai Maestro, Noa, Pete Lockett, and many others.

Born in Ukraine, trumpeter Dima Bondarev discovered his passion for Jazz after initially studying classical music as a child. Between 2008 and 2013, he was very active in Ukraine, Russia and Poland taking part in major Jazz festivals and concert tours. Since 2013 he has been based in Berlin where he undertook both Bachelor and Master studies at the Jazz Institut Berlin. His own group, the Dima Bondarev Quintet, has performed at festivals all around Europe including the Umbria Jazz Festival in Italy, Xjazz Festival in Germany, Jazz nad Odra in Poland, Jazz Bez in Ukraine and Poland and Jazz à Montauban in France. As a sideman Dima has collaborated with Greg Cohen, Joey Baron, Conrad Herwig, Steve Turre, Nels Cline, Jim Black, Dana Hall, NDR Big Band, Josh Ginsburg, Wanja Slavin, Elias Stemeseder and many others.

Francesco Beccaro is a Berlin-based bass player, composer and educator. He graduated from the Collective School of Music in New York and is one of the featured soloists in Victor Wooten’s instructional DVD entitled Groove Workshop. His keen musical sensitivity allowed him to work in a huge variety of musical styles. That led him to perform with such diverse artists as: Tony award winning tap artist Savion Glover, jazz legend Jimmy Cobb, rock-blues icon Popa Chubby, pop star Monifah, fusion wizards Screaming Headless Torsos and electronic music new star K Drew, to name just a few. Francesco’s first solo album, Upward, was released in 2021 on Auand Records. As a composer, he scored music for documentaries, dance videos, shows and short movies. Francesco was a faculty member of The Collective School of Music (New York, USA) from 2010 to 2018.

Martin Krümmling is a talented drummer and composer, renowned for his open sound aesthetic and distinctive style. He was a semi-finalist in the prestigious Monk Competition in 2012. His debut album, The Vision Behind, released in 2012 on Unit Records, captures the energy of his two years in New York. The album features six original compositions and an arrangement of Pent Up House, with contributions from renowned musicians like Mark Turner and Anna Webber. A versatile artist, Martin plays in projects such as Field Vision and the piano trio Metrobop. He collaborated with a wide range of musicians and bands, including jazz greats like Lage Lund, Jason Moran, Dan Tepfer, David Friedman, Maucha Adnet, and Bill Dobbins. Originally from Gotha, he studied at the Jazz Institute Berlin and later earned a master’s degree at the Manhattan School of Music. Now based in Berlin, Martin continues to perform internationally as a freelance musician.

A band that started stirring up the Romanian jazz underground, (…) KRiSPER is willing to risk their subsistence by testing rarely explored eccentricities here.

— Aron Biro, Dilema Veche

(…) a winning blend of interstellar Herbie and Strata East grit, the big horns, beefy rhythm section and an overdriven Rhodes really shaking the cobwebs away.

— Justin Turford, Jazzwise