KRISPER

KRiSPER is a project kick-started in 2017 by Romanian pianist Adi Stoenescu. Following his relocation to Berlin in 2023, the group underwent a transformation, embracing a fresh lineup that boasts top local musicians.

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.

In 2017, KRiSPER launched their debut album, Landing on the Comet. Since then, they have been featured at major festivals across Romania, including Bucharest Jazz Festival, Smida Jazz Festival, JazzTM, Street Delivery (Bucharest), and Sibiu Jazz Festival.

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.

Manuel Podhostnik, also known by his stage name Skyed, is a Slovenian drummer, music producer and songwriter based in Berlin. Following the nature of jazz in its essential art form is crucial in expressing himself as an artist. His work is based on exploring, evolving and pushing the mental boundaries on the instrument. Production wise, Manuel is inventing new concepts and successfully incorporates them in writing music. He wrote and produced the album Curiosity under his own name and his main collaborations include Tim Lefebvre, Marko Churnchetz, Tadej Kampl, Jure Pukl, Doug Hammond, Kristian Korat.