The Extensions
feat.
Christoph Baumann (piano)
Vinz Vonlanthen (g/electronics)
The Extensions was Georg Hofmann's Swiss FreePulseNoiseMusic trio. Swiss Radio DRS produced the Extensions' first critically aclaimed CD "sit back and relax" (Altrisuoni) after a first tour in Switzerland in 2001. Its last concert was in 2023 at AMR,Geneva. With Vinz Vonlanthen's demise, the group disbanded.
The Extensions played mostly in Switzerland including a tour with Mexican guest musicians and Hofmann's friends from his times in Mexico City Aaron Cruz on bass and Remy Alvarez on tenor - and sopranosax in 2004.
In 2005 die lange Nacht der kurzen Geschichten, festival of literature in Zürich, Switzerland, comissioned a literature reading with live music on Boris Vian's "l'écume du jour". Georg Hofmann conceived "Extended Boris" composing a logbook of improvisations played by The Extensions and underlying and interplaying with the text. Actor Patrick Rapold read the text in the opening shows and was later replaced by Jaap Achterberg.
Then The Extensions went to vacation for some time. After some concerts in duo with Christoph Baumann, Georg Hofmann decided to revive the trio in its original version for a tour in April 2023.
sit back and relax (altrisuoni 2002)
Shades of Time
Steve Gorn (bansuri flute, sopranosax, clarinet)
Raul Tudon (marimba, percussion)
Georg Hofmann (drums, percussion)
Shades of Time is Georg Hofmann's main musical creation from his time in Mexico. Meeting grammy award winning bansuri master Steve Gorn in New York as special guest in a Carr-Nord-Hofmann concert, Hofmann was looking for a format to continue playing with this exceptional musician.
Visiting the Tambuco percussion quartett in Mexico City he found out about Raul Tudon's phenomenal solo marimba work and started to play in duo with him after moving to Mexico City in 2001. Time came when Steve Gorn was able to join them for a series of concerts at Sala Blas Galindo of Centro Nacional De Las Artes and ArtLife Latinoamérica in Mexico City (see live photo).
The meeting of the three quite diverse musicians turned out to be very successful and the best recordings of the two concerts were published on their first CD "Dreaming Mexico" on the mexican label Quindecim.
Then followed a series of tours in Europe and Mexico including performances at Festival Internacional Cervantino (Mexico 2008), Jazzfest Aalen (Germany 2007), Festival "Diesseits vom Jenseits" (Basel, Switzerland 2007) and Festival Frida Kahlo (Mexico City 2005) and the 2nd CD "Siladette Awakening" in 2008.
Master Percussionist Pierre Favre on Shades of Time’s 2nd CD “Siladette Awakening”: “Despite the different musical characters and cultural backgrounds, this group is fantastically in balance. Each piece has a form and is clearly balanced, giving room to each musician and enabling a really interesting encounter”.
Due to Raul Tudon's health problems Shades of Time came to a halt in 2010. A new version with a differnt line-up is in the works.
Siladette Awakening
(Dreamscape, 2008)
Dreaming Mexico
(Quindecim, 2004) SOLD OUT!
Shades of Time live at Moods, Zürich
Folksong (G.Hofmann/SUISA)
Shades of Time live at Moods, Zürich
Dreaming Shree (S.Gorn/Bamboo Rasa, BMI)
Shades of Time live at Moods, Zürich
Tikal (G.Hofmann/SUISA)