DeutschIncense of Music 72
Skin, Metal and Wood
A multisensory concert – Friday, 10 April 2026, 8 pm
Incense: Sandal, Styrax, Diptam
PANDA Platforma in der Kulturbrauerei, Knaackstr. 97, 10435 Berlin
A concert for the ears and the air. Witness three singular artists in solo performances: Kalle Kalima's genre-defying guitar, Almut Kühne's breathtaking vocal artistry, and Wieland Möller's immersive world of drums and gongs. The atmosphere is charged with the sacred scents of Sandal, Styrax, and Diptam.
For guests who are particularly sensitive to smoke, this event is not recommended.
Artists
Kalle Kalima — guitar
Kalle Kalima (b. 1973 in Helsinki, Finland) has worked with trumpeters Tomasz Stanko and Leo Wadada Smith, sax players Juhani Aaltonen, Anthony Braxton, Frank Gratkowski and Mikko Innanen, trombonist Conny Bauer, bass players Greg Cohen, Sirone and Chris Jennings, guitarist Marc Ducret, composers Michael Wertmüller and Simon Stockhausen, pianist Jason Moran, drummers Jim Black and Tony Allen and singers Andreas Schaerer, Jelena Kuljic, Theresa Kronthaler, Claron Macfadden, Linda Sharrock as well as with Ensemble Resonanz, B'Rock, NDR Big Band and Jazzanova DJs. Kalima has been working intensively with the Swiss virtuoso vocalist Andreas Schaerer in recent years. They released "Evolution" (ACT) with Tim Lefebvre in 2023 and toured in trio and duo. Further new releases in 2024 are "Halogen" (We Jazz) by Lampen (duo with drummer Tatu Rönkkö) and "Ilmonique" (Tyxart Records) by duo with pianist Achim Kaufmann. The album "Flying like Eagles" with Knut Reiersrud on guitar, Jim Black on drums and Phil Donkin on bass was released in 2019 and the record release concert was in the Philharmonie of Berlin. Kalima's Trio "Long Winding Road" with bass player Greg Cohen (Tom Waits, Ornette Coleman) and Max Andrzejewski was touring in 2016 with the "High Noon" album (ACT). The group Klima Kalima with Oliver Steidle and Oliver Potratz won "Neuer Deutscher Jazzpreis" in 2008 and has released five albums. Kalima is a member of "A Novel of Anomaly" (with Andreas Schaerer, drummer Lucas Niggli and accordionist Luciano Biondini). Kalima is a member of ROKC quartet (album ROWK) with Ronny Graupe (gtr), Oli Steidle (drs) and Chris Pitsiokes (sax). The trio "Johnny La Marama" with Eric Schaefer (drs) and Chris Dahlgren (bs) has released 4 albums and has collaborated with Novoflot Opera company. Kalima received the "Ted Curson" prize of Pori jazz festival (FI) in 2016. He is a member of the group "Kuu" with Christian Lillinger, Jelena Kuljic and Frank Möbus. Kalima is a professor of jazz guitar at the university of Lucerne since 2017.
Almut Kühne — vocal improvisations
Almut Kühne (born in 1983 in Dresden) is a German jazz singer, composer, and performer of contemporary music. Kühne, who comes from an artistic family, began taking piano lessons at the age of seven. At sixteen, she started vocal training. She studied until 2008 in the jazz program at the Berlin University of the Arts "Hanns Eisler". In 2005, Kühne was a member of the Berlin Youth Jazz Orchestra under the direction of Nicolai Thärichen, with whom she participated in the World Forum of Sacred Music in Los Angeles. She performed with Georg Graewe's ensemble sonic fiction at the Nickelsdorf Konfrontationen and the Total Music Meeting. Together with Johanna Borchert, Antonis Anissegos, and video artists Benjamin Schindler and Markus Glandt, she runs the project Dowland Waters. Kühne has released two albums under her own name on Unit Records.
Wieland Möller — drums and gongs
Wieland Möller is a Berlin based drummer, sound artist and performer in the fields of jazz, improvised music and contemporary dance. He studied at the Rotterdams Conservatory, Rhythmic Conservatory Copenhagen and Berklee College of Music and in New York. He has been a scholar of the Berklee College of Music, Goethe Institution Germany and GVL. Wieland is the founder of the Akvariet Trio. He has performed at the Buenos Aires Jazz Festival, Jazz International Rotterdam Festival and among others, and has toured Germany, The Netherlands, Spain, Portugal, Argentina and Iceland. He has worked with Kazuhisa Uchihashi, Markus Stockhausen, Klaas Hekman, Tobias Delius, Julyen Hamilton, Ingo Reulecke, Okwui Okpokwasili and other collaborators.
Incense
Sandalwood refers to a genus of about 25 species of slow-growing trees and shrubs. They are hemiparasitic, meaning they attach their roots to other plants to obtain water and nutrients, though they produce their own energy through photosynthesis. The value of the tree lies in its heartwood, the dense inner part of the trunk and roots. It takes about 15 to 30 years for the heartwood to develop its potent aromatic oil.
As an incense, sandalwood is one of the oldest and most revered scents in the world, used for over 4,000 years in religious and spiritual practices. The scent profile is universally described as warm, soft, rich, creamy and woody, with subtle notes of sweet musk. Sandalwood incense is fundamental in Hinduism, Buddhism and other traditions for meditation, prayers and funerals.
Styrax is a genus of about 130 species of large shrubs or small trees in the family Styracaceae. The most notable characteristic of the genus is the resin obtained from the bark of certain species, which has been used for centuries as incense and in medicine.
As an incense, Styrax refers to the fragrant resin, known as benzoin or storax. The resin is harvested by making incisions in the bark, from which a fragrant balsam exudes and hardens into reddish-brown tears or lumps. Benzoin resin has a warm, sweet, vanilla-like aroma and is used as a fixative in perfumery, as well as incense for purification and spiritual practices.
Dittany is a perennial herbaceous plant that typically grows 40 to 120 centimeters tall. It has pinnate leaves that smell strongly of lemon and citrus when rubbed. On hot, windless days, the released flammable vapors can be ignited with a flame, which burns off instantly without harming the plant — giving the plant its common names such as "burning bush" or "gas plant."
As an incense, dittany is valued for its fresh, spicy, and slightly citrusy aroma. The scent is described as harmonizing, cleansing, and clarifying. It has a long history of traditional use in spiritual ceremonies and rituals for its protective and purifying properties.