DeutschIncense of Music 72
skin, metal and wood
A multisensory concert – Friday, 10. April 2026, 8 pm
Almut Kühne: vocal improvisations
Wieland Möller: drums and gongs
Kalle Kalima: guitar
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.
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. Kalimas has been working intensively with the Swiss virtuoso vocalist Andreas Schaerer in last years. They released „Evolution“ (ACT) with Tim Lefvebre 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 Philharmony 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. The sixth one will be released in 2025. Kalima is member of “A Novel of Anomaly” (w Andreas Schaerer, drummer Lucas Niggli and Accordionist Luciano Biondini). The group is releasing their second album „Anthem for No Man´s Land“ in 2025. 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 is also leading K-18, a Finnish group with quarter-tone accordion that won Jazz- Emma in Finland in 2013. With his solo program “Pentasonic” he plays guitar through electronics into 5 amps surrounding the audience. 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 which claimed positive resonance with their second album “Lampedusa Lullaby” and the third one „Artificial Sheep“. They were nominated for German Jazz Prize in 2022. He has a trio “Tenors of Kalma” with Jimi Tenor, Finnish underground pop star. Their first album “Electric Willow” was released in early 2015 and brought Kalima “Echo –Jazz” Prize nomination in 2016 and the second one „Sounds of Salo“ was also positively received. Kalima was nominated for German Jazz Prize for Guitar in 2022. Kalima is a professor of jazz guitar at the university of Lucerne since 2017.
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. She has appeared in a duo with Gebhard Ullmann and Anthony Coleman, respectively, as well as in combos and other large ensembles. 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. She was also involved in a CD production of Bach’s Christmas Oratorio with the Dresden Chamber Choir and the Gewandhaus Orchestra conducted by Riccardo Chailly. Furthermore, she has interpreted vocal works by Graewe, John Cage, Luigi Nono, Helmut Lachenmann, Ondřej Adámek, and Michael Edward Edgerton. She can also be heard on Peter Ehwald’s album Septuor de grand matin (2019). Almut Kühne also created a six-channel sound collage as an integral element of the video sculpture Candelabro (by Werner Klotz, based on an idea by Sebastian Mendes), which is dedicated to the memory of Aristides de Sousa Mendes and was on display and audible at the Museu Nacional Resistência e Liberdade in Fortaleza de Peniche in 2021, the National Pantheon in Lisbon and the Musée d’Aquitaine in Bordeaux in 2022, and at Ulm Minster in 2023.
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. Being a performing musician and composer, Wieland Möller has been involved in dance and theater projects and performances, among others at the Biennale Berlin 2018, Junge Deutsche Oper Berlin, Gripstheatre, Reykjavik Dance Festival and Prague Dance Festival. He has worked with Kazuhisa Uchihashi, Markus Stockhausen, Klaas Hekman, Tobias Delius, Julyen Hamilton, Ingo Reulecke, Okwui Okpokwasili and other collaborators. Wieland Möller is an experienced performer based in Berlin with movement and sound for over 20 years. He recently completed a new Masters degree at the Musikhochschule Dresden on the connection of sound and movement, especially on the physicality of playing an instrument into extended movements and performative qualities. His recent solo performance work brings this research together with the topic of perception and awareness of different spaces. He is fascinated by making sounds visual and motions audible. This was supported by the researchgrand “Distanzsolo”. Also Wieland is teaching Workshops of Rhythmik and works with Gongs at the European Academy of Healing Arts Klein Jasedow. Wieland is constantly creating and living with the coming together of Art, Nature and Spirit.
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. Key species include Indian Sandalwood, which is the most prized for its fragrance, and Australian Sandalwood. It is a small to medium-sized evergreen tree, typically growing 4 to 10 meters tall. It has leathery leaves, small flowers that can range from white to purple, and produces a small, dark colored fruit. 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. Due to high demand and over harvesting, wild populations of Indian Sandalwood are considered vulnerable to extinction, leading to strict cultivation and trade regulations in many countries. 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 fragrance comes from the essential oil, specifically compounds called alpha santalol and beta santalol, which are distilled from the heartwood. The scent profile is universally described as warm, soft, rich, creamy and woody, with subtle notes of sweet musk. It is known for its excellent tenacity, meaning the scent lingers for a very long time. Sandalwood incense is fundamental in Hinduism, Buddhism and other traditions for meditation, prayers and funerals. It is believed to have spiritual properties that calm the mind, enhance focus and bring one closer to the divine. Its smoke is considered purifying. The incense can be made from raw sandalwood chips or powder simply burned on charcoal, or more commonly as masala incense sticks. For sticks, a paste of sandalwood powder and other natural ingredients is hand rolled onto a bamboo core.
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. The flowers are showy, five-petaled, and range in color from white to pink to pale purple with darker veins. They are arranged in loose spikes and bloom in late spring to early summer. The plant produces star-shaped seed capsules that, when dry, eject the seeds with an audible crack. It is native to warm, open woodland areas in southern Europe, north Africa, and parts of Asia. It prefers dry, calcareous soils in full sun to partial shade. The plant contains essential oils and furanocoumarins. Contact with the foliage followed by exposure to sunlight can cause severe phototoxic skin reactions. The leaves are also bitter and can cause mild stomach upset if eaten. The most remarkable characteristic of the plant is its volatile oils. On hot, windless days, the released flammable vapors can be ignited with a flame, which burns off instantly without harming the plant. This gives 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 dried leaves, flowers, and stems are used. 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. It is often used for energetic clearing of spaces, to promote mental clarity and focus during meditation, and to create a sense of a protected and harmonious atmosphere. The fragrance is believed to support reflection and inner calm. For use as an incense, the dried plant material can be gently heated on a teabag warmer to release its clear, aromatic scent. It can also be burned on a charcoal block, which produces a more intense, spicy fragrance suitable for spiritual practices.
Styrax is a genus of about 130 species of large shrubs or small trees in the family Styracaceae. They are native to warm temperate and tropical regions of the Northern Hemisphere, with most species found in eastern and southeastern Asia, as well as South America. Styrax trees typically grow 2 to 14 meters tall and have alternate, simple ovate leaves that may be deciduous or evergreen. The flowers are pendulous, white, and often fragrant, with a five to ten-lobed corolla. The fruit is an oblong, dry drupe. Some Styrax species are popular ornamental trees in parks and gardens. 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, obtained from various Styrax species. The most important sources are Styrax benzoin from Sumatra, which produces Sumatra benzoin, and Styrax tonkinensis from Southeast Asia, which produces Siam benzoin. 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 an ingredient in cosmetics, and as incense. As incense, it is burned for its pleasant fragrance, for purification, and in spiritual practices to promote clarity and focus. Benzoin is also a component of tincture of benzoin, used medicinally as a disinfectant and in first aid.