"Mit ihrer Querflöte atmet, haucht sie, kitzelt dieses raue Timbre heraus- Clémence Manachère erfindet sich ständig neu - eine richtige Wasser Natur." Peter Helling, NDR Journalist
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"Under water, only whales actually sing. But the musician Clémence Manachère, who comes from the south of France, associates pretty clear visions of sound with these two words, which build the name of her own band "Unterwasser" after she moved to Hamburg for her studies.
"Serpents et Échelles" is the third album of the multi-voiced and imaginatively sorted ensemble, which is maturing in Hamburg into a "working band".
The musician, who is well versed on flutes and soprano saxophone, pursues ambitious goals: above all in the combination of sophisticated compositional technique and equally compact and relaxed improvisation.
It's been a long time since someone has been working so distinctive on the ensemble's common sound right from the start; also it's not often the case that the collective sound is that present as in the musical fantasies of Clémence Manachère. The sound of this band is entirely hers. And the horizon is very broad under water."
Michael Laages, NDR Journalist
U P C O M I N G
CD-RELEASE TOUR : „Serpents et Échelles“
Clémence Manachère UNTERWASSER & Helge Sunde
Niklas Werk, Nico Bauckholt, Moritz Hamm, Dirk-Achim Dhonau
Clémence Manachère comes from the seaside mountains of South West of France.
Starting at age 10 she learned to play classical piano for 8 years at the Pau Conservatory of Music.
At 14 she took part in the festival „les Enfants du Jazz“ and heard Elvin Jones live in Barcelonnette, her grandmother’s village in the „Alpes de haute Provence“ – her baptism in jazz.
At 16 she bought her first flute and began to learn the instrument as an autodidact.
From 18 to 24 she studied architecture in France and Mexico City.
During her final year at the architecture school of Paris-Belleville, she took lessons with saxophonist and flutist Guillaume Naturel.
From Paris she traveled to Brazil and since then dedicated herself fully to music. In Rio de Janeiro she played in the Orchestra da Escola Portátil de Chorro and in the Orquestra da Pro Arte where she participated in a project with João Bosco.
Back in Europe she studied jazz flute at the music school Berlin-Neukölln and since October 2017 she has added the soprano saxophone studying at Hamburg’s Hochschule with Fiete Felsch and Gabriel Coburger.
She also took rhythm and drums classes with Mark Nauseef for two years. Mark’s rhythmic visions are a big impulse for her composing and improvising.
In order to bring her compositions to life, she launched in 2018 her project „Clémence Manachère Unterwasser“.
She has already recorded three albums with „Unterwasser“ released in 2020, 2022, and to be released in April 2024 under the label JazzHausMusik.
The band has been playing many concerts in Hamburg and in North Germany.
Clémence has received the „Mixed Generations“ grant from the Feldtmann Foundation and the Jazz Federation Hamburg for a tour with „Unterwasser“ and the Norwegian trombone player Helge Sunde in April and November 2022.
IN JANUARY 2024 CLÉMENCE WON THE WERNER BURKHARDT MUSIKRPEIS.
The inspirations for Clémence’s music span from jazz to classical music, going through Frank Zappa and Brazilian music. The sound of her group is unique thanks to the unique compositions and combination of personalities.
Pushing possibilities of composition and improvisation is a main goal for Clémence, no matter if it is about odd meters, microtonalITY or both.
Since July 2023 is Clémence part of the the Claussen-Simon Stiftung’s stART.up program.