Kaja Draksler (Kranj, 1987), originally a jazz pianist, has developed an unconventional and highly personal idiom: a surprising cocktail of avant-garde jazz, new music and a traditional repertoire from Slovenia. She will sometimes prepare the grand piano, she will frequently improvise, but she always grabs the listener’s attention with her lucid sound.

Kaja Draksler is interested in finding ways to merge composition and improvisation by working with different structures and musical logics. Her very own and irresistibly clear sound and way to work with the grand piano both prepared and unprepared moves between the aesthetics of avant-garde Jazz, New Music and traditional Slovenian music as she is drawn to the idea of erasing the stylistic and historical musical borders, discovering personal expression and language through composition and improvisation.

“I usually decide on the programme when I get to the venue, get to know the instrument and the acoustics of the space. I play my own compositions and free improvised pieces. The balance between the two depends on the space, the audience, my mood, the instrument, so every concert is different, unique and devised for the space I play in, in the moment I play, or during the final preparations on the day of the concert.” kajadraksler.com