Shake Stew - TEN ONE TWO (2026)

Austrian jazz ensemble Shake Stew celebrate 10 years with landmark double album TEN ONE TWO; a forward-looking odyssey into their world of improvisation, global influences and collective exploration, with third part of the album TEN THREE released later in 2026.

TEN ONE is a perfect example of everything that’s come before, with bandleader Lukas Kranzelbinder’s compositions, the signature doubled bass lines and trance-like brass textures to driving grooves and extended solo passages that alternate with haunting melodic themes. TEN TWO delves into the energy you can find in their live performances, where there’s limitless improvisation and symbiotic collaborative music making, something only possible after playing for so many years together.

Over the years, international media have repeatedly associated Shake Stew with the term “Krautjazz,” and the band’s hypnotic soundscapes and driving rhythms have earned them widespread acclaim. From sold-out venues like Vienna’s Konzerthaus and Hamburg’s Elbphilharmonie to international festival stages, and awards including Austria’s Amadeus Music Award 2023 and the German Jazz Prize 2021 for “Band of the Year International.” For a band that has already released five studio and two live albums within nine years and captivated audiences across Europe and beyond, Shake Stew’s tenth anniversary is not a ‘best of’: it’s a forward-looking statement consisting entirely of new music, reflecting their evolution, curiosity, and their expansive musical vision.

TEN ONE TWO captures the full spectrum of the group’s sound in two parts, and is both a culmination and a new beginning, merging the immediacy of live improvisation with the meticulous layering of studio work. “I feel like we’ve only just started,” says bandleader Lukas Kranzelbinder. “This year and the process of TEN has given us a creative boost that feels like we are beginning a completely new chapter.”

Since forming in 2016, Shake Stew has grown from an insider tip to one of Europe’s most distinctive jazz ensembles. Their unusual lineup; two drummers, two bassists, and three horns, allows them to navigate between hypnotic grooves, trance-like textures, and explosive improvisation. Over the years, their sound has been shaped by a wide array of musical influences, from the mechanical precision and hypnotic drive of Krautrock legends like CAN and drummer Jaki Liebezeit, to the fluid jazz explorations of Joe Zawinul’s Syndicate and Weather Report, to the spiritual intensity of Getatchew Merkurya and Pharoah Sanders.

The first part of the double album, TEN ONE, is roughly 45 minutes of intricately crafted compositions by Kranzelbinder. Tracks such as Wood and Garage highlight the acoustic side of the band, while the dual drum setup on Bakunawa and Searching unfolds beautifully within gently layered soundscapes. The first single, taken from this first outing, Ascendance, epitomises Shake Stew’s upward-driving sound. Kranzelbinder explains: “Nearly all of the music that triggers something physically within me is music that goes upwards…” Anchored by hypnotic bass and layered percussion, the track embodies both lift and propulsion, and has audible hints of influence from the likes of Shabaka Hutchings, a previous Shake Stew collaborator on their 2018 album Rise and Rise Again.

The band’s current formation creates a distinct and dynamic interplay. Yvonne Moriel introduces fresh possibilities on alto saxophone and flute, while Mario Rom’s trumpet lines blend expressive nuance with narrative depth. Johannes Schleiermacher adds rich, improvisational layers on tenor sax and flute, and Oliver Potratz navigates between Fender Bass VI and upright bass to provide a versatile foundation. Drummers Nikolaus Dolp and Herbert Pirker offer rhythms that balance exacting precision with instinctive energy, resulting in a sound that merges structured ensemble interplay with moments of spontaneous exploration.

TEN TWO opens a new chapter for Shake Stew. Across extended sessions, the ensemble allowed themselves the kind of freedom usually reserved for live performance: improvisation alongside fully composed material, shaped by the collective intuition honed over ten years. “When you play so many concerts and record so many albums, you develop an intuitive sense of what defines the band’s sound — there’s often no need for me to give compositional directions anymore,” says Kranzelbinder. The resulting tracks, including Ibdiss, Free Your Eyes, and Tiger, reveal a band that can lift off into ecstatic, trance-like spheres, uniting acoustic resonance with electric experimentation, modular synths, and even field recordings like cicadas and local industrial sounds.

To further expand the band’s tonal palette, the recording team was significantly expanded for both parts of the album, meaning everything was captured; from solo takes to larger ensemble improvisations. Recording took place in separate rooms during the day and full-band improvisations in the evenings, capturing both careful precision and spontaneous vitality. The sessions embodied Shake Stew’s commitment to exploration and creative freedom. Instruments were tracked in isolation, with duo and trio improvisations forming the backbone of larger ensemble pieces, while post-production added further layers and texture.

Over a decade of constant touring, albums, and collaborations, Shake Stew has continually refined their interplay and sound. With TEN ONE TWO, Shake Stew affirm their status not just as a band, but as a creative collective whose energy, discipline, and vision have grown steadily over ten years. “For me, Shake Stew has long been a medium through which I can realise almost all of my musical passions — something I consider a true privilege. I’m all the more delighted that with TEN ONE TWO we’ve created a time document in which the visions and voices of everyone involved come together to form something truly extraordinary,” says Kranzelbinder.

Lukas Kranzelbinder - Double Bass, E-Bass, Guembri, Kalimba, Log Drums, Mellotron, Tambourine
Yvonne Moriel - Alto Sax, Flute, FX
Mario Rom - Trumpet
Johannes Schleiermacher - Tenor Sax, Flute, FX
Oliver Potratz - E-Bass, Fender Bass VI, FX
Nikolaus Dolp - Drums, Percussion
Herbert Pirker - Drums, Percussion, Log Drums, Tambourine, Shaker

Special Guest:
JJ Whitefield - Electric Guitar (on Tristan Junk)
Pablo Herrasti-Fajardo - Modular Synthesizer (on Tiger)