Advertisement
Roby Glod / Steve Swell / Mark Tokar / Klaus KugelWednesday 21st October 2026
Central Bar - Gateshead
Doors: 7.30pm (Music Starts 8.00pm | 2 x 45 Minute Sets)
Tickets: £12.00 + Booking Fee = £13.20 (Advance) / £14.00 On The Door
Seetickets: https://www.seetickets.com/event/roby-glod-steve-swell-mark-tokar-klaus-kugel/the-central-bar/3735329
Facebook: www.facebook.com/jazznortheast
The first in a new series of concerts presented by Jazz North east at Central Bar Gateshead.
This veritable supergroup bring’s together 4 internationally acclaimed free improvising musicians from Luxembourg, America, Ukraine and Germany.
Roby Glod (Saxophone)
Steve Swell (Trombone)
Mark Tokar (Double Bass)
Klaus Kugel (Drums)
Roby Glod / Steve Swell / Mark Tokar / Klaus Kugel
Roby Glod
Glod studied in the jazz departments of the conservatories in Strasbourg and Paris (Conservatoire national supérieur de musique et de danse de Paris). From the late 1990s onwards, he was a member of the Bernard Struber Jazztett.
In the years that followed, Glod was active in the fields of jazz and improvised music, performing with musicians such as Herb Robertson, Michael Formanek, Kent Carter, Billy Mintz, Mat Maneri, Bruce Eisenbeil, Archie Shepp, Louis Sclavis, and Laurent Epstein. He formed the group Windsleepers alongside Christine Clément, Klaus Kugel, Peter Schönfeld, and Stefan Heidtmann; their self-titled album was released in 2005. Additionally, he worked in Luxembourg with David Laborier and Benoît Martiny’s jazz-rock band.
In 2013, Glod released the album *Op der Schmelz Live* under his own name (Roby Glod 4tet), recorded with Roberta Piket, Mark Tokar, and Klaus Kugel. He also toured as part of a trio with Christian Ramond and Klaus Kugel. According to Tom Lord, he participated in six jazz recording sessions between 1997 and 2010. Glod was also active as a concert producer and performed at festivals across Europe, as well as in the United States and Morocco. He taught saxophone in the jazz department of the Conservatoire de Luxembourg.
Howard Mandel described Glod’s mastery of his instrument as impressive and unique: "He resembles neither Bechet, Coltrane, nor Lacy—nor anyone but himself." He possesses a brilliant tone, lightning-fast fingers, superb intonation, and a captivating musical imagination that naturally extends into the instrument's upper registers.
https://robyglod.bandcamp.com/
Steve Swell
Swell studied at Jersey City State Teachers College before moving to New York City in 1975 where he began his musical life, playing in top 40 bands, salsa bands, big bands (most notably those of Buddy Rich and Lionel Hampton) and performed on Broadway in Bob Fosse's Dancin'. He then became a member of Makanda Ken McIntyre's band, which led to tours and recordings with Tim Berne, Joey Baron, Herb Robertson, Jemeel Moondoc, Anthony Braxton, Cecil Taylor, William Parker, Bill Dixon, Butch Morris, John Zorn, Dave Burrell, Elliott Sharp, Rob Mazurek, Perry Robinson, Ken Vandermark.
In 2016, Swell earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Music from the State University of New York.
He is greatly influenced by Roswell Rudd, with whom he studied in the mid-1970s. He was also a student of Grachan Moncur III and Jimmy Knepper.
Swell has led a number of projects, including the groups Slammin' the Infinite (ft. Sabir Mateen, Matthew Heyner, Klaus Kugel), Fire Into Music (ft. William Parker, Jemeel Moondoc, Hamid Drake), Unified Theory of Sound (ft. Cooper-Moore, Matt Lavelle) and his large ensemble, Nation of We (a.k.a. NOW Ensemble).
http://steveswell.com/
Mark Tokar
Tokar studied at the Lviv Polytechnic National University and, starting in 2006, at the Karol Szymanowski Jazz Academy in Poland under Jacek Niedzela. Since then, he has worked at the intersection of new music, improvisational music, and jazz.
Tokar is active in projects such as Ken Vandermark’s Resonance and Wacław Zimpel’s Undivided (with Klaus Kugel and Bobby Few), as well as in collaborations with artists including Petras Vyšniauskas, Steve Swell, Michael Zerang, Tim Daisy, Dave Rempis, Roberta Piket, Fred Frith, Arkadi Shilkloper, Magnus Broo, Per Åke Holmlander, and Mark Sanders. In 2005–06, he served as artistic director of the Ukrainian-Polish Jazz Bez Festival. He formed the trio The Escalators with Ken Vandermark and Klaus Kugel and also played in Vandermark’s Resonance Ensemble (appearing on the album *Double Arc*, 2015).
Mark Tokar originally studied classical guitar at S. Lyudkevych Music College. During this time he began to play double bass, which became his main instrument. During 2002-2004 he repeatedly participated in the Krakow Jazz Workshop, directed by M. Parkinson (USA).
In 2006, via the “Gaude Polonia” scholarship program, Mark studied at K. Szymanowski Jazz Academy under the direction of Professor Jacek Niedzela. The program was granted by the Minister of Culture in Poland.
Since 2006 he has given private lessons at various jazz schools.
During 2005-2006 Mark worked as art director of the Ukrainian-Polish Jazz Bez festival. He organized a series of Metro Jazz Philharmonic musical performances in Lviv.
Mark has performed with various bands at numerous festivals in Germany, Poland, Lithuania, USA, Austria, France, Ukraine, Russia, Italy, Hungary, Georgia, Luxembourg, and the Czech Republic. He participates in Ken Vandermark’s international project “Resonance”. He also plays in the groups Undivided, Five Spot, Four, Varpaj, and Yatoku. Additionally, he is the leader of the international projects Leo’m’art, Mark Tokar’s Quintet and Avtokar.
Mark Tokar has performed with Ken Vandermark, Bobby Few, Perry Robinson, Steve Swell, Michael Zerang, Tim Daisy, Dave Rempis, Roberta Piket, Fred Frith (USA), Klaus Kugel, Arkadij Shylkloper (Germany), Petras Vishniauskas (Lithuania), Mirchea Tiberian (Romania), Mazzol, Mikolaj Trzaska, Waclaw Zimpel, Piotr Baron, Kazimierz Jonkisz (Poland), Jurij Jaremczuk (Ukraine), Magnus Broo, Per-Ake Holmlander (Sweden), and Mark Sanders (England).
https://www.marktokar.com/about-mark-tokar
Klaus Kugel
Klaus Kugel studied at the School of Jazz in Munich. Since 1989 he attracted attention worldwide through projects with Petras Vysniauskas, Karl Berger, Tomasz Stanko, Charlie Mariano, Kent Carter, Michel Pilz, Theo Jorgensmann, Kenny Wheeler, Vyacheslav Ganelin, Bobo Stenson, Glen Moore, Steve Swell, Sabir Mateen, Robert Dick, Peter Evans, Connie Crothers, Perry Robinson, Hilliard Greene, John Lindberg, Gerd Dudek, William Parker, Bobby Few, Roy Campbell, Jemeel Moondoc, Marco Eneidi, Mars Williams, Charles Gayle, Conny Bauer, Ken Vandermark, Joe McPhee, John Edwards, Jaimie Branch, Knox Chandler, Mark Tokar, Christopher Dell, Herb Robertson a.m.o.. Over the past 30 years, he gave numerous concerts and appeared at festivals throughout Europe, the Baltic States, Canada, USA, Syria, Japan, Mexico, Russia, China, Ukraine, Azerbaijan and Israel.
"Drummer Klaus Kugel is one of Central Europe's busiest and most articulate modern jazz drummers ... he treads the boundary between inside and outside playing in a particularly incisive way; always listening and never getting caught up in his own considerable chops." - Dave Wayne, AllAboutJazz, USA “Percussionist Klaus Kugel is a commanding force behind the drum set. He creates layers of tension drawn out from intuitive listening. There is a constant emotional swelling underlying every fill and cymbal crash" - John Barron, Jazzreview.com, USA “Kugel’s desire to build tension is innate, springing out of a lifetime of learning and practicing more than just method and tone. Like all the quality drummers, Kugel does more than provide a beat. He feels it, knowingly inserting himself in moments and emotions.“ - blogcritics.org, Jordan Richardson, Seattle, USA "These three discs ... show Kugel as a drummer whose nearly boundless energy and imagination cannot be confined by neat categories." - Ed Hazel, Signal To Noise, USA “Kugel is one of the great contemporary European drummers, and plays all over the kit with a sharp hard pulse.” - Carl Pearson, Jazz Director, WFHB Bloomington, IN, USA "Most ensembles can only wish for a percussionist with such high skill and perceptive musicianship as Klaus Kugel” - Frankfurter Rundschau, Germany
https://www.klauskugel.com/
Advertisement
Event venue
The Central Bar, The Central, Half Moon Lane, Gateshead, NE8 2AN, United Kingdom
Tickets
Concerts, fests, parties, meetups — all the happenings, one place.