Klassik photo by Samer Ghani; Subtle Frequences photo by Malcolm Watts

Saxophonist Nelson Devereaux curates Sundays at Berlin in May. First up: A Space Odyssey.

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A self-described “Black pastoral sonic landscape painter,” Milwaukee’s own Klassik makes his Berlin debut. A solo artist to rival any fully-formed orchestra, and for whom no single genre exists.

Coming off their lauded 2024 self-titled debut on Chicago tape label FPE, Subtle Frequencies (Noah Barker and Nelson Devereaux) will return to Berlin to perform music from their record and new music showcasing their development as a vibey, down-tempo exercise in layered jazz bliss. A small number of tapes will be available while supplies last.

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"More than nearly any other musician in the Milwaukee scene, Klassik wears many hats: rapper, soul man, producer, collaborator, mentor, keeper of the American songbook. His modernist, jazz-saturated compositions are unlike anything else coming out of the city, but he has a gift for more traditional styles as well, as he demonstrated on American Klassiks, his recently recorded live album with SistaStrings and Nickel&Rose. Regardless of which side of the booth he’s on, he’s a force." – Evan Rytlewski, Shepherd Express, recognizing Klassik as the 2018 Shepherd Express' Best Of Milwaukee Rap-Hip Hop Producer for the third consecutive year

This is the sonic realm of Klassik, the multi-instrumentalist producer and performer. He is as dexterous a rapper as he is an impassioned and soulful singer. At the age of 10, he began studying saxophone with the Milwaukee jazz legend Berkeley Fudge. Klassik’s development continued through years of public arts schools, a (very) brief collegiate trip, and throughout all of this, an evolution from jazz saxophonist to producer, emcee, singer, and all-around entertainer. He has received several albums and opened for Ludacris, Talib Kweli, Kendrick Lamar, Banks, DJ Premier, and Rakim. His most recent album, Quiet, was named the best album of 2019 by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

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The new musical collaboration from Noah Barker and Nelson Devereaux, Subtle Frequencies is a shared labor distilled from two lives unapologetically chasing sounds. Noah, the son of AACM percussionist Thurman Barker, came up in music and leads the jazz-pop group Noisebody and the post-bop-flavored Noah Barker Quartet. Nelson is a heavy-gigging saxman who has played in the coolest groups—Bon Iver, Craig Finn, Paul Cherry, Jungle, Lizzo.

The pair has played together a lot, but rarely as a duo. Subtle Frequencies, the first record that’s only them and no one else, is a brief and potent sabbatical from their musical day jobs. It feels visionary: an intense concentration on a shared goal eternally out of reach yet tantalizingly clear in bursts. Pre-dawn vibes shine, all iridescent synth and breathy sax tones, mysterious drumless musings and misty condensations of sonic dew. Explorers of the farthest reaches of the ECM Records catalog will uncover a nearby treasure in Subtle Frequencies, glittering aural riches bathed in warm tape hiss, tiny glitches marking dropouts in the transmission, perhaps from Jon Hassell‘s fourth world. All eyes close, lungs expand and contract, mystery of machine and breath revealed to open ears: Noah and Nelson made the trip and this is the record.

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This show is presented by Minnesota Public Radio's The Current.