Kanal is the second album by the Kancha Lanka Koalition from Berlin, featuring Richard Koch on trumpet, Julian Datta on guitar, Rafael Espinoza on bass, and Javier Reyes on drums.

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The music reflects the energy of a bicycle ride through the district of Berlin Kreuzberg from east to west. Musical fragments pass through the mind of the rider - Monk, Messiaen, James Brown, south-indian rhythms - and are channelled into a stream of dynamic new sound.

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The Landwehrkanal also runs once across Kreuzberg - the district's blue aorta - and is crossed by the imaginary route halfway through. At the same time, the title alludes to music and art in general as a healthy channel for emotions, as well as to the creative energy that can be released through structures and constraints.

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The Kancha Lanka Koalition plays energetic and emotionally direct music with diverse influences while elegantly circumventing all clichés. Nested grooves and twisted melodies, angular and flowing, structured and improvised, rich in colors, textures and aromas - Kancha Lanka is Bangla (Bengali) and means green chilli.

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The band was founded in 2016, initially as a trio, and recorded a demo that same year. In 2020, the lineup consolidated with Koch on trumpet, Datta on guitar, Nico Espinoza on bass, and Tayfun Schulzke on drums, and recorded the album “In der Komfortzone”, which was released on Unit Records in 2021. Later that year, the audio/video production “Kancha Lanka Koalition Zentrifuge” was created, now featuring Rafael Espinoza on bass and Reyes on drums. In November 2025, after numerous live concerts, the same lineup recorded the album “Kanal”, coming out in 2026 on XJAZZ! Music. 

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“Focused seriousness meets joyfully intoned bursts of energy” - Jazzthing