TAU 5 is Moritz Baumgärtner on drums and percussion, Philipp Gropper on saxophone, Philip Zoubek on electronics, Petter Eldh on bass - and Ludwig Wandinger as the producer and editor. For the editing work is indeed an integral, almost compositional part of their debut album that is carrying the all-embracing title "Kreise (Circles)". Over a period of three years, the material has drawn large circles at the various stages of the production process. From composition and concept to the final mixdown. What we hear is: Played notations, free jams and renewed improvisations on already edited sessions on this truely circular double longplayer. For TAU 5, the end of a process is always the beginning of a new process. Everything is morphing into everything else, just like in the artwork of Berlin artist Markus S. Fiedler. No one can say with certainty whether his pictorial worlds in all their colorful splendor are completely computer generated, or whether it is just a tableau on which photographic elements are further processed on the computer.

„I've been listening to some samples of Tau 5's music ahead of their concert. This is a new quintet for me, but I was immediately interested in what little I heard. So interested that I bought their double vinyl ahead of the concert. Tau 5 is based in Berlin and includes members Philipp Gropper, saxophones, Philip Zoubek, synth and keys, Ludwig Wandinger, electronics, Felix Henkelhausen, bass and Moritz Baumgärtner, drums.
The saxophonist is at the front of the stage, but that doesn't mean jazz. This is something quite different. The music is juicy arranged and comes with hard subtext from the start. This music basically only resembles itself in the opening, and I help myself greedily. They use electric bass and drums to make the music stand still and build. There's something hauntingly beautiful about it. The electronic equipment gives them the opportunity to be whatever they want. Tau 5 are chasing that great individuality. Then they have something in common with Y-Otis, and I see that Flying Lotus has been mentioned by someone who wants to place them in the tradition. The Lotus association is understandable, but what we hear on Punkt comes in a weave where the pattern flashes new.
Tau 5 don't play on emotions, but they make you want to listen. There is an art to avoiding clichés, but these five manage to do just that. The music can go downhill just as easily as silence can be given room to say something. The solo elements are fed into the whole, so that they become something else. The band varies the temperature and pressure in the music and can sound just as confident in the small-scale as in the intense. I think back to the year Brian Eno curated the festival and brought in artists who sounded fresh as a daisy. That's exactly what Tau 5 does. Sounding fresh as a daisy. I like the sound, attitude, ideas and musicality of these Berliners. They are both entertaining and serious. As far as I'm concerned, they could have played three times as long.“
(Arild R. Anderson, “Alle gode tin er tre”, www.jazzinorge.no, 2.9.2023, translated with DeepL)