Volker Kriegel
- "With a little help from my friends"
Introductory greeting by Klaus Doldinger
It is wonderful that the re-release of a sound storage medium is able to create once again a lasting memory of an artist like Volker Kriegel. We met sometime during the mid-60's, played together and in 1967, Volker took an integral part in the development of my album DOLDINGER GOES ON. Hence, it was a nearly natural process that I came to produce a part of his own solo album that he recorded in 1968 together with Peter Trunk and Cees See. Both, Peter as well as Cees, have musically enriched me during an essential stage of my life, that under this aspect I am especially pleased to see this Volker Kriegel Trio production released once more. Somehow I have the feeling that this music was recorded only recently. Volker Kriegel was and will be one of the big ones of our jazz scene.
Klaus Doldinger - Producer of Side A of the original longplayer "With A Little Help from My Friends" - 09/03/2013
What is the connection between Red Hot Chili Peppers and jazz fusion?
The answer is this album!
Once all great jazz musicians transformed the best popular songs of their time in improvisational art .
Nowadays the DNA GROUP - with saxophonist David Milzow, guitarist Johannes Uhlmann, bassist Sebastian Hoffmann and drummer Robert Jöcks - pick up on this venerable tradition.
The songs of the RED HOT CHILLI PEPPERS, from "Californication", "Under The Bridge" to many others are transformed by the DNA GROUP in their own thrilling world of instrumental rock jazz and crossover
music:
Hard driving grooves, exciting varying grooves of drums and bass hit singing guitar riffs and expressive Tenor-Sax. This allows hearing the songs of the RED HOT CHILLI PEPPERS in a fresh, appealing and totally new sound.
The DNA GROUP succeeds to integrate their great virtuoso solo excursions by Sax and guitar in a unique band sound and open up the whole thing for improvisations and a colorful mixture of temporary song formats and rhythms of pop and rock.
His first record came out in 1968 and is entitled With A Little Help from My Friends. At a jazz festival in Dusseldorf five years earlier, he had won a competition for amateurs. With the American vibraphonist Dave Pike, he formed a band from 1969 to 1972 whose music kept echoing for many years. The guitarist and draughtsman from the Frankfurt jazz scene gathered a circle of friends with every new album. Like on November 8, 1981, when he presented a concert in Berlin titled Volker Kriegel & Friends. For that, he chose primarily new pieces that he had recorded for his solo album Journal (Mood Records) at the sound studio Zuckerfabrik in Stuttgart in August; only "Chateau Sentimental" originated from the 1978 album
"House-Boat".
The concert at the Metropol starts with the atmospheric "Calcador" where Kriegel plays his so-called sitar guitar, which was probably built by his friend Peter Coura. He then changes to his guitar, the one that stands for Kriegel's characteristic sound astonishingly resembling the sound quality of Pat Metheny and John Scofield. A few months earlier the Mild Maniac Orchestra was on tour for two months in Africa for the German cultural association Goethe Institute. On one occasion, they jammed with local musicians in Bamako in Mali. The new songs being composed in a modal way, however, rather follow the thread that Miles Davis once unravelled on Kind of Blue. After twisting his mallets, Schlüter plays muted sounds and restrains himself until he finally falls into a brilliant solo that makes the audience clap enthusiastically. You can tell that this alleged "casual band" rehearsed a lot. This band can easily compete against the Gary Burton Quartet as well as Eberhard Weber's album Ring (ECM, 1974) - also thanks to Wolfgang Schlüter. As the Berlin concert was conceived to be a long set without any breaks, Volker hardly gives any instructions, sometimes only by nodding or giving the thumbs up, always being focused on what is happening. The music is much more challenging than it sounds, more expressive than it is expected of the band leader who appears so introverted. It conveys a daydreaming feeling which Kriegel loved so much. One of his compositions is entitled "Schwebebahn" (in Englisch, "aerial cableway") - the title perfectly symbolizes this specific mood. What is unmistakably characteristic of Volker Kriegel's work - be it his music, writing or drawing - is the quiet, floating tones and sequences similar to soundtracks, elaborately combined and ending with virtuosity in swinging solos, hence turning into a slightly melancholic mood that implies subliminal and gentle
pleasure.
Band of the moment - Snarky Puppy (a collective from north Texas led by bassist/composer Michael League) aren't just post-jazz: they're post
everything. (more...)
SNARKY
PUPPY - GROUND UP & TELL YOUR FRIENDS
With the release of their last two live CD/DVDs Snarky Puppy has gone from an underground secret to one of the most internationally respected names in instrumental music.
The 3-time Dallas Observer Music Award winning group ("Best Jazz Act" 2008, 2009, 2010) has, over the last four years of touring, gained a reputation for putting on a live show unparalleled in energy, virtuosity, and musicianship. They seamlessly fuse a deep knowledge and respect for musical tradition with sonic and conceptual innovation in a way that is able to reach the most critical- or most carefree- audience.
The group was conceived and is held together by award-winning bassist/guitarist/composer/arranger Michael League, whose creative grass-roots approach to a tougher-than-ever industry has created a unique musical animal. It is a three-headed creature: first, and most obviously- an original music ensemble. Second- a production team and session band for individual artists. Third, and probably most importantly- Snarky Puppy is a group of musicians unanimously and enthusiastically committed to music education and community outreach. Working with groups like ROAM (Roots Of American Music) in inner city Cleveland and the Music Lab at Jefferson Center in Roanoke, as well as giving clinics at over 40 colleges, high schools, and middle schools worldwide (League is faculty at London's Institute of Contemporary Music Performance), the band has made a strong commitment to spreading a love of music and general positivity to a young generation looking for something real to hold on to.
"Tell Your Friends" is not just an album. To be completely honest, it's not even really a studio album. It's a hybrid of a live dvd and cd that just happen to take place in a one-take, leave no prisoners run in a recording studio. Mike League comments on this strange album and dvd conception by saying, "After kicking out three studio albums, I've been pestered by numerous people in numerous towns about making a live record. My response has always been that I don't like the sound of live records. I was speaking with Sput about it one night on tour and said (in an attempt to be ironic) that the only place I'd want to make a live album is in a recording studio. We looked at each other, and both laughed. I immediately started planning it."
For Horacee Arnold, Tribe is more than the name of a song, or the title of an album. The tribe is at the center of his music, and indeed, at the core of the way he views life. „To me,“ says Horacee, „tribe is another way of saying family.
The family-the tribe has always been the central unit which has brought people together towards common goals.“ „Unfortunately,“ he adds, „modern society, with its technology, its materialism, its wars, is bent on destroying the family.
This has happened in America and Europe, and it is also happening in Asia and Africa, where the tribe has traditionally been at the center of society. The warmth that the tribe generates is disappearing, and people are becoming more and more detached, alienated from one another.
There is rarely a feeling of real unity and common purpose among people.“ Through his music, Horacee has attempted to bring back the essence of the tribe. The music on this recording, Horacee‘s first as a leader, is like dance, which, for the tribe, has traditionally depicted the joy of people coming together-it represents a unity of purpose. The seven musicians on this recording start a dance among themselves: they come together through interplay, by listening closely to one another, by adding what is important for the good of the music itself.
The first section, „Tribe,“ for example, shows the unity of the band. From the opening conversations between Horacee and guitarist Ralph Towner, there is the awareness that the musicians are playing together, supporting one another. As the work progresses, more and more textures are laid upon one another, until Horacee, Ralph, percussionist Ralph MacDonald and bassist George Mraz have woven a rich, rhythmic fabric for saxophonist Joe Farrell and vibraphonist David Friedman to work from, leaving both musicians maximum freedom within a very well-defined musical framework. Friedman and Farrell, in turn, give support to one another, and to the other members of the band. Nothing stands by itself. The music is more than simply an expression of the technical abilities of the musicians, or the fact that the sessions happened to go extremely well, or that each of the musicians was tuned into one another (all of which happened to be the case).
TALES OF THE EXONERATED FLEA
True, music has traveled the currents of time in great variety and we have learned much as to how it has been the means for expressing the emotions of peoples from times past till now. No matter what the ethnic group, music has served as a vibrant medium of expression.
From among the people certain ones have come forth to express their feelings, aims and offerings more fully. The music of Horacee Arnold is expressive -a music of feelings, experiences; a music searching and inviting. Inviting you to the dimension where you find, residing there in the stream of time, in the comfort of his own sweet fantasies and in the strength of luxuriant splendor, delightful tales for the ears of the listener. We hear „The Exonerated Flea,“ who, not unlike men, endeavors to captivate and convince ... with his strong, succulent melodies of sweet exoneration and justification.
Pee Wee Ellis is back with a new double CD! Therewith the master of the tenor sax who among other things played with James Brown for many years and was musical director of Van Morrison realizes a long-cherished wish of his – recording what suits him best: jazz and funk! With TENORATION we have that piece of audio experience now. It shows Pee Wee Ellis in his best musical spirits, accompanied by his “touring bands”.
Pee Wee, turned 70 in April 2011, presents an absolutely brilliant album right to his special day.
fDeluxe were previously known as ‘The Family‘ a project initiated by Prince after the success of the movie Purple Rain. Band members included St. Paul Peterson, Jellybean Johnson (both of members of The Time) Susannah Melvoin and Eric Leeds. Their only album, titled “The Family,” released in 1985 on the Paisley Park/Warner label spawned a top 10 R&B hit (‚Screams Of Passion‘) and introduced ‘Nothing Compares 2 U’ which was famously covered by Sinead O’Connor. Their debut CD has become a cult classic and has been cited by numerous artists from R&B acts like Rahsaan Patterson to legends including Paul McCartney & Robert Palmer. 2011 Grammy Winner Questlove of The Roots says their debut is „one of the most unheralded funk records of all time“ (GQ Magazine)!
Now, after many years, the band is back. However, due to a variety of differences with their former mentor no longer use ‚The Family‘ name ... the band is now fDeluxe. The new album, titled “Gaslight“, is pure funk.
The very best of the Minneapolis & LA music scene came together for this album, among them 2010 Emmy winners and extended family Wendy & Lisa (Wendy being Susannah‘s twin), as well as Ricky Peterson, Doyle Bramhall (Eric Clapton), Oliver Leiber, and Charley Drayton (Xpensive Winos, Fiona Apple).
It is not necessarily a plus in terms of musical enjoyment when two leading drummers take the stage together. However „21 Spices“ was a success, enthusiastically acclaimed by both press and public at several concerts last spring. For Wolf Kerschek, as arranger of these titles composed by Trilok Gurtu, had chosen the soloists for the NDR Bigband carefully. Two guests stood on the stage whose musical roots could hardly be more different: the Indian tabla specialist and drummer Trilok Gurtu, who was also involved in the conception together with the producer Joachim Becker, and the Briton Simon Phillips, who is famous through his work with the rock band Toto.
The result of the combination is all the more fascinating since the project was further spiced by Michel Alibo on the double bass and Roland Cabezas on guitar. „21 Spices“ refers to the 21 musicians involved, who give the music character - sometimes strident, sometimes subdued - and have created an unusual sound experience. For example, „Piece of Five“, the introduction into the seven songs on the album which capture the essence of the encounter.It is an excursion through the musical worlds, at first seemingly classical with subdued, diffuse wind instruments and discreet tabla refined by a faint presentiment of fusion. This is followed by a gradually increasing sonority, led by Lutz Büchner‘s saxophone played expressively with elegant increases and decreases in intensity. It is the „opener“ for the actual fireworks, which follow immediately after in „1-2 Beaucoup“ including Gurtu‘s striking speech
percussion.
Happiness has a name: “Felix” means “the happy one” in Latin. And what else could make a musician happier than the release of his first solo album? Even more so when the debut is a matter close to his heart that presents a talented artist who shines with a profound virtuosity, multi-layered compositions and intuitive interaction. In times of the ubiquitous casting craze it is a pleasant experience to enjoy “genuine” music – hand-made, lived and felt – like Lehrmann’s debut called „Rimjob“.
In the last years he has gained a reputation of being Germany’s most talented drummer. His band RIMJOB consists of high-quality musicians, top-class at their instruments: Claus Fischer on bass, Torsten Goods on guitar, Till Sahm at the keyboards as well as the saxophone players Tony Lakatos and Rool take care of the good sound of the album “Rimjob”.
Stylistically, Lehrmann’s influences can easily be detected in the ten tracks: jazz and rock fusion, along with memories of John Scofield, Alan Holdsworth and Pat Metheny – and those are not the worst inspiring
examples!
After a remarkably productive decade in which Vince Mendoza served as orchestral arranger for recording sessions of musicians as various as Bjork, Sting, Joni Mitchell, the Metropole Orchestra, the London Symphony, the Berlin Philharmonics and the WDR Big Band, the 6-time-Grammy winner presents a new album, NIGHTS ON EARTH, with his own compositions, the first such one in 13 years. For the recording Mendoza has invited an illustrious band of guests from the fields of jazz and world music. Among them -- to name just a few -- are John Scofield, John Abercrombie, Peter Erskine, Alex Acuna, Luis Conte, Larry Goldings, Alan Pasqua, Joe Lovano, Bob Mintzer, Karim Ziad, Christian McBride, Luciana Souza, and of course the Metropole Orchestra, of which Vince Mendoza is chief conductor.
NIGHTS ON EARTH is Mendoza‘s masterpiece, an album full of beautiful melodies and outstanding arrangements. A must for all those who love good music!
We are at what is clearly a line of demarcation in our society, where the only thing that can be said with much clarity is that things going forward will be very different than they have been in the past. While that future is uncertain, one of the things that we know is a fact is that our lives more than at any other time in the past will be more inter dependent on factors that are global in nature than ever before. Clearly this planet is in need of at least a prayer.
Enter the musical collective called Global Noize and their second album. Under the collaborative leadership of jazz/pop/r&b veteran, Jason Miles and world class turntabalist DJ Logic, the first Global Noize album was nothing short of a huge exclamation point that very neatly and clearly summarized/fuzed together, the best of the musical styles that we call jazz, funk, rock and hip hop. This was done with an all-star cast of musicians who were contemporary stars of those styles, combined with an all-star cast of musicians from outside of the United States.
You might be tempted to try and categorize the music of Global Noize - „A Prayer For The Planet,“ take a listen, go ahead and try because you can‘t do it. It doesn‘t fit into any of the categories that you already know about.
And on the off chance that I am wrong, I invite you to drop me a line, I would really like to be able to understand exactly where you are coming from. That is because, just like the album it is far more important for us to engage in that dialogue, figure out a way for our two opinions to exist in support of each other, than it would be for us to determine which one of us is „right.“ Nobody has to be „right,“ or „win,“ or „lose,“ that‘s what Global Noize says to us. In fact maybe the real message of Global Noize is that our survival just might be dependent on us all being able to have that dialogue and to do so as a part of a larger journey?
To commemorate the 40th anniversary of the founding of Weather Report, the Zawinul estate is proud to release this live document of the supergroup‘s appearance at the 1975 Jazztage Berlin, one of the oldest and most prestigious jazz festivals in Europe. From the opening strains of Wayne Shorter‘s propulsive „Freezing Fire“ to Joe Zawinul‘s exotic „Badia“ (a template for the world music movement that would come over a decade later), Live in Berlin, 1975 crackles with an audacious spirit of discovery and daring, underscored by an uncanny sense of group-think that allowed the band to be truly in the moment from tune to tune, from bar to bar.
As Zawinul once famously said when he and Shorter formed the band in 1971: „We always solo and we never solo.“ It was a perfect dictum to describe Weather Report‘s modus operandi and it became the band‘s mantra up until they disbanded in 1985. This method of organic collective improvisation was described in detail by author Mark Gridley in his book „Jazz Styles: History and Analysis“: „Weather Report explored an unusual approach to combo improvisation. Instead of adhering to roles consistent with bop formulas, the instruments in Weather Report were played in highly interactive ways. Spurts of melody might come from any member, not just from the sax. Rhythmic figures and fills could also be produced by any member, not solely by the drummer.“
Weather Report comes bursting out of the gate with a vengeance on Shorter‘s „Freezing Fire,“ which kicks off this Jazztage Berlin concert. Johnson puts up an insistent, urgently funky and edgy groove underneath the sizzling opener, simultaneously driving the fusion juggernaut and bringing out the best in Zawinul‘s adventurous keyboard work and Shorter‘s searing soprano sax playing. Next up is the ominous-sounding „Scarlet Woman,“ an atmospheric number from Mysterious Traveller that was jointly composed by Johnson, Zawinul and Shorter. Johnson dials up touches of nasty distortion on his bass lines here, applying a dramatic exclamation point in just the right places. Shorter remains on soprano sax and blows searching lines over the spacious groove while Zawinul relies on woody flute timbres and other expressive and sometimes otherworldly sonic textures to enhance the ethereal vibe of this haunting
piece.
To commemorate the 40th anniversary of Weather Report the Zawinul estate is proud to release this live document of the band‘s performance in Offenbach, Germany, on September 29th, 1978. Available in separate DVD and (previously unreleased) CD versions, the recording features arguably the most individual group ever to mix elements of jazz, rock and electronics and they‘re captured here at their absolute best.
Led by two musical visionaries, pianist and keyboard player Joe Zawinul and tenor and soprano saxophonist Wayne Shorter, the group was also unique in that it eschewed the then fashionable guitar. Also on board were flamboyant electric bassist Jaco Pastorius, a genuine innovator, and newly arrived drummer Peter Erskine a master technician brought into the group to add more of a jazz feel.
Prior to this line up an additional percussionist had always been present but this auxiliary role was dropped to allow greater space in the music. Until now documentation of this quartet has been via the live album „8.30“ released in 1979 and mostly recorded at Long Beach, California, in November of the previous year. The original plan was this would be a double LP of concert material but as certain tracks were accidentally erased in the final stages of production a decision was taken to include four new studio recorded compositions instead. With the release of this music Weather Report fans are now treated to an entire concert akin to that intended (restraints of vinyl permitting at that time, of course) and arguably get to hear (or view) a better performance in Offenbach, too.
Joe Zawinul was keen to stress that Weather Reports music was their music, a product of the group‘s identity, and not simply jazz-rock akin to that of many bands of the time. Although he was known for his strong opinions it‘s clear that no other group mixed improvisation, formal structures and electronics quite like them. One night in Germany is clear proof of this.
To celebrate the 40th „birthday“ of one of the world‘s best bands - Weather Report - the label Art of Groove is releasing the band‘s Rockpalast concert in Cologne 1983 - a premiere on CD and DVD.
After Jaco Pastorius and Peter Erskine left the band, Joe Zawinul and Wayne Shorter decided to continue their successful project with a new rhythm set: drummer Omar Hakim, Victor Bailey on bass and percussionist Jose Rossy. For Bailey and Hakim it was the starting point of their international career. Weather Report‘s Cologne concert shows the band in musical top form. In a more than two-hour show, the band sparks a fireworks of rhythm and melody. Next to classics like „Birdland,“ in this concert you will hear pieces from later phase of Weather Report: „D Flat Waltz,“ „Procession,“ „Fast City,“ „Where The Moon Goes“ and „Two Lines“.
The material which was originally recorded by the WDR (West German Radio and Television Broadcasting) has been completely restored and re-mastered and is now appearing in a new version -- something that‘s not just for long-time fans of Weather Report!
