JBBG - Jazz Bigband Graz - Urban Folktales

JBBG - Jazz Bigband Graz
Urban Folktales
Theo Bleckmann - Nguyên Lê - Gianluca Petrella
Жанр: Contemporary Jazz, Modern Big Band, ACT Music
Год издания: 2012
Издатель (лейбл): ACT Music
Номер по каталогу: ACT 9528-2
Аудиокодек: FLAC (*.flac)
Тип рипа: tracks
Битрейт аудио: (lossy + lossless)
Продолжительность: 64:18
: нет
: (я)
Треклист:
1. Urban Tribes - Introduction
2. Seelenbaumeln
3. Space Trip - The Day We Landed
4. High Voltage
5. Rêve Africain
6. Coming Home

Исполнители

JBBG - Jazz Bigband Graz

Christoph Pepe Auer: alto saxophone, clarinet
Herbert Berger: tenor saxophone, alto flute
Martin Harms: baritone saxophone, bass clarinet, flute
Bernhard Nolf: trumpet, flugelhorn
Andi Pesendorfer: trumpet, flugelhorn
Axel Mayer: trumpet, flugelhorn
David Jarh: trumpet, flugelhorn
Reinhard Summerer: trombone
Daniel Riegler: trombone
Wolfgang Tischhart: bass trombone
Uli Rennert: keyboards, synthesizers
Barbara Buchholz: theremin
Mattias Loibner: electric hurdy gurdy
Christof Dienz: electric zither
Henning Sieverts: acoustic bass, cello
Gregor Hilbe: drums, electronics, programming

directed by
Heinrich von Kalnein - co-director, soprano saxophone, alto saxophone, flute
Horst-Michael Schaffer - co-director, trumpet, flugelhorn
Guests:
Nguyên Lê - guitars e-bow (1, 3 6)
Theo Bleckmann - vocals (2 3)
Gianluca Petrella - trombone (4)
Verneri Pohjola - trumpet (2)
Hadja Kouyaté - vocals (5)

Robert Friedl - alto saxophone (4)
Klaus Gessing - tenor saxophone (4)
Robert Bachner - trombone (4)
Philip Yaeger - bass trombone (4)
Johannes Enders - tenor saxophone (5)

Лог Audiochecker

Photos

Reviews

All About Jazz

Despite the inherent problems of managing large numbers of musicians, funding their activities, and finding venues large enough to host ensembles of 15-plus players, the jazz big band is undergoing something of a revival. Jazz Bigband Graz, from Austria, is yet another fine ensemble from Europe, and Urban Folktales shows that imaginative new directions in big band jazz are still ripe for exploration.
Jazz Bigband Graz was founded in 2000. Its previous albums include Plays the Music of Bob Brookmeyer (Mons Records, 2002) and Joys and Desires, which featured John Hollenbeck (Intuition, 2005): this is not a big band which relies on the old staples. On Urban Folktales the band is led by directors Heinrich von Kalnein and Horst-Michael Schaffer, who also compose its original tunes. Their compositions give the Jazz Bigband Graz a unique sound, incorporating traditional big band instrumentation and section playing, but mixing this up with electronic processing, sampled voices and the impact of African and European musical influences.
With the welcome addition of the electric zither, electric hurdy gurdy and theremin, there's a quirky inventiveness to the JBBG's instrumental lineup too. All three have a spooky, spectral quality that complements the more usual big band brass and reeds. These more traditional front line instruments are not to be outdone. The ensemble sound is beautifully balanced, each section demonstrating a command of dynamics and a range that extends from calm beauty to full-on power. The entry of the brass and reed sections in the opening seconds of Rêve Africain (Part Two: The Revelation) is terrifically dramatic and creates an irresistible groove that stays in place beneath Johannes Enders' lyrical tenor saxophone solo.
The electric hurdy gurdy, played by Matthias Loibner, takes the spotlight on Urban Tribes, an up-tempo, urgent tune lent a certain air of Eastern European folk music not only by the hurdy gurdy's lonely wail, but also by the pulse set up by the band's rhythm section. Seelenbaumein features Christof Dienz's electric zither and Barbara Buchholz's theremin. Together with guest singer Theo Bleckmann, the players add a new dynamic to the usual big band line up and successfully build the song's other-worldly atmosphere. Finnish trumpeter Verneri Pohjola's solo flows beautifully.
Space Trip—The Day We Landed opens and closes with the sampled voices of the Apollo 8 crew before Bleckmann joins in with his pure, plaintive vocal. As the song develops a more familiar big band sound, guest guitarist Nguyên Lê's soaring, dynamic solo—underpinned by Gregor Hilbe's fierce percussive attack—builds the tune to a dramatic climax.
The JBBG opens up some wonderfully creative pathways for the contemporary big band. The mix of horn section power and instrumental eccentricity—with the theremin and electric zither—creates an innovative and engaging sound, while Bleckmann's distinctive vocal is used to superb effect. Urban Folktales is a genuinely contemporary big band album. ~ Bruce Lindsay

ACT Music

There were times when big bands were a defining part of our society’s musical cultural scene. Today only a few jazz big bands exist, and it appears the reasons for this change are not artistic, but rather financial. In Germany public radio stations are responsible for the funding of big bands, and in France the Orchestre National de Jazz sets the standard. Meanwhile in Austria, one ensemble has shown above all others that orchestral concepts are far from exhausted: the JBBG - Jazz Bigband Graz.
Finding audience appeal and new ways to attract listeners is the motto of the JBBG bandleader saxophonist Heinrich von Kalnein and trumpeter Horst-Michael Schaffer. They have won acclaim for their concept of not sticking to the traditional scheme of orchestral and solo passages, but rather creating a clear ensemble sound, which is strongly influenced by electronic music and fuses laptop and drum ‘n’ bass aesthetics. The JBBG have also been noticed outside jazz circles - laut.de, which is a German online portal for mainly pop and rock music, called them “an earthquake in the big band scene”.
The six multi-layered pieces on “Urban Folktales” form a complex work of art that aims to set the benchmark in the international field of orchestral jazz in terms of conceptual clarity and stylistic variety. Sometimes meditative, sometimes swinging and sometimes grooving and rocking, the fusion of Western with Eastern harmonic traditions, influences from Austrian folk music, urban sounds, African music and some futuristic spherical sounds - as well as combining all of this in one place, JBBG gathers together some of the best Austrian, Swiss and German jazz musicians.
Its distinguished guests make “Urban Folktales” a global project: the Grammy nominated and Echo Jazz winning American singer Theo Bleckmann gives a wonderfully lyrical performance of Peter Rosegger’s poem “Mein Lied” on “Seelenbaumeln” and after that goes on a “Space Trip” with a distant, almost alienated voice.
On “Rêve Africain” we hear the impressive voice of Hadja Kouyaté from Guinea, who sounds like an African Mahalia Jackson. The Finnish trumpeter Verneri Pohjola sets his unmistakably mark on “Seelenbaumeln” and Italian trombonist Gianluca Petrella is responsible for the tension on High Voltage. Nguyên Lê, the French guitarist of Vietnamese origin, enriches three pieces with the unique sound of his electric guitar.
From “Jazzpaña” with the WDR Big Band and the Jazz-Symphonie “Europeana”, to Ensemble Denada from Norway and the Swedish Bohuslän Bigband with its artistic director Nils Landgren; with “Urban Folktales”, the JBBG becomes yet another successful part of the long ACT tradition of outstanding and award-winning big band releases.