müsik

The brutal-jazz power trio Schnellertollermeier doesn't screw around. Their uncompromising attitude is even apparent before you hear a note of their music -- it's right there in that deliberate tongue-twister of a name. Their fresh and uncompromising mix of jazz, punk, rock, sound and free improvised music, combined with great musicianship, interplay and a lot of energy, immediately hits the bullseye!

The three men behind the music, guitarist Manuel Troller, bassist Andi Schnellmann, and drummer David Meier, are all eclectic musicians. Schnellmann earned a degree from the Jazz School of Lucerne; Troller studied with British guitar legend Fred Frith and has collaborated with famed U.S. jazz drummer/composer Gerry Hemingway, among others; Meier's ability to bring his own voice into many different musical contexts has made him one of the most sought-after drummers of his generation and he has toured in most parts of Europe, as well as Russia, China and Japan.

In 2006, the three musicians, all around the age of 20, started the trio. Very quickly after their first concerts and their their 2008 debut album, Holz, they become something of a 'underground buzz' in Switzerland, leading to many further appearances. While Holz mostly featured traditional structures of composing revealing their eclectic influences (ranging from Tim Berne to John Abercrombie to Mr. Bungle etc.), Schnellertollermeier soon started working on new material, seeking a more personal sound, both compositionally and improvisationally. The result of this work, combined with the many concerts the group was playing, was their second album Zorn Einen Ehmer Üttert Stem, which was enthusiastically received critically and led to appearances in the most important clubs as well as festivals in Switzerland and Austria.

The group now had a more clear and more original roadmap they were traveling: the group's 'traditional jazz' elements were being subsumed by the brute energy from rock and experimental music, as well as improvisational soundscapes, minimal music and, finally, jazz in the modern, broad, experimental sense. Additionally the idea of a band sounding like one compact organism, with every element having its own importance and clear function, found its result on X. On X, the traditional function of the instruments - the classic power trio of bass, guitar and drums - have clearly been expanded, the bands energy as well as their compositional and performance qualities are even more intense and original than before. The songs, whether long or short, crushing or ambient, have absolutely no padding on them.

schnellertollermeier, "X" (excerpt) from 'X' (Cuneiform Records)

Le Rex, "Le Clic" from 'Wild Man' (Cuneiform Records)

"I...was stunned by his Hendrix meets late era Coltrane approach."
– Guitar Moderne

"Despite the boilingly hot drive...influenced by Cream, Lifetime, the Jimi Hendrix Experience (and perhaps more notionally the Pete Cosey/Reggie Lucas version of the Miles Davis group), there's a lyrical side to the guitarist’s playing as well...Excellent."
– Point Of Departure

"...out jazz with lots of sass and vigor...recalls the thornier side of the ECM Records catalog, especially the works of fellow Scandinavians Edward Vesala and Terje Rypdal. Björkenheim attacks the guitar the way the late great Sonny Sharrock did - like Coltrane and Ayler “attacked” their saxophones...yet blues is never very far away. There’s also the chunky focus of pre-Mahavishnu John McLaughlin...The way RB cross-pollinates between jazz and rock recalls fellow traveler Nels Cline, and the results are similar: Oblique swing, gnarly noise, predictably unpredictable, swell."
– Icon

Ecstasy is usually an all too fleeting experience offering the briefest glimpse at transcendence. But a heightened sense of consciousness and discovery manifests throughout Out of the Blue, the transporting second album by composer and guitar maestro Raoul Björkenheim and his extraordinary Finnish quartet Ecstasy.
Featuring the celebrated drummer Markku Ounaskari, the young and dauntingly prolific bassist Jori Huhtala and saxophonist Pauli Lyytinen, Ecstasy has forged more than a signature sound. Over the course of five years the musicians have honed a supremely interactive modus operandi marked by unstable textures, rapidly shifting meters, and emotionally charged melodic flights. Earthy, pristine and unmistakably Nordic, the music evokes the grandeur of Finnish landscapes and the hothouse intimacy of a tight-knit Helsinki scene where the musicians regularly convene to refine their volatile sound.

“I always felt there’s something special about having a band,” Björkenheim says. “An all-star session can be good too, but the thing I’m missing nowadays in jazz is really good bands playing together tightly, turning on a dime together, and especially improvising together.” True to Raoul's statement, this is a band effort, and like all great bands, the sum is greater than the parts. With 2 years additional experience together for this album, everything is upped from the last one: the compositions, the improvisations, the ensemble work and the solos!

Raoul Björkenheim / eCsTaSy, "Uptown" from 'Out Of The Blue' (Cuneiform Records)

album title: ONWARDS TO MARS!
release date: 15th of April 2016
release date UK: 22nd of April 2016
label: Asphalt Tango Records GmbH
14 tracks (7 instrumentals and 7 songs)
total playing time: 45 minutes
featured artist: Iulian Canaf (I put a spell on you)/ Puerto Candelaria & Koby Israelite (Fiesta de negritos)
special guests: Michael Metzler (perc) / Kai Schoenburg (drums)

track list:
1.  Crayfish Hora (comp. by Koby Israelite)
2.  Mista Lobaloba (comp. by Adrian Sical)
3.  3 Romanians (comp. by Koby Israelite)
4.  Trenul, masina mica (trad.)
5.  Out to lounge (comp. by Koby Israelite)
6.  I put a spell on you (comp. by Screaming J. Hawkins)
7.  Cucuritza (comp. by Koby Israelite)
8.  Doina pentru un frant inima (trad.)
9.  Bunica bate toba (comp. by Mihail Gincu)
10. Saints & Dates (comp. by Koby Israelite)
11. Un tigan avea o casa (trad)
12. The patron's funeral (comp. by Koby Israelite)
13. Hora strengarilor (comp. by Koby Israelite)
14. Fiesta de negritos (comp. by Lucho Bermudez)

All horn arrangements by Henry Ernst
Produced by Henry Ernst & co-produced by Marc Elsner
Recorded in Berlin (Germany), Medellin (Colombia), 
Bucharest and Zece Prajini (Romania)
Recorded by Alexei Turcan, Henry Ernst, Gabriel Vallejo C.
Mixed by Marc Elsner and Henry Ernst at Marx Audio, Berlin 
Mastered by Sascha "Busy" Bühren at Truebusyness, Berlin

Fully album released on CD, Vinyl and as download.

artist website: www.fanfare-ciocarlia.com
artist on facebook: www.facebook.com/FanfareCiocarlia
label website: www.asphalt-tango.de

Fanfare Ciocarlia / Onwards To Mars!

Tenor Saxophone – Andrew White
Bass –  Steve Novosel
Drums – Eric Gravatt
Piano – Gene Rush

from
Andrew White Quartet -Live At The New Thing In Washington, D.C.

Andrew White Qt.  Milestones II

4th Album of British "punk-jazz" band WorldService Project. Released on RareNoise Records May 2018.

4. Ease

3. The Tale Of Mr Giggles

1. Plagued With Righteousness

Back So Soon?

'Hiding in Plain Sight'
The fifth studio album from WorldService Project to be released on 25th September 2020 on RareNoiseRecords.

All music and text written by Dave Morecroft

Dave Morecroft - keys/vocals
Ben Powling - sax
Arthur O'Hara - bass/vocals
Luke Reddin-Williams - drums/percussion
+ 
Kieran McLeod - trombone (tracks 2, 6, 8, 9)

Produced by Liran Donin
Mixed by Moshik Kop and Liran Donin
Recorded at Greenmount Studios, Leeds

Vendetta

The Kipper And The Pork Pie

WorldService Project have been quietly achieving many exciting projects over the last few years; five critically acclaimed studio albums; appearances at some of the world's most thrilling festivals (in Tokyo, Berlin, Ljubljana, Hangzhou, Goa, Cork, Umea, Pune, Tampere, London, Shenzhen, Toulouse to name a few) and undertaking huge tours of Europe, the USA, China, Japan and India.
http://www.worldserviceproject.co.uk/

2020/21 saw WSP release their highly anticipated fifth album, 'Hiding in Plain Sight' on RareNoiseRecords and perform concerts in the UK, Germany, Italy, Hungary, Slovenia, Austria and the Czech Republic.

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WorldService Project

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