ERIC SHAEFER + THE SHREDZ - Bliss
ACT 9818-2
Eric Schaefer - drums; John-Dennis Renken - trumpet; Volker Meitz - keyboards; John Eckhart - bass
Drummer Schaefer is a self-avowed fan of the Miles Davis fusion experiment that burst upon the world in his seminal Bitches Brew, as re-discovered and updated by such contemporary eminences as Bill Laswell and such denizens of progressive club electronica as DJ Shadow. Track titles like ‘Abstract Dub’ and ‘LongJam’ give a good idea of the content within - the grooves are set up on acoustic and electronic percussion, keyboards and signal processors create swirling ambient textures, and Renken’s trumpet plays long, cool probing lines in a clear vibratoless tone recalling Eddie Henderson’s Blue Note records of the 1970s. There’s moments of head-nodding repetition, but as we’re in the 21st century now, the rhythm tracks stutter and dissolve, fracturing and re-forming rather than chugging along as did the jazz-funk of old, and Eckhardt’s bass is fed through effects pedals to add to the general wash of texture as often as it is employed to hold down the riff. Much of the material arose from live jams, and have a kind of unplanned, 4-in-the-morning character, evolving through manipulation of density rather than melodic or harmonic progression. But there’s a rather refined, elegaic feeling to it all; big, spacey sounds and a resolutely minor-key feel, and a certain tasteful restraint to proceedings create the atmosphere of a chill-out zone at a hip highbrow festival rather than a sweaty saturday night. It’s a classy, highly atmospheric production that would be perfect with a set of accompanying videos of midnight cityscapes or mountains lit by the Aurora Borealis, projected across the back wall of a fashionable bar in Rekyjavik.
Reviewed by Eddie Myer
ACT 9818-2
Eric Schaefer - drums; John-Dennis Renken - trumpet; Volker Meitz - keyboards; John Eckhart - bass
Drummer Schaefer is a self-avowed fan of the Miles Davis fusion experiment that burst upon the world in his seminal Bitches Brew, as re-discovered and updated by such contemporary eminences as Bill Laswell and such denizens of progressive club electronica as DJ Shadow. Track titles like ‘Abstract Dub’ and ‘LongJam’ give a good idea of the content within - the grooves are set up on acoustic and electronic percussion, keyboards and signal processors create swirling ambient textures, and Renken’s trumpet plays long, cool probing lines in a clear vibratoless tone recalling Eddie Henderson’s Blue Note records of the 1970s. There’s moments of head-nodding repetition, but as we’re in the 21st century now, the rhythm tracks stutter and dissolve, fracturing and re-forming rather than chugging along as did the jazz-funk of old, and Eckhardt’s bass is fed through effects pedals to add to the general wash of texture as often as it is employed to hold down the riff. Much of the material arose from live jams, and have a kind of unplanned, 4-in-the-morning character, evolving through manipulation of density rather than melodic or harmonic progression. But there’s a rather refined, elegaic feeling to it all; big, spacey sounds and a resolutely minor-key feel, and a certain tasteful restraint to proceedings create the atmosphere of a chill-out zone at a hip highbrow festival rather than a sweaty saturday night. It’s a classy, highly atmospheric production that would be perfect with a set of accompanying videos of midnight cityscapes or mountains lit by the Aurora Borealis, projected across the back wall of a fashionable bar in Rekyjavik.
Reviewed by Eddie Myer
