MATTHIAS BUBLATH - Eight Cylinder Big Band
Enja Records: Enja 9772
Ferdinand Kirner: guitar; Patrick Scales: bass; Christian Lettner: drums; Matthias Bublath: Hammond 83 Organ, Fender Rhodes, piano, keyboards; Nemenja Jovanovic, Florian Jechlinger, Reinhard Greiner, Andreas Unterrainer: trumpet; Takuya Kuroda; Ulrich Wangenheim, Florian Reidl, Axel Kuhn, Mortiz Stahl, Gregor Burger: saxophones; Jurgen Neudert, Hans Heiner Bettinger, Erwin Gregg, Jakob Grimm: trombones
Recorded by Jan Krause at Mastermix Studio
There is always something about a big band that conveys a sense of conspicuous consumption; I’m never sure whether it is the financial commitment to gathering to so many musicians together or the sheer exuberance and sassiness of the sounds that can be produced. The photo shoot on the collected musicians, dressed casually and arranged in a disorganised line suggests that this is a band that is in it for the sass rather than the cash. To get the most of this many musicians you need to have a deft compositional touch to be able to the heat up and down, and to do this in ways that don’t feel overly formulaic (otherwise the audience could lose interest at the predictable walls of sound and the somewhat listless gaps between these). Fortunately, Bublath is fully aware of the ways in which to manoeuvre the army of instruments at his disposal, steering them through the pieces from the seat of his keyboard with bouncing, jiving hints of tune that the band pick up and run with. What I get is the theme tune, ‘Eight Cylinder’, track 4, has an infectious riff that the keyboard introduces and which sets the pace with trumpet and tenor solos before returning to smoking Hammond solo with slap bass to lead into the band taking the train to close the piece. The recording benefits from the trumpet solos taken by guest artist Kuroda, but also features some fine solo work by Wangenheim and Stahl on tenor, Kuhn and Riedl on alto, Burger on baritone, Neudert on trombone, and Unterreiner on trumpet. Given the history of large ensembles in jazz, and the variety of styles that they have deployed, there is a mess of clichés that the modern version of the big band will either need to totally embrace or carefully avoid; the former is the easier choice and often wins more friends in an audience with only a nodding acquittance with jazz. The latter is trickier because spotting the clichés can be a bit of parlour game for the more grouchy jazz afficianado. The only way to avoid this, I think, is to have a voice (both in composition and playing) that is honest, authentic and committed to making music at this scale – and then having a band that is every part as honest, authentic and committed as you. And this is exactly what you get with Bublath and his eight cylinder big band. Definitely a joy to listen to.
Reviewed by Chris Baber
Enja Records: Enja 9772
Ferdinand Kirner: guitar; Patrick Scales: bass; Christian Lettner: drums; Matthias Bublath: Hammond 83 Organ, Fender Rhodes, piano, keyboards; Nemenja Jovanovic, Florian Jechlinger, Reinhard Greiner, Andreas Unterrainer: trumpet; Takuya Kuroda; Ulrich Wangenheim, Florian Reidl, Axel Kuhn, Mortiz Stahl, Gregor Burger: saxophones; Jurgen Neudert, Hans Heiner Bettinger, Erwin Gregg, Jakob Grimm: trombones
Recorded by Jan Krause at Mastermix Studio
There is always something about a big band that conveys a sense of conspicuous consumption; I’m never sure whether it is the financial commitment to gathering to so many musicians together or the sheer exuberance and sassiness of the sounds that can be produced. The photo shoot on the collected musicians, dressed casually and arranged in a disorganised line suggests that this is a band that is in it for the sass rather than the cash. To get the most of this many musicians you need to have a deft compositional touch to be able to the heat up and down, and to do this in ways that don’t feel overly formulaic (otherwise the audience could lose interest at the predictable walls of sound and the somewhat listless gaps between these). Fortunately, Bublath is fully aware of the ways in which to manoeuvre the army of instruments at his disposal, steering them through the pieces from the seat of his keyboard with bouncing, jiving hints of tune that the band pick up and run with. What I get is the theme tune, ‘Eight Cylinder’, track 4, has an infectious riff that the keyboard introduces and which sets the pace with trumpet and tenor solos before returning to smoking Hammond solo with slap bass to lead into the band taking the train to close the piece. The recording benefits from the trumpet solos taken by guest artist Kuroda, but also features some fine solo work by Wangenheim and Stahl on tenor, Kuhn and Riedl on alto, Burger on baritone, Neudert on trombone, and Unterreiner on trumpet. Given the history of large ensembles in jazz, and the variety of styles that they have deployed, there is a mess of clichés that the modern version of the big band will either need to totally embrace or carefully avoid; the former is the easier choice and often wins more friends in an audience with only a nodding acquittance with jazz. The latter is trickier because spotting the clichés can be a bit of parlour game for the more grouchy jazz afficianado. The only way to avoid this, I think, is to have a voice (both in composition and playing) that is honest, authentic and committed to making music at this scale – and then having a band that is every part as honest, authentic and committed as you. And this is exactly what you get with Bublath and his eight cylinder big band. Definitely a joy to listen to.
Reviewed by Chris Baber
