SILKE EBERHARD / POTSA LOTSA XL - Silk Songs for Space Dogs
Leo Records CD LR 878
Silke Eberhard - alto saxophone; Jürgen Kupke – clarinet; Patrick Braun - tenor saxophone, clarinet; Nikolaus Neuser – trumpet; Gerhard Gschlößl – trombone; Johannes Fink – cello; Taiko Saito – vibraphone; Antonis Anissegos – piano; Igor Spallati – bass; Kay Lübke - drums
Recorded at Bonello Studio, Berlin, May 2019
Exhaustive studies of Eric Dolphy and Ornette Coleman are heard to the fore in Eberhard’s playing, but she is no plagiarist. What she is doing here, as she has before, is showing her great reverence for the very crux and spirit of their music, through her own artistry and empathetic intellect. Quite remarkably, she takes the nine other artists with her. The ingenuity on parade is extraordinary and once again we may remark on the awe-inspiring, like-mindedness running through the band as they communicate their meaning with bewildering strangeness and charm.
The ten-piece band “-do not play their egos, but their personalities” claims Eberhard and that strikes home. Yes, there are materials here from bygone days, but that is part of the reverence discussed; the music is played now, in this present. The band is highly skilled and practised and is a foundation that echoes the globalisation of contemporary jazz music. Eberhard’s is a cleverly innovative mind, always looking for that new thing which will allow her more scope to express her musical ideas. Here it is shown in her tonal colour palette, created from her selection of instruments and their players, and she and they play with ebullience.
While never oblivious to the form of Eberhard’s compositions, it is their internal freedom that gives strength to the players, who find countenance through all kinds of musical insinuations, finding voice with spirited outpourings. The soundstage is multifaceted and dynamic and the music is much more than the intellect delivers per se; it is also a tremendous lot of fun.
Reviewed by Ken Cheetham
Leo Records CD LR 878
Silke Eberhard - alto saxophone; Jürgen Kupke – clarinet; Patrick Braun - tenor saxophone, clarinet; Nikolaus Neuser – trumpet; Gerhard Gschlößl – trombone; Johannes Fink – cello; Taiko Saito – vibraphone; Antonis Anissegos – piano; Igor Spallati – bass; Kay Lübke - drums
Recorded at Bonello Studio, Berlin, May 2019
Exhaustive studies of Eric Dolphy and Ornette Coleman are heard to the fore in Eberhard’s playing, but she is no plagiarist. What she is doing here, as she has before, is showing her great reverence for the very crux and spirit of their music, through her own artistry and empathetic intellect. Quite remarkably, she takes the nine other artists with her. The ingenuity on parade is extraordinary and once again we may remark on the awe-inspiring, like-mindedness running through the band as they communicate their meaning with bewildering strangeness and charm.
The ten-piece band “-do not play their egos, but their personalities” claims Eberhard and that strikes home. Yes, there are materials here from bygone days, but that is part of the reverence discussed; the music is played now, in this present. The band is highly skilled and practised and is a foundation that echoes the globalisation of contemporary jazz music. Eberhard’s is a cleverly innovative mind, always looking for that new thing which will allow her more scope to express her musical ideas. Here it is shown in her tonal colour palette, created from her selection of instruments and their players, and she and they play with ebullience.
While never oblivious to the form of Eberhard’s compositions, it is their internal freedom that gives strength to the players, who find countenance through all kinds of musical insinuations, finding voice with spirited outpourings. The soundstage is multifaceted and dynamic and the music is much more than the intellect delivers per se; it is also a tremendous lot of fun.
Reviewed by Ken Cheetham
