| Jazz moderne |
Since 2014, the German big band Jazzrausch Bigband has been a rather strange but particularly fun group. Their unique feature is combining techno with pop and jazz, offering a very distinctive and recognizable style. Since the beginning of 2024, the group has had a permanent residence at the BERGSON Kunstkraftwerk in the west of Munich, a particularly imposing venue. This place is most likely the nerve center of the Jazzrausch idea. It all started in 2014 in the Munich techno club “Harry Klein”. Why does what started small work on a large scale as well? Because in this music, there is always something familiar and new to discover, no matter where you come from. And because the intensity of this music makes it easy to get into.
Culturally, this album embodies the very essence of a certain German scene that has digested both Kraftwerk and singer Nena, among many others, while listening to dad’s jazz albums. This, at least, is the impression this recording gives us. The group often spans wide arcs, works programmatically like a classical orchestra, and tackles themes from literature, philosophy, science, and classical music. You could call it “boundary crossing”—for the leader and trombonist Roman Sladek, it’s more like “a gigantic nerd excess.” On Jazzrausch Bigband’s new album “Bangers Only!,” everything revolves around the small form: thirteen “bangers,” that is, hits that should not be missing from any concert or playlist. All in the three-to-four-minute song format, always precise, often striking, completely re-recorded and produced. Nearly half of the songs are fan favorites—like the chart-worthy “Moebius Strip,” the funky “I Want To Be A Banana,” or the brass storm “Punkt und Linie zur Fläche.” The other half is new, with a typical Jazzrausch Bigband list of ingredients: techno, disco, and funk rhythms, thick walls of brass alongside vast airy spaces, singing, spoken word, and improvisation.
Personally, my favorite track on this album is “I Want To Be A Banana,” the rest being of excellent quality but reminding me of my time in Berlin clubs at the end of the ’80s, where some of us occasionally blabbed poetic texts against a backdrop of post-apocalyptic music. It was a good time, but fortunately, the world evolves! Chief composer and arranger Leonhard Kuhn achieves a delicate balance: you can always hear a genuine, non-ironic love for all these opposing styles, but also the joy of deconstructing and demolishing, constantly alternating between fun and seriousness. And “Bangers Only!” shows that the group has found its own sound, now familiar to their large and diverse community of fans, which unites everything into a coherent and harmonious whole. The Jazzrausch collective, currently composed of 35 young musicians, has played nearly 1,000 shows in 15 countries since its creation. This includes 12 albums, nine on ACT, including “Bangers Only!” Needless to say, this group is a true socio-cultural phenomenon in Europe, and listening to this album, you understand why. The succession of tracks gives you a direct idea of what the upcoming shows will be like with 13 very danceable tracks. The least you can say is that it is great art that takes us from universe to universe with extraordinary know-how, making it naturally an “Indispensable” album.
However, I am aware that this album will not appeal to everyone, due to its somewhat techno/electro edge. Nonetheless, it represents an important part of contemporary European creation around the theme of jazz.
Thierry De Clemensat
USA correspondent – Paris-Move and ABS magazine
Editor in chief Bayou Blue Radio, Bayou Blue News
PARIS-MOVE, July 26th 2024
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