Joachim Kuhn/ Majid Bekkas / Ramon Lopez / hr-Bigband

“Out of the Desert Live at JazzFest Berlin”

(ACT Music & Vision ACT 9521-12)

“Out of the Desert” is the name given by the German pianist and composer Joachim Kuhn to his long running project featuring the Moroccan oud, guembri and vocal virtuoso Majid Bekkas and Spanish drummer and percussionist Ramon Lopez. The trio have enjoyed a productive relationship with ACT as evidenced on the albums “Kalimba” (2006), “Out Of The Desert” (2009-reviewed elsewhere on this site) and “Chalaba” (2011).

This new live recording represents the trio’s most adventurous outing to date and finds them joining forces with the Frankfurt Radio Bigband (Hessischer Rundfunk or hr-Bigband) in a performance at the 2010 Berlin Jazz Festival. Initially premi?red at the 2009 Deutsches Jazzfestival Frankfurt the performance features a series of new Kuhn compositions (plus one from Bekkas) specifically written for this project. Although a comparative veteran (Kuhn’s first Berlin Jazz Festival appearance was in 1966) the pianist is still at the height of his creative powers as these pieces show. What also impresses is the sheer vitality and intensity of the performances, not only from the three main protagonists but also from the principle soloists of the big band, among them trumpeter Axel Schlosser and guitarist Martin Scales plus Tony Lakatos and the UK’s own Julian Arguelles on saxophones. 

The album opens with the attention grabbing “Fresh Air” which features the huge,vibrant sound of the hr-Bigband conducted by Ed Partyka framing bravura solos by Kuhn, Schlosser and rock influenced guitarist Scales. There is also a remarkable passage featuring the impassioned vocals of Majid Bekkas.  It’s a dynamic start with Kuhn’s arrangements consciously avoiding all the standard “big band” clichés.

Similarly the lengthy “Lichtquelle” is a superb ensemble piece based around chunky rhythms and North African melodic motifs with a superb opening solo from Kuhn at the piano. The ensemble then drop out entirely as first Bekkas on oud and vocal, then Lopez on percussion enjoy extended features before the big band return for a rousing finale. 

“Der Wanderer” allows the core trio plenty of room to stretch out on lengthy piano led passages with Bekkas also featuring on the bass like guembri and supplying another distinctive vocal contribution.

The four part “Klangzeit in vier Farben” is presented as a kind of suite beginning with “Klangeinfuhrung”, a piece that combines virtuoso solo piano with low register, often avant garde orchestral murmurings . From this emerges “Klange Des Himmels” which features Kuhn in rewarding dialogue with the tenor saxophones of first Tony Lakatos and then Julian Arguelles, the playing becoming freer and more impassioned as the movement progresses. The Bekkas composed “Balini” begins as another solo episode for guembri and voice but really catches fire when Kuhn and Lopez are added to the proceedings, the pianist and percussionist superbly augmenting the power and intensity of Bekkas’ vocals. Finally comes the thunderous, highly rhythmic “Dampfmaschine” led by Kuhn’s percussive piano and featuring some marvellously bombastic big band passages. It’s like a highly sophisticated cop show or Bond movie theme with Kuhn and his numerous colleagues sounding as if they’re having a ball as they vary the dynamics and move up and down the gears.

The Berlin festival crowd gave the music a great reception and the rest of us should be grateful that ACT founder Siggi Loch had the vision to capture this marvellous music on album. In the UK it would have been aired on Radio 3 at best or else vanished into the ether. Apart from the occasional ponderous moment Kuhn and his colleagues produced a performance of warmth, skill and vitality and there’s a sense that this concert was a real “event”. Kuhn is widely acknowledged as one of Germany’s greatest ever jazz exports and the “Out Of The Desert” series reveals that he is as committed as ever to expanding his musical horizons and that his technical skills are very much intact. His soloing throughout the album is inspired and his writing consistently imaginative. Although it’s very much Kuhn’s album Bekkas and Lopez add a good deal to the proceedings, shaping Kuhn’s writing and giving the album a distinct “Desert Blues” flavour. Their instrumental, and in the case of Bekkas also vocal, contributions are excellent throughout.

The h-r Bigband also impress with the quality and flexibility of their playing. They lined up;

Heinz Dieter Sauerborn- alto & soprano sax, flute, clarinet
Oliver Leicht-alto & tenor sax, clarinet
Tony Lakatos-tenor & soprano saxophones
Julian Arguelles-tenor sax, alto flute

Frank Wellert, Thomas Vogel, Martin Auer, Axel Schlosser-trumpets

Gunter Bollman, Peter Feil-trombones
Christian Jaksjo-trombone, euphonium
Manfred Honetschlager-bass trombone

Peter Reiter-keyboards
Martin Scales-guitar
Thomas Heidepriem-bass
Jean Paul Hochstadter-drums

blog comments powered by Disqus