This is a strange record. Subtitled “Celebrating Bert Kaempfert” vibes player Dell offers a contemporary sideways take on the work of the late composer, arranger and bandleader.

To me, as a child of the sixties and seventies Kaempfert’s music was the kind of bland MOR that your parents played on their imitation teak radiogram. I’d pretty much forgotten about him until this album turned up in my in tray. But things change don’t they? As a long haired heavy metal loving teenager I never thought I’d ever listen to jazz let alone go bald. But for better or worse both have come to pass and I don’t have any regrets about either.

So now seems like a good time to reassess Kaempfert and this album is a fine place to start. Dell has imaginatively re-arranged Kaempfert’s tunes placing them in a thoroughly contemporary setting. Dell has, in his own words taken an “impressionist approach” to Kaempfert’s music and concentrated on “tonal colour” rather than space or structure and presents the music entirely instrumentally. As a result many of the pieces have a totally different feel to the originals. “Strangers In The Night” becomes spooky and unsettling, a complete contrast to the familiar Frank Sinatra version.

But this is no arch, tongue in cheek deconstruction. It is clear that Dell has a real respect for Kaempfert and his work. Dell likens his updating of Kaempfert to the restoration of an old building and describes his overall concept for the music as one of “considerate archaeology”.

The presence of veteran guitarist Ladi Geisler, a former Kaempfert band member adds authenticity to Dell’s project. Dell and Geisler are joined by saxophonist Christof Lauer, pianist Carsten Daerr and the rhythm team of Oliver Potratz (bass) and Eric Schafer (drums).

In any event the members of Dell’s band are drawn from the cream of Germany’s young jazz musicians. It is appropriate that they should be celebrating one of their compatriots. Kaempfert (1923-80) was born in Hamburg. I was unaware of that before reading this album’s press release. Such was his mastery of the idiom of the American popular song that I always assumed he was American. Kaempfert wrote and arranged for the biggest names in US showbiz-Sinatra, Nat King Cole, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan and many others.

The music contained on Dell’s album has a thoroughly contemporary feel despite the vintage of the material. The opening “Don’t Talk to Me” has a dreamlike quality courtesy of the leader’s shimmering, Gary Burton like vibes, Lauer’s breathy saxophone and Schafer’s delicate brushwork.

“Danke Schoen” has echoes of the old Kaempfert sound through Geisler’s jaunty guitar but the hip-hop groove laid down by Potratz and Schafer is thoroughly modern.

Dell’s arrangement and Lauer’s tenor give a melancholy edge to the once insufferably jolly “A Swingin’ Safari”. The leader shows up well again with another imaginative vibes solo and Lauer demonstrates what a fine all round player he is. Daerr also enjoys some time in the limelight with a fluent solo.

“Strangers In The Night” has already been touched upon and this is followed by the brief and quirky “Afrikaan Beat 2”.

“Wiedersehn” is underpinned by the metronomic pulse of Potratz and Schafer which allows Dell and Daerr to solo inventively over the groove.

“It Makes No Difference” sees a free form introduction metamorphose into a stately reading punctuated by the squalls of Lauer’s tenor. Again it is vaguely unsettling.

The well-known “Spanish Eyes” gains a thoroughly modern edge in a yet another inventive and quirky arrangement with Schafer’s percussion to the fore. “Afrikaan Beat 1” is a feature for Lauer’s muscular tenor.

“I Can’t Help Remembering You” is another successful fusion of the old and the new as Geisler’s guitar combines with contemporary rhythms.

The title track is largely a feature for Dell with its passages for solo vibraphone, but he receives dynamic support mid track from the rest of the group, particularly Schafer.

“Love After Midnight” closes the album on an elegaic note featuring the leader’s bell like vibes and the limpid piano of Daerr.

This is an interesting record that takes a few listens to get into, but having said that each time you hear it you find something new.

The playing by all concerned is excellent but Potratz and Schafer deserve special praise for their flexibility and inventiveness throughout. Lauer’s abilities are undoubted and Daerr shows great promise.

As leader and main soloist Dell is inventive and imaginative and his arrangements are exemplary and breathe new life into this music. With Geisler providing the link between past and present this is a worthy and well-crafted tribute to Kaempfert and has certainly made me rethink my own views of the man and his music.

This is a thoroughly convincing update of the Kaempfert sound.

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