Jazz Articles

Norbert Stein: We Are

by Glenn Astarita
February 1, 2018

Venerable German saxophonist, composer Norbert Stein's various ensemble manifestations draw inspiration from the work of 19th century scientist, Dr. Faustroll who developed the 'pata physics' theory, defined as a science centered on “unreal logic." Here, the artist leads a quartet under the moniker “Pata Messengers," which is a semi-free program framed on linear thematic sequences that contain underlying melodic content with spacious intervals and rhythmically complex unison runs. Certain works spark notions of Ornette Coleman's harmolodic principles as ...

Norbert Stein: Pata On The Cadillac

by Glenn Astarita
April 20, 2013

German tenor saxophonist Norbert Stein is a distinguished composer and leader. He can prompt laughter, despair, and mesmerize the listener via regimented arrangements, sparked by difficult time signatures and multilayered sound mosaics. A self-described patamusician, inferring the Pataphysics movement started in 1948 by French playwright Alfred Jarry, Stein proffers an existential realm of thought, equated to Pata's science of imaginary solutions. The artist's long-running band essentially pulls out the stops throughout this affair, brimming with attractive melodies, ...

Norbert Stein Pata, Horns & Drums: Silent Sitting Bulls

by Glenn Astarita
November 12, 2010

German saxophonist Norbert Stein's hefty discography surrounds French journalist Alfred Jarry's pseudoscience of pataphysics amid many existential relations of art, life and human imagination. With his various Pata-based ensembles, Stein's music intimates comprehensive manipulations of jazz and world music. Organic, yet equipped with brute force tactics, the saxophonist's compositions boats a native stylistic component, hugely evident on Silent Sitting Bulls. The respective band members play a vital role in the rhythmic factor and they incorporate a curiously interesting ...

Norbert Stein Pata, Horns & Drums: Silent Sitting Bulls

by Nic Jones
November 11, 2010

Silent Sitting Bulls is the second release by this quartet, and it's clear that the time they've spent together has not been wasted. The outcome is an exceptional level of musical coherence, and it's not stretching a point to put their music alongside that of some of Arthur Blythe's ensembles as a model which, while it shows deep knowledge of the history of improvised music, also appreciates that a lot of its life's blood is generated by unassuming innovation.

Norbert Stein / Pata Generators: Direct Speech

by Glenn Astarita
December 20, 2008

Since 1986 German saxophonist Norbert Stein has issued fifteen albums under his emblematic Pata Music moniker, which is based on Frenchman Alfred Jarry's ideologies pertaining to physics and unreal logic, among other factors. In turn, Stein's compositional prowess includes what he refers to as “composed spheres," enacted by the soloists' options to rearrange various movements of a given piece. And while Stein is not widely known in the USA, his muse and methodologies often signify a higher level of progressive-jazz, ...

Norbert Stein / Pata Generators: Direct Speech

by Nic Jones
December 1, 2008

There'll always be a lot to be said for music that takes in the rambunctious swagger of David Murray's tenor sax playing and Willem Breuker Kollektif's near-irreverence and this release underlines the point nicely.

Stein's tenor sax has something also of Al Cohn's later tone, although it's imbued with such a different swagger that the comparison is of only limited utility, especially when the music's so different from anything Cohn produced as is “Die Zen Gebote (The Zen Commandments)," where ...

Norbert Stein: Graffiti Suite

by Lyn Horton
August 25, 2007

Norbert Stein Graffiti Suite Pata Music 2006

Interaction among separate elements can have greater impact than the individual actions of those elements. The process is called synergy. Synergy works on all levels and is an important factor behind the successful outcomes that can emerge from collaborative effort--and it can be powerfully productive when individuals get together to make music.

Composer/conductor/musician Norbert Stein's double-disc Graffiti Suite, performed by the NDR (North German Broadcasting) ...

Pata Masters & Kua Etnika: Pata Java

by Chris May
May 5, 2005

The latest world music project from Cologne-based saxophonist/bandleader Norbert Stein finds his jazz/new music Pata Masters quintet in Java, collaborating with Djaduk Ferianto and his eight-piece Kua Etnika gamelan. Previous Pata Masters albums have documented the band's explorations of Moroccan and Brazilian soundscapes.

The Indonesian gamelan has enchanted Western musicians since the late nineteenth century, and Austro-German composers have seemed particularly receptive to its charms (this is probably the result of random colonial-era exposure rather than some mysterious ...

Norbert Stein: Pata Masters - Live In Australia

by Glenn Astarita
July 1, 2002

A resident of Cologne, Germany - saxophonist/bandleader Norbert Stein’s microcosmic view of nineteenth century scientist, Dr. Faustroll’s “Pata” physics intimates a metaphorical musical translation. Whereas the crux of the matter pertains to the band’s singular characteristics!

While Stein serves as the composer and tenor saxophonist, the band is a multitasking machine, as the soloists toggle between drums, percussion, EFX, mallets, flutes and so on. They engage in a blitzing frenzy, marked by pulsating rhythms during the opener, “Parliament ...

Norbert Stein with videotraces by Reinhold Knieps: Pata Blue Chip

by Glenn Astarita
June 1, 2000

German saxophonist, composer, band-leader and technologist Norbert Stein along with his often compelling musical visions are based upon the late surrealist Alfred Jarry’s – Pataphysics – theories and writings as Stein’s lucid and often stirring musical concepts vary from one project to the other. Stein’s latest effort is a thirty-four minute enhanced CD consisting of electronics and “videotraces” provided by his associate Reinhold Knieps as Pata Blue Chip offers the willing listener an interesting concoction of four futuristic-type works that ...