Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Hans Fahling Quartet: Hamburg: Port of Call

129

Hans Fahling Quartet: Hamburg: Port of Call

By

View read count
Hamburg guitarist Hans Fahling wrote eleven compositions for Hamburg, each accompanied by a Patrick Haskett painting in the liner notes. The artistic intent behind this dual presentation (funded by a number of international sponsors) is well-realized through a series of shifting moods and styles. However, the interdisciplinary approach on Hamburg disguises the high-level improvisational bent of the music considered on its own.

Fahling's German Quartet, responsible for a third of the tracks, operates smoothly and seamlessly. This group appears equally at home trading fours, serving up solos, or working together to expand melodic themes. Saxophonist Reichert uses his clear, bell-like tone to alternately support and offer contrast to Fahling's processed guitar sound. Fahling's regular solos rely upon intensely scalar construction, using a occasional slicing attack to emphasize turning points.

The remainder of the record, performed with the guitarist's American quartet, also displays a highly sympathetic sense of cohesion. While the other musicians in the group play in an inspired and effective fashion, it's Fahling's virtuosic winding solos that draw the most attention. It would be a stretch to describe Hamburg as cutting-edge jazz, but the record certainly offers a solid contribution within the well-traveled category of bop.

Track Listing

Looming Out of the Fog; Savage Fair; Golden Seven; How Deep Are You?; To Walk at Night; Russian Ships at Hamburg; Hopes and Dreams; Ready to Take Lines; What Do You See?; Gibraltar to Starboard; Sunday Rain.

Personnel

Hans Fahling: guitar; Ralph Reichert: tenor saxophone; Andreas Henze: acoustic bass; Wolfgang Roggenkamp: drums; Aaron Birrell: tenor saxophone; Phil Sparks: bass; Steve Korn: drums.

Album information

Title: Hamburg: Port of Call | Year Released: 2001 | Record Label: Origin Records


About Hans Fahling

Tags


PREVIOUS / NEXT




Become a Sustaining Member

Get the Jazz Near You newsletter

Since 1995, All About Jazz has championed jazz as an art form and supported the musicians who create it. Over three decades, it has grown into one of the world's leading jazz resources, serving hundreds of thousands of readers, musicians, presenters and industry professionals each month.

Help Build the Future of All About Jazz

Your support helps us continue building All About Jazz for the next generation—expanding our editorial coverage, preserving jazz history, developing new community features and creating better ways to discover the music and the people behind it.

Become a sustaining member for as little as $20 per year and you'll immediately enjoy an ad-free experience along with access to subscriber features and future articles for a full year.

Together, we're not simply sustaining All About Jazz—we're building its future. Thank you for being part of the journey.

More

Airborn
Eddie Parker's Airborn With Rob Luft
Slow Down For Turtles
Luca Benedetti
Relocate
Andres Thor
A Distant Land
Rich Halley 4

Popular

Desolation Row
David Maranha / Rodrigo Amado
2014 NYC
King Crimson
Beneath Lifted Skies
Linda May Han Oh & Melissa Aldana
Talamanti
Patricia Brennan and Sylvie Courvoisier

Get more of a good thing!

Our weekly newsletters highlight our top stories, top album reviews, website news, free songs, radio & podcast shows, news, and upcoming jazz events near you.

Install All About Jazz

iOS Instructions:

To install this app, follow these steps:

All About Jazz would like to send you notifications

Notifications include timely alerts to content of interest, such as articles, reviews, new features, and more. These can be configured in Settings.