Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Shrunken Head Shop: Live in Germany

28

Shrunken Head Shop: Live in Germany

By

Sign in to view read count
Shrunken Head Shop: Live in Germany
This international group is captured performing improvised music in Germany, featuring guest trumpeter Dave Laczko on three tracks that reside somewhere between Miles Davis' Bitches Brew (Columbia, 1970) era and experimental trumpeter Jon Hassell's work. Laczko and guitar whiz Willie Oteri have also recorded under the moniker WD-41. Indeed, both artists are known for pushing the envelope within progressive rock and avant, jazz fusion circles, assertively manifesting these exploratory processes here.

The set is primarily constructed on slow to medium tempo improvisations with a concentrated focus on experimental sound- sculpting mechanisms and unorthodox phrasings amid changeable motifs. At times, the musicians execute temperate vistas and surge story lines into an interminable netherworld, partly due to Oteri's volume control techniques and elongated notes, and Laczko's echo-drenched lines. They shift cadences, coinciding with a few psycho burnouts via Jan Fitschen's rangy Chapman Stick phrases and electronic effects, where violinist Sylvia Oelkrug intermittently initiates a spiraling attack with streaming staccato lines.

Oteri and his cohorts delve into a scrappy search and conquer mission atop asymmetrical rhythms on "Tracks of the Mystery Ape." Here, Fitschen's brash and expansive fuzz-toned effects help launch matters into a corpulent rock groove as they let the chips fall where they may. During "Wrath of Bernd," Oteri opens the floodgates with his bizarre voicings, spanning discordant theme-building jaunts, tinted with melodic overtones, foreboding lyricism and howling single-note riffs while riding above a perky rock groove. Overall, the upbeat program is framed on the artists' striking intuitiveness, deterministic interplay, and lucidly created electronic dreamscapes.

Track Listing

Legends of the Litfass; Whales of the Black Forest; Celebration of the Tsantsa; Tracks of the Mystery Ape; Wrath of the Bernd.

Personnel

Willie Oteri
multi-instrumentalist

Willie Oteri: guitar, live loops; Sylvia Oelkrug: violin; Jan Fitschen: bass, Chapman Stick; Schroeder: drums; Dave Laczko: trumpet (1-3); Allesandro Arcuri: bass (4); Konrad Wiemann: percussion (4).

Album information

Title: Live in Germany | Year Released: 2013 | Record Label: Self Produced

Comments

Tags


For the Love of Jazz
Get the Jazz Near You newsletter All About Jazz has been a pillar of jazz since 1995, championing it as an art form and, more importantly, supporting the musicians who create it. Our enduring commitment has made "AAJ" one of the most culturally important websites of its kind, read by hundreds of thousands of fans, musicians and industry figures every month.

You Can Help
To expand our coverage even further and develop new means to foster jazz discovery and connectivity we need your help. You can become a sustaining member for a modest $20 and in return, we'll immediately hide those pesky ads plus provide access to future articles for a full year. This winning combination will vastly improve your AAJ experience and allow us to vigorously build on the pioneering work we first started in 1995. So enjoy an ad-free AAJ experience and help us remain a positive beacon for jazz by making a donation today.

More

Love Is Passing Thru
Roberto Magris
Candid
Sunny Five
Inside Colours Live
Julie Sassoon

Popular

Eagle's Point
Chris Potter
Light Streams
John Donegan - The Irish Sextet

Get more of a good thing!

Our weekly newsletter highlights our top stories, our special offers, and upcoming jazz events near you.