Jazz Articles about Andreas Willers

Andreas Willers 7 of 8: The Goldman Variations

by Alberto Bazzurro
March 19, 2021

Disco composito, felicemente irregolare, questo del sestetto (in un caso settetto) diretto dal sessantatreenne chitarrista tedesco Andreas Willers, con le stimmate dell'opera largamente meditata, fortemente intenzionale, nella concezione così come nel gesto che ne accompagna la messa in pratica. Partenza al fulmicotone nel breve “Case of Need" e poi momenti più riflessivi, quasi sfuggenti, ma sempre con quelle nervature intestine che ne testimoniano la grana, lo spessore, l'urgenza creativa. Tutti lavorano ottimamente, sia negli insiemi, mai amorfi ...

Urs Leimgruber - Andreas Willers - Alvin Curran - Fabrizio Spera: Rome-Ing

by Glenn Astarita
February 10, 2020

These venerable European improvisers tease and taunt the listeners' psyches with free-form minimalist sound-shaping designs and subdued inner-workings with gradual buildups and asynchronous movements, countered by explosive episodes of angst, tinted with creaky sub-motifs. With four lengthy works recorded live in Rome--hence, the album title—American pianist Alvin Curran and Swiss guitarist Andreas Willers incorporate electronics into this otherworldly manifestation of avant-garde frameworks. The players afford themselves plenty of room for discovery and invention while fusing the group ...

Andreas Willers / Urs Leimgruber: Pale White Shout

by Glenn Astarita
August 10, 2016

Guitarist Andreas Willers (Germany) and saxophonist Urs Leimgruber (Switzerland) are among Europe's most prominent improvisers and free-thinkers. On this outing their experimental metrics are quite rangy and focused, offering the antithesis to a madcap free-form blowing session. The duo alternates between controlled thematic buildups and subdued encounters with polytonal dialogues along with certain parts that elicit notions of exotic birds communicating in a tropical rain forest. Add some bizarre tirades and coiled flurries --abetted by Willers' wily electric guitar effects ...

Andreas Willers: Orange Years

by AAJ Italy Staff
February 19, 2010

Questo nuovo album del chitarrista tedesco Andreas Willers è il degno compare del precedente album in solo Drowning Migrant (Leo Records) uscito lo scorso anno. Ci sono differenze importanti a livello strutturale, anche se la chitarra di Willers rimane ben identificabile nella sua capacità di trascendere i linguaggi per giungere alle soglie del suono nudo e crudo. Nel caso di questo Orange Years Willers ricorre alla tecnica della sovraincisione e suona anche batteria, percussioni e basso oltre alla chitarra elettrica. ...

Andreas Willers: Drowning Migrant

by AAJ Italy Staff
May 29, 2009

Il chitarrista tedesco Andreas Willers è certamente uno degli esponenti più radicali della scuola europea dello strumento, a cavallo fra jazz estremo e avanguardia. Questo album per la Leo Records lo vede in perfetta solitudine impegnato ad estrarre una ordalia proteiforme di suoni che si dilatano e si rincorrono, spesso senza avere una origine ed una fine ben definite nel tempo. Le sue chitarre elettriche ed acustiche diventano una serie di magic box dai quali far scaturire i suoni più ...

Andreas Willers: Drowning Migrant

by Glenn Astarita
May 7, 2009

Berlin-based guitarist Andreas Willers injects a bit of hoodoo voodoo into the realm of solo guitar, complete with effects-drenched overlays. A longtime participant in Europe's avant-garde, progressive jazz and jazz-rock contingent, the artist improvises within fragmented song structures and captivating shifts in strategy. Marked by off-kilter phrasings and guitar tunings, Willers tosses caution to the wind.

Willers implements sliding notes amid hazy dreamscapes while investigating the capabilities of the acoustic and electric guitar. He executes resonating and extended ...

Andreas Willers: Tin Drum Stories - Inspired by the novel Die Blechtrommel' by Gunter Grass

by Glenn Astarita
March 1, 2001

Guitarist Andreas Willers leads his trio through an impressionistic sojourn based upon and inspired by Gunter Grass’ novel, “Die Blechtrommel’. On Tin Drum Stories, Willers melds deft picking, supple themes and slashing crunch chords with firebrand lead soloing and circuitous developments along with a rhythm section, seemingly bent on employing refreshingly abstract ways and means of expressing cadence and flow.

With pieces such as “Tin Drum Stories; Parts 1 & 2, the guitarist slashes and burns atop Michael Griener’s swarming ...