FunkFreak75 The debut album of a short-live ensemble of highly-skilled musicians from Ulm released on the Amayana Label.

1. "European Spa'vogel" (4:00) a very warm and intimately recorded and imaged song of jazz musicians playing a melodic and rock-inspired song. Though the bassoon is the lead instrument, the bass and drums are mixed so that they sound like they're in your lap and so draw a lot more of my attention. In the third minute guitarist Roland Bankel is given the spotlight for his erudite jazz guitar. Nice song that has the same feel as Paul Desmond's "Take Five." (9.3333/10)

2. "Mr. & Mrs. Scrooples Lament" (3:15) a couple of warm electric piano chords are repeated to open this one while bass, and cymbals pulse and hold space from behind. Bassoon, guitar, and electric jazz guitar join in to direct the song's first full motif into something that sounds like it could come from Markus Pajakkala's UTOPIANISTI or other tongue-in-cheek song producers. The electric piano and jazz guitar do, however, coax the song into jazz territory-- something that one might hear from JOHN ZORN. Very modern/21st Century sounding. (9.125/10)

3. "What's the Deal" (4:42) a great, engaging, funky, even hypnotic jazz-rock fusion tune that Herbie himself would have been proud of. (9.25/10)

4. "It's Rainin' in My House" (4:22) slow-paced syncopated drums over and within which minimal bass play and slow- injections of synthesizer and heavily-treated deep bassoon notes lead the way. It's as if we're a crime detective slowly making our way through a heavily-wooded neighborhood in the wee-hours of the night with only a flashlight to help us see past the dark shadows. Or it could be the rendering of the creepy sounds one might hear inside one's own home when the power has been cut on a dark and stormy night. High marks for mood-making. (8.875/10)

5. "Don't Forget the Master" (4:13) such solid sound and musicianship! Though catchy and groovin' nicely, there are things about this song that feel incomplete and/or cheesy, as if the song really could have been more polished (compositionally). (8.875/10)

6. "In a Locrian Mood" (9:50) an opening that spans symphonic/classical to the jazz-pop in the same way that Deodato masterfully did for his rendition of "Also Sprach Zarathustra - 2001." At the two-minute mark the band shifts into gear with jazzy heavily-accented drum play and simple three-note bass line beneath soloing electric piano. At the end of the fourth minute every sits back to rest except drummer Harald Pompl who takes on a brief stop-and-go solo (later joined by Mandi Riedelbauch's sax and Max K'hler's bass mirroring Harald's syncopation). Then the song moves forward in a multi-tracked fashion in which it feels as if each and every musician is soloing all on his own: a little "free jazz," if you will. At the end of the seventh minute they come back together briefly before taking a seat to let Max have go on his effected, "underwater" bass. Around the eight-minute mark he's finished, Harald rejoins with some gentle cymbal syncopation, mirroring the pattern set forth by Max, as electric guitar takes off on a wild adventure. Synths and sax add a little texture around Hans' speed-a-long guitar play before rising with the rest of the band to kind of thicken and congeal behind and around Hans--right up until the quite sudden two-chord clipped hit that ends the song. Unusual, somewhat wild but at every moment feeling very defined and purposeful, even composed. I find it interesting and admirable but I'm not sure I'm really fascinated or engaged enough to say that I really like it. (17.5/20)

7. "Happy Sounds" (4:05) a song that sounds as if it were constructed as an exercise in whole-band discipline and perhaps as the working out of a rather mathematical problem--but then the wild and crazed second minute arrives with Mandi Riedelbauch's sax leading the band down a steep hill of uncontrollable speed and abandon. After that the band come together in a syncopated, almost-funky motif over which Roland and Hans take turns contributing their mood-appropriate solos. Harald and Max stay tightly bound underneath despite a challenging pattern and time signature. Interesting and mesmerizing for the musicianship and lack of predictability but not necessarily "happy" for me as there is little melody for me to hook into. Still, I can't say enough about the impressiveness of the performances. (8.875/10)

Total Time 34:27

I just LOVE the up-close and intimate rendering of these instruments! It's like they're playing right around you (or that you, yourself are playing the bass)! And the way each and every song is rooted in both jazz and rock trends and traditions. Rare! Despite the incredible sound rendering, the hard-core complex musical arrangements are not always as engaging as much as they are impressive. I guess I wish there was a little more of the former.

B+/4.5 stars; a near-masterpiece of Jazz-Rock Fusion: the sound quality, musicianship, and compositional intelligence of these songs should qualify this album as a masterpiece but there are just not quite enough engaging melodies-- even in the rhythm section's grooves--to get it there. Too bad! This is quite an extraordinary album.

FunkFreak75 Recorded & mixed at Tonstudio Bauer, Ludwigsburg September 1978 for Amayana Records, this is, unfortunately, the second and final offering from this band of talented, skilled musicians.

1. "Dance Lunatic" (8:49) setting up a Disco-ish Shaft-like jazz-rock motif from the opening notes, the band doesn't really fully serve the song up until the one-minute and then 90-second marks. Bass and hi-hat dominated drums with minimal synthesizer and guitar inputs allow for a broad spaciousness for the swirly, oscillating space synth to float around and the other instruments to add their exploratory accents. Guitarist Roland Bankel takes the first solo. At 3:48 everybody settles back into a late-nite open space motif over which saxophonist Mandi Reidelbauch solos quite beautifully as keys, bass, and guitar add their gentle but effective support accents. around the 5:25 mark the band start to increase their additions, finding a center in a groovy funky pattern while Mandi continues her solo unfazed. At the end of the seventh minute, then, everybody cuts out except for the "distant" "background" keyboard play of Hans Kraus-Hübner. Remember the gorgeous Yacht Rock classic, "Harbor Lights" from Boz Scaggs? This gently, floating keyboard sound, playing style, and mood here is reminiscent of the work of David Paich (TOTO) on "Harbor Lights." Some excellent, disciplined and understated Jazz-Rock Fusion in this song. At times it sounds like PASSPORT, at others SPYRO GYRA or even a little STEELY DAN-ish. (19/20)

2. "Burning John" (4:28) creative and inflective jazz-rock fusion that has just the right amount of funk, jazz, rock, melody, twists and turns to keep it both interesting and engaging. I find this drummer (Max Köhler) to be quite impressive with the way he achieves so much with his incredibly subtle stick play on the cymbals, hi-hat, and snare. Guitarist Roland Bankel gives one of the more impressive jazz-guitar performances I've ever heard. (I am not really much of a fan of the traditional Wes Montgomery and Charlie Christian "jazz guitar" sound or stylings.) (9/10)

3. "Drowsy Day" (4:53) this smooth, spacious, and fairly simple song exists to support the pop-jazz saxophone play of Mandi Reidelbauch--who feels, more and more as the album goes on, like the band's leader and chief composer. (He's not. Those credits go to keyboard player Hans Kraus-Hübner for all songs but the next,) Drummer Max Köhler continues to really impress with his skill for never dominating yet filling all spaces with his clever and constantly-shifting nuances. (8.875/10)

4. "Poly Whole" (3:53) a song that sounds and feels very influenced by the music of both Weather Report and Larry Coryell (among others). The tone used by guitarist Roland Bankel is quite familiar: similar to that of contemporary Larry Carlton and early Pat Metheny. Not as cohesive or accessible of a song as the previous ones. (8.75/10)

5. "Moonfever" (7:53) a two part song, the opening 90-seconds kind of wandering around on the dancefloor before the band settles into a kind of Van Morrison "Moondance" motif over and within which Roland jazz-guitar solos in some more traditional jazz-guitar tones and effects. I like Hans' piano support from beneath--which turns into a full blown solo in the fourth minute as the band turns to a completely different, more jazzy motif with fast-walking bass beneath him. Another 90-degree turn at the five-minute mark, slowing things down for a pretty awesome, if over-extended, space-saw synth solo from Hans--which takes us out to the song's end (a fadeout). Though this is not my favorite song or style exhibited by the band on this album, it is impressively composed and performed. (13.75/15)

6. "All These Nights" (5:23) very spacious, "late night" melodic and contemplative jazz opens this for the first couple minutes, then bass player Max Köhler creates a riff that draws all of the rest of the band members into a cool little "loose" groove. All the while, Mandi Reidelbauch is playing his alto sax up front and center, doing a great job of matching his mood with that of the shifting musical styles and tempos beneath him--which, at 3:36 move into a more vacuum-like spaciousness motif--one that reminds me of the structure of the famous Frank Sinatra version of Ervin Drake's "It Was a Very Good Year." Interesting and, ultimately, another impressive composition rendered with full mood effect. (9/10)

7. "Blue Time" (4:55) spaced-apart guitar and electric piano chords open this one, supported by injections of cymbal play and Vangelis-like synth sax and real flute. Eventually, the song opens up as an electric piano solo piece--one that is floating in and out of blues chords and riffs but never really going full blues. The sound palette, style, and timing of this opening three and a half minutes make me wonder if Vangelis ever heard this song (and borrowed from it) before or during his composition of the Blade Runner original soundtrack. After that it makes a meagre attempt to move into a rhythm-backed slow jazz piece but then fairly quickly disintegrates back into the spacious synth, electric piano, and bass palette and form of the opening--for its ending. Interesting but feeling less "finished" and less creative in its compositional form that the rest of the album's rather impressive displays. (8.75/10)

Total Time 40:14

Excellent sound engineering and smooth-on-the-verge-of-feeling-facile performances makes this music seem so satiny; it's just polished--by a great band of skilled professionals--a band that is on the verge of becoming a producer of Smooth Jazz, BUT they manage to deftly display their considerable jazz skills and creativity enough to keep themselves anchored in firmly in Jazz-Rock Fusion's Third Wave.

A-/five stars; I call this very much a masterpiece of late Third Wave Jazz-Rock Fusion. The skills exhibited by all of these performers feel to me similar to those of a master chef in a fine restaurant: engaging menu, great presentation, delicious, melt-in-your-mouth tastes with subtle yet very-satisfying undertones of flavor peppered with the perfect amount of never-over-done bursts of stimulation and character leaving a wonderfully-long-lasting glow of pleasure and contentedness. Highly recommended.