PUPPENHAUS — Jazz Macht Spazz (review)

PUPPENHAUS — Jazz Macht Spazz album cover

Album · 2009 · Fusion

4/5 · 2024-10-23
FunkFreak75

An album that was recorded in 1973, but not released until 2009; we have here a group of very skilled musicians from Germany who will each go on to other notable bands.

1. "Anfang" (10:41) whoever thought this aggressive FOCUS-like music was Jazz-Rock Fusion? I guess the people who listen past the introduction! But those alternating motifs are definitely far more rock/prog rock than J-R F. Then the third motif, in the third minute, feels way more rooted in 1960s blues rock despite its jazzy sax and flute contributions and Frank Fischer's impressively fluid bass play. The new alternating aggressive motif seems to come straight out of KING CRIMSON's playbook. Then there is an impressive drum display with only Frank's three note machine gun bass play to support Bea Maier's nuanced drum play before guitarist Herbert Binder joins in with some long-held notes screaming and bending their way into the front line. Interesting how close Herb's guitar sound imitates a Canterbury organ. In the ninth minute there is a return to the FOCUS-like aggression before a sudden electric piano chord arpeggiates us into a dreamy passage over which Büdi Siebert lulls us into his spell with his beautiful flute play. The final 35 seconds sees a return to the aggressive rock chord play of the opening. Pretty great song! (17.875/20)

2. "Jazz Macht Spazz" (7:54) a nice mid-tempo song that cruises along while Büdi cajoles us with his soprano saxophone. Around the three minute mark the band switches into closed top, windows up mode while negotiating a slightly rougher part of town through Thomas Rabenschlag's electric piano. Then the rhythm section drops out for the sixth minute as Büdi picks up his ethereal flute with Thomas' vibrating electric piano chords supporting beneath. The band returns to a slightly-slowed down variation of the opening motif for the final two minutes--which enables both Bea Maier and Büdi to ejaculate their solo flourishes between and over e. piano and rock guitar power chords. (13.25/15)

3. "Swingende Elefantenkompanie" (10:47) starting out slowly--like an orchestra tuning--but then the rhythm section comes bursting forth with a blistering pace over which Herbert rock guitar shreds followed by Büdi's tenor sax. Yes, there are jazz elements to this music, but so much more belong to the domains of either rock or prog rock. The performances are impressive, yes, but nothing here really grabs me enough to want me to come back--this despite the music's similarities to that of Canadian band LIGHTHOUSE. Then, almost exactly at the four-minute mark, quite suddenly and unexpectedly (as if the start of an entirely new and different song), the music stops with the band immediately returning with a very smooth WILL BOULWARE-like "Feel Like Makin' Love"-like song, sound, and style: dominated by Thomas Rabenshlag's gentle electric piano play and Büdi Siebert's winsome flute. Then, around the seven-minute mark the rhythm section takes a few measures to ramp back up into a kind of frenzied-Disco hysteria which crash-ends after about a minute, leaving a New Orleans-style military marching motif in its wake. this motif slowly begins to unravel, soon becoming full-on chaos, before then shifting into a high speed though delicate motif in which horns and guitar play accents on Thomas' dirty electric piano frenzy, off and on, over and over, during the course of the next minute with drummer Bea Maier pounding away with great vim and fervor underneath until the sudden end. Whew! What a weird ride that was! I'm not sure how to rate it though I have to give them credit for being unique in their vision of that which can constitute a jazz-and-rock fusion. (17.5/20)

4. "Let The Pig Out" (5:58) opening with 90 seconds of breathy, voicy flute play which culminates in some of Büdi's human-made pig noises supplanting his flute. Then the band kicks in with a five chord KING CRIMSON progression that turns frenetic in an almost avant-garde, but more comic way. This is a motif that displays some very skilled and disciplined team work as well as creative adaptation of the heavier KCrimsonian sound (reminding me of the humorous aspect of 21st Century's SEVEN IMPALE). I'm rating this up for its skill level and humor, not for its effectiveness at making me want more. (9/10)

5. "Improvisationen" (17:04) Though the music here is rather straightforward cruisin' speed jazz-rock fusion--with extended solo time for Büdi Siebert's tenor sax and, later, Thomas' Herbie Hancock-like treated electric piano--there is some rather extraordinary bass guitar playing here from Frank Fischer (the part I enjoy the most). Büdi picks up his flute for an extended solo in the mid-section--expanding upon the woodwind's sound with his own voice (though never as amazingly as Thijs van Leer). Frank gets a turn to display his bass creativity in the beginning of the song's final third, then Herbert Binder finally gets some front time (though rather hidden and often muted) before Thomas and Bea move the song more into the comedic/novelty range with some Disney/Mother Goose- and nationalistic/military-like themes flourished for their audience (and, I suppose, for themselves). (31/35)

Total Time 42:24

B/four stars; a fun and skilled expression of jazz-rock fusion creative interpretation. Recommended for the experience of seeing once more one of the many ways the new idiom can be envisioned.