Record Reviews

REUTER / MOTZER / GROHOWSKI ~ SHAPESHIFTERS MOONJUNE 103 (Barcode: 692287910327) ~ GERMANY ~ Avant-Garde Jazz-Rock Fusion Recorded: 2019 Released: 2020 This is an album by a trio comprising of German touch guitarist Markus ReuterFind albums by this artist and American guitarist Tim MotzerFind albums by this artist and drummer Kenny GrohowskiFind albums by this artist. The album presents four "instant compositions" recorded live and credited to all three members of the trio. The music is exactly what one might expect from three free spirited musicians, who engage into a conversation, which has no pre-conceived subject matter, other than the collected musical experience each of these musicians brings with him into the melting pot. The four instantly created pieces of music are a snapshot of the event, which enable the listener to probe the musical universe created at the spur of the moment and make from it whatever his mind is capable to encompass. Considering the fact that these musicians have a "past" connected to what for lack of a better definition can be labeled as Rock, the resulting music is a form of Free Rock, quite similar in concept to the modus operandi of Free Jazz, at the time it was first encountered in the 1960s. The existence of contemporary technology, electronics and the entire paraphernalia at hand expands of course the possibilities that were available to John ColtraneFind albums by this artist while playing his saxophone, or Jimi HendrixFind albums by this artist playing his guitar for that matter, but the process of "letting go" of the methodical "playing" and shifting the process of creating sound into the spiritual / metaphysical plane is in fact similar. This music is first and foremost associative, or more exactly extrovertly associative, since all brain activity is a priori associative, and so is the process of listening to this music. Nobody can be teleported back within the space-time continuum back into the venue where this music was recorded in order to experience the music at first hand, so the only option left is let one´s brain to react to whatever enters via the ears and create one´s own "music", which is what happens anyway while listening to music, but this time without the availability of familiar patterns we already associated with music earlier on. This music is obviously not for a wide audience. Playing and recording this kind of sonic creations has serious intrinsic limitations as far as communication with audiences is concerned. Sometimes this kind of music can work live but only very rarely it is able to be "frozen" in recorded form and preserve its ability to communicate while reproduced at the listener´s home. There is no way to measure the rate of success of such endeavors, but it certainly is limited. Therefore I can only state that this particular shapeshifting attempt works splendidly in my case, but how other will react I have no clue. Kudos to the shapeshifters for the courage and open-mindedness!

Updated: 28/09/2020Posted: 28/09/2020

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