Eberhard Weber (electric double bass;
keyboards); Ack von Rooyen (flugelhorn)
(Review by Hugh).
Eberhard Weber played electric
bass in the Jan Garberek Group in the 1990s and most of the noughties. For this album, which is a follow on to his
2012 album Résumé, Weber has isolated the bass
solos from recordings made at a host of European venues, each of which provides
the track title on the CD: Frankfurt,
Konstanz, Cambridge, Rankwell, Langenhagen, Granada, Sevilla, London,
Klagenfurt, Bradford, Edinburgh, Hannover, Pamplona.
Weber has meticulously edited,
rearranged and modified the solos with additional keyboard parts which he plays
himself. He is joined on flugelhorn by
his old friend, the Dutchman Ack van Rooyen who appeared on Weber's first album
Colours of Chloe, 42 years ago.
The original solos were six to
ten minutes long and provided transitions between two large blocks of sound in
the original concerts. Weber (now 75) is
no longer able to play bass due to a stroke in 2007 and added the keyboard
sounds using his one good hand.
The thirteen tracks on this
album vary between 2:47 and 4:30. The
album will probably appeal to bass enthusiasts, although Weber played neither
double bass nor electric bass, but a “Spezialbass” that was developed by Weber
in conjunction with a violin maker. This
was essentially a double bass, but without a sound box.
The
result is a melodic continuum and it is difficult to separate the tracks one
from another without actually looking at the CD player display. It is certainly a pleasant sound,
particularly with the fine flugelhorn playing of Ack van Rooyen. Does the CD provide a major new addition to
the jazz canon? – well probably not.
This does not detract from the impact that Weber has had on European
jazz. This was celebrated in two
concerts in Stuttgart, Weber's home town, on the occasion of his 75th
birthday which boasted a stellar line-up including Jan Garbarek, Gary Burton
and Pat Metheny and were, by all accounts a night to remember.
The CD was released in the UK on 23 February by ECM
(Catalogue Number 4712051.)Hugh.
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