A pink crocodile swims on the Elbe
| A pink crocodile swims on the Elbe | ||||
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| Studio album by Synopsis (Central Quartet) | ||||
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Publication |
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admission |
1974 |
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| Label (s) | FMP , CD with Intakt Records | |||
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Format (s) |
LP, CD |
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Title (number) |
6th |
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Studio (s) |
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A pink crocodile swims on the Elbe is a jazz album by the Synopsis group (Zentralquartett) , which was created in 1974.
background
In 1973 the Synopsis quartet was formed , which first appeared at the Jazz Jamboree in Warsaw. The group had the opportunity to make their first recording as early as the spring of 1974: on March 5 and 6, 1974, the LP Auf der Elbe a pink crocodile was recorded on the radio of the GDR for the West Berlin label FMP ; Siegfried Scholz was the sound engineer.
The album
The production is "unmistakably carried by an immense joy of playing and by an increased security in dealing with the forms of communication and means of expression of free jazz." The central composition is the title-giving piece, which is also cited in other pieces on the album, in particular Krisis einer Krokodil " To the extent that it has a leitmotif function." The piece Auf der Elbe swims a pink crocodile is a hymn , "whose pathetic character is due to both its melodic-rhythmic structure and its presentation" by Bauer on the trombone; the character is broken “however by exaggerating the effects of the presentation and by potentially destructive interventions”.
Take IV is a "kind of free jazz-musical hunter's march that is hopelessly thrown out of step in the course of the plot by the oppositional drumming of Sommer."
Ekkehard Jost emphasizes that the album demonstrates “stylistic peculiarities of the GDR jazz of those years”, and first refers to the material used, in particular the use of folk songs. Similar to Gumpert's previous suite Aus teutschen Landen , the song Tanz mir not with my maid Käthen is used here , but also if you play and sat a snow-white bird form the thematic material of the pieces played "again never intact, let alone romantic transfigured, but alienated and disintegrated ”. The access to this material is partly reminiscent of "on the one hand the persistence with which elementary harmonic patterns such as IV-IVI or VIVI are played around, and on the other hand the rhythmic patterns used" of the Kwela adaptations of Chris McGregor's Brotherhood of Breath .
The album was only available in the countries of the West; The cover shows a surreal pink crocodile by the graphic artist Angelika Margull. At the end of April 1974 another LP synopsis was recorded for the Amiga label, which was only sold in the GDR . The album has also been available on CD since 2008 .
Track list
A 1 Crisis of a crocodile (Petrowsky / Bauer / Gumpert / Sommer) 4:30 p.m.
A 2 Zweisam (Petrowsky / Bauer) 3:34
B 1 A pink crocodile swims on the Elbe (summer) 5:45
B 2 Petting to 'Take IV ' (Gumpert) 0:22
B 3 Take IV (Gumpert) 3:42
B 4 More from German lands : (Traditional, arrangements: Gumpert) 6:27
- a sat a snow-white bird
- b Don't dance to me with my maid Käthen
Reviews
Dirk H. Fröse pointed out on the Jazz Podium after the LP was released that “the group doesn't seem very well-rehearsed”. Nevertheless, the pieces are "structured through thematic work, partial arrangements and clever, arch-musical reactions". The expectations “awakened” by earlier GDR releases by FMP would “be fulfilled to a large extent by this record.” On the occasion of the re-release, Reiner Kobe wrote in the same magazine in 2008: “What is still astonishing and fascinating about these old recordings today is the uninhibited fresh flow of improvisations is the effortless playing of this quartet. ... In the collective, dialogues are held in a highly communicative manner, culminating in solo peaks or carried out in orchestral form. In the last piece, 'Mehr aus teutschen Landen', the unmistakable trademark of GDR jazz is formulated using German folk songs. "
Bert Noglik states in the liner notes of the re-release: “East Berlin 1974. No ironic distance, but identification with this musically, culturally and politically strange situation in the here and now. Self-discovery in an acid test. ”For the reviewer Roland Spiegel ( Bayerischer Rundfunk ), he describes music that is“ a lot richer in dimensions than it might appear superficially ”. Hans-Jürgen von Osterhausen writes in the jazz newspaper :“ Great virtuosity , which characterizes the game of Konrad Bauer, Ernst-Ludwig Petrowsky, Ulrich Gumpert and Günter Sommer to this day, makes everything possible as well as hymn-like outbreaks, in the apparent contrast to the Dadaist paint, which can already be seen in the titles 'Crisis of a Crocodile' or the title track 'A pink crocodile floats on the Elbe'. "
Andy Hamilton discusses the re-release for The Wire , noting that the music is rich, intriguing, and "incredibly free," even if less groove- based than the group's later albums. Rigobert Dittmann celebrates the album in Bad Alchemy : “Synopsis was very close to proving that German lands are not only associated with disaster and unculture, but also with good reasons to indulge in hymns and laughter. Too furious for true solemnity and too fresh for folklore that has been hung up. ”He sees an analogy to“ Teutsch ”in Der adventurliche Simplicissimus ; for him "the pink crocodile was ACID German and has remained so." The All Music Guide rated the album with three and a half (out of 5 possible) stars.
Web links
- Reviews (FMP)
- On the same pink crocodile swims at Allmusic (English)
Individual evidence
- ^ A b c Ekkehard Jost, European Jazz 1960–80 , Fischer Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 1987, p. 249
- ↑ a b Ekkehard Jost, European Jazz 1960–80 , Fischer Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 1987, p. 250
- ^ Ekkehard Jost, European Jazz 1960–80 , Fischer Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 1987, p. 251
- ↑ Jazz Podium 11/1976
- ↑ Jazz Podium 6/2008
- ^ Bayerischer Rundfunk, April 7, 2008
- ↑ Jazzzeitung 4/2008 (reviews)
- ^ The Wire # 291, May 2008
- ↑ Bad Alchemy # 58 (2008) (PDF; 3.5 MB)
- ↑ The rating is under the title Synopsis / DDR , but with the original album name FMP 0240.