Bass Instinct - Illusionista
There was a wall. Sitting at a friend’s apartement in Berlin overlooking an old stretch of the wall and trying to come up with some thoughts about “Illusionista”, the new CD by bass instinct.
“The wall is still there” an older, native cabdriver told me yesterday, and it is apparent, that there is still a big mistrust between East and West in Berlin, or even in Germany. But the physical wall is certainly history, well documented at various museums and memorials.
Bass Instinct is also about getting rid of walls, the walls of perception, one might ask, what do six acoustic bassplayers have to say? Aren’t they supposed to just play in a group in an orchestra, or one of them in a traditional jazz-setup? Maybe, but there is definitely more to say.
Comprised of four bassists coming from the classical world (Ernst Weissensteiner, Gerhard Muthspiel, Herbert Mayr and Tim Dunin) and two Jazz-bassists (Gina Schwarz and Peter Herbert), bass instinct is bound to overlook walls in every aspect.
Conceived by Gerhard Muthspiel more than four years ago, this group has been performing on a regular basis, (well, pretty much twice a year) a series of concerts (try to get six bassplayers of this caliber on the same page, datewise), amongst them a concert at the Austrian Cultural Forum in New York City in June 2007, which was voted by the popular website “allaboutjazz” among the 100 best performances in NYC in 2007. This “band” is not so much about getting rich and famous, but rather understands itself as a laboratory for new, contemporary compositions for multiple basses including extended techniques, constantly being researched by the likes of Mark Dresser, Joëlle Léandre, Barry Guy or Barre Philips. Needless to say, that such an undertaking is not possible without considerable financial support, which comes mainly from the Vienna-based string manufacturer Thomastik-Infeld. In return, bass instinct has been pivotal with it’s coorperation in developing new products, most notably their recent release of the very successful Belcanto-string.
The music on this new disc was recorded in our “natural” set-up, a semi-circle, from left to right one can hear Ernst Weissensteiner, Herbert Mayr, Gina Schwarz, Peter Herbert, Tim Dunin and Gerhard Muthspiel.
The improvising soloist in “Oedipus-Suite” is Peter Herbert, as well as in “Illusionista” , “K4” finishes with soli by Gina Schwarz and Peter Herbert. Having various composers write for this group has been a mainstake of bass instinct from the beginning, and we would like to encourage composers to write for us, we will certainly be around for a while!! Thank you, Skuli and Barbara for your marvellous pieces!
Peter Herbert, Berlin/Paris Febr. 2008
More info at: www.bassinstinct.at
Tracklisting:
1. Finale (by Peter Herbert) (7:14)
2. Oedipus Suite (by Peter Herbert) (9:42)
3. Mi – Tout Le Fourbi (by Peter Herbert) (4:27)
4. Summer Star Water (by Skuli Sverrissont) (3:57)
5. Verloren (by Peter Herbert) (8:09)
6. Kabul (by Gerhard Muthspiel) (2:17)
7. Illusionista (by Barbara Bruckmüller) (5:22)
8. K4 (by Peter Herbert) (3:28)
total time: 45:01
Recorded Jan. 29-31 and June 1 & 2, 2007 at Symphonia Studio Konzerthaus/Vienna.
Released 2008.