image note       view larger image

Warner Plays Wagner/Swingin Johann – Jazz Club

Out Of Stock

Pretty great stuff – two groovy albums from German maestro Kai Warner, back to back on a single CD! Warner Plays Wagner is exactly what it sounds like – Kai takes on a host of compositions from Richard Wagner – but the results sound even better on record than they do on paper – thanks to Warner's groovy way of mixing strings together with early 70s production modes – all in ways that are far less classical than kind of a hip sort of soundtrack or sound library sort of vibe! Strings are heavy, but the grooves are too – and there's often a nice little bounce on the bottom, which cuts through the orchestrations in a great way, with lots of nice moments you wouldn't expect. Titles include "Tannhauser", "Am Stillen Herd In Winterszeit", "Lohengrin", "Dir Ton Lob", and "Lied An Den Abensternd". Swingin Johann is a whole new take on the music of Strauss – big band versions of older waltz numbers from the 19th century, but pepped up with plenty of that economic miracle German mode of the 70s! Instrumentation is jazz-based, but gets some sound library touches too – a bit of electrification in the bass, and some smoothing in the production – and even a bit of keyboards too. The end result isn't far from Berry Lipmann at the time – and titles include "Wiener Bonbons", "Annen Polka", "Wer Uns Getraut", "Rosen Aus Dem Suden", "Schatz Walzer", "Thema Aus Die Fledermaus", and "Kunstlerleben".  © 1996-2013, Dusty Groove, Inc.