Andreas Willers Montauk - Btlchr71208 - Jazz - by Between The Lines

The guitarist and composer from Berlin Andreas Willers is continuing the conception of his previous works on his latest release, especially from the CD “Tin Drum Stories” (btl 009). The album idea was inspired by Max Frisch’s novel “Montauk”, the viewpoint of a (old) European shaped by his autobiography of New York and the American mentality. Willers again uses various elements of style, which he composed tailored to his fellow band members in his own, very special way to create a wide-ranged work. A musical image is thereby created analogous to the novel. The music does not retell the novel, but instead explains it in its own terms and consequently remains an independent work of art. Willers, who is interested in many aspects of music such as modern electronics (live sampling in “Blinded in Headlights”), long-forgotten guitar effects from the 60s (the octavia of the “tychobrah” type on “One man¹s floor...“) and ethnic music instruments (a banjo here), creates leeway for his kindred co-players, especially for the French violin virtuoso Dominique Pifarély. The two string players unite with the rather more energetic instruments of Willers into an amazingly compact band sound. Willers address the body and mind with a language of sounds pointing the way to the future. Even listeners, who perhaps could not find much pleasure in Gene Vincent one on hand and Conlon Nancarrow on the other hand, can find an affinity to the playful logic of this avant-garde with a human face.