Reviewed by Kerry Blewett

The name of this band had me visualising an ageing, mellow Johnny Rotten crooning his way through some re-done jazz standards, how wrong could I be.
This German trio pumps out some seriously hectic rock-jazz. I can’t help wondering how it is that I haven’t heard more of them, the standard is so high that they can compete with the best. The band comprises Christoph V Kaiser on bass (see interview on the SABPC website), Stefan Ivan Schafer on guitar and Thomas Lui Ludwig on drums (I wonder if he plays a set of Ludwigs?). Check out the band’s website, it’s very nicely laid out with lots of interesting links and info.
I enviously read about Christoph’s two Fodera six-string basses, in answer to a question about what equipment he would like should money be no obstacle he replied that he already has the best. To top that he nonchalantly refers to the two Accugroove cabs that he uses, hell, where can I get my hands on one of those in S.A.?
This album (which is comprised of cover versions of reasonably well known tunes – given Special Treatment) starts with the guitar leading the other two into the funky title track. It soon progresses into wild (the kind I find very exciting) guitar work followed by a drum solo over a pedestrian bass foundation.
The next track “Odd Blues” is rather odd for a blues piece. It sounds more like Al di Meola to me. This is followed by a piece of funk-rock entitled “Bugs” which is the platform for the 1st bass solo of the CD. Man, but those Accugrooves sound sweet. The song builds into an extremely exciting groove before calming down again to the opening rhythms.
“Dirty Sanchez” features a Spanish style accoustic guitar flavour. It makes for a good movie soundtrack in parts. Shades of Earl Klugh are apparent here. The next song “Vix 9”, a cover of a Bela Fleck and the Flecktones song, is all about driving drums and speedy guitar parts. Some phenomenal dual bass and guitar riffs (The original, as the title suggests, features Victor Wooten on a 9-string bass).
“Mr Smithers” features Larry Carlton style guitar playing. “Borderline” starts with gentle accoustic guitar that is soon joined by fretless bass. I suppose that it’s no coincidence that the bass sounds like a cello bearing in mind that Christoph began his musical career playing cello.
“Angry Dragon” is a funky piece beautifully woven together with some interestingly executed off-beat rhythms. This is my favourite track of the album which is a difficult decision to make given the quality of the rest of the tracks.
“Palladium” rounds off the CD ala Dave Weckl Band.
My overall rating of this band and this CD is that it is a must hear for those who appreciate some excellent rock-jazz. This album was recorded in the band’s own studio in 2001. I look forward to hearing their live album recorded in 2006. There is also a DVD of their live performance which I would love to see. However, the website warns that the DVD plays on any PAL-DVD player but not on an NTSC-DVD player, I’ll have to check out which one my player is.