Knock Dieter Reith

"Dedication" finds Germany's renowned double bassist alone in the studio. For this recording, Dieter Ilg preferred not to pre-plan or pre-determine anything, but rather to create music in the moment in an intimate dialogue with his instrument. The idea might seem challenging but the results are totally compelling: Dieter Ilg's solo album is a homage to people who have left their mark on him, to some fellow musicians, and to the strong imperatives that have made him the man and the musician he is. "Dedication" is a manifesto for the freedom of jazz and at the same time a declaration of the special affection he feels for his low-frequency friend and companion.

Dieter Mieir can’t be accused of rushing things. In spite of enormous success as vocalist with the legendary Yello, he released his debut solo album at the age of 69. The 12-track longplayer sounds like a magical sound-alchemy made of Chanson, Electro and Dub. Realised with various musicians and producers including Thomas Wydler (drummer in Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds), Nackt (producer for Mute recording artist Apparat), Ben Lauber (producer, synthesizer), Ephrem Lchinger (piano), Tobias Preisig (violine), Nicolas Rttimann (guitar), and electropunk pioneer & producer T. Raumschmiere aka Marco Haas.

Verdi, Wagner, Beethoven, Bach…Germany’s premer jazz bassist Dieter Ilg has instigated several creative projects, in which he has taken the great composers of Western classical music off in new directions. Here, alongside pianist Rainer Böhm and drummer Patrice Héral, his focus turns to Ravel.

The first sound heard in the Concerto for Two Clarinets & Orchestra by Antonio Cartellieri (1772-1807) is a loud timpani roll that you could mistake for the opening of a Haydn symphony. This striking effect sets the stage for a Haydnesque allegro with Beethovenian accents, quite different from the wind concertos of Mozart and his contemporaries. But then Cartellieri had a reputation as an innovator (at a time in Europe when performers and the general public were suspicious of innovations) who made use of the latest advances in clarinet technology for his concertos. The solo writing is highly virtuosic (though the two clarinets often play in unison, or in thirds) and its challenges are fully met by Dieter Klöcker and Sandra Arnold.

f you thought Mozart’s Salzburg serenades were big works, then check out this extravaganza in nine movements, lasting just about an hour. Composed in 1764 and scored for everything but the kitchen sink, the work includes an opening march, two minuets, and major concerto movements for solo clarinet and solo trombone (yes, I did say trombone). Both are often performed separately. Michael Haydn’s proto-classical style is, as you might expect, graceful, tuneful, and easy on the ear, and if you are familiar with any of the other releases from Klöcker and his Prague forces, then you know that you can expect lively, elegant music-making (and some terrific clarinet playing).

Described in the notes as "comprehensively forgotten," Peter von Winter was born three years before and died two years before Ludwig van Beethoven. He started as a member of the Mannheim Orchestra when that ensemble was creating the Classical style and he became the kapellmeister of the Munich Court and was later made a Knight. When he died, the streets were lined with people in mourning as his coffin was carried through the city to the cemetery. And with his internment, the music of Peter von Winter fell into oblivion and his reputation faded into obscurity.

François Devienne (Joinville, January 31, 1759 - Charenton, September 5, 1803) was a French composer, nicknamed the "French Mozart '. François Devienne is the last of fourteen children of a manufacturer of saddles. He quickly comes into contact with music since, after learning several instruments at an early stage with his older brother, he becomes a child of ur hp in his hometown. This musical approach allows him to apply later in various Parisian ensembles as a soloist and member of orchestras and, better still, he joined in 1780 at the Kleber. He plays the flute (which he taught Felix Rault), bassoon (it began in 1788, bassoonist at the Théâtre de Monsieur then at the Paris Opera in 1793).

The short-lived Casimir Cartellieri was definitely a composer of note and this is amply demonstrated in this comprising three clarinet quartets. Dieter Klocker is a comfortable exponent of the many beautiful melodies that are found embedded in the music, very Mozartian in nature and which dances along at a pretty pace!