Frank Kaiser – CD Review in Jazz In Europe
Frank Kaisers album “Night Train” has been getting quite a bit of attention. Jan Veldman reviewed the album on Jazz In Europe. Below, is a short excerpt however you can read the full review at Jazz In Europe:
German based guitarist Frank Kaiser has just released the first album from his new project titled “Kaisers New World” that features Valentin Butt on bayan, the Russian variant of the accordion. In the press release that accompanied this album Frank described his music as a “playground for adults”, I would have to agree, when you dive into what is happening on the album you can only conclude that this is quite a sophisticated set.
The album, available via Calygram records is available on CD, Vinyl and all streaming planforms, consists of 8 tracks, all written and arranged by Kaiser. Joining him on the album is, as mentioned above, Valentin Butt on bayan together with bassist Lukas Growe and rounding out the quartet is Hans Otto on drums. First opinions matter and the first thing that struck me with album was the beautiful sonic quality and specifically how the guitar and bayan blend to create quite an amazing sound field. The second thing the struck me from a performance point of view was how Kaiser and Butt seamlessly share melodic and harmonic ideas, seeing this is the first recording from this new project this level of telepathy is quite stagering. Take the unisono lines at the end of the title track “Night Train” for example, you would almost think these two are related!
Before we get into the music in depth, let’s take a look at the back story to this recording. A number of years ago Frank felt the need to look for something new, a new sound and direction to take his music in. Frank explained that in his view “New things come into the world primarily through encounters, encounters with people, with generations and with cultures.” This new quartet featuring the accordion in the harmonic role emerged from just such an amalgamation. Frank went on to explain “I was looking for another chord instrument, that was not a classic jazz instrument in that sense. I thought of accordion or even bandoneon as an option to wring out new facets in my music, to spice up or even sweeten it with a taste of world music. I also thought that perhaps this would appeal to those who weren’t necessarily jazz fans before. The search for the right player was difficult, but in the end, a chance meeting with Valentin Butt from Berlin delivered exactly the sound I was looking for.”
You can read the full review here on Jazz In Europe.