|
Forget everything you ever learned about big bands, jazz bands, wind sections and the like, for here come TÄTÄRÄ: a young and wild brass and woodwind ensemble, performing their favorite songs just the way they want to. From Oasis to Beck and Maxïmo Park. Made with heavy drums and rumbling bass, totally analog, naturally loud and raw: a contemporary counterpart to the creators of the Now Sound of the late 1960s -- Quincy Jones, Bob Crewe, Claus Ogerman, et al., who opened up the hallowed world of big bands to groove and rock. A big band playing cover versions? You may well be thinking that Ray Conniff, Horst Jankowski, Bert Kaempfert and a number of others have already been there and done that, with undeniable success. But first of all, that was a long, long time ago and secondly, there are no strings (attached) to the TÄTÄRÄ sound. And let's be honest, the music played today by James Last and the like is so smoothly polished, one begins to wonder, with all due respect, if human beings are involved at all. High time, then, for somebody to come along and deliver a hefty kick to the establishment's rear end. The formative period of TÄTÄRÄ goes all the way back to 1988, when they first created a stir as a street marching band. Since then, the ensemble has been on a constant upward curve. Entrusted with the task of keeping the wild bunch on the right track is Anselm Kluge, a leading figure at Hamburg's Musikhochschule, where he teaches the pop course. A number of the 15 piece TÄTÄRÄ collective have been recruited from the music college, in fact. TÄTÄRÄ only play their own arrangements, by the way, sometimes venturing into bastard pop territory (when two songs are fused into one), smuggling the James Bond theme into "Smells Like Teen Spirit," for example, with such harmonious aplomb that one barely notices the seams. Or weaving "Seven Nation Army" into Maxïmo Park's "Apply Some Pressure." Some songs are speeded up, with "Wonderwall" reborn as an up-tempo tune in comparison to the Oasis original, while "Tainted Love" is transformed into a forceful brass stomper. Maximum Brass is entertainment of the highest order, full of surprises, ideas and clever arrangements. Feel-good factor guaranteed!
|
|