The Austrian jazz ensemble Shake Stew celebrates its first decade with a double album, Ten One Two, and an expanded lineup from a septet to an octet. The ensemble will continue its 10-year celebration with a third album, Ten Three, to be released later this year.
Ten One Two offers sixteen new pieces. These new pieces suggest the continuous, organic evolution of Shake Stew’s expansive musical vision, embracing now also the sensual melodies of Ethio-jazz in addition to West-African and Gnawa-like hypnotic pulses. These pieces refine the ensemble’s signature double bass lines from bandleader Lukas Kranzelbinder and second bassist Oliver Potratz, the trance-like, infectious melodic brass textures of trumpeter Mario Rom, alto sax player and flautist Yvonne Moriel (who replaced Astrid Wiesinger), tenor sax player and flautist Johannes Schleiermacher, and the driving, seductive rhythmic patterns of drummers-percussionists Nikolaus Dolp and Herbert Pirker.
Ten One Two is divided into two parts. The first forty-five minutes and first eight pieces focus on Kranzelbinder’s intricately crafted compositions, Shake Stew’s uplifting, melodic themes, and the ensemble’s layered, hypnotic, and groove-based dynamics. This part was recorded during the day, when the ensemble was separated into rooms, and it often pays tribute to the seminal influence of British reed player Shabaka Hutchings, a former collaborator of the ensemble.
The second part, with the last eight pieces, was recorded in the evenings with the full ensemble in one room. It features Shake Stew experimenting with Kranzelbinder’s composed ideas alongside spontaneous live improvisations, relying on its collective experience honed over the last ten years. This part sends Shake Stew into ecstatic, psychedelic, and trance-like spheres, now stressing its experiments with electronics and synth sounds. Kranzelbinder’s Mellotron, Moriel and Schleiermacher’s assorted effects, and the new member, synth player Pablo Herrasti-Fajardo, add a strong psychedelic aroma to Sheke Stew’s new music. Post-production added further layers and texture.
Shake Stew sounds fresh, full of passion and energy, offering uplifting, optimistic music that makes you want to move, dance, and celebrate the simple joys of life. Everyone is entitled to some doses of Shake Stew’s musical recipe every once and awhile.
Eyal Hareuveni
Lukas Kranzelbinder (double bass, electric bass, guembri, kalimba, log drums, mellotron, ambourine), Yvonne Moriel (alto saxophone, flute, effects), Mario Rom (trumpet), Johannes Schleiermacher (tenor saxophone, flute, effects), Oliver Potratz (electric bass, Fender bass VI, effects), Nikolaus Dolp (drums, percussion), Herbert Pirker (drums, percussion, log drums, tambourine, shaker), Pablo Herrasti-Fajardo (modular synthesizer)
