The Resonators is one of the many projects of prolific German, Cologne-based reed master Frank Gratkowsli, a free-improvised quartet that features guitarist Sebastian Müller, bassist Reza Askari (who conceived this band as an experiment) and drummer Thomas Sauerborn. This band echoes the 1960s and 1970s psychedelic rock, contemporary music, and Ornette Coleman’s Prime Time, but its dynamics are always based on powerful, free jazz. The Resonators debut album, Headlong, was released in 2021 (Moral Machine).
The Reasonators’ second album, Dashin’ Headless, features the quartet was augmented for the first time by Berlin-based guests – vocalist-actress Jelena Kuljić (who plays with Gratkowski in the Z-Country Paradise quintet) and Fender Rhodes wizard Achim Kaufmann (a long-time collaborator of Gratkowski). It was recorded live during the Plush Music Festival at the Loft club (one of Germany’s top venues for improvised music) in Cologne in September 2023, and captures the whole set.
Dashin’ Headless revolves around the poems by Irish-born, New Zealand-American anarchist and modernist poet Lola Ridge and Afro-American poet, journalist, and political activist Alice Dunbar-Nelson, delivered by the commanding, suggestive voice of Kuljić. The feminist, subversive overtones of these poems inform the fiery music, transforming the poetic texts into captivating, cathartic stories that aim to motivate the listeners and keep them at the edge of their seats from the beginning to the end.
The album begins with the explosive «After Storm/The Ghetto», quoting poems of Ridge, but there are some quiet, introspective moments, especially on the opening of the second piece, «Idler», that quote Dunbar-Nelson’s poem, when The Resonators blend atmospheric psychedelic prog-rock soundscapes with influences of Early ECM recordings. But as soon as Kuljić finishes reciting the poem, The Resonators gravitate toward its energetic interplay, reminiscent of the liberating, hyper-funky dynamics of Miles Davis’ iconic Bitches Brew band, with dominant Fender Rhodes and electric guitar solos that referencing the seminal voices of young Chick Corea and John McLaughlin. The album ends with the funky, free jazz «Headless» that constitutes The Resonators as a unique band with a collective voice of its own, that has just begun to explore its great potential.
Eyal Hareuveni
Jelena Kuljić (vocals), Frank Gratkowski (woodwinds), Sebastian Müller (guitar), Achim Kaufmann (Fender Rhodes), Reza Askari (electric bass), Thomas Sauerborn (drums)
