In the nineties, the quartet Die Enttäuschung [The Disappointment] released their first record solely with pieces by Thelonius Monk. Die Enttäuschung managed the feat of radically remaining faithful to Monk and staying in close touch with the originals, and yet placing them on their heads. The four from Berlin celebrated a great success several years later with the recordings of the entire works of Monk on the 3-CD Intakt box with the pianist Alexander von Schlippenbach. The media has reacted euphorically to “Monk’s Casino” (Intakt 3CD-Box 100).

Now Rudi Mahall, Axel Dörner, Jan Roder and Uli Jennessen have released a CD with 17 of their own compositions. “This band knows no borders between yesterday and tomorrow” writes the German magazine Jazzzeitung about the quartet. “Die Enttäuschung is more Berlin than Berlin itself and, moreover, unparalleled in nearly every respect. Collective improvisations beyond convention will drive up your blood pressure and fantastic solos take away your breath.” Or it is, as the music journalist Felix Klopotek (Spex) sees the music from Die Enttäuschung, “concentrated intensity. Exactly that what one wants to hear from jazz today.”

In den neunziger Jahren veröffentlichte das Quartett DIE ENTTÄUSCHUNG die erste Platte mit ausschliesslich Monk-Stücken. DIE ENTTÄUSCHUNG schafft das Kunststück, Monk in aller Radikalität die Treue zu halten, in enger Tuchfühlung mit den Originalen zu bleiben und sie dennoch auf den Kopf zu stellen. Den grossen Erfolg feiern die vier Berliner Musiker mehrere Jahre später mit der Aufnahme des Gesamtwerks von Thelonious Monk auf der Intakt-3er-CD-Box zusammen mit dem Pianisten Alexander von Schlippenbach. Das Medienecho auf «Monk‘s Casino» (Intakt CD 100) ist euphorisch.

Nun legen Rudi Mahall, Axel Dörner, Jan Roder und Uli Jennessen eine CD mit 17 Eigenkompositionen vor. «Diese Band kennt kein Trennen zwischen Gestern und Morgen», schreibt die «Jazzzeitung» zum Quartett. «DIE ENTTÄUSCHUNG ist berlinerischer als Berlin selbst und darüber hinaus in fast jeder Beziehung unerreicht. Kollektivimprovisationen jenseits der Konvention treiben dir den Blutdruck hoch und hinreißende Soli lassen dir den Atem stocken.» Oder wie der Musikjournalist Felix Klopotek (SPEX) die Musik von DIE ENTTÄUSCHUNG auf den Begriff bringt: «Concentrated intensity. Genau das, was man heute vom Jazz hören will.»

This superb Berlin foursome gained notoriety as accomplices to pianist Alexander von Schlippenbach in his audacious project to play all 71 of Thelonious Monk’s tunes in one evening – after a few performances, they committed the songs to tape for the three-CD set Monk’s Casino, released in 2005. Die Enttäuschung (“the Disappointment”) already knew the Monk repertoire, having focused on his tunes for their self-titled 1995 debut, and on their three subsequent albums – all likewise self-titled, including a new outing on Intakt – they approach their own material with a similar energy. In their tart, wildly adventurous take on hard-swinging postbop, the players brandish some of the same extended techniques they use in more radical contexts; these guys love old-school jazz, and they treat it as a living entity. Trumpeter Axel Dörner and bass clarinetist Rudi Mahall are both titanic figures on the European scene – Dörner in particular has influenced a growing number of trumpeters with his daring use of unpitched sounds. And the nimble rhythm section, bassist Jan Roder and drummer Uli Jennessen, flirts with arrhythmic abstraction but never quite gives in.

Peter Margasak, Chicago