Was für eine Musik! Wild ist sie, aufmüpfig, sie sprengt eigene Grenzen und sucht nach neuen Formen. Sie gibt sich kratzig, rau und ungestüm, hebt manchmal harmlos an und mündet dann in heftigem Getöse, sie schmirgelt, sie prustet, sie überschlägt sich gar - und ordnet sich dann in fast vertrauten Melodien. Sie strotzt vor Entdeckerfreude, erglüht in schräger Schönheit und krächzt in harscher Ungenügsamkeit. Und doch stahlt sie dabei eine hintergründige Gelassenheit aus. Es ist Aufbruchs-Musik, es sind Töne einer neuen Identität. In jedem Moment merkt man ihr die Lust am noch frischen Abenteuer des Experimentierens an. Und man spürt ein neu gefundenes Selbstbewusstsein, das sie ausdrucksgierig feiert. Es ist Jazz von 1974, den man jetzt aktuell wiederentdecken kann - dreieinhalb Jahrzehnte nach seiner Entstehung. Und es ist Musik von zeitlos faszinierender Spannung. Rubrik: Free Jazz aus der DDR. Gespielt von Saxophonist Ernst Ludwig Petrowsky, Pianist Ulrich Gumpert, Posaunist Conny Bauer und Schlagzeuger Günter "Baby" Sommer. Damals nannten sie sich noch "Synopsis", später anspielungsreich "Zentralquartett". Und noch heute gehören die damaligen Mitglieder dieser Viererbande zu den bedeutendsten deutschen Jazzmusikern. Günter "Baby" Sommer kennen Viele auch als musikalischen Begleiter etwa des seine eigenen Werke lesenden Schriftstellers Günter Grass.
Diese CD enthält Aufnahmen, die 1974 beim Rundfunk der DDR in Ost-Berlin entstanden. In der DDR sind sie nie erschienen, aber dafür 1976 bei dem West-Berliner Avantgarde-Label FMP (Free Music Production). Die Vinyl-Platte von damals war lange vergriffen - doch jetzt hat das Schweizer Label Intakt Records die Aufnahmen auf CD neu zugänglich gemacht. Und beim Hören stellt man schnell fest, dass dieser Schatz es unbedingt wert war, gehoben zu werden.
Eine ganz eigene Ausprägung des Free Jazz entwickelte sich damals in der DDR. Und diese vier Musiker gehörten zu den Vorreitern. Verspielter als derjenige damaliger Kollegen aus dem Westen kommt dieser Free Jazz aus Ost-Berlin daher. Wenn man ihn jetzt wiederhört, fühlt man sich bisweilen zum Mitsummen animiert, zumal bei Themen wie in dem Stück "Mehr aus teutschen Landen". Unter diesem sprachspielerischen Titel firmieren die Melodien zweier, rund vierhundert Jahre alter deutscher Volkslieder ("Saß ein schneeweiß Vögelein", "Tanz mir nicht mit meiner Jungfer Käthen"). Sie werden zitiert, umspielt, zersetzt und auf ein anderes Energie-Niveau gebracht. Und scheinen zu bersten - vielleicht sogar vor Glück, dass ihnen etwas so Belebendes widerfährt. Auch eine Komposition wie "Auf der Elbe schwimmt ein rosa Krokodil" hebt ganz gemächlich mit Grummelposaune und versonnenem Altsaxophon an, bevor sie sich zu explosiven Klangballungen steigert. Manche Passagen in diesen Aufnahmen haben etwas Hymnisches, auf die Spitze getrieben Elegisches. Dann wieder wirken sie ungemein hintersinnig. Doch waren mit dem Hintersinn auch politische Botschaften verbunden? "Ost-Berlin 1974. Keine ironische Distanz, sondern Identifikation mit dieser musikalisch-kulturell-politisch seltsamen Lage im Hier und Jetzt. Selbstfindung in einer Zerreißprobe." Das schreibt der Jazzpublizist Bert Noglik, der beste Kenner freier Improvisationsmusik aus der DDR, in seinem vorzüglichen Booklet-Text - und charakterisiert mit dieser überraschenden Aussage treffend eine Musik, die viel reicher an Dimensionen ist, als sie oberflächlich erscheinen mag.
Ein Stück hochgradig spannender deutscher Musikgeschichte sind diese Aufnahmen. Sie dokumentieren die Kristallisation eines Klangs, der zu einer besonderen, ganz eigenständigen Jazzfarbe werden sollte - im Westen später hochgeschätzt als subversive Musik voller versteckter Botschaften; und von der DDR gleichzeitig als kulturelles Prestige-Objekt gehandelt. Auch das zeigt, dass an dieser Musik nichts eindeutig ist. Das auf der Elbe schwimmende "rosa Krokodil" des Titelstücks könnte einfach nur eine spielerische Beigabe sein - aber solch ein Aufblastier, auch darauf weist Bert Noglik in seinem Text hin, hätte das gekonnt, was den Menschen damals verboten war: in den Westen schwimmen. Ein schönes Symbol für eine Freiheit, die sich dieser Jazz damals aus ganz eigener Kraft schuf.
Roland Spiegel, Bayrischer Rundfunk, 7. April 2008

Auf der Elbe schwimmt ein rosa Krokodil (Intakt CD 142), das Debut von ZENTRALQUARTETT, damals noch SYNOPSIS, war 1974 den DDR-Kulturwärtern offensichtlich derart psychedelisch suspekt betitelt, dass es nur bei FMP im Westen erschien. Dabei hätte diese Unabhängigkeitserklärung des Ossi-Freejazz allenfalls des Versuchs verdächtigt werden können, aus 'teutschen Landen‘ mehr zu machen, ein flottes Land mit internationalem Flair und einigem Humor. Das Saxophon-Posaunen-Gespann von Ernst-Ludwig Petrowsky und Conrad Bauer blies so heiß, dass Elb- & Spreewasser brodelte, bei 'Zweisam‘ hymnisch zweisam. Ulrich Gumpert ließ auf den Tasten Monk mit Taylor kollidieren, aber zwischendurch auch Klassisches aufblitzen. Und Günter Sommer rappelte und schallerte abwechselnd mit Nähnadeln und Vierkanthölzern, mit Muscheln und Gong, dass nicht nur dem Zentralkomitee Hören und Sehen als subversiver Akt erscheinen mochte. Synopsis war ganz nah dran, zu beweisen, dass sich mit teutschen Landen nicht nur Unheil und Unkultur verbinden, sondern auch gute Gründe, in Hymnen und Gelächter zu schwelgen. Zu furios zwar für wahre Feierlichkeit und zu frisch für abgehangene Folklore. Aber dass und wie man aus 'Saß ein schneeweiß Vögelein‘ &'Tanz mir nicht mit meiner Jungfer Käthen‘ was machen kann, das zeigten sie mit jatzig schrägem Pfiff und tänzerischen Bocksprüngen, ebenso wie mit 'Take IV‘, das ständig als Marschlied ansetzt, aber sich nur selbst in Brand setzt. Analog zu Der abenteuerliche Simplicissimus Teutsch war das rosarote Krokodil ACID Teutsch und ist es geblieben.
Rigobert Dittmann, Bad Alchemy, 58, 2008

In the 1980s, East German musicians Conrad Bauer (trombone), Ernst-Ludwig Petrowsky (saxes), Ulrich Gumpert (piano) and Günter Sommer (drums) formed Zentralquartett, named ironically after the Central Committee of the Communist Party. However, in 1974, in the studios of East German Radio, they had already recorded the musical manifesto Auf Der Elbe Schwimmt Ein Rosa Krokodil ("A Pink Crocodile Swims On the Elbe"). The recording was never released in East Germany, but appeared later on West Berlin's FMP label – and now, I assume, gets its first CD release. As the sleevenotes comment, the image of a pink crocodile swimming on the Elbe is surreal, but maybe reminds us that a journey up the river, from Dresden in the East to Hamburg and the sea in the West, would not have been allowed then by the authorities. This early glimpse into one of the great quartets of free jazz, unusual for its lack of a bassist, is relatively brief at only 36 minutes, but it's a rich and fascinating one. Throughout, the music is incredibly free and, compared to their later work, not so groove-based. In 1973 Ulrich Gumpert's Workshop Band, and his duo with Günter Sommer; had explored German folk songs, searching for a European direction for Improv, and that process is continued here in pieces such as "Mehr Aus Teutschen Landen". The title-track, by Sommer, is a rousing anthem.
Andy Hamilton, The Wire, London, Mai 2008

Rainer Kobe, Jazz'n'more, Zürich, 6/7-2008

This is a reissue of music recorded in March of 1974 and first released by the FMP label in 1976. The decades haven't diminished its fire and the fact that the group has reconvened and recorded occasionally through the years since marks this as the first document of an ongoing story.
Communal improvisation is the order of the day, but echoes of New Orleans polyphony are very distant. Instead there's restlessly creative music of a radically different order on the opening “Krisis Eines Krokodils,” where by turns the music is intense in its pursuit of some ecstatic peace, then reflective, as if each of the musicians is only too conscious of the presence of the others. In the more voluble passages drummer Gunther Sommer comes on with Tony Oxley's hyperactivity, yet the music still keeps group integrity with Ernst-Ludwig Petrowsky's alto sax notable for the way it avoids any relation to the work of others—such as Marion Brown or John Tchicai—in this musical area.
His duet with Conrad Bauer's trombone on “Zweisam” is the work of musicians with big ears (in a sense other than the physical); such are the results that it could go on a whole lot longer than it does without any loss of musical quality.
Even at this relatively early stage of his career on record, Bauer shows how appreciative he was of his instrument's expressive capabilities. His work on the title track forcibly makes the point, with the music seemingly coming in waves, as if the group had tapped some potent source of collective energy. Sommer, the colorist, shows his worth here with pianist Ulrich Gumpert making his own presence felt with a measure of intensity all his own.
This however isn't entirely music without roots other than the ones the musicians were nurturing in the moment. “Mehr Aus Teutschen Landen” is a folk piece subject to Gumpert's arrangement and the result is what used to be called a gas. The idiosyncratic approach makes for a major injection of overt high spirits that might have the listener ruing the fact that it doesn't happen on record more often. .
Nic Jones, All About Jazz, USA, May 26, 2008

Rainer Kobe, Jazzpodium, Deutschland, Juni 2008

In historically criticizing the international breadth of improvised music, we’re still often quite apt to pigeonhole certain countries and regions as having a specific approach to sound. There’s the “Cleveland sound” exemplified by Albert Ayler and his cohorts, and the Instant Composers’ Pool defines jazz in Holland. The Germans blow their heads off and we all know what the English do. Of course, this is a patent fiction and thankfully there are records like the debut slab of Synopsis, first issued by FMP in 1974 and now in digital form on Intakt. The group consists of pianist Ulrich Gumpert, drummer Günter Sommer, trombonist Conny Bauer and alto/soprano saxophonist Ernst-Ludwig Petrowsky. Apart from two LPs in the ‘70s, they have recorded under the Zentralquartett moniker over the past two decades.
Being from the East of Germany and operating under the Iron Curtain, the appropriation of influences was a little different – sure, they could learn from records and from their local peers, but few other European (let alone American) improvisers made their way past the wall during the music’s infancy. Yet the East doesn't really factor into the idea of a uniquely "German" approach to free music, though the overblown paint peeling of Petrowsky’s alto may grant him kinship with Brötzmann. Such frantic pyrotechnics aren’t the basis for the group’s improvisations. But talking about what Synopsis is not doesn’t make much room for what defines them.
The set begins with “Krisis Eines Krokodils,” a poised counterpoint to the group’s immediate pan-continental kin as Gumpert’s delicate Monkian fancies jibe with trombone multiphonics and Sommer’s detailed, rattling propulsion. The fact that one is not waiting for a primed Bennink yell to break the silence enables one to relax and take in breath, coiled and tart sounds, upper-register plinks and massaging brushes. The piece ebbs and flows gradually in punctuated waves, Sommer’s tide a singular rhythm yet not indifferent to the circularity of African heartbeats. As Petrowsky screams and Bauer chortles, there’s an ease akin to rested breathing that makes their crescendos seem ever so natural. Sommer and Gumpert are a gorgeous tandem, symphonic arpeggios and a crystalline lushness, and their well-practiced duets offer a solid foundation for collectivity. Jaki Byard-esque rolling rings out from underneath Petrowsky’s alto whinnies, providing an introduction to a stately and unified head that closes out the piece amidst percussive thrash.
There are kwela-inspired folksy moments in “Take IV,” a transposition of Chris McGregor onto something of a parlor melody before racket ensues. “Mehr Aus Teutschen Landen” is a German folk song, winsome romance stomped on by Sommer’s toms before a trio of trombone, piano and drums take on the anthemic call as Petrowsky’s frantic skree hurtles over the top. A synopsis of exactly “what” might be the question to ask, for this quartet’s approach to improvisation is the antithesis of summation. Rather clearly, Synopsis/Zentralquartett are a musical launching pad.
Clifford Allen, www.bagatellen.com, 5. June 2008

Andrew Choate, Signal to Noise, USA / Canada, Summer 2008

Alfred Krondraf, Concerto, Österreich, Juni/Juli 2008

Harri Uusitorppa, Helsingin Sanomat, Finland, 2. Elokuuta 2008

Enzo Pavoni, Jazzmagazine, Italy, July/August 2008

Keine Sorge, die freie Fraktion ist auch heute stark vertreten. Der letztens hier schon abgefeierte Uli Gumpert nahm mit Conny Bauer, E.L. Petrowsky und Günther Baby Sommer, den Legenden des DDR-Free-Jazz, bereits 1974 diese Musik auf, die vor Freiheit geradezu strotzt. Wenig überraschend, dass die Platte in der DDR nie erschienen ist, dafür später bei FMP, und da logisch lange vergriffen. Die hier dezidiert auf sechs Stücken vorgeführte musikalische Gestaltung in freier Rede und Gegenrede, die zwar nicht im Material, aber immer noch im Gestus der Jazztradition verbunden ist, so Linernoter Bert Noglik äußerst hellsichtig, überzeugt auch ohne die historische Aurapatina, die dem DDR-Free Jazz als einer mehr oder weniger latenten sozialkulturellen Dissidenz - tatsächlich völlig zu Recht - auch heute immer noch nachgesagt wird. Klare Sache: dieses Album ist ein großes Dokument des frei improvisierten Jazz, aber sie ist auch heute noch ästhetisch und gesellschaftlich gültig.
Made My Day by Honker, Terz 09, 2008

Heureuse initiative : le label Intakt réédite la toute première production d’une formation historique. A la sortie de l’album, en 1974, le quartet se nommait encore Synopsis mais se composait des mêmes quatre maîtres du free jazz est-allemand qui forment aujourd’hui Zentralquartett. L’enregistrement, réalisé dans les studios de la Radio nationale d’Allemagne de l’Est en 1974, ne devait jamais sortir en RDA : ce fut le label FMP de Jost Gebers, localisé à Berlin-Ouest, qui le publia.
Le free dont il s’agit est d’une espèce particulière : ancré dans la révolte mais imprégné d’un humour caustique et très "second degré" qui transparaît autant dans les textes que dans la musique. Le titre de l’album : "Sur l’Elbe nage un crocodile rose" annonce, si l’on ose dire, la couleur : surréaliste et allusive - à l’époque, l’Elbe, hautement polluée, servait de frontière entre la RFA et la RDA ; comprend qui peut !
Les trois premiers morceaux composent une suite autour d’un unique thème - appelons-le "le crocodile" - exposé à la fin du premier mouvement, esquissé dans le second et développé dans le dernier. Les deux plages suivantes n’en font qu’une : une composition d’Ulrich Gumpert qui commence comme une séance d’accordage et finit dans un foisonnement collectif où l’on croit retrouver le Charles Mingus de Ah-Hum. Le dernier titre, en manière de bonus, reprend deux airs du folklore teuton ; une des ressources favorites du Zentralquartett, annonçant déjà l’album 11 Songs Aus Teutschen Landen paru en... 2006. L’aller-retour est évident : le thème "du crocodile" pourrait être une chanson populaire ; les airs folkloriques rebattus deviennent des créations traversées par un souffle libertaire... et un soupçon caribéen. Les recherches de l’ARFI ou de Baldo Martinez, du collectif Polysons et Carlo Actis Dato sur le "folklore imaginaire" pourraient bien en porter l’empreinte, de même que les Songs From the Spanish Civil War du Ramon Lopez Quartet.
Le piano d’Ulrich Gumpert paraît habité par l’ombre de Thelonious Monk. Les balourdises intentionnelles, les soubresauts rythmiques, les souvenirs de piano stride, les vraies-fausses notes, tout y est. Gumpert aime aussi les introductions en forme de jeu d’enfant, jouant d’un seul doigt hésitant sur le clavier : une façon de provoquer la tension chez l’auditeur, de s’amuser avec le poncif selon lequel les musiciens free ne sauraient pas jouer. (Et Picasso ferait des dessins d’enfant.) Ernst-Ludwig Petrowsky affirme son cousinage avec Steve Lacy et Albert Ayler ; Günter Sommer déploie une extraordinaire palette de couleurs et de sons qui structure littéralement tous les morceaux, du déchaînement solaire de "Take IV" au redoutable groove qui ouvre "Mehr Aus Teutschen Landen" en passant par les passages mélodiques et la dramaturgie de "Krisis Eines Krokodil". Conrad Bauer allie un son d’une parfaite rondeur à une souplesse de jeu que bien des trombonistes doivent lui envier...
Bref, un album indispensable pour qui s’intéresse au jazz contemporain européen : on tient là un des actes fondateurs de cette musique.
Diane Gastellu, Citizan Jazz, France, September 29, 2008

Mathias Bäumel, Deutschland, 18. Dezember 2008

Matthias Creutziger, Deutschland, 23. Dezember 2008

Maybe it could have been called The Great Unknown. Certainly the American focus of improvised music until the last century’s last couple of decades meant that some of the most exciting sounds extant were unknown and literally unheard by many people who should have known better.
Case in point: East German pianist/composer/arranger Ulrich Gumpert. During the 1970s, as these two exceptional sessions demonstrate, with his small group Synopsis – later renamed Zentralquartett – and his Workshop Band, the Berlin-based pianist was making music that was in many cases superior and definitely equal to any American sounds. Unfortunately Gumpert and his associates labored under a double whammy. Not only were they playing in Europe – which for Yank jazzbos of the time was no more than a destination for out-of-work American legends – but they doing so in the Eastern Block when the Berlin Wall and the Cold War were still part of everyday life.
While it may have been little compensation for his and his bands’ isolation, residing in what then was the other side of the Iron Curtain, meant that earlier than many others, Gumpert and his band mates were able to develop a unique style colored by Teutonic folk music as much as modern jazz. Throughout the three CDs here – recorded in 1974, 1978 and 1979 – especially in the later large ensemble sets, the influence of Ornette Coleman, Thelonious Monk and especially Charles Mingus is evident. But so too are sonic memories related to the Prussian marches, Germanic hymns. pumping dance tunes and pastoral folk ditties that were part of everyday pre-and-post-war East Germany.
Organizationally, another parallel is noticeable, in particular on Auf der Elbe schwimmt ein rosa Krokodil, the earliest session. Like pianist Misha Mengelberg and drummer Han Bennink, contrasting icons of the ICP Orchestra, Gumpert here is the cool theorizer and conceptualist, while self-described Saxon percussionist Günter “Baby” Sommer animates the proceedings, as well as disrupting them as often as he can.
A tune like “Mehr aus teutschen landen” on the quartet CD for instance, begins with reflective passing chords from Gumpert, but is soon splintered asunder by Sommer’s insistence on activating a jungle-rhythm-affiliated beat. When that interpolation is superseded by a syncopated folk melody, that riff is equally subsumed by emboldened spectrofluctuation and Aylerian screeches from saxophonist Ernst-Ludwig Petrowsky and capillary tremolo braying from trombonist Conrad Bauer. Eventually, as the drummer bluntly mix-mastering the beat you’re not sure whether you’re hearing a cha cha, a tango, a polka or a beer-hall anthem. Rallying with kinetic dynamics, Gumpert rescues the tune from tumbling into serious musical kitsch before the finale, but not before Sommer beats out a burlesque march rhythm.
Musical bags of tricks are opened up and scattered through the track on the 161⁄2-minute “Krisis eines krokodils”, a group instant composition, as well. For instance, plunger trombone neighs and reverberating cymbal patterns are only countered by Gumpert’s formalistic chording of “Chopsticks” – albeit “Chopsticks” with key fanning and presto soundboard echoes – until the mock processional theme is further disrupted by growls and slurs from Bauer plus aviary squeals and wide, granulated atonal cries from Petrowsky. Sommer’s irregular beat-mongering and Gumpert’s keyboard pitter-patting eventually reach a tandem concordance, the better to accompany unexpected harmonic blending from the horns, as gorgeous as if it was being sung by two choristers. Unison recapping of the initial theme ends the piece on a high note, although Bauer can’t resist a pen-ultimate snort or Sommer a conclusive roll.
Four and five years later an additional four voices give Gumpert and the others supplementary textures and colors that are utilized with brio in live performances. Especially valuable is the thumping and walking bottom provided by bassist Klaus Koch (1936-2000), who for a time replaced Bauer in Synopsis. Overall though, the solos, compositions and band performance on both volumes of the collection are of such high standard that’s it’s difficult to rank any single track as more exceptional than others.
That said, a piece like “Aus Baby’s Wunderhorn /‘N Tango Für Gitti” on the first CD proves that Sommer – who composed the tune – was as familiar with musical mash-ups as the pianist. Here bell-ringing from the drummer and feverish piano slaps define the theme after a full-orchestra introduction is conveyed on wavering and hocketing chords. Evolving chromatically with stop-time episodes, the tune later makes room for irregular vibrato and altissimo timbres from Petrowsky. Further on, an unaccompanied broken-octave romp from Bauer introduces the tango that sounds more Arabic than Argentinean and is refined under swelling peeps and split tones from the reeds.
Massed contrapuntal vamps from different orchestral sections characterize “Auf Der Elbe Schwimmt Ein Rosa”, as well. Swarming along on polyphonic piano key sweeps and Klaus’ walking bass, the track’s pulse is measured and chromatic at the same time. Humorously, Swing Era-novelty bands appear to be saluted in some of the solos to the same extent as Mingus’ and Monk’s large group extensions. Tenor saxophonist Iri Anonow for instance, builds solos from stop-time “nyah-nyah”s, plus cries, whistles and irregular bar jumps when he plays. Meantime, whoever plays the alto saxophone line advances it mercurially and declaratory; Heinz Becker’s trumpeting is suitably clean and legato; while the drums clink and clank; and piano chording turn from stately to splintering. With the layered textures concentrated in the composition’s final, super-speedy variant, the repeated tutti riffs are finally cut off by a Count Basie-like plink from Gumpert.
It’s more of the same on the Workshop Band’s second CD, recorded one year later, with Helmut Forsthoff in for Antonow. The ensemble’s eighth member is alto and tenor saxophonist Manfred Hering, though the supposition is that the alto solos are by Petrowsky.
Sardonically original, some pieces on the disc manage to shoehorn Germanic marches as often as big band swing into the performances. More interesting are “Blau Blusen Blues” and “Hilferuf einer Schneck”. The later manages to find room for atmospheric cymbal echoes, gong resonation and yodeling from Sommer – who composed the tune – with Ziggy Elman-like lead trumpeting plus barnyard sonic approximations from the brass and harsh split-tone cries and tongue slaps from the reeds. As the trumpeter and trombonist whiz by with arching triplet slurs, Sommer smacks and drags beats from his kit and Gumpert dynamically fans the keys so that the resulting portamento link chromatically prods the piece forward. Following staccatissimo horn action, pitched well above normal range, the reeds continuous repeat a distinct and newer leitmotif as the pianist softens his touch for a climatic summation.
“Blau Blusen Blues” is a Bauer-composed blues where Basie-like keyboard comping, Koch’s walking bass and typically boppish ching-ching cymbal pulses from Sommer confirm its links to the tradition. For contrast however, on top of inchoate pulses from the horns, Gumpert transforms metronomic tinkles to downward stair-step runs and Petrowsky extends his biting multiphonics with chirps and glottal punctuation. Stop-time, the circling horns then reach a crescendo of connected timbres with Mingus-influenced orchestral vamps and flutters. A glissando from the pianist wraps up the performance.
Too many listeners missed out on these first-class discs first time out. Those that didn’t will want to hear them again. Everyone benefits.
Ken Waxman, Jazzword, January 7, 2009

The Zentralquartett (1) (Ernst-Ludwig Petrowsky, as; Conrad Bauer, tbn; Ulrich Gumpert, p; Gunter Sommer, d, perc), was formed by these four residents of what was then East Germany, in the early 1970s originally under the name Synopsis. They changed it to Zentralquartett around 1984. That they are still together, releasing their most recent album in 2005, is a testament to this group’s vision. Their first release, Auf Der Elbe Schwimmt Ein Rosa Krokodil, was released by FMP back in 1975 (when they were still known as Synopsis). Since their subsequent releases have all been on Intakt, it seems only fitting that the Swiss label reissue that august first statement.
Not merely a Free improvising unit, this was a group that threw all sorts of elements into their mix, long before it was fashionable: original compositions, folk tunes, schmaltz, African influenced tunes, Free improv. Thrown into the blender of these four players and the music came out a unique blend quite different from other FMP releases of the time. And because of that, this record tended to be undervalued at the time of its release. Yet all of the strengths of this group are to the fore on this disc. Bauer’s burly trombone, Petrowsky’s tart-toned reeds, Gumpert’s playful melodies and little asides, and Somer’s crazed and sometimes very intense percussion work all contribute to this group’s unique sound. This is a straight reissue of the original release (Krisis Eines Krokodils / Zweisam / Auf Der Elbe Schwimmt Ein Rosa Krokodil / Petting Zu - Take IV / Take IV / Mehr Aus Teutschen Landen. 36:26. 3/8-7/74, East Berlin, Germany.) and the only complaint might be that I wish there had been some unissued tracks that could have been added.
Robert Iannapollo, Cadence, USA, Jan-Feb-Mar 2009

Come un coccodrillo rosa nelle acque dell'Elba, un quartetto free nella DDR dei primi anni Settanta doveva sembrare una bestia alquanto bizzarra.
Ernst-Ludwig Petrowsky, Günter "Baby" Sommer, Ulrich Gumpert, Conrad "Conny" Bauer: quando nacquero [chi dice nel '72, chi nel '73] si facevano chiamare Synopsis, ma in seguito sarebbero diventati (quasi) famosi con il nome di Zentralquartett.
Quattro musicisti, la Germania dell'Est, un produttore illuminato [Jost Gebers, padre della mitica FMP], due giorni in studio [5 e 6 marzo '74] e un disco che, riproposto oggi dalla sempre lungimirante Intakt, suona ancora come uno dei più fulgidi manifesti della via europea alla libera improvvisazione.
C'è tutto nei 16 e passa minuti di "Krisis eines krokodils": ci sono i dialoghi a più voci in assenza di tempo e gravità, ci sono le improvvise aperture tipiche della formazione, c'è il piano deutsch-stride di Gumpert, il contralto acidulo di Petrowsky, una sorta di Marion Brown berlinese, ci sono le scomposizioni del trombone di Bauer e c'è il drumming ironico e iper-cinetico di Sommer. In un crescendo e decrescendo di volumi e intensità, il quartetto regala passaggi di concitata euforia, sommesse riflessioni timbriche e squarci melodici inattesi [il finale maestoso e suggestivo, para-ayleriano].
Notevole anche il duetto Bauer-Petrowsky nella lapidaria "Zweisam," mentre la title track riprende il bellissimo finale della traccia di apertura per ricavarne un ulteriore dose d'incanto lirico e scintille. Il sipario cala con il free-folk della danzante "Mehr aus teutschen landen," prefigurazione al recente, e bellissimo, 11 Songs - Aus Teutschenn Landen, disco interamente dedicato alla rilettura di antiche melodie germaniche.
Che dire? Indispensabile!
P.S. Di tanto in tanto, tra Magdeburgo e Dessau, capita ancora che un qualche pescatore riferisca di aver avvistato un coccodrillo rosa nuotare nelle acque dell'Elba.
Valutazione: 4.5 stelle.
Luca Canini, All About Jazz Italia, March 2009

Artikel zu Zentralquartett, von Stefan Hentz, Jazzthetik, März/April 2015, Deutschland

To Intakt Website: home