Detailed Reviews [Per Aage Brandt / Karsten Vogel – 2016

Prolusion. Cry! is cooperative effort between the ex-member of the early Danish jazz prog rock bands Burnin’ Red Ivanhoe and Secret Oyster, saxophonist Karsten Vogel, and pianist, poet and philosopher Per Aage Brandt. They released it to celebrate the 50th anniversary of their first joint record made in 1966. The album consists of 10 compositions. Accompanying musicians are Flavio Perrella on the bass and Klaus Menzer on the drums.

Analysis. It was back in 1966 that two avant-garde jazz musicians, young but already well-known within the jazz community of their country, Denmark, decided to unite to make a record. The style of their music had little in common with the then emerging new trend known today as progressive rock. Soon after that their professional paths diverged. Per Aage Brandt took to the secrets and beauties of language – poetry and linguistic philosophy, in which areas he afterwards achieved fame and became a professor. Karsten Vogel in the late 1960s became the co-founder, first, of the jazz-rock/fusion band Burnin’ Red Ivanhoe and later, in the early 1970s, Secret Oyster, which played in a similar manner. Both are highly remarkable acts ranking among the earliest prog bands in Scandinavia, and both can be highly recommend to those who are yet unfamiliar with them. Much time later, already in the 21st century, the artists decided to resume their cooperation and gave several concerts, and in 2016 recorded an album to commemorate their first project released 50 years ago. I’d call what we hear on this CD a mixture of instrumental avant-garde jazz and modern classical music, with more focus on the former. It has generally little to do with what we conceive as progressive rock, nor is there much in common with Vogel’s previous bands, Burnin’ Red Ivanhoe and Secret Oyster. Perhaps to let us know from the first seconds we are listening to jazz musicians, the opener Run is provided with a traditional swing beat, although it becomes immediately clear Brandt and Vogel are not so traditional in terms of musical approach. What comes after track one is generally much looser in terms of rhythmic structure, yet melodically, however freely songs may develop in the middle of themselves, each is based on a concrete theme, specified in the opening and closing part. In the beginning of the songs we hear a theme offered by the pianist or the saxophonist, after which they begin to improvise, complementing and competing with each other, sometimes playing alternately, at other times together. In the meanwhile the rhythm section provides an interesting yet unobtrusive background. In many instances the drummer uses only cymbals, quite diversely, while the bass player produces emotion rather than melody. For instance, in the longest (and, perhaps, my favourite) track (No. 6), the bass produces an alarming buzzing sound throughout, supporting the sorrowful development of the foreground instruments. All the stuff on the record can be roughly divided into two types of compositions: relatively fast, rhythmical and energetic; astral, meditative and melancholic. The latter shows more relation to avant-guarde classical music, than the former. In the end we can here an excellent instrumental version of My Funny Valentine written by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart and sung by Frank Sinatra, primarily.

Conclusion. With not so much experience in jazz, I cannot say anything to this category of fans. Certainly, those favouring dissonant sounds and non-standard musical solutions will find something in this record. At the same time, fans of Karsten Vogel’s old prog bands would not find Cry! familiar to them, yet prog listeners with broader musical interests would find it nice, I think. All in all, the music is complex, high-quality and original, and thus can be recommended.

Proguessor: November 2022
The Rating Room