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Artist
Bellbird
12+ albums
jazz
about
"Bellbird is one of those young German jazz groups that draw on the vitality and creativity of the Cologne-Berlin axis. Woodwind players Christoph Möckel and Holger Werner, guitarist Tobias Hoffmann, pianist Marco Mlynek, bass player Oliver Lutz and percussionist Max Andrzejewski make up this solid "twelve-handed" orchestra. The musicians are not only perfectly attuned but combine to form a brilliant unity of individual opposites. Everybody has his place. No note, no beat, no nuance and no intention is superfluous. The jazz on "Transmitter" is no self-indulgent musical realm inhabited by an elite of overqualified musicians who don't give a damn if anyone's still listening. Jazz confronts us here as an alternative culture lived by young people who can identify just as passionately with hardcore, hip-hop or Americana. This music is unreservedly jazz, and yet you don't need to have been initiated into jazz to find your way into its treasures. Band leader and composer Marco Mlynek mediates in his highly individual way conversation between the mid-sixties post-bop and the minimalism of a Steve Reich. But Mlynek also demonstrates a sure hand in translating electronic processes back into an acoustic context. In this respect, Bellbird is perhaps closer to post-rock bands like Tortoise and Battles than they are to a large chunk of jazz history. Their sound is as light and melodious as it is delicate. The surface texture of this music is constantly changing. And the more often you
