Dance of the Eskimos

CD review in "Jazz Podium" 9/1996



     



What the music of the Mörfiye sextet has in common with the dances of the Eskimos escapes me, but its conventionality is about as widespread in our part of the world as those dances are.
Already the makeup of the band (2 tenor sax players, 2 trombonists, bass and drums) makes you assume that these musicians are willing to create something unconventional. Without a doubt they have succeeded.
The titles, all composed by Ferdinand Rexforth and Gerd Hemmen, brim over with joyful experiments: crisp and precise brass and reeds, grooving and powerful rhythms, excessive
 free passages and expressive ballads - you name it. But nothing is like the ordinary stuff you might expect. 
The arrangements are marked by a sense of variety that keeps surprising you and by exceptional musical skills and verve.
Each player enjoys sufficient freedom to make the most of his solos, and yet it is the peculiar sound of the group as a whole which makes this CD so unique and special. Furthermore, the sound quality is excellent. This CD is an absolute must for those who from time to time enjoy hearing something which is not off the peg.


Thomas Fuchs



CD-crew 
Werner Kiefer (ts),
Ferdinand Rexforth (ts, comp),

Gerd Hemmen (tb, comp),
Detlef Landeck (tb),

Thomas "Cap" Gier (b),
Roman Beilharz (dr)