CD: Paradox Dreambox

In the past 12 years, Peter Gall has distinguished himself as a sovereign meter and composer in various bands, such as Subtone (with Florian Hoefner, Magnus Schriefl and Matthias Pichler, among others) or Roberto Di Gioia's Web Web (with Tony Lakatos, among others). Gall can be heard as a drummer on around 30 albums so far, including in his brother Chris' trio, with Blume (with Schriefl, Wanja Slavin, Bernhard Meyer), the Rainer Böhm Quartet, Torsten Goods and Enik; he has also been engaged by luminaries such as Kurt Rosenwinkel or Thomas Quasthoff and many more. Now the musician, who has been back in Berlin since his diploma studies (with John Hollenbeck, among others) and a two-year stay in New York, presents his first own production, Paradox Dreambox. It does not overwhelm with exuberant drumming, but seduces with melodic arcs and multi-layered arrangements, nuanced band interactions and latent energy even in quieter passages.

Dynamism runs through the album as a kind of leitmotif. The fast-paced title track sets offensive accents, with parallel and intertwined lines, staggered beats, mutually inciting solos and rousing emphasis. Starting with a pointed piano intro, the quintet develops broad arcs that unite and interlock toward the end, concluding in a lyrical piano section. The following ballad Faro, on the other hand, creates an almost contemplative mood in spite of 6 / 8 time, imagining less the robust power of the Atlantic and more the relatively relaxed attitude to life and the wide views over landscape and sea at the southernmost point of Europe. The fact that Wanja Slavin does get a little rougher at the end in his wonderfully soulful alto solo fits perfectly into the picture. 4 West on the other hand, already written in 2010 in New York, reflects the jazz mood in the city; melodic passages alternate with solos, after piano and double bass the sound aesthetic changes into the electronic, synthesizer sounds and flutes take over the main role until the end of the piece.

Variedly it goes on, sometimes more in the direction of musical-artistic freedom, sometimes calmer. That Yellow Heaven sounds more than all the other pieces like a song without words is no coincidence. After all, Peter Gall, born in 1983 and infected in his youth by his father and older brother Chris not only with jazz, also has a declared soft spot for The Beatles and Radiohead, Bon Iver and Elliot Smith. "Yellow sky is less a place, more a state," Gall muses, "the piece is based on a very emotional song about aging, transience and hope that I wrote two years ago for a birthday. Now we're playing it without lyrics, with a magical interpretation by Wanja."

Each of his compositions on Paradox Dreambox stands on its own, says Peter Gall. Accordingly, the repertoire sounds variable and yet always reveals clear musical signature. Gall can tell a story to all the pieces, or at least attach a memory to them. The nine-minute A Bird's First Escape is not about Charlie "Bird" Parker, but rather refers to a neighbor's bird, which once escaped from its cage and was able to circle in freedom for the first time. Indie A was also written in New York and unsentimentally bids farewell to a faded romance; Gall invited tenor saxophonist Ben Kraef as a special guest for his three-part arrangement here. The closing Ambrilla begins with lyrical themes and melancholy, yearning chords, then abruptly changes direction completely with synths, electronic sounds and grooves. "The idea is to create a mood that you surrender to - only to have something completely different and unexpected happen." In this context, Gall takes it a bit further, reflecting on the music for David Lynch's Twin Peaks and its inexplicable scenes and impressions. "In the soundtrack, the synthesizers create or enhance a mystical to surreal atmosphere. We've made little excursions into in-between or parallel worlds in a similar way, that is, with electronic sounds, which sometimes evoke paradoxical or dark moods."

Peter Gall's first album under his own direction is not a quick fix. Rather, the concept, compositions and band line-up have formed over a longer period of time in the imagination of the musician. Holding all the strings as bandleader was already on Gall's mind while he was completing his master's degree at the Manhattan School of Music in N. Y.C. some seven years ago. Still, he kept postponing the project; it wasn't until a composition grant from the Berlin Senate cleared the way.
Already while writing the pieces for Paradox Dreambox, Peter Gall had in mind the respective sound and emotional playing attitude of his musical partners, most of whom he has been friends with for years. Nothing more needs to be said about Wanja Slavin, Rainer Böhm and Matthias Pichler, all of them have already been awarded prizes and are among the distinctive figures of younger German jazz. Somewhat more unknown might be the Dutch guitarist Reinier Baas. "I had met him at the Manhattan School and his albums impressed me. Years later, we happened to play some gigs together. Apart from the fact that he is a very independent guitarist, I found the idea interesting to invite him as a musician who is not as familiar to me as the others. To provoke spontaneity and an immediate communication." In principle, Gall gave all his partners freedom to contribute their own ideas. He found it all the more exciting to see what ideas Baas would surprise the band with. "We all cross-fertilized each other," Gall states with satisfaction, "and Reinier contributed some intros that shaped the songs in their own way. His timbres, for example on Faro and Bird's First Escape, were something I had wanted without being able to name them specifically."

What is it about the title of the album, Paradox Dreambox? Peter Gall says of himself that he generally has a certain tendency to dream. He sees his compositions as a frame ("box") in which one can dream. This framework, within which the whole band moves, is flexible and can even be deconstructed with relish in parts. With his music Gall tells stories in a non-linear way, in which images and actions change in unexpected, sometimes almost mysterious ways. The name Paradox Dreambox describes, says Peter Gall, a "vibe" in which concise timbres can trigger different associations and emotional worlds that can be interpreted in many ways. With his suggestive, stylistically open music, the accomplished drummer is finally establishing himself as an accomplished composer and clever bandleader on the contemporary jazz scene as well.