What happens when you take 4 bass sax virtuosos, form the world’s
first bass saxophone quartet—yes, they have spawned
imitators—and record music from 2 very diverse composers who had a great impact
on the 20th century? You get Deep Schrott’s second album: Deep
Schrott Plays Dylan & Eisler.
In their press release, the group writes:
Deep Schrott Plays Dylan & Eisler (poise 19)Recorded LIVE in the intimate atmosphere of a small theatre at Cologne, the album contains nine songs by Bob Dylan and four songs by Hanns Eisler, all of them newly arranged for 4 bass saxophones by Deep Schrott.The Bob-Dylan-repertoire was recreated on the occasion of Dylan’s 70th birthday in May 2011. The festival “Birthday Greetings from Cologne” presented the premiere of the Deep Schrott Dylan tribute. (See also under www.dylan-koeln.de)The Eisler songs were arranged by Dirk Raulf for the Deep Schrott project “Vacancies” in 2010, a program dealing with political songs of the 20th century.
Bob Dylan is familiar to most people. Hanns Eisler however,
is perhaps more of an unknown to North Americans. Eisler was a German composer
who fled to the United States after the Nazi party banned his music.
Eisler wrote music for Hollywood, and was even nominated for a couple of
Oscars. But during the Cold War, Eisler became the first causality of the witch
hunt that would eventually become known as the McCarthy Era.
Eisler was expelled from the US and moved back to Berlin where he wrote the
National Anthem for East Germany. However, he continued to fight against the
country’s censorship of jazz and atonal music.
With Deep Schrott Plays Dylan & Eisler, 4 incredibly talented
musicians make their bass saxophones sing the songs of peace and social change.
Bass saxophones can sing, and Deep Schrott makes it appear as
if they can do it effortlessly.
Their arrangements are a blending of harmonies so pleasing, that you forget
you are listening to bass saxophones, which for many years were forgotten or
neglected. The question that has to be asked, is: Why?
Sure bass saxophones are large, and somewhat cumbersome, but bands regularly
pack much bigger and more cumbersome gear. In the overall scheme of things, bass
saxophones are not that awkward, yet they add a level of depth and breadth to
the music, not matched by any other instrument.
If you play bass saxophone—or even if you just like the sound of the
bass—then Deep Schrott is a group you absolutely have
to have in your CD collection. Wollie Kaiser, Andreas Kaling, Jan Klare,
and Dirk Raulf, are masters of the horn which for years was the brunt of many a
joke.
Kaiser, Kaling, Klare, and Raulf, have helped elevate the bass saxophone to a
level of fame not seen in nearly a century. And to anyone who thinks that
vintage bass saxophones can’t play in tune, think again.
Three of the four members of Deep Schrott play vintage Conns. The sole member
in the group who appears to play a modern horn, is Wollie Kaiser, who plays a
Julius Keilwerth. (I haven’t asked Kaiser directly, but from the photos and
videos I’ve seen of his horn, it appears to be a newer one, as opposed to a
vintage JK.)
Regardless if you own a bass saxophone or not, every sax player should own a
Deep Schrott CD. I have both recordings. They are each equally well
performed, and will leave you wishing you could see the group live. (Something that’s quite easy to do, if you live in Germany.)
Deep Schrott Plays Dylan & Eisler is is available through Deep Schrott’s website. Their
first CD, One, is available through their site as well. It
contains a number of originals, as well as some modern music arranged by members
of the group.
