jazztoday – cambridge105

It’s always a thrill when a group of your favourite musicians get together and form a new band. Especially when they produce an album like this, one that demands your attention. Not only the playing but the complex compositions, which move in and out of time, often with a blue hue.

The quintet comprises Leonhard Skorupa and Michael Moore on saxophones and clarinets, Asja Valcic cello, Robert Landfermann bass and Michael Vatcher drums. Two Americans, one Austrian, one German and one Croatian. With composing duties shared between the two reedsmen.

Dipsomania was recorded in Vienna. And even though it’s an international band, there’s a touch of New Dutch Swing about some of their pieces. Maybe not surprising since the two Michaels reside in The Netherlands. They’re a band I would relish seeing live. Drunk or not.

Pete Butcher – Dec, 30th, 2024