Steffen Basho-Junghans Artikel/Rezensionen ( Seite 1 / 2 ) |
zu "SONG OF THE EARTH"....This is an unbelievably beautiful, intriguing and mysterious solo acoustic guitar work. Highest recommendation.Cuneiform Records/Wayside Music (USA)Beautiful new music from Basho's first US release. Not since Towner on ECM have you heard anything like this. Truly an inspired and beautiful work ........KUUDOOS on a great release!!!!!! Drimala RecordsI just picked your CD as one of the 10 best CDs of 2000 in my EAST BAY EXPRESS newspaper article. Henry KaiserBasho-Jungans, an East German guitarist who discovered the American steel string guitar tradition of Kottke, Fahey, et al before the Berlin Wall came down, found a deep personal resonsonacne and connection with the music of Berkeley¹s nearly forgotton, eclectic guitar genius Robbie Basho. In fact he changed his name because he saw a line of philosophy from the Japane poet Mistsuo Basho to Robbie Basho to himself! On this, his first American release, the German Basho goes for the same ³sound before technique² virtuosity of the American Basho¹s best work and succeeds both guitaristically and metaphysically at a seemingly impossible task. What could be a creepy kind of necrophilia, turns out to beautiful music that transcends and connects with the same magic worlds beyond the guitar as the original 6 & 12 string Basho, and the original Japanese master poet.Henry Kaiser in seinem EAST BAY EXPRESS Artikel(11/2000)Junghans' six- and twelve-string playing is just otherworldly. .. each note, each chord, is rounded off for the sake of resonance and mystery, each line played into, not on top of another, looping in and around his modal structure to create the illusion of timelessness and a spatial void. The longer works included here showcase this best. No matter the tempo and key each begins in, gradually, almost imperceptibly, they begin to mutate. "The Grand Entry" begins as familiar-sounding traditional Western folk song, unfolding itself into an elaborate journey across continents toward the East, ending in a different tuning and scale altogether. On the latter, "The Gates of Delight," chorded melody and Merle Travis -style picking underlie a blues line that turns back on itself with every round. Appalachian folk music, gamelan melodies, classical modality, flamenco, and Sufi harmonic sensibilities all flow through Junghans' mix with grace and an emotive power that is unequalled on the current scene. The listener is moved out of herself and into a world full of color and nuance that, while strange and multi-dimensional, is ultimately warm and welcoming.— Thom Jurek /All Music Guide (USA/ Juni 2001)In this striking departure from the free/avant sound of other Sublingual material, guitarist Steffen Basho-Junghans operates his instrument in the continuum extending from Leo Kottke through John Fahey and Ralph Towner. On Song of the Earth, his fourth record and first American release, Junghans plays 6- and 12-string guitars. Using resonance and repetition to achieve an open, airy sound, Junghans explores the dimensions of harmonic space. Don't misunderstand: there's no wild improvised extroversion here, only measured contemplative introspection. Much of < the of>consists of simple held or repeated chords, with melodic overlays achieved by superimposed tapping or plucking. (Junghans retreats here from earlier experiments with altered tuning and nonstandard technique.) Some might place this record in the dreaded category of New Age. Others might call it, to use Charlie Haden's phrase, "contemporary Americana." Ironically, Junghans was trapped in East Germany until the wall came down, relying upon only sporadically available recordings to satisfy his hunger for new music. Regardless, this is music without borders. Play it during contemplative moments; use it to relax after a long day of hectic concentration. Don't expect powerful dynamism or innovative harmonic experimentation--Song of the Earth relies upon unabashed gentle organicity to achieve its effects. To borrow a quote from the CD box: How can one sell the air? --Chief Seattle Track Listing: The Grand Entry; Red In The Rainbow; Song of the Earth; Sweet Moonlight Revelation; The Gates of Delight; Warrior's Lullaby; Silent Skies. Personnel: Steffen Basho-Junghans, 6- and 12-string acoustic guitars. Nils Jacobson /ALL ABOUT JAZZ November Reviews (2000)On Song of the Earth, Junghans evolves Basho's conceptions into great snaking compositions, full of sleight of hand dead ends and glorious melodic peaks. All the while he alternates droning sitar-like sections with big ringing chords. At 16 minutes, "The Gates of Delight" is very much the album's centerpiece, but the last two tracks, the relatively compact "Warrior's Lullaby" and "Silent Skies", prove that, like both Bashos before him, his brevity is just as breathtaking. The Wire"Song of the Earth" is a mature and convincing work, personal in spite of the undeniable debt paid to its direct source of inspiration. The guitar continuously elaborates rich harmonic textures, supported by a mystical breath that never fails, but far away from that fake new-age spirituality that can be found in other similar operations. Here the music is truly intense and powerfully evocative in its synthesis of East and West, and the guitarist shows that he has took as his own Basho's philosophy "soul first, technique later". A quite respectable technique, however, that gets highlighted during the whole record. It's hard to point out some pieces in an album so homogeneous and dense for inspiration; however, "The Grand Entry", played on 12-string, that opens the CD, and the long flowing arpeggio of the title-track deserve to be mentioned. Surely a record that can't be missed by acoustic guitar fans, and highly recommended to all others, in order to have a better understanding of the often unexplored potential of an instrument that is not much considered and undoubtedly underestimated. With a warning: although acoustic, this record has nothing to do with the various "unplugged" ones! Mario Calvitti /All About Jazz/Italyaus Liner Notes für "Song of the Earth" von Glenn Jones (Cul de Sac)
As of this writing Steffen has recorded enough
material for I-don't-know-how-many album projec-
ts. One of them, The Virgin Orchestra No. 1 (Good
News from Outer Space), is nearly four hours long
(!) and consists of Steffen's playing a newly
restrung, but accidentally (or randomly) tuned 12-
string. For several nights Steffen recorded on this
guitar just as it was Ð attempting to "find the soul
of the instrument." This is difficult listening par
excellence -- and I've barely heard the half of it. But
what I have heard exerts a strange and disconcer-
ting effect: after a while the guitar sounds "right"
and the world sounds out of tune. über INSIDE....The 2nd US release from this former East German guitarist, his most radically inventive work, full of propulsive rhythmic minimalism -- a new plateau in solo guitar audio.Forced Exposure (USA)It is elemental, but this time it doesn't come from the earth. Whether melodic ideas are recognizable as such or they appear seemingly from nowhere, they are bits and pieces of space, pure and vibrational, that Junghans rolls from the depths of his vast, dark heart, to his fingers and off the strings into that same universe that bore him in its space. The end result is a work of such haunting beauty, spectral grace, tonal complexities, and enlivening dissonances, that it does what all great music is supposed to do: Transfer emotion without cheapening it. With Inside, Basho-Junghans proves three things. First, that he is a musical technician and theorist, as well as an honest spiritual seeker. Second, that theory that comes from the search, and in order to be valid as language, it must become an agent of the soul that desires to communicate. Finally, that the musician who practices these principles with discipline and integrity becomes an alchemist who possesses within the context of his instrumental expression, the ability to meld physical, emotional, psychological, and spiritual worlds, and create a truly new sonic universe in the process. Inside is all this and much more that the limits of this language can convey. The first important guitar album of this century, one that reveals how truly expansive the possibilities for the instrument are. — Thom Jurek /All Music Guide (USA)A great new record by Junghans, a soon-to-be much more well known guitarist from the former East Berlin. Solo acoustic steel string guitar is his thing. "Inside" is a folk-trance album of exquisite beauty that has been compared to his evident hero Robbie Basho as well as to Loren Mazzacane Connors. Obviously, John Fahey would be another reference point, and Junghans' sometimes quite repetitive minimalism also puts us in mind of Rod Poole. The disc is divided into three "movements", starting in a simple, rhythmic manner (sounding very avant-garde & "Eastern" & Rod Poole-like) before morphing into some equally radical intricacies. There's no overdubs, but lots of variation. It's all very beautiful and hypnotic, never too difficult (to listen to, that is -- to play this stuff I'm sure is difficult). With colorful liner notes by Byron Coley. Aquarius Records /San Francisco, CaliforniaIt sounds like nothing you've heard before. The only parallels are in more experimental or avant rock areas, of which Junghans claims to be ignorant. The restless percussive circling sounds in places like a campfire Can, or a folk-primitive Spacemen 3, or Derek Bailey's early Incus sides. Byron Coley's sleevenotes refer to Loren MazzaCane Connor's acoustic work, except his has identifiable roots. The Wireradical new voice and perspective out of the acoustic guitar... An astonishing array of sounds are coaxed out of his acoustic steel string, remarkable considering INSIDE was recorded solo, with no overdubs whatsoever. Standing uniquely apart as a singular suite of minimal-trance for solo acoustic guitar, INSIDE sets folk standards collectively on it's ear. With this record, Steffen Basho-Junghans makes a radical statement on the potential of acoustic guitar music. His ultimate achievement, however, is the creation of absolute beauty. Comes highly recommended by the Crew. Drimala RecordsAnother outstanding work-out for this new solo acoustic guitar wizard from a new European hero named after the legendary Robbie Basho! Downtown Music GalleryApparent simplicity can often disguise depth of thought. Guitarist Steffen Basho-Junghans demonstrates this point convincingly on his new disc, double-entendred Inside.. Recorded live to tape, this performance relies on resonance, stark repetition, juxtaposed rhythmic units, and ornamentation to achieve its effects. Basho-Junghans abandons any conventional sense of melody or harmony, instead structuring his music upon gradual tonal development. The double meaning of the title refers at once to the music's authentic trance-like character and the ironically "outside" nature of the guitar technique employed along the way. Basho-Junghans uses unorthodox tapping, stretching, and picking styles to expand his guitar's vocabulary into the realms of microtones, percussive attack, and small-interval textures. Apt comparisons include John Fahey's unswerving deliberateness and Leo Kottke's attention to rhythmic construction. But Basho-Junghans has developed a style all his own. And it's anything but passive: these compositions stand as an antithesis to New Age. Inside does not promise universal appeal. It's clearly an experimental record, both in its exploration of tone and its focus on small-interval dynamics. But the open-eared listener willing to appreciate Basho-Junghans's eclecticism will find his music vibrant and pulsing with quiet energy. In much the same way that Eastern trance music draws upon repetition to enable meditation, Inside suggests an otherworldly sonic universe with its own organic pulse. Nils Jacobson /All About JazzDespite similarities to the work of Brij Bhushan Kabra, Rod Poole, and of course Basho, his playing here is in a class of its own. He tugs hard at the strings, sustains ringing percussive runs, and coaxes koto-like glisses from his steel-stringed instrument. Junghans's technique is impressive, but never an end in itself; instead, he uses it to articulate hypnotic, propulsive compositions that are as intense as the best Hindustani ragas. Bill Meyer / Amazon.comSomewhere between the rhythmic rigidity of Steve Reich's Electric Counterpoint and the wide-open guitar wanderings of Loren Mazzacane Connors N.Morrison / Epitonic.comLiner Notes für "INSIDE" von Byron ColeySteffen "Basho" Junghans has emerged over the last few yrs as one of the most provocative explorers of the acoustic guitar universe. Initially viewed as just another-German-trying-to-swallow-the-sun, Junghans' compressed visions for guitar's expanded horizons have now achieved such a magnificent alchemical balance, that his identity-as-performer has assumed its own monstrously iconoclastic shape. "Inside" is a suite in five ostensible parts. Some are linked via constructive tropes. Others exist in their own spectral aether, huzzing like clouds of past-due ambrosia vomited into the heavens by dizzy goddesses. For a while it has been clear that Junghans' compositional concepts have made an end run around those of his nominal model -- the late Robbie "Basho" Robinson. But the inventions on "Inside" are more radical than anything that has gone before them, and the quivering spirit wheels of Steffen's strings are comparable in places to nothing except the earliest recorded improvisations of Loren Mazzacane Connors. But Connors' protean work was "recognizable" in the sense that it was blues-based. Junghans' music can seem even more "alien," since it appears to evolve from some of the Eastern tunings favored by Robinson. Regardless of the differences between their stylistic husks, all three of these guitarists share access to powerful depths of emotion. Many composers and players are hacks, telegraphing their intent w/ moves so banal that they lack real meaning for anyone w/ half a mind. Junghans (like Connors and Robinson) communicates oceans of joy and fear and sorrow and transcendence w/o cheapening his language. The sentiments that roll off of his strings can seem almost hermetically personal, but they actually function w/ a near-platonic universality that should guide their arrows straight into the pineal glands of all enlightened listeners. With the release of "Inside", Steffen has continued his attack on the death dwarves that surround all of us. Let us hope that the flaming ring of his soul continues to cast its white hot radiance for many seasons to come. Hell must be a very cold place. Byron Coley Deerfield, MA 2000über Landscapes in Exile....German guitarist Steffen Basho Junghans may be unconventional but the techniques he employs on Landscapes in Exile are obvious enough: alternative soundings suggested by the nature of the instrument. Nothing in his approach reeks of trickery or perversity. Immediately striking is his decisiveness - firm gestures far removed from tentative probing. His music is testimony to countless hours spent getting to know his six and 12 string acoustic guitars inside out. He has made no secret of his affinities with American guitarists Robbie Basho, John Fahey, Peter Lang and Leo Kottke, and his playing overlaps their specific characters. But this album emerges from the throbbing core of Basho Junghans' relationship with his instruments. Resilient strings are hammered, tapped, rubbed and scratched. The guitar whispers and roars. The resulting music usually has a strongly propulsive rhythmic drive. Each moment is effectively orchestrated, with Basho Junghans picking out melodic figures within percussively punctuated sequences of chords and phantom chords. Even when he's negotiating vertiginous slides, he is emphatically in control. Listeners familiar with his album INSIDE (Strange Attractors, 2001) will be hungry for the lengthy, two part title track of Landscapes in Exile. Its motoric chug should also appeal to anyone with a taste for Indian ragas, Native American chants or Neu!'s Krautrock at its most hypnotic.Julian Cowley / The WireA remarkable guitarist....His own Fleur De Lis 1 and 2 are testaments to his craft.
- Sing Out!
A word of praise for a CD entiteled ‘In Search of The Eagle’s Voice’ by St.Basho-Junghans. Subtiteled ‘Concert Steel Guitar 6∓12 it’s an
astonishing display of guitar virtuosity in the (Robbie) Basho style wich these words cannot begin to do justice to. Suffice it to say that if you’ve ever bought a Basho LP you’ll love this.
Dit is essenteel materiaal! Galoppierende Pferde. Was ist das, „Auf der Suche nach der Stimme des Adlers“? Es sind auf jeden Fall recht ungewöhnliche Klänge, die auf dieser CD mit dem Originaltitel „in search of the eagle’s voice“ mittels 6 und 12saitiger Steelstring produziert werden. Das Solo-Debut (?) des derzeit in Berlin ansässigen Gitarristen, Komponisten und Malers Steffen Basho-Junghans, der bereits seit Ende der 70er Jahre mit zu den Protagonisten der Ostdeutschen „Acoustic Guitar Scene“ gehört, ist eine seltene Mischung aus Raga-Klängen, Rhythm ∓ Blues- und Country- Techniken mit asiatischen, indianischen und klassischen Inspirationen. Die Musik, die aus dieser Symbiose entsteht und ohne Tricks und doppelten Boden solistisch gespielt wird, erlangt durch den fast orchestralen Sound und die vorwärtspeitschenden Rhythmen einen mystischen Charakter unter Ausnutzung des silbrigen, oftmals gewollt klirrenden Stahlsaitentons. Die zehn hier eingespielten Titel sind dem Vernehmen nach „...eine Reise in Visionen der Erde, eine Zelebrierung der Natur...“, und es sind dabei tatsächlich Klanggemälde entstanden, denen sich der Hörer nicht mit den gewohnten Klischeevorstellungen nähern kann. Welmusik auf einem Instrument - so indiziert das Informationsblatt die musikalische Richtung des Gitarristen, dessen Wurzeln in der Tradition der klassischen nordamerikanischen Steelstring etwa von Fahey, Basho, Kottke, Lang liegen, aber denen er sich durch eigene, unorthodoxe Spieltechniken und eigenwillige Klangvorstellungen nicht zuordnen läßt. Er klingt wie ein Gewitter, wie ein galoppierendes Pferd, säuselt, zirpt und weint die Töne, die nur stählerne Saiten zu schluchzen in der Lage sind. Gitarre Aktuell IV/95Raga's in Europese Folk-Muziek (BOURDONSKE 97/1) -In Search of the Eagle's Voice- De naam Basho verwijst uiteraard naar de Japanse Haiku-schrijver. Behalve gitarist is hij ook een schilder. Hij was medeoprichter van de folk-groep Wacholder in 1978 en organizeerde talloze festivals voor gitaarmuziek in Duitsland. Verder is hij ook hoofd van het Berlijnse gitaarcentrum en is hij medevoorzitter van Profolk Duitsland. Voor zijn arrangementen met 12-snarige gitaar combineert hij de Noordamerikaanse Steelstring-traditie met de Europese klassieke gitaarstijl maar kende eveneens een Noordamerikaans-Indiaanse, en Oosterse invloed. Dit album bezit sterk gestructureerde composities en is uiterst boeiend. Hij schrijft en speelt suites en ragas en beweert dat de oude „Takoma-school“ (Fahey, Robbie Basho, Kottke, Lang) hem heel erg beinvloed hebben, evenals Aziatische, Keltische en Scandinavische traditionele muziek. Zijn stijlvirtuositeit zou wel wat weghebben van die andere (Robbie dus) Basho. Persoonlijk vind ik zijn laatste cd absoluut het boeiendst, en vind ik deze zelfs essentieel werk. In Legend of Mount Shasta hoort men gitaargetokkel dat zowel Indiaanse melodieen als een hypnotische raga laat doorklinken, met een spontaneiteit die dan weer eerder aan de blues doet denken. The four directions gaat over de wind die de evolutie van het leven voostelt. Voor het getokkel verder evolueert hoort men de winden echoen in de klankkast van de gtaar. Dit evolueert tot hardere bijtonen die een effect hebben van een ontplooiend innerlijk vuur dat tot uiting komt in een alweer raga-achtig spel. Het wordt dan weer rustiger en deint uit als een rollend herfstwindje. Sweet Silence is weer anders, en is gebaseerd op een sfeer in Tibet. Dit is een uiterst boeiend meditatief kunststukje. Wild Horse Ramble is gespeeld met de techniek van `het rennende paard´. In Rolling Thunder lijkt Basho wel twee gitaren tegelijk te spelen, nochtans staat er op de cd „No Overdubbs“. De constante virtuose evolutie in dit spel is verbazingwekkend. Dit is essenteel materiaal! Een gitaartalent dat volledig wakker is (d.w.z. nooit slaapverwekkend) is zeldzaam, maar Basho bereikte dit op deze cd. Het is een schatkamer voor gitaristen. Voorlopig heeft Basho nog geen distributor. Im Porträt: Steffen Basho Junghans Landschaften aus Musik, Malerei und Poesie Betrachtet von Cornelia Ulbricht(FOLKSBLATT)
Bereits im Kindesalter von 11 Jahren zeigte sich Steffen Junghans als talentierter Zeichner und entdeckte recht früh in sich den "seismographischen" Beobachter. Die
weite Landschaft des südwestlichen Harzvorlandes prägten den Individualisten, Eigenbrötler und "Träumer". Sein starkes Interesse an Hintergründen ließen
erste Gedichte und gezeichnete Landschaften entstehen.
© 2000-04, Steffen Basho-Junghans | Berlin (Germany) | info@bluemomentarts.de
|