The Dangerous Lab Chameleon Changes

• 1 The Blues 10:33
• 2 Calls And Hollers 08:28
• 3 Buddy Boy 07:10
• 4 Time vs. Frequency III 04:34
• 5 The Dangerous Lab 05:06
• 6 Goodnight Old Porkhead 06:09
• 7 Homage To Thelonious Monk 08:34
• 8 I Hear Buddy Boldon Play 08:11
• 9 Basin Street Blues 05:26
• Total Runtime 01:04:11

Info for The Dangerous Lab

"The Dangerous Lab" is a jazz album by the Austrian ensemble Chameleon Changes, led by the Viennese composer Marcus Ratka.

The project combines composed structures with free improvisation within the realm of modern jazz.

Founded by Viennese composer Marcus Ratka back in 2001, the ensemble—featuring such musical luminaries as saxophonist Herwig Gradischnig, pianist Oliver Kent, and drummer Mario Gonzi—reunited most recently in December 2015 to record a new Chameleon Changes album.

The record includes, among other things, a subtle homage to pianist Thelonious Monk, an iconoclast of modern jazz. With great verve—yet also a certain airiness—the ensemble creates a subversively resonant jazz that does more than just roar; it also possesses a sly, underlying groove.

Marcus Ratka is also a co-founder and director of the Jam Music Lab in Vienna, a kind of alternative jazz conservatory. The aesthetic he favors is charming, rooted in the past while remaining open to contemporary currents.

Ratka’s compositions aim to provide his musicians with the broadest possible scope for expression, while also fostering an unresolved tension between the poles of existence. Harmony or disharmony—it makes no difference. Within this delicate interplay of the internal and external—of aural unpredictability and reflective deliberation—the individual’s focus of inquiry may shift.

One thing is certain: for every spasm of the anxious human heart, there exists a corresponding piece of music—a music that must be sought out, time and time again. Much like the horizon that relentlessly recedes from a wanderer, the familiar in music also reliably drifts away. New territory becomes old territory, which in turn becomes new territory once again. Ratka preaches this without the need for words: it is only by moving forward that new paths are forged.

Marcus Ratka, Composition & Direction
Herwig Gradischnig, Saxophone
Daniel Nösig, Trumpet
Robert Bachner, Trombone
Bertl Mayer, Harmonica
Oliver Kent, Piano
Matthias Pichler, Bass
Mario Gonzi, Drums

No biography found.

This album contains no booklet.