By Frank Alkyer | Published March 2015
Georg Breinschmid is one of the most fertile minds in music. He is a musician of amazing technique and skill, an artist of amazing range, humor and beauty. OnDouble Brein, the Austrian bassist delivers a two-CD set divided so that disc one features jazz highlighted by folk and world music and disc two features Breinschmid revisiting his classical roots. But, according to Breinschmid, this is “classical…not without improvisation, jazz also with classically trained musicians, and vice versa.” Everything is open to interpretation and improvisation in Breinschmid’s world. It’s a large and expansive world, from sambas to musettes to songs written about tour drivers who ask musicians not to throw up in the bus to folk tunes written in 11/8…and that’s just the first four songs. This album is a great listen from start to finish. Breinschmid’s concepts are always exemplary, but where he truly shines is in his musicianship: He has the bass locked down tight no matter how complex or how simple the music is. The first disc incorporates many of Breinschmid’s musical projects, including Brein’s Café, a trio with Gerald Preinfalk or Vladimir Karparov on soprano saxophone and Antoni Donchev on piano; Duo Gansch/Breinschmid, a project with trumpeter Thomas Gansch; Viennese folk musicians that he jams with; and Strings & Bass, a classical-oriented string quartet. The music is sometimes wild, sometimes free, sometimes folksy and always beautiful. One example is the ballad “Feb. 25,” a lovely tune in 3/4 with Breinschmid and Donchev working together quietly and intently for the first three minutes before Karparov swoops in on soprano, capturing their noir vibe and guiding it to its logical conclusion. There are 16 tracks on the first disc, and all are great—from “Fifteen Schörtzenbrekkers Are Better Than None” to “Blues In The Kitchen” to “Fantastische Trünenbaum” to the concluding “Waltz Of The Idiots.” On the second disc, Breinschmid breathes new life into Franz Liszt’s “Mephistowalzer” with the help of František Jánoška on piano and Roman Jánoška on violin. But this portion of the program isn’t entirely classical, more classically inspired. Strings & Bass’ take on “Irish Wedding In Bucharest” uses the string quartet as the launching pad for violinist Florian Willeitner’s fabulous composition that owes as much to folk and jazz as it does to the classical tradition. Performed by Breinschmid, Willeitner, violinist Johannes Dickbauer and cellist Matthias Bartolomey, this song is ambitious, majestic and rampaging. The same could be said of this entire album, and of Breinschmid and his fabulous cast of musical friends. From the breadth of the music to the beautiful CD packaging, Breinschmid displays an eye for detail and an ear for what music can be.
