 style: jazz
country: germany
audio: lossless (flac, cue, log, scans)
size: 443 mb
Crack In The Cosmic Egg:
The story of Kollektiv is quite complex. Originally a school band playing pop songs in the mid-1960's as a trio called The Generals with the twin brothers Jogi and Waldemar Karpenkiel, and Jürgen Havix. During the late-1960's the three went their separate ways playing in diverse rock, blues and psychedelic bands. In 1967 Jogi joined The Phantoms, which also featured later Kraftwerk member Ralf Hutter. This band went through several changes of name: Rambo Zambo Bluesband, Bluesology and, after Jogi had left to rejoin The Generals, became Organisation. Also in Bluesology was the talented jazz saxophonist Klaus Dapper who left the band along with Jogi. With Dapper at the helm, The Generals changed style completely and changed name to Kollektiv, with the line-up of Dapper, Havix and the Karpenkiel brothers.
$CUt$As a dedication to their roots Kollektiv's debut album opened with the track "Rambo Zambo" sounding very close to the music of Organisation and early Kraftwerk, a spacious fusion involving unusual structures, and strongly featuring electrified flute and saxophone, in all - too esoteric and complexly crafted to be called jazz-rock. The band name was apt for a music that was created as a collective, with the attitude "Our maxim: Everything is allowed! Music as experiment", and in keeping with their novel music the LP cover had a novel word game inside based around the words: Rock, Jazz and Pop (or as my LP often says "RACK POZZ"). German humour can be so wicked, you know. In fact, along with the likes of Xhol, instrumental Thirsty Moon, Ibliss, et al., Kollektiv exhibited a style that was uniquely German, the jazzier end of Krautrock, full of invention and exceptional musicianship.
Only 3 months after their debut, Kollektiv recorded a 58 minute session for SWF radio in Baden-Baden, containing new versions of two tracks from the LP along with three new works, all done with a different more "airy" feel, involving more experimentation and improvisation. Aside from the odd nod back to Organisation (the flute and rhythms) there's also the feel of tripped-out late-1960's fusion of The Mothers (hints of Embryo, Xhol, etc.) notably the really fuzzed/ring-modulated saxophone. Now documented on CD release, this further defines them as masters of their art, with rhythmical nods to Neu! sitting alongside a wealth of solos and complex interplay.
Like many bands of the era, though they existed for several years on and off, with members moving into other bands like Glatter Wahnsinn, Guru Guru, Katamaran, etc. In 1979 the band (undocumented) consisted of: Waldo Karpenkiel and Klaus Dapper, with Jochen Schrumpf (guitar) and Detlef Wiederhöft (bass), before disappearing into obscurity. Eventually a radically different sounding Kollektiv appeared in the late-1980's aided by Swedish bassist Jonas Hellborg, presenting a very lively and high-tech fusion.
The latest facet of the Kollektiv story is Waldemar's cross-culture fusion trio The Karpenkiels.
01 - Rambozambo 11:40
02 - Baldrian 6:59
03 - Fцrsterlied 1:50
04 - Gageg-andante 5:08
05 - Gageg-allegro 3:37
06 - Gageg-pressluft 11:02
JOGI KARPENKIEL (BASS)
WALDEMAR KARPENKIEL (DRUMS)
JЬRGEN HAVIX (GUITARS)
KLAUS DOPPER (SAX)
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