Shake Stew brings together seven unconventional musicians, all of them interesting characters of the young Austrian and German jazz scene. They are united with bandleader Kranzelbinder by the pursuit of new, enhanced sound possibilities and by concepts beyond boundaries of genre. As the youngest musician so far in the history of the prestigious Jazzfestival Saalfelden, he was chosen to put together a new project for the festival?s opening concert in 2016, which is also connected with a four-day residency. He put together a septet and prepared the festival show for a whole year, before not only recording the debut album The Golden Fang within a day of the residency but also playing a concert to remember.
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2LP
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TRAUMTON 4706LP
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Double LP version. The shooting stars of Shake Stew, who were awarded the German Jazz Prize in the category "Band of the Year International" in 2021, present their fifth album, Heat. A mix of hypnotic Afrobeats and ecstatic sound eruptions that is absolutely addictive. Hardly any other band has turned the Central European jazz scene upside down in recent years like Shake Stew. While the ZEIT called them "Austria's jazz band of the hour" and the NDR elevated them to the status of a "cult band" early on, it has been clear since the awarding of the German Jazz Prize 2021 in the category "Band of the Year International" at the latest: something has started rolling here that has never existed in this form before. From the very beginning, the formation brought to life by bassist and composer Lukas Kranzelbinder is surrounded by something mystical, which in a live concert ignites an immensely absorbing effect that few can escape: "The unspoken magic words are magic and energy -- Shake Stew brings something cultic to current jazz, an enrichment!" writes the jury of the German Record Critics in their reasoning for the inclusion in the Best List 2020. And the British magazine MOJO gets even a touch more physical: "Able to blind you into a trance and make you dance to your knees, Shake Stew twists, blisters and burns like a fevered dream!" Despite their unusual line-up with two drums, two basses and three horns, the band always manages to catch their listeners of all ages in an incredibly direct way -- whether in front of a standing audience in a packed club or in the sold-out Great Hall of the Vienna Konzerthaus. Hypnotic Afrobeat and driving rhythms have characterized the band's sound from the beginning, but just when you think you have deciphered the magic formula of this musical stew, Shake Stew reveals the entire sonic range of its unique instrumentation. On the verge of absolute silence, sound formations emerge as if conjured from nowhere, bobbing along on trance-like repeated bass lines and finely tuned gong patterns, touching you at least as deeply in their tranquility and fragility as the groove explosions that precede them. "Something emanates from this band that is new and special -- and immensely attractive," wrote the ZEIT in its analysis, and no matter which side of Shake Stew ultimately carries you along more violently. Your body will keep swinging long after the last note.
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CD
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TRAUMTON 4706CD
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The shooting stars of Shake Stew, who were awarded the German Jazz Prize in the category "Band of the Year International" in 2021, present their fifth album, Heat. A mix of hypnotic Afrobeats and ecstatic sound eruptions that is absolutely addictive. Hardly any other band has turned the Central European jazz scene upside down in recent years like Shake Stew. While the ZEIT called them "Austria's jazz band of the hour" and the NDR elevated them to the status of a "cult band" early on, it has been clear since the awarding of the German Jazz Prize 2021 in the category "Band of the Year International" at the latest: something has started rolling here that has never existed in this form before. From the very beginning, the formation brought to life by bassist and composer Lukas Kranzelbinder is surrounded by something mystical, which in a live concert ignites an immensely absorbing effect that few can escape: "The unspoken magic words are magic and energy -- Shake Stew brings something cultic to current jazz, an enrichment!" writes the jury of the German Record Critics in their reasoning for the inclusion in the Best List 2020. And the British magazine MOJO gets even a touch more physical: "Able to blind you into a trance and make you dance to your knees, Shake Stew twists, blisters and burns like a fevered dream!" Despite their unusual line-up with two drums, two basses and three horns, the band always manages to catch their listeners of all ages in an incredibly direct way -- whether in front of a standing audience in a packed club or in the sold-out Great Hall of the Vienna Konzerthaus. Hypnotic Afrobeat and driving rhythms have characterized the band's sound from the beginning, but just when you think you have deciphered the magic formula of this musical stew, Shake Stew reveals the entire sonic range of its unique instrumentation. On the verge of absolute silence, sound formations emerge as if conjured from nowhere, bobbing along on trance-like repeated bass lines and finely tuned gong patterns, touching you at least as deeply in their tranquility and fragility as the groove explosions that precede them. "Something emanates from this band that is new and special -- and immensely attractive," wrote the ZEIT in its analysis, and no matter which side of Shake Stew ultimately carries you along more violently. Your body will keep swinging long after the last note.
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CD
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TRAUMTON 4691CD
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2020 release. After their highly acclaimed double-album Gris Gris, Viennese groove-machine Shake Stew release their first ever live-album, (A)live! Shake Stew on the release: "We present this album at a most challenging point in time, when we are all feeling the loss of social interaction in many aspects of life. We are deeply convinced that everything we create and play is meant to exist in relation with the presence of other people, who influence the direction the music takes. The spirit behind this album is to emphasize the existential need for our music to be performed live, and the fact that it can only live and thrive as a collective phenomenon in an organic exchange with the audience. The emotions and sounds created in these moments are never private. Each and every person in the audience contributes to the process, in a constant interaction with the musicians. Therefore, we cannot simply execute our music on stage; we strive, with the help of everyone present, to bring it to life. Time and time again. This is why we play."
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LP
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TRAUMTON 4691LP
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LP version. 2020 release. After their highly acclaimed double-album Gris Gris, Viennese groove-machine Shake Stew release their first ever live-album, (A)live! Shake Stew on the release: "We present this album at a most challenging point in time, when we are all feeling the loss of social interaction in many aspects of life. We are deeply convinced that everything we create and play is meant to exist in relation with the presence of other people, who influence the direction the music takes. The spirit behind this album is to emphasize the existential need for our music to be performed live, and the fact that it can only live and thrive as a collective phenomenon in an organic exchange with the audience. The emotions and sounds created in these moments are never private. Each and every person in the audience contributes to the process, in a constant interaction with the musicians. Therefore, we cannot simply execute our music on stage; we strive, with the help of everyone present, to bring it to life. Time and time again. This is why we play."
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2CD
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TRAUMTON 4678CD
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2019 release. After The Golden Fang (2017) and Rise And Rise Again (2018), Shake Stew release their third studio album, Gris Gris. Austrian band Shake Stew has become something of a phenomenon. With their premiere at Jazzfestival Saalfelden 2016 and their following debut The Golden Fang, they seemingly exploded into the scene out of nowhere. Since then their high energy mixture of hypnotic Afrobeat and jazz grooves has made them enormously successful not only on home turf but across Europe. Led by rising star bassist Lukas Kranzelbinder they quickly became one of the hottest live acts on the circuit, while the impact of their second album Rise And Rise Again (featuring Shabaka Hutchings) enabled them to spread their unique sound further afield, including an extensive tour of Canada, Mexico, Morocco, and standout shows at prestigious festivals like Montreal, Rochester, and North Sea Jazz Festival. The band has also attracted the attention of Germany's leading newspaper Die Zeit who, in an unusual move, sent one of its writers to spend five days with them to cover the formations summer residence at Jazzclub Unterfahrt; the resulting feature was euphoric in its praise. Despite being on the scene for only a short time, German Radio NDR already called them a "cult band" and everyone who could witness the septet's two-day residency at Viennese Jazz Club Porgy & Bess earlier this year might understand why: both evenings sold out, a total of nearly 900 listeners, who crowded into the club to hear the latest sounds of a band whose journey has only just started. Not content to do anything by halves (their first single was 19 minutes long), Gris Gris is a double album of what they do best: a high-octane mix of fiery jazz and trance-like groove injections combined with mysterious soundscapes and spiritual free jazz eruptions -- or as one Austrian newspaper described them "an intergalactic road movie for the ears!"
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2LP
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TRAUMTON 4678LP
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Double LP version. 180 gram vinyl. 2019 release. After The Golden Fang (2017) and Rise And Rise Again (2018), Shake Stew release their third studio album, Gris Gris. Austrian band Shake Stew has become something of a phenomenon. With their premiere at Jazzfestival Saalfelden 2016 and their following debut The Golden Fang, they seemingly exploded into the scene out of nowhere. Since then their high energy mixture of hypnotic Afrobeat and jazz grooves has made them enormously successful not only on home turf but across Europe. Led by rising star bassist Lukas Kranzelbinder they quickly became one of the hottest live acts on the circuit, while the impact of their second album Rise And Rise Again (featuring Shabaka Hutchings) enabled them to spread their unique sound further afield, including an extensive tour of Canada, Mexico, Morocco, and standout shows at prestigious festivals like Montreal, Rochester, and North Sea Jazz Festival. The band has also attracted the attention of Germany's leading newspaper Die Zeit who, in an unusual move, sent one of its writers to spend five days with them to cover the formations summer residence at Jazzclub Unterfahrt; the resulting feature was euphoric in its praise. Despite being on the scene for only a short time, German Radio NDR already called them a "cult band" and everyone who could witness the septet's two-day residency at Viennese Jazz Club Porgy & Bess earlier this year might understand why: both evenings sold out, a total of nearly 900 listeners, who crowded into the club to hear the latest sounds of a band whose journey has only just started. Not content to do anything by halves (their first single was 19 minutes long), Gris Gris is a double album of what they do best: a high-octane mix of fiery jazz and trance-like groove injections combined with mysterious soundscapes and spiritual free jazz eruptions -- or as one Austrian newspaper described them "an intergalactic road movie for the ears!"
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CD
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TRAUMTON 4663CD
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2018 release. Shake Stew is Austria's jazz band of the hour. The unique septet is conquering the music world with a hypnotic mixture of Afrobeat and jazz grooves shaken up by the intense and mysterious soundscapes created with a combination of two drummers and two double bass players. With Rise And Rise Again, Shake Stew release their highly anticipated second album, which features Shabaka Hutchings on two of the tracks. During the course of six tracks, Rise And Rise Again reveals as many different energies as musical influences, always taking the listener by surprise with the vast possibilities of instrumentation that this young group offers between its members. Driven and relentless beats set off this record, with "Dancing in the Cage of a Soul" slowly introducing each instrument but soon developing into a jubilant anthem that sets off a spirited tenor saxophone solo by Johannes Schleiermacher rising above the shivery rhythm section. "How We See Things" fully utilizes the spectrum of acoustic possibilities by using Shabaka Hutchings as a guest and therefore having three tenor saxophones playing a theme above a tranquilizing and addictive pattern played by both double basses that reflects the strong influence of African music in the composers cosmos. Featuring his soloists with lengthy and excessive spots to fully express themselves is a notable trademark of Kranzelbinder's compositions and with "Goodbye Johnny Staccato" he wrote a theme tailor-made for tenor saxophonist Schleiermacher. Referring to a TV show about a detective/jazz musician in the late '60s this piece of music unravels all kinds of musical layers during its twelve minute tour de force. The two parts of "Fall Down Seven Times, Get Up Eight" then reflect the dynamic journey that Shake Stew is capable of, with two double basses setting up a vast space for the trumpet to develop a captivating solo spot. As soon as the rhythm section gets going with intelligent use of the three available bass drums in "Get Up Eight" and the horns start another praising, nearly gospel-like chorus you can feel the presence of Shakaba Hutchings growing with each bar. With the most stand out song of this album being at the end, "No Sleep My King" feels like an epilogue that -- once you lost yourself in its vibe -- fully lets you drift away on the repetitive bassline, the Moroccan field recordings or the remarkable alto solo by Clemens Salesny.
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LP
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TRAUMTON 4663LP
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LP version. 2018 release. Shake Stew is Austria's jazz band of the hour. The unique septet is conquering the music world with a hypnotic mixture of Afrobeat and jazz grooves shaken up by the intense and mysterious soundscapes created with a combination of two drummers and two double bass players. With Rise And Rise Again, Shake Stew release their highly anticipated second album, which features Shabaka Hutchings on two of the tracks. During the course of six tracks, Rise And Rise Again reveals as many different energies as musical influences, always taking the listener by surprise with the vast possibilities of instrumentation that this young group offers between its members. Driven and relentless beats set off this record, with "Dancing in the Cage of a Soul" slowly introducing each instrument but soon developing into a jubilant anthem that sets off a spirited tenor saxophone solo by Johannes Schleiermacher rising above the shivery rhythm section. "How We See Things" fully utilizes the spectrum of acoustic possibilities by using Shabaka Hutchings as a guest and therefore having three tenor saxophones playing a theme above a tranquilizing and addictive pattern played by both double basses that reflects the strong influence of African music in the composers cosmos. Featuring his soloists with lengthy and excessive spots to fully express themselves is a notable trademark of Kranzelbinder's compositions and with "Goodbye Johnny Staccato" he wrote a theme tailor-made for tenor saxophonist Schleiermacher. Referring to a TV show about a detective/jazz musician in the late '60s this piece of music unravels all kinds of musical layers during its twelve minute tour de force. The two parts of "Fall Down Seven Times, Get Up Eight" then reflect the dynamic journey that Shake Stew is capable of, with two double basses setting up a vast space for the trumpet to develop a captivating solo spot. As soon as the rhythm section gets going with intelligent use of the three available bass drums in "Get Up Eight" and the horns start another praising, nearly gospel-like chorus you can feel the presence of Shakaba Hutchings growing with each bar. With the most stand out song of this album being at the end, "No Sleep My King" feels like an epilogue that -- once you lost yourself in its vibe -- fully lets you drift away on the repetitive bassline, the Moroccan field recordings or the remarkable alto solo by Clemens Salesny.
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