2009 release, yet another 'big' shot crafted by the creative outfit led by mastermind Pit Baumgartner. Big means "back to the future" for the band and its unique sonic world of sound. Although a lot of the track titles might sound familiar, this is anything but your average "greatest hits" collection. Instead, De Phazz rise to the occasion and reinterpret their best and most successful songs with a bit of an ironic smile on their faces and "a little help" from a real, full blown big band. And so it comes as no surprise that all songs on Big organically develop quite a stylish and tasty life of their own, extending the huge potential of the original compositions in many exciting directions. Big tunes, big band, big expectations... big things going on for real!
Who now may think that it’s all about a random big band album, should consider that there are decisive details in DEPHAZZ’s Big which give this lp a unique drive. Many tracks picked by DEPHAZZ – including very popular ones from the top-10 albums of the past years – do not deal with the average Pop, Jazz, Lounge etc., but can be understood as a post-modern collage of Jazz and Pop filled up with contrastive contents and bitter irony. Whereas a lot of artists did not dare to push the boundaries, DePhazz became known as the sound clash scientists. With the release of last year’s “Days of twang“, DEPHAZZ maintained their excellent status worldwide... so now with Big it is about time to showcase more of that thing which in Italy people call “grandezza“. “Driven by originality, this album rather means holding still and looking back,“ band leader Pit Baumgartner says and smiles. “For the big band arrangements surely grace and ennoble our music!“ Long term DEPHAZZ vocalists Pat Appleton and Karl Frierson contribute their individual skills and styles even more than to any other production before. Moreover, founding band member and trade mark sound-causing trombone player Otto Engelhard joins in Big after a time-out. This time, producer Pit Baumgartner steps off the beaten track of electronic soundscapes to follow the way paved by the analogue sonics of the impeccable Radio Bigband Frankfurt... hats off! Therefore, it’s not surprising at all that all songs on Big organically develop quite a stylish and tasty life of their own, extending the huge potential of the original compositions towards an exciting direction. Thus, the ironic, yet self-fulfilling new DEPHAZZ statement “hit happens“ sort of says it all ... because it’s nothing but the simple truth! The appearance of those huge grey animals with their superb stamina and large ears on the cover surely is no coincidence at all: BIG animals cast big shadows! |
