Stefan Redtenbacher - Falling From Insanity

Musicians:

'Falling From Insanity' is the second album of Stefan Redtenbacher (Berklee College of Music alumni, graduate of the Vienna Music Conservatory) following RB Funkestra's 'Boozing Wizards ­ Searching for the Stone of Funk'.

It is a groove-jazz album packed with horns, infectious grooves and colourful sounds, combining the old and nu¹ skool effortlessly.

The red line that runs through the album is the energy of bandleader and bassist Stefan Redtenbacher who has written the album traditionally, using paper and pen, as well as all the tools that new digital technology has to offer. The album was recorded predominantly in London and New York with great help from Thomas Foyer- producer.

Nearly 30 vibrant and talented musicians have contributed to the making of the album, featuring, amongst others:

… Legendary MD and Funk trombonist Fred Wesley
… Steely Dan guitarist Elliott Randall
… Drummer and percussionist Jef van Veen (Outkast)
… Pianist Steve Hamilton (Bill Bruford, Marco Mineman)
… The horn section from Incognito and the Brand New Heavies
… Israeli sax virtuoso Gilad Atzmon
… Trombonist Nichol Thomson (Mike Brecker, Kenny Wheeler)
… Dave Limina ­ Boston's Hammond organ guru who also played organ on Stefan¹s first album.

Richard Niles has written some pretty cool liner notes in his role as BBC Radio 2 DJ, and star bassists Will Lee, Chuck Rainey, Mark Egan, Michael Manring and Berklee's chair of the bass department Richard Appleman have given the album a big thumbs up and all have contributed great quotes for the booklet (see quotes).

The stories of 'Falling From Insanity'

1. Juggernaut Blondes

An intense opening track that instantly brings car chases and retro detective series to mind. High energy on all accounts with a burning rhythm section and a 70s horn theme. Possibly a 'Starsky and Hutch' theme for the early 21st Century?
The distorted/wah alto sax solo was influenced by Michael Brecker solos with the Brecker Brothers and Chaka Khan. Coincidentally Nichol Thomson, who plays the absolutely insane distorted trombone solo just came back from a tour with Michael in Europe. I love these stories of how great musicians are intertwined worldwide.
The bass performance was most definitely influenced by Paul Jackson and Rocco. The idea for this relentless funk vamp was to push the track forward at all times as hard as possible. The auto-wah effect gives it a good edge to stay upfront in the mix and to colour the subtle dynamic differences of the performance which was recorded live with the drummer.

2. The Track Formerly Known As

Nobody can argue the boundless talents of the unbelievable Prince and he has certainly left a mark on a whole generation of 'Funksters' and music lovers including myself. The hybrid feel between swing and straight gives this track its own bounce and I used the Electro Harmonix bass synth and bass balls with great joy. The short bass feature was inspired by no other than Mr. Larry Graham. I recorded it after seening Prince, supported by Chaka Khan and Larry Graham, at the old Wembley stadium. After coming back home late at night I was still buzzing. I plugged in my bass and recorded that section. I wanted to change it later on and tried to copy the original performance as I thought the actual sonic quality of the bass I used wasn¹t that great but it never sounded as good, or should I say inspired. I decided to keep the original performance which still bears the traces of a great gig.

3. You Can't Hide, featuring Lynae

Having followed the evolution of funk into disco, I developed an affinity for get-down, four-on the-floor, clap your hand grooves. The verse will come somewhat as a surprise and there is an extra long outplay to groove along to. The outro is reminiscent of the late Kenny Kirkland's solo on Sting's live recording of 'Bring on the Night'with Omar Hakim on drums and Daryl Jones on bass.
One day whilst Mike Sturgis the drummer and I were rehearsing to record the basic rhythm tracks for the album this guy came to check out the hi-hat pattern that Mike was playing. As it turned out it was legendary drummer JR Robinson and he instantly realized what we were trying to do, namely to come up with a similar hi-hat pattern as in the Time's '777-9311'. He stayed with us for a while and gave some pretty helpful comments which, considering Rufus and Chaka Khan's 'Stomping at the Savoy' is one of my desert island discs, was just the coolest!

4. Bom-le-Bom, featuring Fred Wesley

A funk track with a very catchy whistle-a-long melody, featuring Funk legend Fred Wesley on trombone. To have the former MD of James Brown doing his thing is certainly a treat as well as his note to Stefan saying 'Stefan ­ you know what the funk is all about'! It was also a honour to record guitarist Elliott Randall laying it down. He had this cool Sly Stone vibe to his playing and his Strat (the one he used to record the solo on Steely Dan's 'Reeling in the Years') is the best sounding and projecting Strat I've ever recorded. The bass is played with a pick and a Small Stone phaser pedal. All credit goes to Anthony Jackson for being such an inspiration for his work with Chaka Khan and Grover Washington Jr. It was also fun to use Bob James' introduction of Mike Sturgis at a gig, many moons ago, when Mike was on tour with the great pianist. Judging by the roar of the crowd, it's quite astonishing what big audiences jazz-funk gigs used to draw.

5. Portobello

Living next to busy Portobello Road in cosmopolitan Notting Hill, London, has certainly left some marks on my musical tastes and influences. The hustle and bustle of living in this area is expressed within this tune which doesn't follow typical listening expectations as it deceptively moves from a stomping funk groove to a manic drum and bass section and, via some AM radio noises, back to the original feel. The intensive drumming of Mike Sturgis and the drawn-out improvised melody by Chinare Sharshenova gives it an interesting friction.

6. Forecast

Listening to this track it's easy to work out the main influences. Chick Corea's Return to Forever, Weather Report and the electrified Miles Davis have all left their mark on this tune. A humble homage to the jazz -rock of the 70s with two unbelievable solos by pianist Steve Hamilton and saxophonist Gilad Atzmon. This track is definitely leaning more on the jazzy side of things and I intended to have a long composition with many interesting markers. Mike Sturgis did an excellent job to give this composition scope and shape.

7. Wind-Up Phoenix

A chilled out track with a dub feel which escalates into Reggae for the out-play. To write space into a composition is hard but I felt I needed a resting place on this album. It was great fun to lay down a very sparse bass line and to let the atmosphere take place. All musicians on this track were instructed to play twice as few notes than usually. The prize question: does anyone recognize the voice sample? This is the voice of the man I dedicate this song to.

8. 12 Ohm

'Telegraph cables running down the highway' somehow had something to do with this composition. The electric sounding drone that underlies the tune is a hint to this electrified tune. It plays around between meters and has unexpected twists and turns.
The 'zappaesque' horn lines interspersed into the 12/8 were inspired by Mike Sturgis who originally performed an early version of this track at a Omar Hakim drum clinic.
The concept was again to take the listener on a journey and keep new elements coming up in the track. The start has a ballad shuffle feel interrupted with jagged runs and developing into a full blown four-on-the-floor 12/8 feel and all the way back and out again.

9. Rubinology

A highly unusual piece in a dream setting performed by 5 string bass and Sitar. Maybe it's a cliché since Jaco's 'Portrait of Tracy' but it seems that every bassist's record has to have a piece with harmonics on it. Well, if nothing else, I had to do it just to pay tribute to the master. I've played this piece on a string Music Man and tuned it to C-F-A-Eb-G. It is an unusual piece for me as I'm playing harmonics, chords and I'm tapping (!) which is unheard ofJ It's a relatively short piece but I tried to take the listener on a journey which starts from a drawn out chilled place to a more intense, almost groovy ending.