THE COLOURS OF CHLOË

Eberhard Weber's father was a classically trained cellist, making a living that way. He started to teach his son Eberhard how to play the cello at six years of age, but much later when the high school band needed a bass player, he took up that instrument as a teenager. The man has absolute command of these two instruments, and he went as far as customizing his bass to be both acoustic and electric. You guys know I love the connections that musicians have with each other, and with Eberhard I always connect him with Wolfgang Dauner. They formed ET CETERA in the mid sixties, and by the time Weber released "The Colours Of Chloe", his first for the ECM label, ten years had passed.

The lineup on this album is a testimony to Weber's talent and influence. Another musician besides Dauner who has been with Eberhard a lot, is keyboardist Rainer Bruninghaus. Before I get to him I also want to mention Jan Garbarek who took Weber under his wing and he has been like Weber's boss for decades(haha). But Bruninghaus on keyboards is huge. He was part of the Kraut/Jazz band called EILIFF who released two adventerous albums in the early seventies. This band had two very serious musicians in Rainer and guitarist Houschang Nejadepour.

We get drummer Peter Giger who I know from DRUM CIRCUS. We also get the SUDFUNK SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA which consists of cellos. A female choir singer, and how about Ack Van Rooyen on flugelhorn! The man was part of the UNITED JAZZ + ROCK ENSEMBLE in the second half of the seventies that Eberhard would be part of along with Dauner, and a bunch of legends really. And while this record has ECM written all over it, this is so much more than that. This album crosses some lines in my opinion when it comes to that label. And because Eberhard dared to let his hair down, sort to speak, we get my favourite solo album right here, from this talented man.

At this point I also want to mention an album called "The Call" from 1969 that Weber was part of with Freddie Braceful, Mal Waldron and Jimmy Jackson, which I like more than "The Colours Of Chloe". Eberhard's wife Maja did the cover art here by the way. So we get four tracks worth 40 minutes. The shorter pieces are more in line with the ECM sounds for the most part but that 20 minute side long suite is a statement. I just find this recording to be so brilliant the way he has it all set up.

The symphony orchestra is almost distant sounding much of the time, creating a layer, atmosphere if you will. The female vocalist with the wordless singing is such a highlight. Then Rainer on keys adds so much. The electronics, the electric piano, along with the more sedate ECM sounds of acoustic piano, reveal the two sides of this album. This is far more adventerous than most stuff I've heard on this record label besides Terje Rydal.

So after the first two tracks "More Colours" and "The Colours Of Chloe" which are very ECM sounding we get "An Evening With Vincent van Ritz". The final track of side one is where they break out of the sedate with electric piano and flugelhorn bringing Fusion to mind. Orchestral sounds and female vocals too. "No Motion Picture" at 20 minutes has repeated themes, and how about the electronics raining down at times. That bass is in your face here as well. There's that celestial atmosphere 13 minutes in then back to repeated themes.

This is an absolute classic that I feel breaks some rules along the way, which doesn't surprise me with Eberhard Weber at the controls.