NATURE

Tetragon had been a rather short-living band hailing from the north of Germany that released only one single album whose title "Nature" reflected their "green" concerns in some way. The band derived from a previous one called Trikolon formed by schoolfriends Hendrik Schapper (organ,trumpet), Rolf Rettberg (bass) and Ralph Schmieding (drums). They mainly played The Nice cover versions, but at times more in a manner closer to Dutch band Ekseption and as well some blues classics like "Spoonful" or "I'm a Man" in a Cream-like interpretation. These were mixed up with long improvisations and jazz influences of a Miles Davis type Schmieding used to be a huge fan of. They became a quite well-known (in their local area) live band and even made a record with one of their stage performances pressed in 150 copies. In 1971 Schmieding decided to leave the band and concentrate on his daily job thus the remaining two musicians were looking for substitutes. At their school they found the talented guitarist Jürgen Jaehner and the drummer Achim Luhrmann and called their quartet Tetragon logically enough. The band didn't really have a predetermined musical style; they played different styles as they pleased, favouring blues (for its emotional impact), jazz and the classics (adapting a Bach fugue along the way). This record here in review had been originally produced in a quite non-professional manner using a Revox A77 2-track tape recorder and seven microphones placed judiciously to best capture the sound of each instrument. The recording duty took place in an old farm which had been converted into a house by some friends of Luhrmann's parents. Re-recording wasn't possible and any imperfections had to be avoided in the 'live' taping conditions which inspired the band to great heights though. Schapper played organ and clavinet simultaneously, with one hand on each keyboard. Jürgen Jaehner meanwhile would switch to acoustic guitar immediately after an electric guitar solo. The line-up listed here is wrong by the way I just realized, there isn't any saxophone included. The correct one is Hendrik Schaper - Organ,clavinet,Cembalet,piano,vocals; Jürgen Jaehner - Electric and acoustic guitar; Rolf Rettberg - Bass and Joachim Luhrmann - Drums. Most of the tracks are all-instrumental, only the title song has some vocals. It's in fact very well-done early progressive rock rooted in blues with jazzy and classical leanings and there isn't any weak track at all on here. Fortunately Musea has done a CD re-issue of this forgotten gem in 1995 with the great jam-rockin' live bonus track "Doors in Between" added on. Certainly a worthy purchase for all fans of early 70's Prog!

Formed by members of the powerful German band Trikolon, this project is a musical odissey throw stoned-majestic-epic-neo classical rockin improvs. Strictly instrumental the album is an illuminated musical trip, reminiscence to Trikolon's exhuberent and catchy original sound but with the addition of technical jazzy counterparts. The ensemble is dominated by epic spaced out guitar leads mostly improvised and accompanied by groovy Hammond chords and neo-classical piano sequences. A few pieces as (A short story...) include pure jazzy rock performances with lot of variations, changes and moods. The technical aptitudes and skills of the musicians are clearly demonstrated in these lenghty jam sessions. Tetragon is a complex and technical hybrid jazzy rockin' experience that admits much more connections with refined and classy english combos (categorised as "Canterbury") than with tripped out-primal jazzy-kraut dementia. A propulsive, amazingly spontaneous without being amateurish. A high standard of fusion jazz music.

An interesting band from Germany who released this lone album back in 1971.To me they come off as a "jam" band with a strong Jazz flavour. I must admit this didn't grab me right away, and really it's still growing on me. What appeals to me is the way they mostly just jam as this is almost all instrumental except for the title track sung in English.

"Fugue" is the 16 minute opener. Some nice guitar and organ come and go until the organ and drums start to lead the way. Some nice bass 4 minutes in. A bass solo 7 minutes in as the organ and drums stop. A drum solo 8 1/2 minutes in.The guitar comes in as it settles around 10 minutes. It picks back up a minute later as the guitar leads the way. Organ is back after 14 minutes. "Jokus" is 19 seconds of sounds that echo. "Irgendwas" opens with piano as guitar and affects follow. Organ and guitar lead after 1 1/2 minutes as the tempo picks up. Piano 3 1/2 minutes in as it settles then picks up again.

"A Short Story" opens with organ as drums and guitar join in. This is raw. It's jazzy after 2 1/2 minutes. It calms right down 4 minutes in then builds. The organ is back before 7 minutes as they jam. Great sound the rest of the way. "Nature" is laid back with vocals. I like it. Vocals stop as it kicks in with bass, organ and drums around 2 minutes.The guitar sounds great after 3 minutes as it joins in. Sounds like fuzzed out Farfisa before 4 1/2 minutes. I should mention that in the liner notes it says that "Hendrik acquired a Farfisa organ which he cusomized in order to produce distorted effects like those used by Mike Ratledge of SOFT MACHINE". The vocals and earlier melody are back 7 minutes in to end it. The bonus track "Doors In Between" was recorded live in 1972 and is much like these other tracks. It's over 14 minutes with lots of jamming.

4 stars for me.

Tetragon was an obscure symphonic fusion from Germany that for the longest time had only one record in their catalogue. That record, being titled Nature, is a pretty strong one. Instead of making normal progressive rock, the album meticulously fuses classical music and jazz fusion into this more traditionally influenced and segregated album. The band members each have their own individual moments on the album, with plenty of room given for experimentation on their instruments. This is all woven together through bridges of the band joining together for exquisite moments of pure symphonic prog, balanced by a level of dynamics between low harmonic and loud yet minimalist dark playing. The main player on this album is their keyboardist, Hendrik Schaper, who leads most of the music on this album and has a clear high level of skill. While all this might sound good on paper, when actually played out, the band sort of lets me down. As much as I love some good keyboards, there's a little too much (especially on side one). On the other hand, though, it has some really good moments on side two.

The opening song, Fugue, has a much more classical influence, being around sixteen minutes long and being dominated by an organ. It's a very symphonic and melodic arrangement, and at points it sounds like something Maneige would make. I will admit, sometimes the rapid organ compositions and melodies can become a little too much, but they're still a charm to hear. You can hear influences in the keyboards mainly from Keith Emerson in terms of rock keyboardists, but classical pianists from old times can also be heard in here. For the most part, the rest of the song is composed of individual solos in varying quality. From these solos, I personally like the drum solo the best, mainly because it takes many technical directions and complex arrangements, but when the band is playing together, it becomes a lot better. There's a short interlude called Jokus, and the next song, Irgendwas, is just a repeat of Fugue but with more piano and keys. There is very little to say apart from the limited guitar work, but I think the band could've tried doing something at least a little different on this song.

Side two has more of the jazz fusion elements, especially when it comes to A Short Story. The relaxed yet powerfully focused and complex music creates a wonderful atmosphere that has arguably some of the best moments on the album. The passages played out here seriously seem like a legitimate and well-known progressive rock album rather than an obscure gem. I also really liked some of the sections on the title track, with it having more of a rock direction in its sound, including vocals and a strong and steady rhythm. This song also has the most influence from jazz fusion, which I really enjoyed. Now, I will say that I am not too sure why side one and side two have different directions in the tracks, but they each bring their own unique experiences to the table.

In conclusion, this album had a lot of potential. Unfortunately, most of it was sacrificed for extended keyboard solos. Some of Hendrik's solos go on for a little too long, and while they are still worth listening to, it can get a little bland. However, the other moments of actual rock music are actually really strong, and if the band had focused more on those elements, we could've seen a more structured and amazing progressive rock album. In the end, the website says it's 4/5, but my actual rating would probably be a 3.5/5.