Jazzanova 'Of All The Things' album

With Jazzanova, there are always demands for explanations: “We get asked all the time what exactly the point behind all of this is,” says Alexander Barck, one of Jazzanova’s DJs, with an ironic smirk. “Sometimes it's funny to us, because we really don't put that much thought into it. We love music, we listen to a lot of music -- old and new -- and we enjoy making music. That's all. We love to be playful, to toy around with it.”

It sounds plausible, yet it's quite the understatement. The six-member group belongs to the circle of innovators celebrated worldwide on dance floors, in NuJazz Broken Beat, in modern folk and soul. DJs and vinyl freaks around the globe worship Jazzanova. Their remixes of Masters At Work, Fat Freddys Drop, 4hero and Ursula Rucker are cherished by afficionados. However, even for such different artists as Lenny Kravitz, Common, Azymuth or Calexico, did the six men from Berlin display their artistry by being able to treat distingushed source material with respect, and yet lend all of them an unmistakable Jazzanova sound.

Their mentor, the English A&R person, radio personality and founder of the Talkin’ Loud label, Gilles Peterson, recognized their artistry immediately, and contacted the boys directly after their first release to get them to do a remix for United Future Organization. Shortly after that, Jazzanova was solidly booked for years and went on to conquer the dance floors of the world and the hearts of their listeners with their productions and remixes.

The ability to find a common thread between different styles of music is not only highly respected in the international world of music, but also motivates the group to continue to constantly move forward. Their music is authentic, and works equally well “at the Montreux Jazz Festival as well as at your girlfriend's cousin’s illegal underground club,” writes WaS cultural editor Cornelius Tittel. Where other producers have eight pseudonyms with which they try to hit the same stylistic spot over and over, the six DJs of Jazzanova are able to produce a respectful, otherworldly and unpredictable style mix.

“Calculations don't matter in this process,” emphazises Stefan Leisering. “Which genre the music we work with belongs in doesn’t interest us, and its hipness factor is irrelevant. The path and the development of the music is the goal. It is fun ‘to be in search of the perfect sound,’ to go through several different stages and to let the people be part of it”.

“Our music can take listeners on a journey,” says Alexander Barck, “ if we are able to fascinate them, if we are able to get someone who doesn’t think he likes Brazilian music dance to a Brazil track and have him say ‘I’ve never heard this before, but it’s incredible, and this is now my favorite music,’ those are the beautiful moments in a production or in a DJ set.”

This enthusiasm, this self- confident and carefree attitude is what you hear immediately on Jazzanova’s new, second studio album Of All The Things. For this album, Jazzanova worked once again with several different voices:

Leon Ware (soul legend and writer/ producer of Marvin Gaye’s I Want You) cover - together with Dwele (soloist for Common and Kayne West) – his own song from 1981.

With Phonte (Little Brother), Jazzanova returns to their Hip-Hop roots.

Paul Randolph from Detroit, Ben Westbeech from London, and Jose James from Minneapolis – who recently released their debut album on Gilles Peterson’s Brownswood label – and Dallas (of the New Zealand band Fat Freddys Drop) are all part of it.

“That we wound up working with that many male artists is really just a coincidence,” says Claas Brieler, “ but it all just sounds right”.

The list of musicians who contributed to this album is so extensive that one could not name them all. Just realize that Jazzanova, as DJ's alone, have traveled around the world about 80 times in the last couple of years, and they brought a musician back from each trip.

“For us, first it’s the compositions, the planning of the songs, and the production of the instrumental pieces, which make up the inner core of the album. When we then start working with the voices, we certainly select them carefully and place them exactly as we envisioned. We insert them as elements into our picture, and this big picture is our album. A complete, connected story. And with that, as instrumentation and style vary, so do our singers. But that is us – and you can hear the connection, ” says Axel Reinemer.

There is a lot of soul, life and depth in this music. Those who have followed Jazzanova’s path know that their interest in dance floor-oriented productions keeps on growing. Their first album, the genre classic In Between (2002) already brought the sample and beat specialists to the stage with their highest ambitions. Ultimately, their production of the musical Belle et Fou in 2006 signaled that Jazzanova was planning something huge for their next album.

Elaborate planning went into the creation of the songs and the recording sessions, but what the group ultimately delivered was so much more than anyone expected: one thinks that even Frank Sinatra or James Brown would have been pleased with the result. For the recording of “Let Me Show Ya” alone, the group used 12 violinists, multiple voices and an 8-piece choir. “The background choir may be quiet, but you can feel its power, and that is why we go to such lengths,” says Axel Reinemer.

And with all that, they produced a grand, international sound. Throughout the entire album, Jazzanova employs myriad ideas, sound levels and layers. And unlike their earlier recordings, almost no samples were used on this album. The beats are computerized, but every thing else was recorded live

“Our approach is different today”, says Axel Reinemer. “ Earlier, we used lots of samples to create our own sound world. We still follow that same direction. We accomplished a lot of soul with the samples. But today we create our sound world for our recordings with instrumentalists. We have more room to play now, because with the samples the harmonic surroundings were pre-determined.”

“But of course, samples have a lot of amazing characteristics to offer,” says Class Brieler. “For example, the special sound of a former era that you could only get with different equipment. But the live recordings enable us to create better arrangements for our songs, but it will always be interesting to work with samples nonetheless, and that’s why we chose to to use them on this album as well.”

“We’re actually attempting to produce our own samples”, says Juergen von Knoblauch. “In 'Let Me Show Ya,' we picked the sound world apart (and chose the samples ourselves) to create 'So Far from Home' with Phonte. We created the compositions, arrangements and recordings in such a way that we could sample ourselves later on.”

In the end, all of the tracks were taken apart and then reassembled like a puzzle. This was extremely tedious and time intensive. “We tore down borders with this kind of work,” says Stefan Leisreing. “Our goal was not minimal, but rather to go for the maximum”.

Unlike their earlier work, a lot of these recordings were created on analog equipment. “Of course we also use a lot of digital techniques, but in order to find the sound that we are looking for, we use mainly analog equipment,” says Axel Reinemer. And in order to accomplish that, Jazzanova likes to utilize multiple mixing tables and volume machines in the studio, which have to be brought in from various locales.

When asked if the group has reached a level of success and maturity that might lead them to retire from club life after all these years, they all respond in unison with the question: What really constitutes club music? “Of course we continue to view ourselves in the club context, because we simply enjoy it,” says Alexander Barck. “But our next goal is the live performance of our music, and of this album.” And of course, the songs from this album also work in a club. “Soul and Hip-Hop is still dance music,” says Stefan Leisering. “Logically, ‘Little Bird’ is not a club song, but we also were not trying to create a dance album. When you write your own songs, you come up with a greater repertoire. To start recording with live instruments was the next necessary and important step.”

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Jazzanova - Of All The Things