Jazz at the Kaisersteg – outdoors & free / Pallawatsch + Absolutely Sweet Mary

The trumpeter and composer, whose trademark is the effortless interweaving of various musical genres and ethnic influences, takes a journey through some of his earlier bands, such as Counterblast, Takabanda, the Helmut Forsthoff Quartet, and African Chase Experience.

En passant, he arranges—not without a touch of wit, as befits a native Viennese—a sort of “new-old” program and an “old-new” ensemble.

With this ensemble, he presents old works with a new lineup and tailor-made new compositions. Schwingenschlögl’s unmistakable compositions and the virtuoso, passionate, imaginative interpretations and improvisations of his fellow musicians create a boisterous, vibrant sound that oscillates between vitality and melancholy.

Complex arrangements give way to open improvisations, with powerful brass sounds underpinned by African rhythms and driving beats.

• Roland Komitow – reeds
• Jan von Klewitz – alto saxophone
• Donat Kubrinski – trumpet
• Paul Schwingenschlögl – flugelhorn/trumpet
• Thomas Finke – piano
• Tom Kessler – guitar
• Omar Diop – vocals/percussion
• Kubi Kubach – bass
• Denis Stilke – drums

Founded as a quartet in 2012, the ensemble has been performing as a quintet since spring 2022. Five instrumentalists, rooted in jazz and improvised music, interpret Bob Dylan’s extensive body of work in their own unique way.

With a lineup of four wind instruments plus drums, they create a spectrum of timbres and grooves: delicate, chamber-music-like moments give way to dense collective improvisations, while brass band sounds contrast with a tapestry of polyphonic layers.

Some of the selected Dylan songs are arranged in their entirety for the ensemble by ABSOLUTELY SWEET MARIE, with the songs being transposed into a purely instrumental form. Often, however, only fragments of a specific Dylan recording or interpretations by other artists are adopted and, placed in a new musical context, serve as source material for original compositions.

The album “Wherever You Roam,” released in 2020, is the band’s third CD (at the time still a quartet, without a tuba) on the musicians’ own label, TIGER MOON RECORDS, and brings together pieces from very different phases of Dylan’s career.

In addition to arrangements that are relatively new to the repertoire, the album includes several pieces that the band has repeatedly performed and adapted at numerous concerts.

This, too, makes “Wherever You Roam” a successful snapshot and testament to the lively and adventurous approach of the ABSOLUTELY SWEET MARIE ensemble.

• Alexander Beierbach – tenor saxophone
• Stefen Faul – trumpet
• Anke Lucks – trombone
• Gerhard Gschlößl – tuba
• Christian Marien – drums