Recommended: Heliocentric Counterblast – “Planetary Tunes”

On their newest, Kathrin Lemke’s Heliocentric Counterblast continues to dive into the music of the Sun Ra Arkestra.  But whereas it was all renditions of Sun Ra material on their nifty 2012 session, A Tribute to Sun Ra, their 2014 release sees the octet beginning to add some originals to the mix.  As was its predecessor, Planetary Tunes is a euphoric marriage of classic jazz and futuristic experimentalism.  One moment, the music is a buoyant swing and bop, and the next moment imparts a chaotic dispersal of harmonies torn apart at the seams… which, itself, transitions into a lovely, melodic ditty.

But no matter what the moment brings, this music possesses a keen intelligence that matches its uncapped sense of fun.

Your album personnel:  Kathrin Lemke (alto sax, bass clarinet), Christian Magnusson (trumpet), Dirk Steglich (tenor sax, flute), Florian Juncker (trombone), Andreas Dormann (baritone sax), Niko Meinhold (piano, space-keys), Mike Majkowski (bass) and Philipp Bernhardt (drums).

Released on Enja Yellowbird Records.

Jazz from the Berlin scene.

Available at:  eMusic | Amazon