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Wolfgang Haffner

Shapes

ACT NU JAZZ 9603-2

Having played on ACT albums by everyone from Nils Landgren (featured here) and Viktoria Tolstoy to the late Albert Mangelsdorff, drummer Wolfgang Haffner is adept at tailoring his percussive contributions to individual requirements.

His own tastes, however, judged by the twelve compositions he's included on this, his debut album as a leader, lead him to that mix of ambient sounds, minimalism and drum-programme music frequently described as nu jazz.

His strong backbeats, slurping and slithering electronic percussion, washes of synthesised sound and chattering/insect swarm effects form the backdrop for a series of simple melodic hooks and haunting fragments of tunes, sometimes stated by Lars Danielsson's acoustic bass, at other times by Landgren's crooning trombone, Sebastian Studnitzky's trumpet or acoustic piano, or Frank Kuruc's acoustic guitar.

The result is a fascinating, at times downright mesmeric selection of textures and timbres underpinned by Haffner's drums and effects, the music's jazz elements (the odd solo on ethereal muted trumpet or luminously delicate acoustic piano) leavening a sound mix that occasionally veers too close to being an end in itself, but which usually works well as a gelling agent. Mood music, certainly, but tellingly informed by a jazz sensibility.