Search - Franz Koglmann :: Affair With Strauss

Famously cool on the trumpet and flügelhorn, Franz Koglmann is almost always heard without a drummer--or, rather, in instrumental settings that highlight his flexible spatial sense. Here he appears with a pristinely recorded quartet of saxophonist-clarinetist Tony Coe, bassist Peter Herbert, and guitarist Burkhard Stangl. The occasion is indeed a celebration of Johann Strauss's music, and the underlying waltz pulses dazzle. Koglmann's brass paints in super-broad, thick strokes that maintain a seemingly impossible airiness. Herbert's bass and Coe's reeds have more bite to them, both full-bodied and propulsive. That leaves Stangl, who plays so that his guitar is like stained glass, coloring everything it's near but still transmitting tons of light. The lyrical quotient is very high, and the closing "Good Night Vienna" features a spirited, spot-on vocal from Coe and a romantic, bittersweet push that will stick with you a long time. --Andrew Bartlett