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Panzerballett is a Munich quintet led by guitarist, composer and arranger Jan Zehrfeld whose music style is best described as jazz-metal.
Band History
After several years of searching, classically trained guitarist Jan Zehrfeld joined several musicians together with the idea of a jazz metal band. His idea was based around his idea that he was always angry at something, and that this music was a way to channel his agression. [1] In 2005, Panzerballett released a self titled debut and entered into the the German progressive rock scene with rave reviews. In the coming months the band played a series of concerts, mostly in the Munich region, but also at the 15th National Youth Jazz Festival in Leipzig and the reknowned Castle Herzberg Festival . A DVD then released, Live at Backstage Munich 2006. After several line-up changes in 2007, the jazz label ACT contracted the band and in February 2008 released their second album, Starke Stücke. A small tour of Germany began after the release of this album, and the album reached 26 on the German Jazz charts. In 2008, multiple concerts and cameo appearances were made, including the Zappanale, the Leverkusen Jazz Festival opening for John McLaughlin and Chick Corea, the Baltic Prog Fest and the self-organized Metal Jazz Festival in Munich. Short television appearances were also made. In August 2009, Panzerballett released their third album, Hart Genossen - from Abba to Zappa'. In September 2009, the album jumped to # 25 on the jazz charts and appeared in the drum magazine Drums and Percussion as the January 2010 "Record of the Month"..[2]. The band then played multiple shows and cameo appearances throughout Germany (including as a guest of the Arte Lounge [3] and in on3 Radio). [4]
Music
Panzerballett plays both original compositions by guitarist Zehrfeld and his creative arrangements of popular songs from rock (Smoke On The Water by Deep Purple ), to pop (A little peace of Nicole ), to jazz (Birdland by Weather Report ) to soundtrack (as the title theme The Simpsons ). The band has noted their influences to be classic jazz and funk artists and also heavy progressive metal artists such as Meshuggah. The song Iron Maiden Voyage shows these diverse influences; the song's name is a pun on the name of the band metal band Iron Maiden and the Jazz Standard Maiden Voyage by Herbie Hancock). An important feature of the band's music is the virtuosity of their performance; the band's members have studied with award-winning musicians to master their instruments at a high technical level. One example of their technical skill are the highly complex polyrhythmic structures the band uses in their compositions.
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/be/Panzerballett_at_BalticProgFest_%282008-07-25%293.jpg/200px-Panzerballett_at_BalticProgFest_%282008-07-25%293.jpg)
Time Magazine writes about Panzerballett: "Ihre eigenen Stücke flankieren sie mit einer Reihe von Hardrock-, Jazz- und Entertainment-Gassenhauern, die sie mit der tadellosen Technik an deutschen Hochschulen ausgebildeter Musiker so vorbehaltlos zerschreddern und neu zusammensetzen, dass Wiedererkennungseffekt und Staunen sich die Waage halten" (roughly "The music plays with a series of hard rock, jazz and entertainment "evergreens"; they use impeccable engineering at German universities and trained musicians so unreservedly and reassembled that brand's recognition and surprise is balanced.")[5] The band describes their own music as "delicate interlocking funk grooves with brutally hard, rhythmically complex riffs and jazz improvisation combined with ska-Death-Jazz" or "like incandescent Morgenstern Grannies freshly baked Rüblitorte "[6] As musical influences, the band notes bands like Meshuggah, Tribal Tech , Planet X and Mats Morgan as the main source of their inspiration.[7]
Concerts
Panzerballett is also known for exceptional concerts. The humor of the band, which is only implied in the band's albums (e.g. song titles such as Schmitz Kadtse und Mit weißglühendem Morgenstern in Omas frischgebackene Rüblitorte or the vocal pieces with Conny Kreitmeier on songs like Zickenterror), occurs during their live performances more obviously, particularly guitarist Zehrfeld supplies, cable Rasta wig and sunglasses, dressed in a stage show, with exaggerated facial expressions and gestures, dance and exuberant Hüpfeinlagen and headbanging. His improvised nonsense recalls announcements here and there on Helge Schneider .
Discography
- 2005 - Panzerballett
- 2007 - Live at Backstage Munich 2006 (DVD)
- 2008 - Starke Stücke
- 2009 - Hart Genossen - Von ABBA bis ZAPPA
External Links
- Official Homepage
- ACT Records Artist Page
- Music Reviews on Baby Blaue Seiten
- Interview with Jan Zehrfeld
- Video Interview with Jan Zehrfeld on YouTube.com
- "Panzerballett" stream on last.fm
Notes
- ^ Jan Zehrfeld auf seinem MySpace-Profil
- ^ http://www.drumsundpercussion.de/index.php?id=253
- ^ http://www.arte.tv/de/Kultur-entdecken/3079202.html
- ^ http://www.on3-radio.de/_videos/1139/panzerballett-mwmiofr-live-at-on3-radio#/_videos/1139/panzerballett-mwmiofr-live-at-on3-radio
- ^ Stefan Hentz for "Die Zeit" on 13 March 2008
- ^ Stefan Hentz für "Die Zeit" am 13. März 2008
- ^ "Klingt wie"-Beschreibung auf dem MySpace-Profil der Band