Eskalation - Different Music for Bassoon, Wind Synthesizer and Sampled Percussion (Germany 2001) [AvantProg] @320

"...outstanding music that will definitely appeal to those who love RIO, neo-classical chamber prog, Zeuhl, the likes of Univers Zero, Art Zoyd and Zappa and even straight-ahead progressive rock. Excellent."
PROGRESSION (USA), Spring 2002

"...full of inventive twists, unexpected arrangements and outstanding playing."
EXPOSÉ (USA), April 2002

"Definitely original. If you are able to imagine Happy the Man's Kit Watkins and Univers Zero's Daniel Denis to compose music together with Lars Hollmer and with Michel Berckmans on bassoon, I am pretty sure it would sound something like Stephan Koehr's Eskalation. This is an album deserving a large audience."
TARKUS (Norway), Summer 2002

"...intelligent rock music...terrific percussion programming...a miracle."
KEYBOARDS magazine (Germany) issue 11/01; CD of the month“

"...beautiful and lively (...) and above all, authentic and personal."
TRAVERSES (France), Jan. 2002

"...a must for Univers Zero fans...speedy instrumental pieces...superb."
EURO ROCK PRESS (Japan) No.14, 2002


ESKALATION is Stephan Koehr's solo CD project of experimental rock music. In the 1970's and 80's Stephan has been playing woodwinds and keyboards in several avantgarde and jazz fusion bands, until he was appointed as a bassoon and contrabassoon player in a renowned german opera and symphony orchestra. His romance with wind controlled live electronics started 1979, when he played a pitch-following analog guitar synth module via a contact mike on the bassoon reed!
The CD contains ten distinct compositions, each with its own unique instrumentation, advanced harmonies and complex shifting rhythms and signatures, mixing avantgarde prog rock and world fusion. ESKALATION was composed and recorded using bassoons, keyboard and wind controlled synthesizers and samples, with guest performances on violin and trumpet. If you like alternative progressive music (e.g. National Health, Happy the Man, Univers Zero, Wendy Carlos, etc.).


01 - Prelude
02 - Mumien (Sonderpreis)
03 - Prozession (For Absent Friends)
04 - Böse Heiden
05 - A Crack In The Universe
06 - Sille Tanzt (Ostinato Con Variazioni I-Iv)
07 - Zwölf Uhr Fünf
08 - Folksong I
09 - Totes Mehr
10 - Vier Stufen

Stephan Koehr: bassoons, keyboard and wind controlled synthesizers and samples
Guests:
Sibylle Szymanski-Köhr: Violin (track 2,4,5)
Thomas Forstner: Trumpet (track 5)


Buy the CD:
http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/eskalation

Home Page:
http://www.eskalation-musik.de/english.html

Myspace:
http://www.myspace.com/eskalationmusik