the Spiralists, an original mix of minimal music, jazz and classic
The Spiralists, with Adam Weisman on marimba and Johannes Gebauer on drums, is a mix of minimal music, classic and jazz. The pieces are based on ostinatos, rhythmic patterns and colorful chord connections. The warm wooden sound of the marimba resonates the repeated patterns in a meditative way, their growth and change like nature’s varied repetition. The songs take the time to enjoy each new note, chord or rhythm as it enters the spinning bouquet. Some of the works derive from natural sticking patterns on the marimba bars, developing into a music unique to the marimba. This is a relaxing music, the reoccurring continuous rhythm threading one smoothly along the listening line.
There are different types of spirals. The helix represents visually one of the ways the songs evolve. There are repeated patterns, which could be the individual circles of the helix, yet they move forward and change slowly, kneading the palpability of time. Sometimes they are not exact patterns, but self similar groups, like different leaves on a tree, or the rush of water over stone. In the music of Spiral Marimba, the variations amidst the patterns magnify the ears’ concentration.
I have always enjoyed short motives, whether based on sticking, rhythm, harmony or melody. They immediately build a strong unit, to which one can add or subtract different spices. With roots in minimal music, jazz and rock, Spiral Marimba weaves patterns together with borders of improvisation.
The music is not virtuosic. One speaks of INTERNAL combustion – although combustion sounds too active. Internal seasons. Internal spring. Internal space. Internal reservoir. Sidespace. Stasis. Substasis. Prestate. Innerstate. Innerception. Innersense. Internal gravity.