Joscha Oetz

Consisting of solos and duos, Vieles Ist Eins is purely improvised music by Joscha Oetz, who plays contrabass on every track, either alone or accompanied by Barre Phillips (contrabass), Andreas Wagner (tenor saxophone) or Greg Stuart (percussion). Though there are never more than two musicians playing at a time per track, it certainly sounds like there are more. These pieces of music are akin to sitting next to someone with a schizophrenic multi-personality disorder engaging in rambling monologues while assuming assorted demeanours. As unappealing as this may seem, the music is quite good. Oetz and his accompanying performers are skilled musicians; their adeptness is noticeable as they articulate their musical whims and melodic turn of phrases. A culmination of live and studio recordings, Oetz deals with countering absences of melody, or any other form of structural frameworks, to reach for something more elusive, yet still manages to instil a strong emotional impact.