Blue Box
Sweet Machine
Enja Records (Germany) 1985
enja 5001 (LP)
sleeve : EX(slightly color-faded.)
media : EX/EX(some slightly noises.)
This album was released in 1985 by Blue Box, a German group consisting of Reiner Winterschaladen (tp), Aloys Kott (b), and Peter Eisold (dr, per). It was influenced by Miles Davis during his funk period, but with computerized drums, modulated bass, and other electronics, the sound was innovative from start to finish. There are moments that remind me of Wolfgang Dauner's fierce masterpiece "Output" on ECM, and the Kraut Electronics masterpiece "Zero Set", which is said to be one of the proto-techno albums. The experimental jazz funk with an edge similar to Akira Sakata and Toshinori Kondo is also good. Reiner Winterschaladen's trumpet, which reminds me of Don Cherry, floats deeply in the background on tracks like A3.
A3: Dragon-Fly and Peanut
A5: Woody Woodpecker