Sepalot Quartet - Dove [Review]
About Sepalot and the Sepalot Quartet
Mainly because of the post-World War II US airforce bases in the country, the German love affair with American black music from the twentieth century runs deep, and Sebastian Weiss aka Sepalot is one of its love children. He cut his teeth as a DJ, producer and founder member of the well-loved German-language rap group Blumentopf in the earlier days of German hip hop - they even secured a major label deal. In 2016 he started building a solo career, wisely moved with the times, and whilst keeping things soulful veered in more commercial music directions, whilst at the same time forming the Sepalot Quartet to scratch his soul, funk, jazz itch.
The quartet has stayed pretty steady since its 2018 debut: Sepalot running between the decks, Rhodes and sampler, with long-time cohorts Fabian Füss on the sticks and helping out on vocals, as well as multi-instrumentalist Matthias Lindermayr playing his trumpet, trombone and guitar, still involved. Angela Aux's soulful vocals seem to be sitting this one out, but Robin Jermer has been hired on bass, and there seem to be a few guests popping into the studio too.
Review:
After a six-year wait, I'm happy to report there's a new album on the way; FatCat will be released on 27th November, and in time-honoured style the singles are paving the way. 'Sun Upside' got the ball rolling in September, treading chilled, dub and nu-jazz-infused, almost Balearic territory; the first half taking it easy on the beach before Lindermayr lets loose with his horn.
Next up, and more up my street, is the quartet's tribute to Brit-funk deities Cymande, and they've chosen to cover 'Dove' from Cymande's deep, spiritual self-titled debut album. If you haven't heard the original album yet, then don't even put it on your Discog's wishlist; just find the first VG+ copy and hit buy - you won't be dissapointed - it's all killer, no filler gear from the London-based, Caribbean ex-pats. The original version of 'Dove' was an eleven-minute, slow-building killer slice of jazz funk that fades out with a four-minute-long ancestral ritual outro - those were the days. It's such a bomb; parts of it found their way into samplers the world over; most notably, from a hip-hop perspective, the Fugees, Wu-Tang Clan and EPMD, although even Björk grabbed the riff. So it's a bold choice of cover.
Luckily the crew come correct, and you can't blame them for cutting the track length for today's ADD culture, to a still respectable six minutes long. They also give it a refreshing twist. Sepalot makes the vibe his own from the off, setting an almost spooky ambient atmosphere for Füss' shaken and rattled percussion and then Lindermayr to pay his ambient jazz trumpet respects to the hornless original. Slowly but surely Füss warms up on the drums with a light touch and is eventually joined by Jermer, to add that unmistakable bass bump to the eventual rhythm. The original, once it got going, was a UK soul and jazz dancer's delight that saw some serious rotation in the UK's vibrant 70s and 80s club scene, but the Munich boys don't go quite as dancefloor-friendly, preferring a more head-nodding jazz vibe, but trust me they go deep and take you there, and just for good measure Sepalot shows off his DJing skills, cutting and lightly scratching an original vocal snippet into the mix, before the track fades out into the spiritual jazz ether to join, and hold it's head high, alongside its twentieth-century inspirations.
Look out for the album on 27th November, and if you're in the mood for more deep jazz vibes check out the little-known Ea Sundström and her great Primordial Confusion EP.
Playlist Companion
Find Sepalot in the Slow Jazz Playlist.
