Most Thursdays there is a jam session at a place called Kulturkellar Westend in Munich, hosted each time by different musicians from the city. We have showcased and jammed there a few times, and I gotta tell you, the calibre of the musicianship in this place is World Class! Last Thursday it was hosted by Peter Frohmader and friends, Peter of Nekropolis fame, a musician and artist known far and wide as one of the icons of krautrock, although that is really only one facet of his music and art, which over time has explored post-Tangerine Dream/Kraftwerk electronica, jazz/rock/metal fusion, and more. The set we saw, totally instrumental (Peter on a Rickenbacker bass through a whack of pedals, an e-guitar player (whose name I didn’t catch) with a whack of pedals , a keyboard man (sorry, I suck with names!) and Lutz Röhmuß on drums and it’s taken me a few days to come up with a description of the music, but I would call it “ quantum chaos”. Quantum, because that theory in physics tries to describe the randomness that exists throughout the universe that is the driving force behind change, and chaos, because the patternless explosions they set up are ever-changing but cohesive, and intellectually challenging. The result is so unique and the musicians’ telepathic rapport is so tight that even if you’ve never heard anything quite like it before you’ll get it. Check it out!
The thing about this Kulturkellar is that you’re not likely to see the same kind of jam twice in a row, because the theme seems to be different every time. We’ve been there when blues was the focus, and on another night the feel was more like exotic interpretations of classics and standards, and we’ve been there when it was all over the map. But always the quality of the playing was as good as it gets.
The stage, sound system and lights are hi-q and the vibe is cool. 50 people in there would make it seem packed, but I’ll bet you could squeeze 200 if you had to.
They also have shows there (we did one a few Saturdays ago) so if you happen to find yourself in Munich check the schedule on the website or their facebook page
by Ted Hall
