Christian Prommer

As published on Earplug

Bavarian DJ and producer, Christian Prommer, is enthusiastic that his latest project will bring light to the eyes of those with rhythmic soul. “I hope that it will find some friends out there in the wild world of music lovers”, he muses, whilst carving out a fresh piece of ambition to show me.

Drumlesson Vol. 1 is a concept album of the most primal nature. It bridges the gap between two seemingly polar worlds of music. According to Prommer, “a lot of the dance music is inspired by jazz or has a jazzy mindset”. Though most would find discordancy between dance’s galloping tempo and the complex layering of jazz, Prommer sees correlations between them and believes they aren’t mutually exclusive. “The openness to try different things and bend the set rules is important to both genres”, he explains, painting a Venn diagram with his thoughts.

Beginning with a simply “test drive” of the Derrick May’s Detroit techno classic, ‘Strings Of Life’ - which instantly became popular with DJs and musicians alike - Prommer was then urged to stretch the issue of converting some of his favourite house and techno tracks into jazz arrangements. “It [‘Strings Of Life’] inspired me to look into doing the same with other tracks. It came together pretty naturally and all of a sudden there was an album of music that needed to see the daylight”.

Although he was keen “to keep the energy and the spirit of the dance tunes alive in the acoustic arrangements”, Prommer saw this as musical composition in the most antiquated sense of the word. The entire arrangement was recorded in a matter of hours and the majority of the instruments used were vintage, including drums from the 50s and 60s. Analogue technology was utilised where possible, as well, so that Prommer was able to produce “a jazz record that sounded old school, but in a fresh way”.

Coordinating the project, Prommer wanted to use specific instruments and production techniques as, he claims, “whenever you are recording music, especially now, you have to view the sound of a recording as important as the melody, harmony or beat”. The search for this special sound, one which differs from contemporary jazz, was “inspired by the sounds of 60’s and Brazilian jazz” as well as “the way an old Art Blakey or Ahmad Jamal record sounded; intense and spiritual”. In basic terms, he was “looking for a sound that had a particular vibe to it, other than to be microscopic”.

To provide and instill exactly what he was trying to achieve, Prommer was also insistent about choosing certain musicians to bring nourishment to the album. Roberto do Gioia, a key architect in the ‘Strings Of Life’ production, was brought onto the project because, as Prommer admits, he has “everything I am looking for in a piano player: skills and taste”. Similarly, Erst Ströer, the percussion player, was asked on board because he “is the intellectual master of the instrument”, whilst the “inspired and powerful drumming” of Wolfgang Haffner provided the beat.

Once the recording had been completed, the job of producing and mixing the album was put to old companion, Peter Kruder (of Kruder & Dorfmeister) in Vienna. Kruder and Prommer had previously worked together on the techno/electronica outfit, Voom: Voom - with Roland Appel completing the trio - so Prommer was very trusting of his talents. “He has an amazing set of ears and knows his studio so well that I needed him to realise my vision of sound on this album. Between Munich and Vienna the connection is very deep. Me being half Austrian helped too”.

Sprinkled with a smattering of original material, the bulk of the album is a biographical account of Prommer’s taste in dance music and, as such, includes a variety of recogniseable darlings: a moody reawakening for Mr. Fingers' 1986 old school Chicago classic, ‘Can You Feel It’; a frenetic piano-thumping reinvention of Josh Wink’s pulsating ‘Higher State of Consciousness’ bassline; as well as a Latin interpretation of Kraftwerk’s 1977 evocative train ride, ‘Trans Europa Express’.

Drumlesson Vol. 1, in terms of conditional listening environments, is not easily pigeon-holed. It could be a Sunday afternoon come-down, it could be Friday night nostalgic spruce-up, it could even be the scent of coffee house daydreams. But what makes the project so appealingly intriguing is the fact that job is only half done. Drumlesson Vol.2 is set for release later in the year, with another twist in the tale yet to come. “Without giving too much away”, confesses Prommer, “the idea of Volume 2 is to reverse the idea of the first one; take my favorite jazz tunes and translate them into electronic versions that represent the essence of the original”.