Going Back to the Mountains

Last month when I was doing Musick that Needed Work: T I shared The Thing with Five Eyes. That was an experimental Darkjazz project of Jason Köhnen, formerly of the Kilimanjaro Darkjazz Ensemble & The Mount Fuji Doomjazz Corporation.

 

In the mid-Aughts I listened to a lot of Darkjazz but with the passage of time, other sounds came along & soon we forget. Sharing TTwFE got me to listening to the Darkjazz mountains again & realizing how much I still really enjoyed the musick. 

Darkjazz is a slow, somber contemporary style combining jazz instrumentation to create a doom-laden, cinematic atmosphere. It emerged in the 1990s, then gained most prominence in the 2000s, primarily in Europe with acts such as Bohren & der Club of Gore or The Kilimanjaro Darkjazz Ensemble. 

An early proponent of the genre is Angelo Badalamenti's work on the Twin Peaks soundtracks starting in 1990.  Darkjazz uses Ambient & lounge elements alongside its surreal jazz sound. Heavily inspired by the dark, brooding themes & moody, shadowy visuals of Film Noir movies, the soundscapes of Darkjazz seek to conjure up images of smoky, dimly-lit jazz clubs or eerie, rain-soaked city streets. 

Drawing on the Crime Jazz scores of 1950s - 70s Noir (such as The Man with the Golden Arm or Taxi Driver), Darkjazz is performed at a considerably slow tempo, showcasing an exaggerated form of the gloomy, dread-inducing moods & sounds heightened by the use of mournful trumpets / saxophones, brushed drums, electric piano / mellotron, vibraphones, double bass, all with a noticeable lack of upbeat big band stylings.

Decided I'd share some with you all & see how you like it (or like it again or still like it, whichever). I'll start with this compilation of Darkjazz, called simply...

Various - Dark Jazz Compilation, Dark Jazz Records DJR002, 2017.
all decryption codes in comments

Sunshine III - Côte Déserte    
Il Reverchon Cascatelle - Dale Cooper Quartet & the Dictaphones
Murdered (by Love) - Detour Doom Project     
Detective's Tears - Macelleria Mobile Di Mezzanotte
Sleepdriving into Oblivion - Manet    
Loose Change - Michael Arthur Holloway    
The Rose Sail - Nobody Jazz Ensemble
Combava Blissophony - Noroeste & Shri    
Crowhurst Yew - Somnambulist Quintet    
Dark Night of the Soul - The Kilimanjaro Darkjazz Ensemble (original by Danger Mouse, David Lynch, & Sparklehorse)
Meduxae - The Thing with Five Eyes    
Krakau - Trigg & Gusset

 

 

 

Now on to some Dark Moumtain music... 

 

Mutations (EP) is just that, adaptations of earlier tracks off the debut album The Kilimanjaro Darkjazz Ensemble which I previously shared here & demos that later became the tracks on the second album Here Be Dragons , mutated.

Track "Caos Calmo" is a reworked "The Nothing Changes"; track "München" is a reworked "Lobby"; track "Serpents" is a reworked "Pearls For Swine"; track "Twisted Horizons" contains some elements from "Parallel Corners" all from their self-titled debut; track "Shadows" later reworked in "Embers" on Here Be Dragons contains the melody from "Senki Dala" by Venetian Snares that appeared on the Rossz Csillag Alatt Született album (or "Senki Dala & Öngyilkos Vasárnap (Bong-Ra Remix)" from 4 Adaptations of Rossz Csillag Alatt Született by Venetian Snares vs Bong-Ra); track "Symmetry of 6's" contains some elements of "Solomon's Curse" & track "Horns of King David" contains some elements of "Guernican Perspectives" from the debut; while track "Avian Lung" was later reworked to "Seneca" on Here Be Dragons. 

The Kilamanjaro Darkjazz Ensemble - Mutations EP, Ad Noiseam adn105cd, 2009.

Caos Calmo    
München    
Serpent    
Twisted Horizons    
Shadows    
Symmetry of 6's    
Horns of King David    
Avian Lung

 

 

 

 

 

I Forsee the Dark Ahead, If I Stay is the first TKDE live album. A compilation of 9 live tracks recorded during the period of 2006 to 2011, from shows in The Netherlands, Slovenia, Hungary, Spain and Poland.  

The Kilimanjaro Darkjazz Ensemble - I Forsee the Dark Ahead, If I Stay live, self-released, 2011.

Celladoor (The Netherlands, 2011)    
Lobby (Hungary, 2007)    
Mists of Krakatoa (Poland, 2011)    
Adaptation of the Koto Song (Hungary, 2011)
Symmetry Of 6's (The Netherlands, 2009)    
The Nothing Changes / Senki Dala / Embers (Hungary, 2007)
Black Wings (Spain, 2006)    
Goya (The Netherlands, 2009)    
The MacGuffin (Slovenia, 2007)

 

 

 

 

 

This is not the first live music TKDE has been involved in however. The Mount Fuji Doomjazz Corporation is the live improv alter ego of The Kilimanjaro Darkjazz Ensemble. Their offerings are live recorded releases with several members of TKDE + guest musicians. All The Mount Fuji shares are live concert recordings.

 

The Mount Fuji Doomjazz Corporation is: Charlotte Cegarra – vocals; Eelco Bosman – guitar Jason Köhnen – bass; Hilary Jeffery – trombone, oscillator; & Gideon Kiers – drums.

This next one was recorded live in Amsterdam on February 24, 2007. As there are no true breaks between tracks, I have combined all nine into one continuous uninterrupted track for your listening pleasure...

 

 

The Mount Fuji Doomjazz Corporation - Doomjazz Future Corpses!, Ad Noiseam adn81, 2007.

One    
Two    
Three    
Four    
Five    
Six    
Seven    
Eight    
Nine

 

 

 

 

 

This last one was recorded live at Telco HQ, Rotterdam, The Netherlands, January 15,  2009. while viewing Jess Franco's 1969 film Succubus, a low-budget erotically charged sadomasochistic murder horror flick. (note - A lifelong jazz enthusiast & pianist, Franco studied music at the Madrid Royal Conservatory as well as the Instituto Ramiro de Maeztu, before embarking on a film career.) 

The Mount Fuji Doomjazz Corporation - Succubus, Ad Noiseam ADN112, 2009.

The Sexy Midnight Torture Show    
Erotic Love Queen    
Strange Dreams    
Castles by the Sea    
The Admiral’s Game    
The Morning After    
Perverted Pleasure Party    
A Bad Trip    
A Place for Fantasies    
Murder Amongst Mannequins    
Fleeing the Scene    
Deadly Rehearsal    
Faustine

 

 

 

Enjoy,
NØ