Andreas Willers – el. guitar, Jan Roder – el. bass, bass, Christian Marien – drums
,This is not just experimentation for it’s own sake, it is a fascinating fusion and has a very strong musical statement to make. In doing so it tells us that it hasn’t just appeared from nowhere, but that it is derived from definite traditions, both ancient and modern, which are clearly an important part of these musicians’ experience.‘ from the liner notes by Pete Brown
‚Andreas Willers reminds us with this terrific album of the happy days where rock and free improvisation were one and music wasn’t yet forced into the corset of the sing-along song. We are longing for this kind of anarchistic energy.‘ M. Papst, Neue Zürcher Zeitung (CH)
‚…marvelous yet sick.… they seamlessly blend disparate themes or genres. What holds this together is Mr. Willers’ distinctive and varied approach to his playing, which includes several devastating solos.‘ Bruce Gallanter, DMG New York
‚They might sell this a ‚non-academically spoilt experiment in musical dialectics‘, I’ll call it an informed and healthy kick by three guys that have listened well.’ Bad Alchemy (D)
‚Derek Plays Eric somehow manages to embody the spirits of Clapton and Bailey, while being the rare modern guitar record that, in addition to being interesting and inspiring, is also fun.‘ Michael Ross, Guitar Moderne (USA)
‚…delightfully rough, cross-grained and punkified. The trio looks like pop-art-guerilla on the cover, and their boisterous going lives up to that image. ‚Derek plays Eric’ belongs to the most enjyoyable pivot points between Power Rock and Free Jazz that the recent German jazz scene has to offer.‘ Jazzthing (D)
‚This CD by Willers really hit the mark…a thoroughly strange brew of Britisch blues- and jazz-rock, an experimental conception and traces of jazz tradition.‘ Jazzthetik (D)
Rock music
…in it’s beginnings has been a field of experimentation in musical expression by alternative sounds and rhythmic perception as well as increasingly political and social content, often nurtured by a good chunk of improvisation (esp. live). The potential of commercial appeal was soon discovered, while the musicians mostly stayed in charge of the artistic direction for quite some years. This position, supported by the audience, stood in a rad contrast to the commonly spread quasi industrial genre production for a predefined target group.
Improvised Music, or Free Jazz, which evolved simultaneously, also was sort of a movement with social bearing. The explorative breakup of hierarchic structures was put forward by means of new harmonic and rhythmic concepts. As opposed to rock music this kind of music making has vastly defied itself from commercialization to this day.
Derek plays Eric is striking a bond between these attitudes with the license to merge the elements of free improvisation with the roots of rock music as an alternative to the prevalent and general trend to oversimplify and commercialize music. A chance to watch and sense the world in a parallel universe, where artistic and mental freedom are highly regarded.
A metamorphosis of disparate stilistics is aspired in an open, creative process. Starting point is the seizure of different overlying musical drifts in the period of ca. 1964-74, but in a non-retrospective manner and by charging it with contemporary elements and methods from new music, non-idiomatic improvisation, jazz and noise/rock in a non-academic experiment in musical dialectics which is unhampered by academic domestication.
Andreas Willers, Jan Roder, Christian Marien, March 2018
open/download performance directions ‘elementarfelder’
open/download score ‘elementarfelder’
