Volker Kriegel with Mild Maniac Orchestra - Octember Variations (1977/2016) [Hi-Res]

This first album of Volker Kriegel’s Mild Maniac Orchestra, one of Europe’s most influential and successful fusion groups. Keyboardist Thomas Bettermann would go on to record 8 albums with Kiegel, and bassist Hans Peter Ströer and Dutch drummer Evert Fraterman would continue to work with Kriegel for close to a decade. They were Kriegel’s rhythm section for all four of the Orchestra’s MPS dates. Funk You Very Much drives with a shake-your-booty beat and a powerful solo by renowned English saxophonist Allen Skidmore. There’s the warmth and fantasy of Ballad Garden and Palm Dreams with percussionist Nippi Noya, and Octember Variation continues the ethereal feel with Kriegel’s sitar sound and guest Wolfgang Dauner on synth. On Und Schön Ist Die Fahrt (And It’s a Beautiful Trip), outstanding guitar and keyboard solos resound over a relaxed funk groove, while Dora tells a story with a country flair, and Flugsteig B (Boarding Gate B) continues in country-funk fashion. Spiral Crackers is simply funkadelic. An album to sit back and snap your fingers and tap your feet to – better yet – get up and dance!

Volker Kriegel, electric guitar, sitar
Hans Peter Ströer, bass, synthesizer-bass
Evert Fraterman, drums
Thomas Bettermann, keyboards
Nippi Noya, percussion

Recorded on Oct. 28-31 and Nov. 1-3, 1976, at Tonstudio Zuckerfabrik, Stuttgart
Engineered by Rainer Platen
Produced by Volker Kriegel

Digitally remastered