Peter Muller - The Flow (2008)

German born Peter Muller's debut album M-Vibez (2003) received high accolades by many jazz fusion friends around the world. Comparing him with Marcus Miller has several reasons, both are playing a Fender bass, both are masters of the slap technique. But digging deeper one finds the difference between Marcus and Peter. Peter prefers themes of the jazz fusion genres and stretches his repertoire to world music. So the audience was impressed by the slap funk grooves of Kasbah and Eastbound melting Western slap bass and turntable scratches with Arabian sounds.

Now Peter Muller is back with his sophomore album The Flow (2008) and Peter continues his voyage to foreign coasts. The first tune is called Cairo after the capital city of Egypt. Frank Mead (soprano sax) is the ideal counterpart to Peter's dark bass and again we smell the oriental odors. Deep in the bazaar of Chân el-Chalîli you will find the roots of this excursion into the far east.

Peter lets the bass beast out on The Chase. Incredible how he strikes the chords on his Fender Jazz Bass in a sick rapid way breathing down the audience neck. Lounge Creatures mixes elements of Hip Hop, fusion jazz and some more to a special canapé featuring muted trumpet player Christian Kappe. Christian recently released together with Klaus Fey the album Streetscenes performing groove oriented contemporary jazz.

Can nothing be sexier than a G-String? When Peter let his bass sing, we find an exception. Incredible how the bass strings tremble under Peter's fingers. Tobias Neumann on Fender Rhodes piano adds sublime tones to this masterwork just on the point. And when you think, you know all about Peter's bass, he shows you with Space Train his raw site.

Frank Mead shout it out: "For Funk's Sake!" and Peter's Funk machine is burning down the stage. This is Funk in the quality of Pick Up The Pieces and Sex Machine. The tune sounds fresh and should be definitely heard live!

Chanson Triste reveals another side of Peter Muller, the multi-instrumentalist. He isn't just a master of bass but perfectly performs drums, percussion, clavinet, synthesizers, strings and a lot more. Teamed up on this tune Frank Mead, who delivers a supreme impression of flute and sax.

On The Cruise Peter Muller shows the melodious side of his bass. Supported by Tobias Neumann on Fender Rhodes piano and Tim Cansfield (Matt Bianco, Bee Gees, Steve Winwood) on guitar we enjoy an atmospheric romantic flow. Peter met him during the production of Frank Mead's recording Shout It Out back in 2003, and they have become good friends since then.

Frank Mead's sax solo on Dracula is off the hook and Peter's bass play together with the performance of the other musicians knocked me just out of the box. To smooth out this raw impression the album ends with the contemplative Belleza. Peter presents an awesome fretless bass. The sheer exuberance of the performance reminds me in attendance the joy of what is alive.

Peter's new album The Flow is a must for every fan of the bass and if you have the slightest feeling for music you will not resist to buy this precious album. --