Intuit - Voyage No. 2 (2016) Hi-Res

Their studio is a window to the world: Thomas Braun and Till Maragnoli aka INTUIT create a link between the Seventies, production skills of the year 2010 and excursions all around the planet. On their second voyage they even expand their sounds with elektro funk, cineastic jazz moods and shining soul spirit, with partido alto from Brazil, reggae, a ride through wild Kurdistan and a flight over West Africa. Get „Intuit'!

Many people thought their first album was an extremely well made compilation with a stunning flow between the different styles. They can take it as a compliment: Thomas Braun (dr, perc,vibes) and Till Maragnoli (b) navigate so easily between genres that you believe your listening to tracks by different bands. Starting from Freiburg, Southern Germany they soon played in numerous European cities with an affinity to seventies' jazz, funk, rock, afro and reggae in equal parts. The aesthetics of old school black music serves them as a common ground for blind understanding in the studio. Theirs is a 'two is a crowd'-philosophy, and with it they construct rhythm section, melodic and harmonic progression before they invite numerous guests.

These voices for whom the prevailing tracks are tailor-made enrich Intuits work with prominent and intercontinental flair: On their first album you could find Andy Bey, Doug Carn, Flora Purim & Airto Moreira, Herbie Hancocks ex-guitarist Ray Obiedo and New York avant-garde vocalist Dean Bowman. On „Voyage No.2“ some of them shine again. Within six years Intuit shaped their second attempt. Surprisingly the result sounds rougher, more natural, because the duo wanted to focus on the live character. They step more into the jazzy side of their music and more consequently into funk.

'Voyage No.2' opens up with the thoughtful hymn 'Wise' graced with Dean Bowmans charismatic soul voice and the shimmering choir of latin specialist Sandy Cressman from San Francisco. Cressman is also responsible fort the sunny vocals in „Sarav““, a poly-rhythmic partido alto, in which Prince's saxophone player Eric Leeds delivers fine improvisation. ?Marple's Maple', the first of the instrumentals, is full of reminscences of Gil Evans' art of arrangement and reveals a splendid horn section. In the tongue-in-cheek number 'Pushy Woman' Braun and Maragnoli put the gender roles of soul music upside down: The funky girl is harassing growling Bowman. In the SciFi thriller „Last Moonwalk' you can follow the tracks of the „King of Pop', if you don't catch a tinnitus before. „Slow Honkin'' is a free-flowing jam for a relaxed intermission.

In 'Shango's Dance' Timmy Thomas meets a Cuban-like percussion set, swinging upright bass and bass clarinet interludes by Walter Ifrim which altogether create a soul jazz spirituality. Then Bowmans third guest appearance as a crooner in the rather bittersweet love song „Venus & Cupid' follows. „Afrocopter' is a definite moment of glory for Braun's skill of building grooves and fill ins, spiced up by the whirling sax of Eric Leeds, the Afrobeat guitar of Ray Oviedo and the pumping Highlife bass of Maragnoli. Eventually Intuit go to the Orient with ?Im Wilden Kurdistan' which is their first Middle Eastern funk with stringed arabesques. Optimist and laid back their global excursions finally lead them to the Caribbean with „A Regg-o-Lution Is Gonna Come'.

On their second trip Intuit deliver timeless soundscapes from the Caribbean to Kurdistan, from Rio to the river Rhine and show that the attribute 'retro' is clearly out-dated to describe their work.

Thomas Braun, drums, percussion, vibraphone
Till Maragnoli, bass
Special guests:
Dean Bowman, lead vocals
Sandy Cressman, vocals
Anne Romeis, flute
Dean Bowman, vocals
Ray Oviedo, guitar
Eric Leeds, tenor saxophone
Franck Wolf, tenor saxophone
Pascal Beck, trombone
Bernhard Münchbach, trumpet
Walter Ifrim, bass clarinet
Andreas Erchinger, piano
Airto Moreira, percussion

Recorded at Intuit Tonstudio Freiburg, Germany

Digitally remastered