Vinyl - Cvintetul de jazz ''Gramophon'' al lui Paul Weiner - Spirale II = Spirals II

Pre-Orders Only

The underground music scene in the city of Timișoara had always been a hotbed of Western cultural influence throughout the Communist years and some of the greatest names in the history of modern music hailed from there, among them Richard Oschanitzky, Phoenix, Progresiv TM , Pro Musica and Post Scriptum, bands whose musical activity and indeed legacy endures to this day. But there were also bands that never achieved mainstream recognition, bands that were shunned from the start by the regime and were never allowed to have a real presence. Enter “Gramophone” or Gramofon, a band that can be considered the very definition of true “underground”.

Fans of the Romanian Sounds Unearthed series know that if there is one common element shared by all the musicians whose work was released in this series, that would be mobility. The bands that were part of the underground music scene would often change their line-up, would reform under a different name, would often employ session musicians from other bands and, generally speaking, would be defined by their adaptability. This was imposed by outside circumstances, namely the mandatory military service and the work repartition system that could see a young man sent across the country to an assigned workplace.

In circumstances such as these, Gramophon, like all the other bands, was forced to adapt, yet one name stood out as the driving force behind it: Paul Weiner, the piano player and composer responsible for most of the band’s musical output. Alongside him, there were Gheorghe ‘’Puba’’ Hromadka on drums, Liviu Butoi on flute or oboe, Tiberiu Ladner as vocalist or percussion, and Béla “Kamo” Kamocsa, the bass player whose name is more often associated with Phoenix, one of the greatest bands in the history of Romanian music. This was the band’s original line-up until 1977 when Doru Apreotesei (keyboards) and Mihai Farcas (drums) replaced Paul Weiner and Gheorghe ‘’Puba’’ Hromadka.

Even in the underground music scene, Gramophon were in a niche of their own. Their brand of music was anything but mainstream and, while the aforementioned Phoenix added folk elements to their compositions and achieved popularity in the country and a short-lived modicum of grudging acceptance from the regime, Gramophon stuck with their own brand of jazz with various influences from multiple niche genres and achieved greater popularity abroad.

Gratitude is in order for the contributions made by Paul Weiner, Doru Apreotesei, Gheorghe Hromadka, Mihai Farcaș, Liviu Butoi and Johnny Bota, all of whom served as music consultants for this triple LP vinyl record, as well as Ramona Marc, whose artwork provided a “packaging” worthy for this unique release, made using recordings from various sources, the result of a seventeen years hunt through archives, both private and national, using each and every resource available to track down the works of a band whose contributions to Romanian music were criminally neglected.

(Promotional text by Mihai Alexandrescu)

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Romanian Sounds Unearthed – 10
180gr. DMM (Direct Metal Mastering)
Made in France
MSRP €39