Unpublished
Written Aug. 31, 2001

This is actually a really good CD, but this review was ignored by both Relix and Jambands.com.
 


Diggin' Thru Jazz / Document Records

   Review:
Zipflo Weinrich

Diggin' Thru Jazz

Review by Art Howard
 
Maybe I'm not the best person to review Zipflo Weinrich Group's Diggin' Thru Jazz CD because in my book you can never go wrong with violin, anyhow. Anyone confident enough to play violin in public or on CD has to be pretty stellar because of the nature of the instrument. Violin is the kind of instrument where either you're going to show some potential for it in your first few weeks of lessons, or you're going to give it up. And if you show no potential for it and keep playing, someone within earshot of your practice space is going to strangle you. So violin demands at least a little talent to be present, whereas with guitar most anyone can play "Michael Row the Boat Ashore" or "Louie Louie."

So by the fact that Zipflo Weinrich is a violinist, he's already halfway to a great CD. Taking him the rest of the way is that Diggin' Thru Jazz is jaunty, loose, well-played jazz, and this is coming from a guy who's not even a jazz fan. Weinrich's style is not nearly the space-odyssey jazz violin of Jean Luc-Ponty, nor is it as swing-y as Stephane Grappelli. Instead, Weinrich occupies a nice territory in between, a space where you can enjoy some coffee at your keyboard as you type a review, a drive around town with the moon roof open, or an evening by the fire with your sweetie. The Group is filled out by Hans Zinkl on guitar, Georg Breinschmid on upright bass, and Heimo Weiderhofer on drums.

The CD was recorded live in front a small audience at Soundborn Studios in Vienna, Austria, which is where the Zipflo Weinrich Group hails from (I wondered why I couldn't pronounce any of the song titles or band member's names). The label, Document Records (based in Scotland), claims they had actually misplaced all these CDs and then refound them during a move. So this is a nearly-lost classic, I suppose.

Now that they found it, take advantage of your good luck and go buy it!
 

© 2001 Art Howard