NEW ALBUM "GRAND FUNK ORCHESTRA" OUT NOW
The new HPRC album ‚Grand Funk Orchestra’ (out on nov 6th 2009) is not just the latest release by a party band, but an XL-sized party in itself. In other words: despite this being a studio production, the HPRC have captured their intense and enthralling ‚live’ sound on this disc like never before. This is due in large part to the Grand Funk Orchestra. Its opulent sound and outstanding soloists add so much sparkling musicality and sheer quality that anyone – from meticulous jazz listeners, via rock/soul/funk lovers, to ecstatic dance aficionados – will be able to find themselves in this music.
The opener “Come On” sets out with a syncopated rock riff, the orchestra gets to flex its muscles for the first time, and the core message is laid out: ‚Come on and join the party, the funky funky party, come on and shake your body, come on and join our music.’ The HPRC does not make it difficult for the listeners. In Track 2 the essential values and mission of the 16-strong collective are stated once again: the HPRC and the Grand Funk Orchestra are ambassadors of funk and MC – ‚Back into Business’.
For this kind of work, studio and concert halls can only be starting points; further down the line, ensemble and audience transfer to the mother ship: ‚Let’s all get on board the mother ship’ (Track 3). Harry Ahamer's voice appears for the first time, like a gift: ‚I need some funky stuff!’
In the atmospheric ballad ‚I’m a Man’, Andie Gabauer combines Prince-like vocals and crooner timbre into his own adaptable vocal sound, at once delicate and powerful, with deeply felt expression: ‚And when we were through with action in the early morning light, I got down on my knees and asked my woman to be my wife.’ He who writes lyrics like that knows – as does the little man from Minneapolis – about the twofold nature of love. From the beginning, both guises have fit the HPRC like wax, caressing the listener’s skin – love with music…
With ‚Anywhere You Wanna Go feat. Vera’, the HPRC can easily get in on the act with AAA radio play lists; handmade R&B, a new trend. Next stop: top of the pile on radio pluggers’ desks! And so it goes on, from song to song – so much more yet to experience: Markus Marageter’s wonderfully tasteful and sure-handed sounds, varied and diverse vocal and instrumental flights of fancy, goose bumps upon hearing the lovingly and perfectly balanced overall sound of this unique body of sound; expertly realised by Producer Thomas Rabitsch.
Through the Grand Funk Orchestra, the HPRC have fully come into their own. As a result, the ensemble reaches artistic heights where the question ‚can music make the world a better place?’ becomes legitimate. ‚Running out of Time’ (Track 13, the version with vocal and horns) can certainly go some way towards this vision – a long way at that.
HOT PANTS ROAD CLUB's GRAND FUNK ORCHESTRA
With this opulent 16-strong line-up the HPRC turns over a new leaf in the history of orchestral pop music, as a modern, large-format big band sound meets the super-tight skeleton crew of the HPRC funk combo. The result is a decidedly new sound situated between funk and jazz, one that hasn’t been heard quite like this before – even on a
global stage.
The man responsible to a large degree for this sonic distinctiveness is trombonist Werner Wurm. He doesn’t simply extrapolate from the HPRC’s original three horns, but develops the possibilities of the eleven wind instruments into a multi-layered sound, which keeps a tasteful balance between straight-ahead funk and soul and a more advanced
jazz language. The resulting tutti sound is impressively weighty, literally breathtaking, but at the same time of a delicate transparency, capable of bringing tears of auditory elation and cognisance to the eyes of the listener.
The eight additional wind players are recruited from the crème de la crème of the Austrian music scene. Four of the country’s busiest brass players step up to the job, headed by highnote trumpeter Josef Burchartz. The sax section brings together prominent instrumentalists from different generations: Martin Fuss, Thomas Kugi, Sebastian Grimus and Markus Zahrl. During every concert, each musician will take solos, demonstrating various approaches to improvisation; virtuosity is indeed a part of this
concentrated yet exuberant music-making. Aside from many HPRC classics, the repertoire contains several pieces composed especially for this line-up.
The HPRC’s GRAND FUNK ORCHESTRA creates luxurious music for the international stage; and one does not want to, should not, and cannot economise on such wonderfully pure luxury.
NB. The GRAND FUNK ORCHESTRA is already a success story: Every show of the first tour was sold out. On March 28th, 2009, a fourth sellout date was added for Vienna’s Orpheum, and to this point about 2,000 delighted audience members have visited the shows in the Austrian capital. As a result, the GRAND FUNK ORCHESTRA’s autumn
2009 shows have been moved to the Gasometer.
