Mystic Maze

Dahlgren, Chris & Lexicon
Jazzwerkstatt
Jazz | Nov 2010

Reviews

Wedge
Reviewed 2011-03-16
Amusing jazz that's loungy yet warped, with beatnik spoken parts consisting of old, vicious critiques of Bela Bartok music (dated 1915 to 1928). The slow results fall somewhere between funny and artsy, especially considering the reviews are so vicious. Catchiest tracks feature a jumpy lounge style with lots of drunken, off-balance chords and/or sax (1,3,8). Others are slow and artsy - some short ones could pass as classical parodies (4,10). If you like Claudia Quintet - this doesn't have the same percussion but the melodies ring similarly in my ears.

FCC clean.

1- Cool lounge, quite hip. Upbeat, seasick bouncing melody
2- INST: Modern jazz, coolly handled, nifty drums. Mid/fast.
3- INST: Drunken, spacey swing
4- Artsy chant, almost a high-art parody
5- Dark, tense. Heavy bowed bass.
6- INST: Sinewy, slowish
7- INST: Slow
8- Jazzy, w/warbly soprano sax solo
9- Mid/slow, fairly accessible; narration comes in after 2-3 mins.
10- Classical swingy; narration pauses and lurches. Kinda funny.
11- INST: Mid/slow riffs, pleasant
12- INST: Slow free jazz, lots of tumbling sax, gets rowdy later.

Recent airplay

A Mystic Maze
No Cover, No MinimumMay 13, 2011
A Mystic Maze
Child's PlayMay 10, 2011
Painless Dentistry No. 2
RebopMay 03, 2011
A Mystic Maze
Child's PlayApr 19, 2011
A Mystic Maze
Child's PlayApr 04, 2011
Painless Dentistry No. 2
RebopMar 29, 2011

Charting

2011-03-20 — 2011-05-22 Jazz
Week EndingAirplays
May 15 2
May 8 1
Apr 24 1
Apr 10 1
Apr 3 1
Mar 27 2

Track listing

1. A Mystic Maze
2. Repetition Unit 1
3. Painless Dentistry No. 1
4. Great Desires Of The Modernists
5. Reminiscences On The Fourth Quartet Of Béla Bartók
6. It Was As If Two People Were Improvising Against Each Other
7. Mesto
8. Painless Dentistry No. 2
9. The Composer Promenading The Keyboard In His Boots
10. Bitter Champagne
11. Repetition Unit 2
12. Painless Dentistry No. 3