Dzyan - Time Machine (1973/1993 Bellaphon/Bacillus Records)
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Artist: Dzyan
Album: Time Machine
Released: 1973/1993
Bellaphon/Bacillus Records (288-09-108)
Genre: Krautrock, Fusion, Progressive Jazz-Rock
The Cosmic Dreams At Play: Dzyan recorded a unique kind of electric ethnic jazz-rock. The band look their name from the Indian book of creation. They formed in January 1972 as a quintet. After just two months the self-titled debut album was recorded, and then released on the minor Aronda label in April 1972. This first line-up of the band was just a studio project and promptly disintegrated. Lothar Scharf played drums in a revamped Dzyan's first live gigs, before he joined Virgo. In November 1972 Dzyan were reduced to a trio. In Studio Dierks, Stommeln, they recorded Time Machine, produced by Peter Hauke and released on Bacillus in November 1973. This was an excellent jazz-rock album consisting of four tracks. "Kabisrain" was an Eastern-oriented, ethnic number featuring saz, quite similar to Embryo. The other three tracks were electro acoustic, inspired by King Crimson and perhaps jazz records released on the ECM label. The strongest cut on the album was the 18 minute long title track. Dzyan's second album for Bacillus (also recorded by the Hauke & Dierks team) was recorded in October 1974. It had a similar style to their first, but was a bit more acoustic and Indianflavoured. Late in 1974 Reinhard Karwatky, the last remaining original member, decided to leave the group. This concluded the story of Dzyan. Along with Embryo, Between and Agitation Free they were pioneers of the world music. Giger and Marron eventual recruited Gunter Lenz In 1976 and recorded one further album as Giger, Lenz & Marron (Niagara MIX 1011-N). - By Dag Erik Asbjornsen.
The Crack In The Cosmic Egg: Formed in Mannheim in 1971, Dzyan were typically eclectic for a band from Southern Germany. In fact Dzyan were always a hard band to pin down, as each album they released was quite different. The original quintet on their debut album DZYAN played a jazzy form of progressive rock, with hints of Wolfgang Dauner, flashes of Zappa's HOT RATS and even some Van der Graaf Generator styled saxophone-fronted diversions. All this lead to a weird hotchpotch, punctuated by strange gothic songs and experimentation with electronic effects (including some stolen from an obscure French electronic LP by Bruno Menny - yes, directly stolen!), and thus an intriguing album that is still fresh today. When the band eventually disintegrated, Reinhard Karwatky was the only member remaining. So, he drafted in jazzers Eddy Marron (ex-Jochen Brauer Sextet and Vita Nova) and drummer Lothar Scharf (from Virgo), who didn't stay long, and was in turn replaced by the much more original percussionist Peter Giger. On TIME MACHINE they played, to quote Eddy Marron: "in the Kriegel-Doldinger-Association-Et Cetera jazz-rock style", a very inventive fusion, the spirit of Krautrock in a radical jazz-fusion. Whilst Peter Giger worked on other commitments as a session musician for ECM Records and on tour with Eberhard Weber, ex-Dave Pike Set drummer Marc Hellman filled in. By the time Giger returned, the Dzyan sound had changed considerably, as both Reinhard and Eddy had been experimenting with ethnic musics and a wider range of instruments. Mellotrons, sitar, and the mysterious "Super String" were added. The third album ELECTRIC SILENCE was even more out on a limb, bringing weird avant-garde elements together with jazz, rock and various ethnic musics; all together in an extreme melting pot of styles, ideas and fertile imagination. Running from free-jazz through medieval cum raga-rock (cf. Third Ear Band) and intense rock improvisation it is indeed one of the landmarks in experimental rock. After Dzyan split, Giger and Marron formed Giger.Lenz.Marron. Reinhard Karwatky also played on the Galactic Explorers album, as a member of the computer music trio A.I.R., and has worked as producer and engineer with: Aziza, Maria Joao and Vibe Tribe. He now makes a living as an all-round music technician: editing, mastering, keyboard programming, etc. - By Steven Freeman & Alan Freeman.
Album Reviews:
#1: Time Machine marked a change in approach for Dzyan. For this album they performed as a three-piece with only one member remaining from the original band: bassist Reinhard Karwatky. Together with Eddy Marron on guitar and Peter Giger on drums, Dzyan recorded Time Machine at Dieter Dierks' studio. Kicking off this album is the track 'Kabisrain' which is part fusion, part ethnic weirdness, all freak out! The closest comparison that can be given would be if Limbus 4 played fusion jazz. Sadly, the rest of the album relied mainly on Fusion and was devoid of the ethnic touch which made 'Kabisrain' so unique. 'Light Shining Out Of Darkness', featuring some amazing guitar work from Marron, stands out as a cross between Agitation Free and Popol Vuh. Certain elements from this album might not appeal to all Krautrock fans, but some comparisons can be drawn to Embryo and King Crimson. Whether you like the album or not, you will have to admit that both Karwatky and Marron knew how abuse their instruments. Simply put, these guys can fucking jam! - Krautrock Database.
#2: As Dzyan’s first album was more or less a studio/one-time project, the first line-up did not survive the album’s release. So the group was reduced to a very-different trio with only Karwataky remaining from the previous one. In came Giger on drums and percussions and Eddy Marron on guitars. Graced with a full psych artwork representing their tree-bordered paths, this album is one of Germany’s most acclaimed instrumental jazz-fusion album. It was recorded in the Dieter Dierks studios and released on the very collectible Bacillus label. Made of three tracks, the first side starts on the superb 8-min ethnic-sounding Kabisrain with a distinct Indian influence. The following almost 9-min Magika is much harder to swallow/ingest as it starts out on a wild drum intro, and it never really lets up until its end. The tracks often veers dissonant and limit atonal, but does remain accessible (more so than Crimson’s Moonchild or Providence) to most and in its second part the guitar does take the track into more conventional improv grounds, but still remains uneasy reminding some of Nucleus’s Belladona works. The third (and much shorter) Light Shining Out Of Darkness is quite a change as it veers Flamenco-jazz in a way that Metheny or DeLucia would not disown. Easily the album’s most accessible track. A sidelong monster title track with its 18 minutes fills the flipside. The track can be seen as a manic Mahavishnu Orchestra meeting a brass-less Nucleus. If the track remains relatively on the subject, avoiding useless lengthy soloing, it does not avoid some lengths especially that Marron’s guitars are the only fronting soloing instrument. However the track veers around the 1é-min mark and presents a very repetitive riff that makes the last 6 minutes a bit minimalist, but also a bore. While Dzyan’s second album is well in the line of their first album, it is more “concise”, precise and urgent than the debut album. - Sean Trane, Prog Archives.
#3: I dont really know, but i have listened to it several times, and im still thinking that those guys gathered one day, and started jamming or something, and took their instruments to make an improvisation album, there are of course some moments that you will notice it was practised many times, but the most of the album shows us a strange ,weird, fine and mind blowing impro sound, also this album is completely instrumental. I`m not a Krautrock expert at all, so i can`t say if this album keep the rules of a krautrock sound (if there`s a rule), at the same time i can`t recommend it saying that it is recommendable to kraut fans, but anyway here is the review.
"Kabisrain", the first song is obligated to give a good impresion , if so, you will keep listening to the album , but if not, maybe you will create your own limited vision about it, in this case i found this song very challenging, it has a magnific acoustic guitar sound throughout the song, not chords, i mean it doenst have a "rythm" that you would remind because as i said above it sounds like an improvisation, suddenly you will hear keyboards making soft and strange soundscapes, meanwhile guitar is being torn by his fingers, i dont really know if you are understanding my point of view, but i hope, it`s only my feeling.
"Magika" starts a bit faster, with bass, guitars and drums making the same ryhtm at the same time, it sounds more practised at the beggining, but during the song intruments are loosing in it`s own way, you will hear guitar in this side, percussion in the other side, and if you are a musician, you will smile when you listen to this. It has it`s high and lows, also you will find a bit jazzy sound, nice song.
"Light Shining Out of Darkness" is the shortest of them all, here again that spanish guitar returns to kick asses, im not saying that it`s a super sound, but easily i remember Di Meola or Mclaughlin making their guitars shooting us. This is maybe the "happiest" song with also a little folkish passage.
"Time Machine" after the shortest, the longest , the last, and the best song of the album . It starts with a soft drum sound, giving us a clear jazz sound, then guitar and bass enters to the song again like a jazz trio, this is when your mind is tripping, and your senses kneel down to the sound, when the progressive rock and jazz gives you a real reason of why this kind of music is so appreciated and beautiful, a song that you might enjoy a lot, not boring in any part, with a touch of sax, and after a slow tempo, it changes to an "always-playing" sound, the moment where you wont stop moving your head or your feet, i dont know, the fact is that it`s great, it show us clearly the quality of musicians.
So after that, i really liked this album, and i repeat i dont know if that was an improvisation or not, but it`s great, so i`d like to recommend it to any prog fan who wants to experience something different to the "usual" prototype of progressive rock, 3 stars for me, because it is not a masterpiece,nor essential, but why not a good addition. Enjoy your trip! - memowakeman, Prog Archives.
Taking their name from the Indian book of creation, Dzyan (Jochen Leuschner, Reinhard Karwatky, Gerd Bock-Ehrmann, Deiter Kramer, and Ludwig Braun) formed in January of 1972 as a one-off studio project. Two months after forming the group recorded a self-titled debut album which was released in April of 1972. This version of the band never appeared live and soon after recording the album Braun and Kramer left the group. By November of 1972 Dzyan had become a trio, of which only Reinhard Karwatky was from the original formation. The new version of the band featured Reinhard Karwatky on bass, Eddie Marron on guitar, and Peter Giger on drums. Their sound took on a unique feel which comprised elements of Jazz Fusion, Rock, and Ethnic influences. Together they released two albums 'Time Machine' in 1973 and 'Electric Silence' in 1974. Sadly, the group ceased to exist when Karwatky, the last remaining original member, left the group in 1974. As a whole their unique ethnic jazz sound can be compared to a cross between Embryo and Agitation Free.
Albums
Dzyan 1972
Time Machine 1973
Electric Silence 1974
Time Machine (Bacillus 1973)
Album Legnth: 37.45
Genre: Jazz Fusion/Ethnic
Best Song: 'Kabisrain'
Release Info: 1995 CD Reissue Bellaphon CD 288-09-108
Tracks:
1. Kabisrain 7.59
2. Magika 8.46
3. Light Shining Out Of Darkness 3.14
4. Time Machine 17.48
Rate This Album Online
Average Rating based on 12 votes: 3.5 out of 5 stars
Overview:
Time Machine marked a change in approach for Dzyan. For this album they performed as a three-piece with only one member remaining from the original band: bassist Reinhard Karwatky. Together with Eddy Marron on guitar and Peter Giger on drums, Dzyan recorded Time Machine at Dieter Dierks' studio. Kicking off this album is the track 'Kabisrain' which is part fusion, part ethnic weirdness, all freak out! The closest comparison that can be given would be if Limbus 4 played fusion jazz. Sadly, the rest of the album relied mainly on Fusion and was devoid of the ethnic touch which made 'Kabisrain' so unique. 'Light Shining Out Of Darkness', featuring some amazing guitar work from Marron, stands out as a cross between Agitation Free and Popol Vuh. Certain elements from this album might not appeal to all Krautrock fans, but some comparisons can be drawn to Embryo and King Crimson. Whether you like the album or not, you will have to admit that both Karwatky and Marron knew how abuse their instruments. Simply put, these guys can fucking jam! [4/5 Doug]
Musicians:
Reinhard Karwatky - Bass, Double Bass, Super String
Eddy Marron - Guitar, Zaz, Vocal
Peter Giger - Drums, Percussion
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