It’s
always exciting when you receive a CD from a band you’ve never heard of
before. But after
reading the inner sleeve, things start to become clear. The driving
power behind the project are the
Rodler brothers, founders of the P. M.M. (Progressive Music Management)
label in 1996. Whilst
writing material for what’s to become “Second First Impression” from the
band ‘Leger de Main’ they were auditioning for a piano player.
Gratto auditioned and his exceptional talent was convincing but the
brothers decided to go on as a trio without a pianoplayer. In that same
audition time Gratto wrote the piano music for the song “The Silent
Monster” (for ‘Leger de main’) and recorded another song .
It’s that track that became the
start of Gratto, the band. A band indeed, because Brett Rodler and Gary Madras
joined the duo (Gratto and Chris Rodler) what infact means that it remain the
trio ‘Leger de Main’ + Gratto as piano player !! Can everybody
still follow ? But Gratto’s music sounds quite different from the one from
‘Leger de Main’ and that’s the impression stamped on to this project by
Gratto the musician. The
biography tells me that three tracks, lasting 9, 10 and 16 minutes
respectively, were composed on
the grand piano and recorded in an immense church.
They decided not to use samples, but go for the “real stuff”.
That was no picnic, because half
a recording studio had to be moved to record the piano and organ sounds.
On top of all these difficulties, Gary (bass) moved, so he couldn’t work
with the project anymore. That’s one of the reasons why this release
is only an EP instead of a full CD. The year was 1999 and the band
decided to take a very long break. In 2001 Chris was cleaning his studio
and discovered a DAT tape with the mark ‘Gratto mixes’. Whilst
listening to the tracks, he contacted Gratto again and they decided to release
what they had recorded so far. Six
years for only 36 minutes of music ???
Was it worth waiting for ? I
don’t hesitate when I say YES !!! ‘Passage of time’ starts beautifully. A little bit fragile maybe, with vocals that remind us of sounds used in movies of the 50’s. Immediately after the first 30 seconds, you’ll understand that the music is very complex. All sorts of tempo changes from all instruments alternate with an “a cappella” voice for a few moments and, just after that, the registers are opened wide again. In order to make a reference, I’d mention Rush, Yes, King Crimson and Jethro Tull ,to whom they sound similar. Heavy, with an enormous amount of variety, without losing the driving power. It is very clear to me that all instruments are equally important. “Call and response” treats you to a wonderful intro on grand piano. Just sit down and relax, put the volume on 8, close your eyes and imagine yourself standing in the church hall. The sound is impressive !! The angelic-sounding voice of Gratto (that reminds me sometimes of ‘Kurt Rongey’s from Underground Railroad’) accentuates even more the mystic sphere. Even
here, one is treated to soft passages on piano (the main instrument here).A
few moments later it’s full speed ahead, with distorted guitar sounds
supported by bass and drums. I
mustn’t forget the vocals; also very varied.
The end of the song is very nice with the acoustic guitar and the grand
piano. The same quiet
acoustic guitar is used as an opener for “Shift”, the longest track on
this EP. The instrumental
intro invited me to improvise myself on my piano, which I did.
After the intro, everything blossoms for a moment.
Just enough to return to the overwhelming sounds of the grand piano.
A very, very beautiful passage,to which many music lovers will be
amused to listen . After
this intermezzo, everyone is back on track and it becomes very clear that this
is Progressive music with a big P.
The track ends as it began with vocals and piano: beautiful, fragile
and uncomplicated. A
very good production, which probably wasn’t easy to record because of the
complexity of the music, but on this EP, there is nothing to perceive of those
difficulties. I
want to make one remark : it’s a pity the music ends after 36 minutes ! I
look forward to the follow-up and, as we often ask, don’t let us wait for
another 6 years please. Reviewed
by William ‘Will’ Beckers Translation
by Walter ‘HaHa’ Haentjens |
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