MUNJU

After two instrumental albums MUNJU out of Germany make their third record from 1980 a vocal record. The drummer and guitarist sing and there's a guest singer on track three. All sing or speak in German and man the vocals really take away from the enjoyment here. I prefer the first two albums to this but I didn't give either of those 4 stars so this has been a band I just haven't been able to get into. The drums also sound weak to say the least. I even wondered if they used a drum machine but apparently not.

Some call this Kraut Fusion in the vein of MISSUS BEASTLY and the like. Not as jazzy as that band and sax player Jurgen Benz has left after the last record, he being from MISSUS BEASTLY coincidently enough. American Fred Lamberson is the new sax player in Jurgen's place. Oh besides a guest singer on one track we get EMBRYO's Christian Burchard adding tribal drums to the shortest piece "Armadillo" plus he adds vibes to "Manchmal Dauert Es So Lang" a song where the sax is prominent. Except for that short track all the rest range from 5 1/2 minutes to 6 1/2 minutes. And with the drumming and vocal issues I have 3 stars is all I got.

Despite the misconception that the Krautrock scene dissipated after the 1975 timeline while established bands such as Can, Amon D''l II and Kraan were beginning to water down their creative output and reach for more commercial endeavors, the truth is there were many highly adventurous bands that continued well into the 80s and beyond and some even reaching levels of success at least in their native Germany. MUNJU was one such band that followed in the footsteps of Can with an avant-funk bass driven groove along with a jazzier approach complete with alto saxophone and flute. Add to that the occasional vibraphone sounds and blistering jazz guitar workouts and its no wonder this band was such the audience pleaser.

This band was the creation of J'rgen Benz who had just quite Missus Beasty and moved back to his hometown of W'rzburg where he met Dieter Kaudel (guitars, oud and vibraphone), Wolfgang Salomon (bass and keyboards) and Thomas R'mer (drums and trumpet). Formed in 1976 as an instrumental jazz-rock fusion band, MUNJU moved on to vocal oriented rock and then later took a turn towards the avant-garde. R'mer and Saloman previously played in the local band Pozzokko which featured Nina Hagen and guitarist Bernhard Potschka so with a seasoned approach of rock, jazz and even classical these guys stuck it out for ten years and released six albums.

HIGH SPEED KINDERGARTEN was the debut that emerged in 1977 and featured the core four members along with Joseph Spector adding congas on a couple tracks. The album of five tracks featured extensive jazzy jamming sessions with heavy Latin percussion and energetic sax and flute deliveries. MUNJU was well known as an excellent live band and over its ten year existence played well over 1000 gigs around Western Europe. These early recordings evoke a strong Kraan influence with vocal-free bass grooves and energetic percussive displays. Although the guitar is present, it's the least emphasized instrument with the sax and flute roles dominating the scene however the jazz guitar does jump out now and again with fiery virtuoso outbursts.

While clearly in the jazz-fusion realms, MUNJU added enough of the psychedelic Krautrock elements to steer into that movement. The band also joined the independent musician owned record label Scneeball along with Embryo, Missus Beasty, Ton Steine Scherben and the Real Ax Band. While much of the Krautrock scene was dedicated to cold, detached and even scary sounds designed to evoke the dread and despair experienced in a post-war Germany that was hurled into a globalized consciousness that not all was well on planet Earth, MUNJU was rather distinct in that it crafted a warm, organic and upbeat sort of jazzy Krautrock. While the Kraan influences are headed in the right direction, MUNJU was much more adventurous with virtuosic workouts and high speed tempos which included many moments of Latin percussive drive.

While not exactly on the top of many Krautrock best of lists, MUNJU nevertheless debuted with a stellar set of high octane tracks that featured seasoned musicians playing together impeccably all the while providing a less dismal mood than Kraut bands of the earlier decade. While much more jazz-oriented than rock, the funk-infused bass and heavy percussive drive keeps it from drifting too far into the jazz zone as well. This is an excellent album actually with outstanding performances and enough variation of dynamics to keep things sizzling the entire playtime. I actually prefer this one to most of Kraan's similar styled more popular albums but once again, MUNJU set itself apart with a keen appreciation for infusing creative twists and turns. Unfortunately this album has only seen a single release in 1977 with no reissues.

MUNJU were a Jazz flavoured Krautrock band with Jurgen Benz formerly of MISSUS BEASTLY leading the way with his sax and flute. No keyboards but drums, bass, guitar and congas on two tracks. No vocals either other than when they all try to act silly like kids on the title track. It's actually pretty funny. Not huge on the style of the guitarist, he likes to pick. The time when he lights it up sounds really good but clearly that's not his preferred style. That light show was on "Talk To Me But I Listen To You", a catchy track with sax mostly leading the way. My favourite is "Patschamenga Underground" and while the sax and guitar solo it's the bass that impresses me the most here. The first two tracks are the long ones both around 9 minutes and we get plenty of jamming with the guitar, sax or flute usually soloing over top. Like the followup to this we get a pretty good album but this is nothing like my favourites who play in a similar style.

Munju became fastly a group under the umbrella of the Schneeball label, a leader in the Kraut-Jazz field back in the 70's.For the second album of the group the original Munju quartet added some depth to its sound, recruiting Alex Gruenwald on keyboards along with Harry Buckl on congas.''Moon you'' was recorded at Sunrise Studios in Kirchberg, Switzerland and it was released in 1979.

Once more an album of Munju is characterized by its frenetic jazzy moments to go along with some funky lines and the pure power of Kraut Rock rhythmic tunes.The music is pretty solid with extended instrumental improvisations and furious solos on alto saxes by Benz and electric guitar by Kaudel, while the presence of Gruenwald makes the sound a bit richer with his tight and discreet organ plays.A few structured ideas are pretty great with impresive breaks and some decent melodies on sax, but the majority of this release is based on instrumental masturbations, which sound weirdly attractive.The EMBRYO influence is quite evident in the major part of the album, especially on the jazzy sax lines, however Munju's second offering sounds quite flexible at the very end, sliding from energetic Kraut Rock grooves to loose, jazzy soloing to powerful and solid Fusion.

File along the lines of EMBRYO, KRAAN, THIRSTY MOON and other Kraut/Jazz/Fusion acts of the 70's.Decent Kraut/Jazz Rock, that can be both pleasant and enigmatic.Recommended.