I wrote this for jazzreview.com. Click here to read it on that site. You will have to scroll down some.

Achim Kaufmann Quartet Double Exposure (Leo, 2000)
review by Micah Holmquist
August 4, 2000

Michael Moore (clarinet, alto saxophone, bass clarinet),
John Schroder (bass guitar, guitar),
John Hollenbeck (drums, percussion),
Achim Kaufmann (piano)

I was quite tired when the stereo’s carousel moved over to the third spot and Double Exposure. My face was buried in a pillow and I hoped for an introspective release like the Leo label has sometimes produced in the past. My feet weren’t in a mood to move to the beat but that is exactly what they did upon hearing the opener "Carnies." It begins slowing but the tempo picks and the cut becomes like a trip to the zoo. Instead of animals, there are musicians and while the musical scene shifts regularly, each section delights me for whatever duration it does have. The constant theme –the tour guide, if you will- is band leader Achim Kaufmann’s piano. Kaufmann knows how to compliment the other musicians but also when to get out of the way on this fanciful tune.

No other cut works quite as well but there is still plenty of fine musicianship. The music benefits whenever John Schroder performs on the guitar instead of the bass. It is not that his playing is earth shattering but rather that a guitar player gives the music a different edge. This is particularly noticeable on "Marchebrisee" which also benefits drummer and percussionist John Hollenbeck mimicking industrial sounds. Throughout Double Exposure Hollenbeck’s playing is top notch in terms of simplicity. A good example of this is "Gaiva" where the repetitive and steady sound of a brush on a snare contextualizes the edgy mood coming from the other musicians. Michael Moore is both the best known player on this date and the least impressive. It is not that his playing is ever poor because it never is and at times it can be quite imaginative such as on "Sphericals" –the one tune that Kaufmann did not pen as the credit actually belongs to Moore- but for the most part it does not shine.

The beauty of Double Exposure is that the music allows for each player to contribute distinct elements that add up to the more than sum of the parts. And that is jazz at its best.

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