David Helbock´s Random/Control
David Helbock piano/electronics/toys/melodika/percussion,
Johannes Bär trumpet/piccolo trumpet/flugelhorn/sousaphone/tuba/alphorn/beatbox/didgeridoo/electronics/percussion,
Andreas Broger -soprano saxophone/tenor saxophone/clarinet/bass clarinet/flute/recorder/flugelhorn/percussion,
Random/Control creates jazz like you have never heard before. On the recent album Tour d’Horizon, band leader David Helbock plays everything involving keys, in contemporary versions of compositions by his favorite jazz pianists, for example Watermelon Man (Herbie Hancock), Bolivia (Cedar Walton) and My Song Shine (Keith Jarrett), continually changing the mood from energetic to atmospheric and even absurdistic.
On stage he switches between piano, electronics and (toy) percussion. The two wind players in this Austrian threesome also have many instruments and gadgets within reach, playing them in every kind of way. Random/Control is not just worth hearing, but also worth seeing. The repertory stretches from Austrian folk songs to modern jazz (Thelonious Monk, David Brubeck), fusion (Joe Zawinul) and Brazilian (Hermeto Pascoal).
‘David Helbock is equally capable of negotiating elaborate figures at speed, holding down a groove and whacking some dissonance out of his instrument. He can play a fast calypso, hint at gospel, swing some Schönberg, get lush enough for cocktail hour and peck out dance rhythms with a prepared instrument’ (Downbeat).