DESCRIPTION
What unfolds on Oracle is the unfiltered debut of a true German jazz supergroup. The original idea was simple: record an imperfect spiritual jazz album inspired by the great independent jazz labels of the 1970s—Strata-East, Black Jazz, and the like—purely for the love of the music. The band even considered presenting it as a long-lost recording by a fictional group from the era. But after realizing that live performances and interviews would make the illusion impossible to maintain, the musicians decided to reveal their identities.
Web Web consists of:
- Roberto Di Gioia – piano, synthesizers, percussion
- Tony Lakatos – tenor and soprano saxophones
- Christian von Kaphengst – upright bass
- Peter Gall – drums
Recorded live over a single weekend in Munich, Oracle captures the chemistry of four exceptional musicians performing together in one room, positioned closely without headphones to recreate the energy of a live concert.
"We set ourselves up very close together so we could hear each other naturally, just like on stage. That intensifies the joy of playing, allowing the music to breathe more freely—it becomes more dynamic, more spontaneous, and more impulsive," explains Roberto Di Gioia.
The atmosphere of those sessions convinced the group to continue exploring this raw, free-spirited approach. Live dates quickly followed, and by June 2017 the band had already recorded its second album in Munich, featuring acclaimed Moroccan multi-instrumentalist, vocalist, and gembri master Majid Bekkas. Engineering duties were handled by Jan Krause (Beanfield, Poets of Rhythm, among others).
One of Oracle's defining characteristics is its deliberately unconventional tuning. Inspired by pioneers such as Sun Ra, the band embraced slight imperfections to create a richer, more mysterious sonic landscape.
"We looked to artists whose instruments were often slightly out of tune—the saxophone a little sharp, the flutes a little flat. That's what gave Sun Ra his unmistakable sound. We wanted to recreate that by using different tunings: Tony Lakatos' tenor sax slightly flat, his overdubbed soprano slightly sharp, with the vintage synthesizer somewhere in between. The result was a unique texture that felt richer and harder to place. Sometimes Tony's soprano even sounds like a trumpet because of the way the frequencies interact. The experiment became the concept."
To preserve complete spontaneity, every composition on the album is a first take—each piece was recorded only once, capturing the authenticity of the very first performance.
Oracle also marks the first live jazz album ever released by Compost Records.
About the Musicians
Roberto Di Gioia has collaborated with an extraordinary list of jazz legends including Woody Shaw, Art Farmer, James Moody, Johnny Griffin, Charlie Rouse, Clifford Jordan, Clark Terry, Roy Ayers, and Gregory Porter. He joined Klaus Doldinger's Passport in the early 1990s and has also recorded with Udo Lindenberg, Charlie Watts, The Notwist, Console, and many others. Since 2007, he has worked alongside Samon Kawamura and Max Herre as part of KAHEDI, while continuing to lead his own acclaimed project, Marsmobil.
Tony Lakatos, born into the renowned Lakatos musical family of Budapest, began playing saxophone at fifteen before studying at the Béla Bartók Conservatory. Since graduating in 1979, he has appeared on more than 350 jazz recordings, collaborating with artists such as Al Foster, Randy Brecker, Kirk Lightsey, George Mraz, Terri Lyne Carrington, and Anthony Jackson. He also performed with Jasper van't Hof's PILI PILI and has been a featured soloist with the HR Radio Big Band since 1993.
Christian von Kaphengst studied jazz double bass and instrumental pedagogy at the Cologne University of Music. His quartet Café du Sport toured Pakistan, India, Turkey, and West Africa on behalf of the Goethe-Institut. Since 1999, he has regularly toured Europe with Patti Austin and the New York Voices, while also performing alongside Randy Brecker, Nat Adderley, Roy Hargrove, Joe Sample, Charlie Mariano, Xavier Naidoo, and many more.
Peter Gall earned early recognition through Germany's Jugend Jazzt competition before touring with the German National Youth Jazz Orchestra under Peter Herbolzheimer. After studying in Berlin and completing a master's degree at the Manhattan School of Music with John Riley, he went on to perform with artists including Seamus Blake, Ben Street, Gabriel Rios, Jasmin Tabatabai, Thomas Quasthoff, and Peter Fessler.
Vinyl Tracklist
Side A
- Kings Of Forbidden Lands
- Journey To No End
- The Ring Of – Part One
- Unreal Prediction
- The Ring Of – Part Two
Side B
- The Oracle
- Red Sunrise
- The Ring Of – Part Three
- Nonviolent Constellations
- The Ring Of – Part Four
- The Ring Of – Part Five (Vinyl Bonus Track)