Cosmic Dreams at Play - Stoned Circus radio show - Free

• (ULRICH STRANZ vla) A
• CHARLES CAMPBELL perc B
ALBUMS (up to '76):
(A)"Einstieg" (Wergo SM 1001) 1971
(B)"And The Waters Opened" (Vertigo 6360 612) 1973
(B)"Dharana" (Vertigo 6360 619) 1974
(B)"Hesse Between Music" (Electrola 1C 062-29546) 1975
Between has to be one of the most international bands of all times! The six members that
recorded the debut album Einstieg (1971) came from four different nations. The group were
formed in 1970 on the initiative of Peter-Michael Hamel as Between The Chairs, but as this
expression has different meanings in German and English, the name was soon shortened to
Between. Hamel had studied composition since 1967 and wanted to create a new musical genre
(an ambitious man!), between (pun!) all the existing ones. The other German of the band, Ulrich
Stranz, had a similar academic background. The American Robert Eliscu came to Germany in the
late sixties to play with the Munich and Berlin philharmonic orchestras. Another American
citizen, Cotch Black, played tablas and percussion. Roberto Detree was an Argentinean and had
played Spanish guitar in classical folk music ensembles in his homeland. He also built musical
instruments.
James Galway joined briefly as sixth member before the recording of Einstieg, (released October
1971 on the Wergo label) he was a critically acclaimed musician well known for his classical
music recordings. The album included several short tracks, recorded at the Staatliche Musikhochschule
in Munich, plus a 9 1/2 minute avant-garde piece, "Space Ship", recorded in Berlin.
Between demonstrated their ability to play different styles (jazz, folk and avant-garde), but did
not manage to merge these styles. Most successful was Eliscu's "Katakomben" and Hamel's
"Triumphzug Kaiser Maximillian". Those tracks had a dramatic atmosphere with wordless
vocals, bongo rhythms, oboe, flute and organ. Also interesting were the tracks grounded on
Detree's roots in South-American folk music. The more free-form numbers "Memories" and
"Flight Of Ideas" were uninspired improvisations with an ethnic touch, a direction already
explored to full effect by Limbus 3 and 4.
Galway and Stranz, both of whom had kept a very low profile on the album, left to concentrate
on classical music in 1972. This left more room for Hamel and Eliscu to develop longer tracks
and more meditative music. Hamel released his first solo album in 1972 and guested on the first
Agitation Free album. Eliscu guested on several Popol Vuh albums.
The second Between album And The Waters Opened (1973) included six tracks. This only had
acoustic instruments and included a new member: Charles Campbell. On the whole, it was a
better and more homogeneous merging of styles than their first album. It was Between's only
release on the legendary "swirl" Vertigo label (the next one had the "spaceship" artwork!). The
front cover artwork was quite remarkable: a drawing of a gigantic splash of colours - illustrating
the event when the waters opened. Dharana from 1974 was a kind of world music symphony
recorded with the aid of the SWF orchestra. This work was based more on improvisation than
composition, particularly the 20 minute long title track. Also worth mentioning is Eliscu's
beautiful 11 minute piece "Joy... Sadness... Joy". The same year Between also made music to
poems by the actor Gerd Westphal Hesse. This resulted in Hesse Between Music, released
January 1975. Besides Hesse, who recited his own poems, several guests also appeared on the
album, like Al Gromer (sitar, who also recorded with Popol Vuh and Amon Duul II) and Tom