Kover Kover – Web Web (reviewed by T. Bebador)

Let’s say, for argument’s sake, that jazz God John Coltrane didn’t die in 1967 and that he was alive – admittedly one hundred years old- and well today, and that he was still as dynamic and as exciting as he was in his pomp. What would he be playing, I wonder…

Perhaps he would have a Las Vegas residency like most ageing musicians, he’d sip ginger and cardamom tea around the pool in the morning, play a matinee performance for his loyal audience in the late afternoon, before settling on his balcony overlooking the Vegas neon.

That’s rather romantic, but of course the big JC (not that JC!) DID die in 1967, but his influence spread its wings into other genres right up until today, where his sound is for all to hear in the rather brilliant jazz cover/reimagining of an eighties classic, ‘Slave to the Rhythm’ by German jazz supremos Web Web.

The original by singer/model/Bond girl Grace Jones was synth and production heavy, a really shiny dancefloor cracker, but it transfers to jazz nicely, especially with drums that sound like they’re being played by an octopus and that Love Supreme-era horn. If you like the idea of Coltrane jazz meets Jones’ synth meets awesome mash-up, this is well worth your time checking out.

I’ve jumped the gun a little with this track because this track is just one of fourteen on the band’s upcoming album called ‘Kover Kover’ and, yes, you’ve guessed it, it’s an album made up of cover versions of non-jazz tracks. Among the tracklist are songs originally by – among others – Jimi Hendrix, Black Sabbath, Eurythmics, and Joe Jackson, but this version made me sit up, shut up, and just enjoy the jazz treatment. So here I am.

Now, the bad news is you’ll need to wait a few weeks until April 24^th before getting your mitts on the album, but it’s definitely worth it. Maybe I should have mentioned there are also versions of Nirvana and Talking Heads too, but I wanted to keep that as a surprise…