Oscar Pettiford. The Clash Art Blakey. A Tribe Called Quest. Charles Mingus (with Eric Dolphy). Only People Do The Killing. Cannonball Adderley. Primus. The Ornette Coleman Quartet. When Moritz Koser, bassist and composer from Frankfurt/Main, talks about points of reference and important influences, it goes all the way through music history. Gnar Gnar Rad, the quartet from Frankfurt, is his band. "Gnar Gnar Rad" is the album debut: a strong statement with which he effortlessly bridges the gap between jazz history and current trends.
The band follows a decisive credo: "Jazz is groove music. If it grooves, a lot is allowed.“ Groove is a keyword. By groove, Moritz Koser equally means the great jazz drummer Art Blakey and the more interesting acts of hip-hop. For the Heidelberg native, the awakening experience came years ago when he heard a recording of A Tribe Called Quest in which jazz double bass legend Ron Carter played. At that time in his early 20s, he decided to switch to the bass – and got to his first cheap instrument via Ebay. After numerous experiences in groups of others – occasionally he also played e-bass – Gnar Gnar Rad is his first completely own band. The decision was inevitable. Moritz Koser quickly realized that he could only implement his own very clear ideas on his own. He composed pieces for a quartet with two wind instruments and without a harmony instrument. In 2019, the first version of Gnar Gnar Rad was created with a trumpeter as the second brass part. He disappeared to France, making room for the trombone. Development took off at the end of the coronavirus restrictions.
The sound of Gnar Gnar Rad has a lot to do with attitude. It comes entirely from the here and now. For Moritz Koser, jazz is allowed to have something rough, uncomfortable, even punky – as long as it happens in the groove. The quartet skillfully combines a straight, grooving flow with a smoldering intensity. In part, the soundtrack has qualities for scenes of a modern film noir. To date, the band has performed concerts mainly in the Frankfurt/Mannheim area. The last album track is a live recording: "Venice", a film music composition by Modern Jazz Quartet mastermind John Lewis from 1957, which the bandleader got to know through a version of Cannonball Adderley.
The bassist borrowed the group name Gnar Gnar Rad, which refers to something "cool", from the skateboard world. The cover of the album pays homage to an outstanding work in rock history, which Moritz Koser still honors today: "London Calling" by The Clash.
Moritz Koser was born in 1992. He grew up in Speyer. His first instrument was the piano. He switched to the guitar when he was 13. He played in bands for several years, during which he listened to grunge-rock and hardcore, but also hip-hop. He studied at the Mannheim Music Academy from 2017 to 2022, but he mostly commuted between Mannheim and his adopted home of Frankfurt during that time. He has worked in various bands as a sideman. Saxophonist David Sanwald, trombonist Max Strauch and drummer Jonas Stiegler are also active in various groups.
