Monika Roscher Bigband

Monika Roscher Bigband is comprised of 18 musicians and exists somewhere between math-rock, prog-jazz, avant-pop and experimental electronics. Formed in Munich in 2011, they soon made waves with thrilling live performances and the inventive ideas of Roscher, their founder, singer, guitarist and conductor. The first two albums, ‘Failure in Wonderland’ and ‘Of Monsters and Birds’ were met with acclaim in Germany, where Jazz Echo proclaimed them ‘Newcomer of the Year’. They toured their home territory regularly, playing numerous prestigious festivals and concert halls, but also caused a stir abroad, with the US magazine DownBeat naming them as ‘Rising Stars’. Their third album, ‘Witchy Activities And The Maple Death’, is stunning proof of how fresh and exhilarating MRBB sound today. Superbly recorded, it achieves a breathtaking balance of intimate fragility and symphonic intensity that lets the full sonic spectrum of a big band scream and shine in every colour imaginable. Roscher’s tension-filled and intricately detailed compositions evoke otherworldly landscapes that at times enchant with their elegiac beauty, but at others wreak havoc like the unleashed frenzy of a witches’ sabbath thick with haze. (Gary Levermore) Photos: Emanuel Klempa, Lukas Diller