The Chameleon’s Universe
Just by walking you’ll find new ways. Take the unknown path and confront the
contrasts and contradictions that may arise
Composition vs improvisation;
Time vs frequency; Heritage vs the
future. We explore those special
interactions, trying to push the
boundaries of composed music
and modern jazz. What’s tradition?
What’s modern? Who knows. We
expand these fields until they reach
creative contact.
Sometimes our pieces resemble
a dangerous laboratory, where
written music and spontaneous
reactions of the musicians lead to
highly explosive musical situations.
Sometimes those pieces develop
like a piano performance of
Thelonious Monk, a risky tightrope
walk:
All of a sudden, seemingly familiar
and radical ideas are being simultaneously
confronted.
In the chameleon’s universe, it all
starts with the blues and ends with
the blues. Music keeps changing
colours. The new becomes the
familiar and then becomes the
new… Just by walking you’ll find
new ways. After all, at its core our
music adheres with what you simply
might call “jazz”.
Marcus Ratka, composer
About the band
Founded in 2001, Chameleon
Changes sets a focus on composed
music in modern jazz. The first
album has been released in 2005.
Marcus Ratka (composition and arrangements)
Herwig Gradischnig (saxophones)
Daniel Nösig (trumpet)
Robert Bachner (trombone)
Bertl Mayer (harp)
Oliver Kent (piano)
Matthias Pichler (double bass)
Mario Gonzi (drums)
The Chameleon‘s
thoughts about the
music of Chameleon
Changes
01 | The Blues
playing time 10:38
music & arr. Marcus Ratka
The playground where it all started
and to which it all leads back.
02 | Calls and Hollers
playing time 08:25
music & arr. Marcus Ratka
In the olden days of men working
hard in the fields, the field hollers formed
a means of long distance communication;
spontaneous reactions of
call and response.
03 | Buddy Boy
playing time 07:10
music & arr. Marcus Ratka
A nice guy at first sight, but always in
for a surprise. Be aware of the knife
in his pocket!
04 | Time Vs. Frequency III
playing time 04:39
music & arr. Marcus Ratka
Chameleon. A fabulous tune by
Herbie Hancock. Funk was
introduced to Jazz and we keep on
playing new variations on that topic.
05 | The Dangerous Laboratory
playing time 05:06
music & arr. Marcus Ratka
Don’t Enter! Beware of explosive chemical
and musical reactions.
06 | Goodnight Old Porkhead
playing time 06:09
music & arr. Marcus Ratka
Bows to the Bass... and the
Pithecanthropus Erectus of
Composition in modern Jazz!
07 | Homage to Thelonious Monk
playing time 08:31
music & arr. Marcus Ratka
Our tribute to the great composer
who introduced us to the charming
beauty of dissonance and rhythmic
displacement.
08 | I Hear Buddy Boldon Play
playing time 08:11
music & arr. Marcus Ratka
A tribute to one of the great trumpet
players of the early days... Hear the
unheard!
09 | Basin Street Blues
playing time 05:28
music: Spencer Williams,
arrangement: Marcus Ratka
Find the way back to where it all
began: “Won‘t you come and go with
me
Down that Mississippi? We‘ll take a
boat to the land of dreams. Come
along with me on down to New
Orleans!”
Just by walking you’ll find new ways!