Das Kapital plays Hanns Eisler live at 42nd German Jazzfestival Frankfurt 2011

Daniel Erdmann | ts
Hasse Poulsen | g
Edward Perraud | dr
recorded live at HR-Sendesaal, Frankfurt, October 27, 2011

1. Das Wunderland
2. Hotelzimmer 1942
3. Solidaritätslied
4. Moorsoldaten
5. Ohne Kapitalisten geht es besser
6. Elegie 1939
7. Mutter Beimlein
8. Impressions
9. An den deutschen Mond

Pan-European power trio Das Kapital continues to explore, on its third release, the musical legacy of composer Hanns Eisler, after successfully rearranging Eisler's well-known compositions and songs on Ballads & Barricades (Quark, 2009)

Obviously, Das Kapital is aware of Esler's troubled history. He fled Nazi Germany in the mid-1930s, to settle in New York. From there, he was evicted with just two days' notice by the McCarthyists in the late '40s, resettling in his native Berlin, where very soon he got into trouble with the governing Stalinists. On Conflicts & Conclusions ,Das Kapital presents lesser-known songs from Esler's engaged political period in the 1930s and more innocent songs from his Hollywood soundtrack days, as well as propaganda songs that he scored after returning to Germany.

The trio joyfully navigates Esler's impressive songbook, opening with a festive, almost anarchistic version of "Auferstanden aus Ruinen (Risen from Ruins)," the now-forgotten national anthem of the German Democratic Republic (better known s East Germany), emptying the song from its pompous Stalinist clichés to reclaim its melodic beauty. Brecht's post-war poem, "Die Pappel Vom Karlsplatz (The Poplar from Karlsplatz)"—dealing with the horrors and melancholy of WWII but also suggesting some hope—is turned into a playful, life-affirming soul-jazz ballad. On "Lied einer Deutschen Mutter (Song of a German mother)," tenor saxophonist Daniel Erdmann follows the original touching melody, while guitarist Hasse Poulsen and drummer Edward Perraud challenge him with layers of distorting sounds and fractured rhythms.

Conflicts & Conclusions is an inspiring set of idealist music from three fearless musicians who are not shy to suggest that the role of artists is as subversive agents against any powerful ideology, regime or convention.