Words by Justin Turford
If you’re going to celebrate a decade of improvisation on the outer edges of jazz then why not go big? Double album big. In fact, the Austrian ‘krautjazzers’ Shake Stew are planning a third instalment during this year so it’s actually a delayed triple album! Regardless, there is plenty enough here to sink our teeth into for now. ‘TEN ONE TWO’ contains some seriously heavy energy that is difficult to ignore. This epic and very impressive release is made up of ‘TEN ONE’ and ‘TEN TWO’, the septet formed in 2016 and led by bassist and composer Lukas Kranzelbinder delivering all new material that is split between tight compositions and looser, more improvisational tracks that highlight their live power.
Shake Stew LIVE - Phot by Severin Koller
There is audibly a shared energy and aesthetic with Shabaka Hutchings’ most vital band to date - the brilliant but now disbanded Sons Of Kemet. The unusual line up of two bassists, two drummers and three horn players lends itself to the way the similarly crewed up Sons played. One can’t sit still when there is another ready to jump into the ring. Recognising kindred spirits, Hutchings played with the Austrians on their 2018 album ‘Rise and Rise Again’.
‘TEN ONE’ begins with ‘Wood’. A two-parted composition consisting of an introspective intro and a much more energised and lengthier piece that slickly merges the mournful harmonies of Central European jazz and the melodic dance impulses of Bonobo at his best. A kalimba loop, sensational horn interplay and the mix of double and Fender bass are a joy to listen closely to, the two-headed drummers brilliantly restrained but always adjusting, sparking off each other as the piece grows in intensity. An exceptional piece of music that definitely has crossover potential.
Lukas Kranzelbinder - photo by Victoria Nazarova
In collaboration with JJ Whitefield, the highly danceable ‘Tristan Junk’ delivers Ethiojazz-esque horns and melodies with a sharp Jaki Liebezeit influenced drum groove and Guinean log drums to deliver a real standout moment on the album.
In stark contrast, ‘Bakunawa’ follows with a slow-burning groove of languid horns and darkened bass motifs over some fabulous double drum action of jazzy snares and widescreen African sounding tom work. Like everything on the record, the production is sublime - warmth, punch and clarity are the norm.
The first single from the album, ‘Ascendance’ is a blistering power punch of melancholic horns and pummelling drums that absolutely explodes in the second half with an outstanding saxophone solo that tears a hole in the ozone layer.
Ghostly and seductively beautiful, ‘Searching’ is a slow return to the Earth. A bouncy, hypnotic bass line holds the line as the brass sings, each player stepping in and out of what feels like a private conversation before metallic percussion rattles across and under the melodies. Nearly industrial in sound and with some brilliant stereo imaging, the drums hark back to the best of the trip hop golden era.
The term 'Krautjazz’ hasn’t been allocated to Shake Stew for some weirdly xenophobic reason. They may be jazz but the influence of experimental, future-facing German bands such as CAN is palpable, especially in how the drums operate. Both of the final two tracks on this first record have flutes galore, adding a spacey, fusiony essence but the rhythm sections are tough and breakbeat-ish in a way that the ‘Krautrock’ bands would recognise. The flutes on ‘Garage’ have a more floaty exotic flavour to them but as the title suggests, a pinch of dirty guitar and acoustic grime is the muscle of the track. ‘Cafe San Marco’ hints more at a modern reinterpretation of early 70s psychedelic soul (I’m certain the bass line is a nod to ‘Papa was A Rollin’ Stone’) with swirling flutes, tough motorik drums and what sounds like a tightly picked guitar line (not sure what it is) that holds it together as if it were a student of West African dancing music.
“For me, Shake Stew has long been a medium through which I can realise almost all of my musical passions — something I consider a true privilege. I’m all the more delighted that with TEN ONE TWO we’ve created a time document in which the visions and voices of everyone involved come together to form something truly extraordinary,” - Lukas Kranzelbinder.
Shake Stew - photo by Victoria Nazarova
‘TEN TWO’ kicks off with the archly titled ‘Cherry Pie’, a grungy, crunchy-drum number apparently inspired by both David Lynch and Don Cherry. Midtempo, densely layered and slightly brutal, the rhythm section has a kind of underground 80s vibe to it, the gnarly Fender bass grinding, the drums hitting hard and loose as a Mellotron choir gets weird and the muted trumpet freestyles all over the place. A very different flavour to the first record’s menu.
Beatless, discordant and haunting, ‘The Green Beauty of the Broken World’ is a sorrowful prayer of odd FX, treated horns and Mellotron, an unsettling psychedelic unease within its apocalyptic prettiness.
‘Cabanes/Castellon’ sees the log drums return on a rhythmically hypnotic track that resembles a loop taken from a traditional groove from Burkina Faso with the addition of some lovely, circular saxophone breathwork and gentle FX. Exquisitely played, I’ve been looping this at home.
The spirit of CAN is as clear as day on the short but dynamic ‘Ibdiss’. Razor sharp drums, a one note bass line and fierce competing saxophones in a fight to the death. All it needs is Damo. Next up, the rockier palette of ‘Free Your Eyes’ hits that hypnotic ‘Krautrock’ button but in a harder, grungier way. A slow-building monster that never quite explodes into action, the track is seven minutes long but feels like it’s got double that length in the armoury.
Gorgeously understated, ‘King of Thieves’ comes as quite the shock (and a release) after the previous tracks. One gently plucked double bass and saxophones so discreetly played, they are as much colour as sound. Really quite dreamy.
Pablo Herrasti-Fajardo joins the band with his static clicks and modular synth on the trance-inducing ‘Tiger’, an evocative minor key trip held together with the loping, circular riff of the Moroccan guembri and splashes of metal percussion. Throw in some trumpet from Mario Rom and you have something as good as any record out there alluding to be spiritual jazz in my opinion.
The final track on this double album celebration is the positively unhinged ‘Sergio St. Carlos’. The solid rhythm section suggests a dance, everyone else is out of their minds. Imagine various loops from Miles’ ‘Live Evil’ sewn together over a drum loop. You might get this. It’s great..
There you go. Shake Stew’s massive ambition has been brilliantly delivered. A mass (and a mess) of ideas, performances and creative risks recorded and produced with panache and punch into a double album that aches with vitality. 9/10
Released on Feb 11th 2026 on Traumton Records.