50th anniversary boxset containing all three Niagara albums. Limited edition of 500 copies, housed in a wooden box. Coloured vinyl. Hold on to your hats! This is the ultimate percussion trip you never knew you needed. German jazz drum legend Klaus Weiss assembled something absolutely unique with Niagara – an orchestra made entirely of drummers and percussionists. No guitars. No keyboards. No melody instruments whatsoever. Just RHYTHM in its purest, most hypnotic form.
The self-titled debut from 1971 features a who's who of German drum royalty, including Udo Lindenberg (yes, that icon of German rock started behind the kit!) and session master Keith Forsey. Two lengthy compositions that pull you into a maelstrom of interlocking grooves. This is not background music. This is a trance-inducing wall of percussion that goes deeper than most psychedelic rock ever dared. Utterly addictive stuff. Open your mind and join in – if you dare.
S.U.B. shifts gears with a full rock outfit added to the mix – bass guitar, wah-wah-drenched rhythm guitars, and brass answering the call. The result? A steaming funk-rock beast that could easily pass for some ultra-rare US cult band from the same era. But no – this is German precision meeting pure fire. Each musician a professional, yet the whole thing erupts into something primal and uncontained. A masterpiece.
Afire, the rarest of the three, returns to the minimal percussion foundation of the debut but adds harmonic depth through carefully tuned drums and the bass work of Embryo's Dave King. Percussionists George Brown, Sabu Rex, and Norman Tolbert join the ritual. The rhythms here have made this LP a holy grail among sample hunters.
Weiss worked with jazz giants from Hampton Hawes to Mal Waldron to Johnny Griffin, plus German greats like Klaus Doldinger and Friedrich Gulda. This boxset is a monument to his vision.
Rhythm experience of the highest order.
