Solo Drumming

This 1985 recording featuring Swiss drummer Fritz Hauser performing in a glass-roofed court somewhere in Berlin, Germany, provides the listener with an all-inclusive glimpse of the art of solo drumming. On this release, the drummer displays his total musicality amid some sort of metaphysical, trance-like state of being to coincide with his unwavering determination and clear-sighted game plan. Hauser equips himself with drum set, xylophone, temple blocks, and maracas as he unleashes torrid flurries in concert with moments of near quietude. Simply put, the drummer serves up a mini-clinic via his regimented patterns, monstrous tom-tom fills, and polyrhythmic frameworks. He is also adept at altering the ebb and flow while projecting notions of perhaps two drummers engaging in call and response-type dialogue. The artist pursues a series of hypnotic passages, complex ostinato motifs, and swirling cadenzas. However, drummers and percussionists alike might be more inclined to withstand over an hour's worth of rhythmic exercises. Nonetheless, Hauser sustains a great deal of interest during this noteworthy outing, which was reissued on compact disc in 1999.