Phantom Band

CD version. Originally released in 1980 on Sky Records, Bureau B reissues the debut album by Phantom Band , a Cologne combo assembled by Can drummer Jaki Liebezeit . In spite of continuing in the vein of the last three Can albums, the Phantom Band (recording three albums themselves) remained unknown to many who would count themselves fans of Can. All of their albums are quite different from each other, even though there was just a single change in personnel: while ex-Can bass player Rosko Gee (earlier Steve Winwood 's bassist in Traffic , now with the Helmut Zerlett Band ) played a significant part in both the music, vocals and the production of the first, he was absent from the next. Featured heavily here is Jaki Liebezeit's inimitable monotone polyrhythmic drumming and the Phantom Band's predilection for hypnotic (Jamaican) grooves. Regular Phantom Band members alongside Jaki Liebezeit included keyboarder Helmut Zerlett, known to a wider television audience in Germany through the Harald Schmidt Show , percussionist Olek Gelba and guitarist Dominik von Senger , all drawn from the deep pool of Cologne musical talent which has given rise to so many projects over the past thirty years: Dunkelziffer , Damo Suzuki Band , Unknown Cases ("Masimba Bele"), Club Off Chaos , and Trance Groove , to name just a few. The CD booklet features comments by Jaki Liebezeit, Helmut Zerlett and Dominik von Senger, bringing to life the creation and unique chemistry of the Phantom Band. Mixed by Conny Plank , guest appearance by Holger Czukay .