The Guitar Player's Resource
Blasting off with booster rockets out of Austria are the Space Cadets, with their instrumental jazz/rock/fusion CD entitled Ready For Take Off. The trio features Wolfgang Koeck on guitar, Andi Drabek-Filz on bass and Bernd T. Rommel on drums. They roll diverse influences (including blues, world and avant-garde) into their intricate compositions, which are reminiscent of Pat Metheny ("Take Off", "Wayne's World") and John Scofield ("Giant Steps"). Koeck is a wonderfully fluid soloist, and Drabek-Filz and Rommel even have special moments to shine - notable are the bass solo and drum fills in the aforementioned "Giant Steps". Heavier guitar moments can be especially enjoyed on the three-part "08/15" tracks. Fans of modern jazz and jazz-fusion will love the musical individuality of this Austrian trio.
Wolfgang Koeck studied electric guitar, bass and pedagogy at the Vienna City Conservatory. He works as a studio and live musician in the areas of jazz, world, pop/rock and crossover, and also teaches at the music school in Waldhofen/Thaya, a small town in Lower Austria. Space Cadets was founded after Koeck and Andi Drabek-Filz met during their studies at the Jazz Departments of the Vienna City Conservatory. They later hooked up with drummer Bernd T. Rommel, and the trio was complete. Drabek-Filz and Rommel are also, like Koeck, music instructors and live/studio musicians.
The group is constantly working on new musical ideas and trying to get gigs to perform the music on Ready For Take Off in front of a live audience (promoters and club owners, take notice!)
Wolfgang Koeck
Austria
Web site: www.spacecadets.at