Biography
An early-1970s Krautrock outfit originating in Kamp-Lintfort, a Düsseldorf suburb, fused jazz, rock, avant-garde, and psychedelic elements into a singular sound across its pair of albums. The moniker Annexus Quam, loosely meaning “connection” or “connection how,” signaled the members’ goal of linking disparate strands of both traditional and experimental music.
The musicians first assembled in September 1967 under the name Ambition of Music and delivered a generally conventional yet inventive brand of hippie rock. In 1968 they absorbed a local evangelical brass band, thereby incorporating freer, jazz-inflected lines for trumpets, trombones, and bassoon. By 1970 the now seven-piece ensemble had adopted the Annexus Quam name and embarked on extensive German tours while also appearing in Japan, including two days at the Osaka World Fair. That September they committed their debut album to tape; Osmose, wrapped in an intricate multi-foldout sleeve of interchangeable images, appeared on the Ohr label late in the year.
Over the following seasons the group performed at several jazz festivals. Following further personnel shifts, the remaining five members entered the studio in May 1972 and cut Beziehungen, issued by Ohr later that year. Where Osmose juxtaposed psychedelic rock, jazz, and odd chanting, Beziehungen found the band refined into a powerful free-jazz improvising unit that had shed its earlier rhythmic-rock foundations. Nothing further is documented about the ensemble, which never issued additional recordings.
The musicians first assembled in September 1967 under the name Ambition of Music and delivered a generally conventional yet inventive brand of hippie rock. In 1968 they absorbed a local evangelical brass band, thereby incorporating freer, jazz-inflected lines for trumpets, trombones, and bassoon. By 1970 the now seven-piece ensemble had adopted the Annexus Quam name and embarked on extensive German tours while also appearing in Japan, including two days at the Osaka World Fair. That September they committed their debut album to tape; Osmose, wrapped in an intricate multi-foldout sleeve of interchangeable images, appeared on the Ohr label late in the year.
Over the following seasons the group performed at several jazz festivals. Following further personnel shifts, the remaining five members entered the studio in May 1972 and cut Beziehungen, issued by Ohr later that year. Where Osmose juxtaposed psychedelic rock, jazz, and odd chanting, Beziehungen found the band refined into a powerful free-jazz improvising unit that had shed its earlier rhythmic-rock foundations. Nothing further is documented about the ensemble, which never issued additional recordings.
Albums
