"The Last Humppa" is the first single from a rather unusual album that Wolfgang Schl?gl alias I-Wolf created together with the Portuguese harpist Eduardo Raon. It consists of 3 instruments: a piano, a harp and the unique acoustics of the ballroom in the Casino Baumgarten in Vienna. Where their sound could unfold between Free Jazz and New Music in a vastness that would not be possible in a conventional studio, it was recorded live and improvised. Piano and harp were not only played in the classical sense, but also used as percussion, beaten and distorted, made to sound in every possible way (but all live, without electronic post-production). What was created, however, is not noise, does not even try to evade the harmonic spectrum. They are instant compositions, which are improvised but, due to the immense musical experience of the actors, never slide into chaos. With short glances, perfectly timed gestures and years of experience (they have been playing together for 15 years in various projects), they know how to create a piece of music in real time. Their respective biographies and musical socialisations are not lost in the process, however: although without beats, one believes to listen through the jazz and dub-soaked techno of the Viennese downtempo scene in which Wolfgang Schl?gl grew up. The same goes for the melancholy of Portuguese Fado, which Eduardo Raon brought back from his homeland.
