Chameleon

Chameleon were a German jazz-rock band that released a self-titled album on Blubber Lips in 1979.

Members: Knut Rössler (tenor saxophone, soprano saxophone, flute, lyricon), Joachim Essig (piano, synthesizer, ARP Solina string ensemble), Roland Herbe (bass, piccolo), Ralph Dietze (drums)

Chameleon assembled near Mannheim in the late 1970s. Saxophonist Knut Rössler hailed from Night Sun. The other members were newcomers.

Chameleon released their singular album in 1979 on small-press Blubber Lips (Michael Bundt, Pancake). It features four songs per side in the five-to-seven-minute range, including “Grubnello,” “Die 3 Phasen,” “Die Konsequenz,” and “Grass.” The album was recorded that January at Tonstudio Bauer in Ludwigsburg with technical supervision by Carlos Albrecht (Frederic Rabold Crew, Joachim Kühn, Tritonus, Zyma, Dieter Reith, Orexis). Essig and Rössler contributed four songs apiece to the project.

Keyboardist Joachim Essig subsequently played in jazz-rockes Namaz, which released the album 300 M.P.H. on Software Music in 1981. That same year, Rössler cut an album apiece with Brassy Brew and the Fuchs-Goos-Band. He later recorded albums with Georg Lawall, Orexis, and Infinity.

Discography:

• Chameleon (1979)

Sources:

• Discogs: Chameleon