Drum Circus -

Drum Circus was a Swiss Krautrock band whose 1971 live set constitutes Magic Theatre, a 2003 archival disc on Garden of Delights.

Members: Peter Giger (drums, percussion, mridanga), Marc Hellman (drums), Alex Bally (drums), Joel Vandroogenbroeck (organ, piano, flute, sitar), Gerd Dudek (saxophone, flute), Isla Eckinger (bass), Carole Muriel (vocals), Polo Hofer (vocals)

Formation

Drum Circus formed in Bern when Four for Jazz drummer Peter Giger teamed with Brainticket organist Joel Vandroogenbroeck and Globe Unity saxophonist Gerd Dudek. They maximized with Giger’s 4fJ bassist colleague Isla Eckinger and two additional veteran jazz drummers, Marc Hellman and Alex Bally.

They played a handful of 1971 shows in Switzerland and southern Germany. Despite their contacts with MPS, the label balked at their radical music.

Magic Theatre

In 2003, archivists Garden of Delights excavated a well-recorded Drum Circus live set (41:50 duration) for release as Magic Theatre.

1. “Magic Theatre” (21:25)
2. “Now It Hurts You” (2:42)
3. “Papera” (3:26)
4. “La-Si-Do” (2:17)
5. “Groove Rock” (8:38)
6. “All Things Pass” (3:22)

Peter Giger – drums, percussion, mridanga
Marc Hellman – drums
Alex Bally – drums
Joel Vandroogenbroeck – organ, piano, flute, sitar
Gerd Dudek – saxophone, flute
Isla Eckinger – bass
Carole Muriel – vocals
Polo Hofer – vocals

After Drum Circus

Peter Giger joined Dzyan for their 1973–75 albums Time Machine and Electric Silence. He also joined Volker Kriegel‘s Spectrum and played on Eberhard Weber‘s 1974 ECM release The Colours of Chloë. His solo album, Family of Percussion, appeared in 1975 on Någarå.

Marc Hellman surface in the late-Seventies jazz-rock bands Tetragon and Lost Peace. In 1981, he drummed on Omnibus, a solo album by veteran Swedish trombonist Runo Ericksson.

Alex Bally joined Hans Koller’s Free Sound for the 1973 MPS release Phoenix.

Joel Vandroogenbroeck recorded two further Brainticket albums and played on the 1972 RCA Italiana release Mu by singer/songwriter Richard Cocciante. Under his own name, he recorded multiple early Eighties new age albums for the German Coloursound label.

Gerd Dudek played on multiple Globe Unity albums and did one-album stints with Guru Guru and Dutch jazz-rockers Third Eye.

Isla Eckinger reteamed with Giger and Dudek and on the 1972 Four for Jazz album Sunday Child. He played on subsequent Seventies albums by Joe Haider, Klaus Weiss, Makaya Ntshoko, Sal Nistico, and Zbigniew Seifert. In 1977, he played acoustic bass on Out In the Sun, the second solo album by Patrick Moraz.

Discography: