Record Reviews

ALBERT MANGELSDORFF ~ FOLK MOND & FLOWER DREAM TROPICAL MUSIC 68.861 (Barcode: 764916886126) ~ GERMANY ~ Free Jazz / Improvised Music Recorded: 1967 Released: 2007 This is a reissue / remaster of an obscure and criminally neglected album by German trombonist / composer / bandleader Albert MangelsdorffFind albums by this artist, recorded with his quintet, which also included saxophonists Heinz SauerFind albums by this artist and Gunter KronbergFind albums by this artist, bassist Gunter LenzFind albums by this artist and drummer Ralf HubnerFind albums by this artist. The album presents six tracks, five of which are original compositions by Mangelsdorff and one by Sauer. The music is insanely brilliant and presents Mangelsdorff and his cohorts at the crucial days of the birth of modern European Jazz, which explodes with originality and intense search of new forms of expression, with Free Jazz / Improvised Music tendencies. Mangelsdorff’s virtuosity as a trombone player was already fully developed by the time this music was recorded, as well as his compositional skills, and the music on this album simply explodes with originality and inventiveness. Nevertheless, he was always a marvelous weaver of brilliant melodic themes, which are the base of the improvisations by the quintet. It goes without saying that the rest of the quintet members were all superbly talented. Overall, this is an absolute gem of early modern European Jazz and a quintessential eye (well, ear) opener as far as the birth of the European Jazz is concerned and the quantum jump it made in reference to the American Jazz tradition. It took me a while to get hold of a copy of if this album, since even after it was reissued, it got very little exposure. Absolutely essential!

Updated: 29/05/2025Posted: 29/05/2025

CD 1 Slipcase Remastered Essential Recommend To A Friend

VARIOUS ARTISTS ~ POLISH RADIO JAZZ ARCHIVES VOL.27 POLSKIE RADIO 2059 (Barcode: 5907812247126) ~ POLAND ~ Jazz Recorded: 1965 Released: 2016 This is the twenty-seventh installment in the series of releases initiated by the Polish Radio, which presents archive Jazz recordings from the radio vaults. Radio recordings are always a fabulous source of remarkable material, and as far as Polish Jazz history is concerned, the Polish Radio, which was a state monopoly for 45 years, recorded over time a plethora of invaluable material, which apart from the albums released by the Polskie Nagrania record company (also a state monopoly), is the only available additional source of Polish Jazz recordings. For many years Polish Radio recorded concerts presented during Poland´s most important Jazz venues, including the annual Jazz Jamboree Festival and many other festivals as well. The tracks presented here were recorded live in December 1965 during the eighth Jazz Jamboree Festival in Warsaw and are the second volume of a collection of tracks from that event. The first two tracks present a trio led by one of the Godfathers of modern European Jazz, the German pianist / composer Joachim KuhnFind albums by this artist with bassist Klaus KochFind albums by this artist and drummer Reinhard SchwartzFind albums by this artist. They perform two original compositions by Kuhn and the performance is one of the earliest examples of European Free Jazz. Kuhn´s performance here is absolutely stunning as everything he played at the time, before he moved from East German to West Germany. The fact that his Free Jazz playing was tolerated by the GDR regime is a fascinating story by itself. More details about his activity around the time this music was recorded ban be found in the review of the Zbigniew NamyslowskiFind albums by this artist´s album "Live At Kosmos, BerlinFind albums with this title", which was recorded just a month earlier. The next four tracks present a quintet led by another Godfather of modern European Jazz, the German trombonist / composer Albert MangelsdorffFind albums by this artist with saxophonists Gunter KronbergFind albums by this artist and Heinz SauerFind albums by this artist, bassist Gunter LentzFind albums by this artist and drummer Ralf HubnerFind albums by this artist. They perform three original compositions by Mangelsdorff and one composition by the British trumpeter / composer Ian CarrFind albums by this artist, a great pioneer of modern British Jazz. Although the music performed by the Albert Mangelsdorff quintet is not as Free Jazz oriented as that by Joachim Kuhn, it is a superb of early modern European Jazz, which was already emancipated from the American Jazz influence and clearly showed the new direction being created in Europe. Both these performances show the importance of German musicians as co-creators of early European Jazz. The last track present a sextet led by yet another Godfather of modern European Jazz, the Polish Jazz pianist / composer Andrzej TrzaskowskiFind albums by this artist with American trumpeter Ted CursonFind albums by this artist (who was living in Europe at the time), saxophonists Janusz MuniakFind albums by this artist and Wlodzimierz NahornyFind albums by this artist, bassist Jacek OstaszewskiFind albums by this artist and drummer Adam JedrzejowskiFind albums by this artist. They perform one extended original composition by Trzaskowski. The music is again a stunning example of early modern European Jazz and a great precursor of the explosion of the Polish Jazz scene, which was happening at the time. The beautifully restored sound quality is excellent and the warm ambience of the analog recording is a true joy. As usual with this series, which is very reasonably priced, I miss the presence of "in depth" liner notes / booklet, which should convey the circumstances at which this music was recorded and its importance to the development of Jazz in Poland. Nevertheless this is an absolutely essential piece of Jazz history which every Jazz fan will surely consider an absolute must.

Updated: 03/12/2016Posted: 03/12/2016

CD 1 Digipak Remastered Recommend To A Friend