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Marzette Watts - 1968 - Marzette And Company

February 2, 2017, 11:20 am
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Marzette Watts
1968
Marzette And Company



01. Backdrop For Urban Revolution19:18
02. Ia10:10
03. Geno7:34

Alto Saxophone – Byard Lancaster (tracks: B1, B2)
Bass – Henry Grimes, Juney Booth (tracks: A)
Bass Clarinet – Byard Lancaster (tracks: A), Marzette Watts (tracks: A)
Cornet – Clifford Thornton (tracks: A)
Drums – J.C. Moses
Flute – Byard Lancaster (tracks: B1)
Guitar – Sonny Sharrock
Soprano Saxophone – Marzette Watts (tracks: B2)
Tenor Saxophone – Marzette Watts (tracks: B1)
Trombone – Clifford Thornton (tracks: B1, B2)
Vibraphone [Vibes] – Karl Berger

Recorded December, 1966.




ESP-Disk was a NYC-based independent label that in its short existence (1964-1974) released platters few if any of the major labels would consider touching: readings by Timothy Leary and William S. Burroughs, avant-garde jazz by Albert Ayler, Marion Brown, and Pharaoh Sanders [his debut!], underground rock by the Fugs, Godz, and Pearls Before Swine, and more. In `05 the label was revived by founder Bernard Stollman and old and new product hit the shelves.

Multi-reeds player Marzette Watts (1938-1998) was never close to the big time and is barely known outside of free jazz circles--but he made powerful music that stands the test of time. "Company" is not an "easy" listen, even by my copiously warped standards. "Company" is a fiery blow-out, a free-form blitz guaranteed to induce seizures in Tea Partiers and Kenny G fans. Melody and harmony are for the most part beside-the-point but the whip-smart playing of drummer J.C. Moses, who had an extensive background in more straight-ahead jazz, is the cosmic glue holding this session together. Also, vibes player Karl Berger has some luminously lyrical passages. A major reason to celebrate this disc's return to the marketplace is the sublimely raucous guitar of Sonny Sharrock, perhaps the first player to apply Coltrane/Ayler levels of "free" to electric six-strings. "Company" is an uncompromising trip full of haunting, anguished wails...it's a little dated and the nonstop ragged fury can get a little numbing (as I said: depending on yr mood), but it's still compelling and frequently cathartic. Not a disc for the free jazz neophyte but for the devotees of free jazz (especially of the mid-1960s): Essential.

Like many an album on the ESP label, this one takes work to enjoy. Also like many an album on the ESP label, it's the drummer who saves things and brings order to what would otherwise be a chaotic mess. The avant-garde jazz scene was ruled by percussionists. In a music whose whole thing was freedom, it was left to the drummer to drive things along, to provide direction while the soloists tried to put themselves across, an act that took enormous concentration. J.C. Moses cracks the whip here, proving throbbing backgrounds and spare, pneumatic fills to emphatically state what the music only implies. When things get too far afield, it's Moses who lays down a sharp beat to get the band back on track. Soloists include the ubiquitous Clifford Thornton on trombone, the workman-like presence of Karl Berger on vibes, and the leader on a variety of instruments. This is a powerful artistic statement by a man one wishes had recorded more often. Unfortunately, like his labelmate, Guiseppi Logan, it seems Watts will exist more as a reputation than a musician. Those into the time and place (i.e., New York in the mid-'60s) can't get enough of this stuff and are sure to enjoy this too. For others with open ears, this is a peek into a chapter of American music that is still criminally underappreciated.
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Marzette Watts - 1968 - The Marzette Watts Ensemble

February 2, 2017, 11:25 am
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Marzette Watts
1968
The Marzette Watts Ensemble



01. October Song
02. Play It Straight
03. F.L.O.A.R.S.S.
04. Medley
05. Lonely Woman
06. Joudpoo

Bass – Cevera Jehers, Juny Booth, Steve Tintweiss
Cornet – George Turner
Drums – J. C. Moses, Tom Berge
Tenor Saxophone – Marzette Watts
Trombone – Marty Cook
Violin – Frank Kipers
Voice – Amy Schaeffer, Patty Waters

A1, B1, B2: Recorded by Stereo Sound Studios, N. Y. C.


This is quite a notable recording. One that has received praise from both Destination: Out, as well as in Thurston Moore's top ten (14) Free Jazz Underground Recordings. But to be honest, why isn't Marzette Watts more popular. This is a man who had creativity flowing all over his body. A man who wrote film scores, created his own films, painted in the vein of the Abstract Expressionists, and created truly unique music.

The Marzette Watts Ensemble is a meditative, artistic vision. Not a wall of sounds assaulting the listener, but a metaphysical journey. Free, in the moment, and inspiring visuals of shapes and colors. The Ornette Coleman standard, Lonely Woman, hits the spot. Mostly because of the vocals provided by Patty Waters adds even more of a haunted quality to the song. And after the first verse, Marty Cook and Marzette Watts duo like it's the last piece of music they'll ever create. Maybe, that's what making music was like back then.
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Hans Koller - 1963 - Exclusiv

February 2, 2017, 11:33 am
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Hans Koller 
1963 
Exclusiv


01. Natalie
02. Blues In The Closet
03. Egil
04. Chordless
05. Stalag
06. Plädoyer
07. The Gentle Art Of Love
08. Muttnik
09. Painter’s Lament
10. It’s Over
11. Pagode


Alto Saxophone – Dick Spencer, Hans Koller
Baritone Saxophone – Helmut Reinhardt, Ronnie Ross
Bass – Hans Rettenbacher, Oscar Pettiford
Drums – Allen Ganly, Jimmy Pratt
Guitar – Attila Zoller, Ira Kris
Tenor Saxophone – Erhard Wenig, Hans Koller, Rudi Flierl

Nonet recorded Nov., 26., 1963 in Villingen - Quartet recorded Feb., 19., 1959 in Baden-Baden. First Mono recording has two more tracks (Chordless & Stalag) than the later Stereo issue.




Maintaining an interest in jazz (officially regarded as treason by the Nazi Party) and staying out of trouble represented strictly minor-league intrigues during the Second World War. Nonetheless, it seems to be consistently worth noting that this artist was one of the few jazzmen of German or Austrian nationality who managed to continue performing during the conflict, despite or perhaps because of his status as a member of the German Army. Born in Vienna, Hans Koller had a diploma in his hand from the city's noted Music Academy at the age of 18, one year after he had undertaken his debut as a professional tenor saxophonist. Koller acted as if he had one thing on his mind following the end of the war: swinging. He was already leading his own groups by 1947, evolving an ensemble with pianist Jutta Hipp and trombonist Albert Mangelsdorff that is considered to be vital in the newly developing German jazz scene.

Based on this description so far, stereotypers could stray in pigeonholing Koller as a modernist, putting aside any and all doubts concerning his relationship with the ousted fascist regime. Later recordings cooked up in Vienna during the early jazz fusion years support that image -- however, what the man really seems to have been at heart was a bebopper whose beads of sweat reflected an image of Lester Young, horn in hand. In 1953 Koller toured behind none other than Dizzy Gillespie, certainly one of the bebop führers, the following year hooking into a collaborative lineup in which postbop genius Lee Konitz approvingly noshed at a smorgasbord of suggestions from Scandinavian baritone saxophone hero Lars Gullin. For several years beginning in 1954, Koller joined forces in a combo with multi-instrumentalist Roland Kovac. Sandwiched in the middle of that run was a special Stan Kenton tour in which Koller enjoyed considerable room as a soloist. During the late '50s the reedman was associated with German radio recording enterprises out of Baden-Baden, staging ground for a nice classic jazz combo with bassist Oscar Pettiford. German jazz critic, writer, and producer Joachim Berendt shot documentary footage of Koller during this period.

The dynamic creativity of this artist was well documented not only through a series of recordings under his own name but in a parallel career as an abstract artist. His solo discography starts up in the early '50s and includes a 1957 effort actually entitled Hans Across the Sea. He stopped performing in 1995, at that point choosing to focus on his painting activity. Other musical accomplishments of note include the mid-'60s Zo-Ko-So trio with French pianist Martial Solal, serving as Hamburg's Schauspielhaus musical director up through 1970, free jazz rumblings back in Vienna with keyboardist Wolfgang Dauner's Free Sound Ensemble, a ballet entitled New York City, and a brass ensemble called the International Brass Company.
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Hans Koller & Wolfgang Dauner - 1974 - Kunstkopfindianer

February 2, 2017, 1:42 pm
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Hans Koller & Wolfgang Dauner 
1974 
Kunstkopfindianer



01. Kunstkopfindianer9:04
02. Suomi2:34
03. Nom6:29
04. Ulla M. & 22/811:50
05. Adea6:21

Bass, Electric Bass – Adelhard Roidinger
Drums – Janusz Stefanski
Piano, Electric Piano, Synthesizer, Harp [Nagoya Harp] – Wolfgang Dauner
Soprano Saxophone, Tenor Saxophone – Hans Koller
Violin, Alto Saxophone – Zbigniew Seifert

Recorded 21.-23. 1.1974, Tonstudio Bauer, Ludwigsburg.
Produced by MPS Records



Probably the single most Canterbury-sounding Dauner record. Thus, it's not AS innovative as his other experimental works (ie, the period from roughly 1969 to 1978), but that doesn't mean it's not an accomplished and enjoyable album. It's just hard to see something this Soft Machine-y as particularly innovative after hearing Output or anything by Et Cetera. It's still very much worth hearing.

This is so 70s fusion it hurts, but in a good way. I can take or leave fusion, but this leans enough on the jazz side to not just be another Soft Machine album.

But it's got all the great 70s tropes, such as eastern style riffs (Nom) and a busy electric bass, plus some crazed synthesized keyboards. Oh, and the violin, can't forget that.

However, where the Mahavishnu Orchestra cling to a rock sound these guys swing, and flirt with freedom in the jazz sense.

Highly recommended.

It should be noted that most sources credit this to Wolfgang Dauner and Hans Koller, while the album title is definitely Kunstkopfindianer.
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Hans Koller & Wolfgang Dauner - 1975 - Free Sound & Super Bass

February 2, 2017, 2:02 pm
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Hans Koller & Wolfgang Dauner
1975 
Free Sound & Super Bass




01. Scarlet6:35
02. Opening16:55
03. Yin20:31

Bass Trombone – Rudolf Josel
Drums – Janusz Stefanski
Electric Bass – Günter Lenz
Keyboards – Wolfgang Dauner
Sopranino Saxophone, Soprano Saxophone, Leader [Co-leader] – Hans Koller
Trombone – Albert Mangelsdorff, Erich Kleinschuster, Garney Hicks, Roy Deuvall
Trumpet – Conny Jackel, Ernst Lamprecht, Friedrich Hujer, Herbert Joos, Kenny Wheeler, Robert Demmer, Robert Politzer

Recorded live at Audimax Techn. Universitat, Vienna, Oct. 4, 75





German pianist Wolfgang Dauner (1935) was a reluctant pioneer of free improvisation on Dream Talk (september 1964) by a trio with Eberhard Weber on bass and Free Action (may 1967) by a septet with French violinist JeanLuc Ponty, percussionist Mani Neumeier, Weber and tenorist Gerd Dudek. Fuer (april 1969), by a quartet featuring Eberhard Weber mainly on cello, and The Oimels (july 1969) instead embraced the hippy age with an acid-soul-jazz sound replete with fuzz guitars and sitar. So inconsistent as creative, Dauner flirted with choral music in Psalmus Spei, off Fred van Hove's Requiem For Che Guevara (november 1968), fusion on Rischka's Soul (november 1969), with swing on Music Zounds (february 1970) and with electronics on Output (october 1970), all of them for trios with Weber. Dauner-eschingen (october 1970) repeated the experiment with the choir. Pianology (march 1971) was a collaboration with Masahiko Satoh. Dauner even formed the jazz-rock group Et Cetera, that released Lady Blue (december 1970), Knirsch (march 1972), featuring guitarist Larry Coryell and Colosseum's drummer Jon Hiseman, and Live (1973). And even more ambitious was the United Jazz and Rock Ensemble, that Dauner formed in 1975 by gathering progressive jazz and rock musicians such as guitarist Volker Kriegel, trumpeter Ack Van Rooyen, trombonist Albert Mangelsdorff, saxophonist Charlie Mariano, flutist Barbara Thompson, Nucleus' trumpeter Ian Carr, bassist Eberhard Weber, and Colosseum's drummer Jon Hiseman. Their albums ranked among the bestsellers of German jazz: Live im Schutzenhaus (january 1977), Teamwork (january 1978), The Break Even Point (april 1979), with trumpeter Kenny Wheeler, the double-LP Live in Berlin (october 1981), United Live Opus Sechs (july 1984), again with Wheeler, Round Seven (february 1987), with trumpeter Johannes Faber, Na Endlich (may 1992), again with Wheeler.
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Heiner Stadler - 1973 - Brains On Fire

February 2, 2017, 2:34 pm
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Heiner Stadler
1973
Brains On Fire




101. No Exercise12:17
102. Three Problems12:00
103. Heidi10:40
104. Bea´s Flat24:37

201. Love In The Middle Of The Air (alternate master)20:30
202. U.C.S.14:30
203. All Tones22:41
204. The Fugue #2 (Take 1/original master)13:44

Bass – Barre Phillips (tracks: 2-4), Lucas Lindholm (tracks: 1-4), Reggie Workman (tracks: 1-1, 1-2, 1-3, 2-1, 2-2, 2-3)
Drums – Brian Brake (tracks: 1-1), Joe Chambers (tracks: 2-4), Lenny White (tracks: 1-2, 1-3, 2-2, 2-3), Tony Inzalaco (tracks: 1-4)
Piano – Don Friedman (tracks: 2-4), Heiner Stadler (tracks: 1-1, 1-2, 1-3, 2-2, 2-3), Wolfgang Dauner (tracks: 1-4)
Tenor Saxophone – Gerd Dudek (tracks: 1-4), Joe Farrell (tracks: 2-4)
Tenor Saxophone, Flute – Tyrone Washington (tracks: 1-1, 1-2, 1-3, 2-3, 2-4)
Trombone – Albert Mangelsdorff (tracks: 1-4), Garnett Brown (tracks: 1-1, 2-4)
Trumpet – Jimmy Owens (tracks: 1-1, 2-4), Manfred Schoof (tracks: 1-4)
Vocals – Dee Dee Bridgewater (tracks: 2-1)


Recorded: Track 2-4 at Nola Penthouse Sound Studio in December 1966, NYC; Track 1-4 in 1974, Germany; July & October 1973; September 1973 at O' Brien's Studio in Teaneck, NJ.




Some recordings should come with a sticker which states: for those willing to be challenged. German-American composer, producer, pianist, arranger and bandleader Heiner Stadler’s reissued, remastered, restructured and expanded release, Brains on Fire (which initially came out as two separate vinyl volumes in 1967, which are often rare to find), certainly qualifies for such a caveat emptor. For some, Stadler is known as an interpreter of other musicians’ material, due in part to last year’s remixed reissue of his 1978 outing, A Tribute to Monk and Bird, which was also put out on Stadler’s Labor label. Stadler has also reissued other titles from his back catalog, including 1976’s Jazz Alchemy (which came out in 2000) and the 1996 compilation Retrospection (reissued in 2010). This year it is time to reevaluate one Stadler’s most original efforts, Brains on Fire. This CD version contains three tunes never before heard and marks the first CD presentation of five other works.

One reason to listen to the two-disc Brains on Fire is to hear then-current and up-and-coming jazz luminaries dig deeply into material which spans the perceived gap between avant-garde, post-bop, tone-row experiments and European serialist composition. The eight long pieces (four per disc) were recorded between 1966 and 1974 and feature 17 artists (as well as an orchestra), including trumpeter Jimmy Owens (who worked with Miles Davis in the '50s and was a founding member of the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra), bassist Reggie Workman (notable for his work with John Coltrane, Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers and Yusef Lateef), and future stars such as saxophonist/flutist Joe Farrell (who subsequently had crossover success on the CTI roster) and a young Dee Dee Bridgewater (a few years before fame found her, when she was still singing with the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra).

Stadler uses several ensemble configurations ranging from a bass/vocals duet to a quartet (on four tracks) to a big band. The first CD’s opener, “ No Exercise ” (taken from a 1973 session but making its debut here) features a sextet with a three-horn frontline (Owens on trumpet, Tyrone Washington on tenor sax and Garnett Brown on trombone) with a three-piece rhythm section (Stadler on piano, Brian Brake on drums and Workman). The 12-minute workout starts with Workman’s arco bass, followed by Owens’ warm trumpet and then the rest of the group steps up to help present Stadler’s avant-garde blues which is shaped by a 12-tone row. Workman’s astute bass is a highlight during this spontaneously-surging piece, but so is Washington’s unfettered sax. Since Washington later left music because of a religious conversion, Brains on Fire is one of the few places listeners can hear the obscure sax player display the width of his skills. Washington is also heard to great effect on three other tracks. The post-Coltrane “ Three Problems ” (a 1971 performance never before released) crosses the lines between hard bop and free jazz, and is an often-chaotic construction with Washington’s lacerating sax leading the charge. Workman adds a transcendent bass solo, which temporarily ebbs the high-energy level, but for the most part “ Three Problems ” is almost 13 minutes of roaring density. “ Heidi ” has a slower, spiritual treatment and listeners initially may find this to be the most coherent cut, although “ Heidi ” also eventually edges to a tumultuous portion where written and improvised sections are fused to the point where it is impossible to tell where one ends and the other commences. The other quartet tunes, “ U.C.S ” and “ All Tones ” (both on CD2), are parallel explorative compositions which delve into variations on texture, phrasing and theme akin to Coltrane’s brilliant free recitations such as Interstellar Space or Ornette Coleman’s vitality-fueled Free Jazz, where the music is elaborately extemporized and not easily absorbed in a single listen. Howard Mandel’s liner notes advise listeners to let “ U.C.S ” and “ All Tones ” sweep the listener along and it’s a good recommendation.

Two of the longer compositions employ very different approaches. The 24-minute Russ Freeman-penned “ Bea’s Flat ” (a 1974 recording offered here for the first time) is a striking, customized blues given over entirely to The Big Band of the North German Radio Station, conducted by Dieter Glawischnig. Several band members are spotlighted as soloists (sax and piano in particular) and the full ensemble actually steps away at times, emphasizing single instruments. The result is somewhat like a meeting between Duke Ellington’s and Sun Ra’s groups. Reggie Workman and Dee Dee Bridgewater’s 20-minute bass/voice pairing, “ Love in the Middle of the Air ” (a shorter take can be found on Retrospection) is nearly as remarkable in a wholly dissimilar way. Bridgewater stretches, undulates and heightens beat poet Lenore Kandel’s minimal lines, phrases and words while Workman glides and rolls on his bass with perfect sympathy: his meticulous arco work in particular is an emotional standout.

Despite recordings from four studios and engineers, there is observable and high quality engineering and audio constancy over the course of the two-hour, eight-track project. Even during the most intense moments instruments rise out from the mix rather than getting washed aside, and when the heady musical concoction is confined to just a few instruments (like bass or vocals) the sound is wonderfully expressive.

_ By Doug Simpson
 (February 22, 2012, AUDIOPHILE AUDITION)

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Masahiko Sato & Wolfgang Dauner - 1970 - Pianology

February 2, 2017, 2:48 pm
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Masahiko Sato & Wolfgang Dauner 
1970
Pianology




01. Everything8:01
02. They Got Rhythm, Too5:12
03. For Chinatsu And Regina7:12
04. 3Thousand Summers8:09
05. Jin-Juppo-Kai12:23

Piano, Electric Piano – Wolfgang Dauner
Piano, Harpsichord [Electric] – Masahiko Sato



Masahiko Satoh’s fourth album is a duet with German pianist and composer Wolfgang Dauner. Dauner is one of very early European avant-garde jazz pianists, and he recorded the first free jazz album in Germany back in 1964. Dauner played with Eberhard Weber and Jean-Luc Ponty, and in the late 60s, he experimented with choral music. Being a passionate innovator and experimenter, in 1970 he discovered electronic devices and started using them in his music. He experimented with ring-modulated Hohner clavinets and pianos and recorded several albums for ECM. During his Japanese tour in spring 1971, he met one of the most advanced Japanese pianists of that time, Masahiko Satoh.

The five compositions on this album were recorded in Tokyo in March 1971, but were not released until that autumn. It’s interesting that a few months later, Masahiko Satoh will record and release his best known, and in some sense, legendary album “ Amalgamation” - an eclectic mix of musical genres and sounds, which was probably influenced by his earlier collaboration with Dauner.
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Wolfgang Dauner - 1964 - Dream Talk

February 2, 2017, 2:57 pm
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Wolfgang Dauner
1964 
Dream Talk



01. Dream Talk7:12
02. Bird Food4:28
03. A Long Night5:30
04. Dämmerung5:38
05. Zehn Notizen5:40
06. Soul Eyes3:58
07. Free Fall3:46
08. Yesterdays6:35


Bass – Eberhard Weber
Drums – Fred Braceful
Piano – Wolfgang Dauner

This is No.4 in a series of 4 trifolds released by CBS in 1963/1964.

Recorded on September 14, 1964 at Studio Villa Berg, Stuttgart.



First album by German jazz pianist Wolfgang Dauner. Moody, late-night sounds are the name of the game here. Mostly sparse, understated compositions that occasionally give way to jittery drum-led passages and disjointed piano solos. It's far more conventional than some of his later output, but highly enjoyable nonetheless. Features our favorite Eberhard Weber on bass.

recorded in 1964, this is one of the earliest German and European Jazz recordings, which symbolize the rebirth of Jazz in Europe, taking a radical step forward from the American Jazz tradition. The great Horst Lippmann, my friend and founder of the L+R label (named after the concert agency he managed for many years with his friend Fritz Rau), makes an interesting and quite prophetic observation on the album's original liner notes, which compares this piano trio with the legendary Bill Evans trio with bassist Scott LaFaro; he states that Evans and LaFaro revolutionized the role of the bass in a piano trio, bringing the bass to an equal level with the piano, and Dauner made the same giant step with revolutionizing the role of the drums, bringing them in turn to an equal level with the piano and the bass, something Evans never managed to do in his trio. Of course there is so much more to this album than just the change of the status of the drums – it revolutionizes the piano trio mostly by inserting the huge amount of freedom and space, while maintaining a perfect order and logic, not to mention elegance and sophistication.

As Lippmann says in his liner notes to the vinyl reissue from 1980, this album was light years ahead of its time and was fully understood and appreciated by just a very small group of Jazz connoisseurs, open minded enough to grasp its significance at the time. Even today this music sounds not only completely up to date, but also absolutely stunning, although over five decades passed since it was first recorded.

In retrospect this is one of the most pivotal European Jazz recordings, taking the Jazz idiom a giant step forward into the unknown (at the time), without compromising the tradition and at the same time bravely and unwaveringly crossing over into the European aesthetic, which was erupting at the time on the Continent, strong enough to penetrate even beyond the Iron Curtain.

This is an absolutely essential piece of European Jazz history, which should find a highly respected place in every meaningful Jazz record collection anywhere in the world. Thank God this music is still available for us to enjoy and not buried away and forgotten as so many of its parallels. The remastered edition offers a spectacular sound quality. An absolute must have!

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Wolfgang Dauner - 1967 - Free Action

February 2, 2017, 6:29 pm
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Wolfgang Dauner 
1967 
Free Action




01. Sketch Up And Downer9:08
02. Disguise7:00
03. Free Action Shot6:03
04. My Spanish Disguise12:48
05. Collage6:15

Bass – Jürgen Karg
Cello – Eberhard Weber
Drums – Fred Braceful, Mani Neumeier
Piano, Piano [Prepared] – Wolfgang Dauner
Tabla – Mani Neumeier
Tenor Saxophone, Clarinet – Gerd Dudek
Violin – Jean-Luc Ponty

Recorded at SABA Studio Villingen, Black Forest, May 2nd, 1967.
The group is credited as Wolfgang Dauner-Septett on labels.



Wolfgang Dauner is yet another case of an artist who's achieved a considerable reputation in Europe, but for whom greater exposure in North America has remained elusive. The multidisciplinary keyboardist has done everything from free jazz to opera, and can be heard in fine jazz/rock form on Don "Sugar Cane" Harris' recently released 1972 MPS disc, Sugar Cane's Got the Blues (Promising Music/MPS, 2008). First released in 1967, Free Action is another MPS recording that's been long overdue for CD issue and, thanks to Promising Music, it's now possible to hear what was going on in Europe at the time, while largely unbeknownst to North American jazz fans.

Dauner's septet features three artists who have gone on to varying degrees of international recognition: reedman Gerd Dudek, bassist Eberhard Weber (heard here on cello) and violinist Jean-Luc Ponty. For those only familiar with Ponty's later fusion work, his playing on Free Action will come as a surprise; it's also enlightening to hear Weber in a freer context, since his own ECM discography, while providing room for improvisation, is far more structured than the more extreme freedom of Dauner's music.

That's not to say there isn't structure to Free Action's five Dauner compositions. "Sketch Up and Downer" begins with a free exchange between Weber and bassist Jürgen Karg, with the rest of the septet—including drummers Mani Neumeier and Fred Brace—gradually joining in, leading to Dauner's knotty theme that establishes a harmonic center. Ponty's energetic solo takes place over a fiery swing, despite retaining a turbulent undercurrent. Dudek's tenor solo is more tempestuous still, as both drummers create a maelstrom with a pulse while Dauner accompanies with staggered block chords. Even as Weber becomes more unfettered and spirals further outward, Dauner's solo leads into a section that combines spontaneity with cued figures before reiterating the opening theme.

"Disguise" reflects a pervasive interest in East Indian music that began with jazz musicians in the 1960s. Neumeir switches to tabla and the group adopts a more linear approach, but freedom still reigns, with Dauner's prepared piano a jagged backdrop for in tandem soloing by Karg and Weber. The abstruse "Free Action Shot" uses graphic, rather than conventional, notation (reprinted in the CD booklet), allowing the musicians maximum liberty within a set of predefined textural parameters independent of time, pitch and tone. With a group of improvisers less concerned about personal contribution than the collective whole, Ponty still stands out, if only because it's so surprising to hear him in the context of Dauner's unconventional settings.

Dauner would go on to record a trio album with Weber and Brace for ECM (1970's Output), but the majority of his 1960s-1970s output as a leader was for MPS. A challenging record that's not for the faint-at-heart, Free Action is nevertheless a fine introduction for those unfamiliar with the pianist's work, and a welcome release for those who've been patiently waiting for its issue on CD.
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Wolfgang Dauner - 1969 - Rischkas Soul

February 2, 2017, 6:37 pm
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Wolfgang Dauner
1969 
Rischkas Soul




01. Jive Samba
02. Flute-Woman
03. Just Bring It Out
04. Reading Machine
05. Kamasutram
06. Blues Far Out

Bass, Cello – Eberhard Weber
Drums – Fred Braceful, Roland Wittich
Guitar – Siegfried Schwab
Piano, Organ, Flute – Wolfgang Dauner

Record is called "Dietrich's Soul" on the cover.

Recorded Tonstudio Bauer, Ludwigsburg/Germany, November 28th, 1969.



The more one investigates, the more one experiences, the more one finds that the world is wider and more vast than they ever imagined.  Case in point, Wolfgang Dauner, hailing from Germany, and probably the first to explore jazz fusion and experimental rock, making him the godfather of the current Kraut Rock movement ... and still directly influencing electronic music today.

Rischkas Soul is both adventurous and ambitious, yet is unpretentious, honest and amazing tight.  This classic and highly overlooked presentation from 1969, privately pressed and released, is a time capsule of sorts, where Wolfgang Dauner sets out to build a sightly psychedelic structure filled with soul and jazz, centered around Dauner’s piano and organ ... capturing the swinging London mystique of the 60’s.  In doing so he’s given Rischkas Soul a funky rhythmic backbeat, over which he’s laced fiery guitar solos filled with wah-wah and mild reverb that mesh in a musical dance with injections of atmospheric and ripping organ washes.

This is a body of work that was experienced and understood by few at the time of its release, but has charted the course and musical endeavors of everyone who heard it at the time.  It’s truly one of those “not to be missed” bodies of work that will connect dots and open doors that you will never be able to close.
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Recorded November 28, 1969, Wolfgang Dauner's Rischka's Soul (aka Dietrich's Soul) comes more from the restless jazz school, than the subversive underground that was just beginning to brew in Germany at this time. Dauner was no doubt a major influence, and perhaps even an inspiration, to those looking to expand the music norms of the day. Krautrock, as we know it today, had its founding during this era, but it didn't come from the mainstream, of which Dauner was a part of. The album was mostly known from its posthumous release on Brain, though it wasn't a contemporary recording. Still, without a doubt, Dauner was a pioneer in mixing psychedelic rock and jazz seamlessly. Much of this album sounds like the ultimate backdrop to a "happenin' club scene" to a 1970 art film, with the participants suitably stoned out of their bloomin' minds and squinting wildly while the Klieg lights were beaming off their freshly scrubbed cheeks. Whether the youngsters were dancing or meditating, Rischkas Soul was providing the soundtrack to their soul searching odyssey of utopian dreams. One of the better time-and-place albums of the day, and a must pick up for fans of 1969 era jazz rock. Just don't expect cutting edge Krautrock here.

Lots to talk about here regarding the release itself, and it's certainly a confused state. The most known press, and the cover most associated with the album, is the original Brain release similar to the second photo. It features a striking day-glo yellow gatefold cover, and this is the version I've owned for many years. I had no idea until somewhat recently that the Brain press was actually a reissue of an earlier recording. The CTR (Creative Team Rischka) release is still unknown and pretty much extinct. These photos all came from Discogs, where apparently one copy was sold. There's been none for sale on ebay, or at least that has been captured. But even this press is confused, as the label and cover do not match. As you can see, the title was originally to be called Dietrich's Soul. But I guess Rischka won the contract and also apparently got the naming rights too! The 1974 release was part of Metronome's "This is" series, and were really just represses of earlier albums (or comps in some cases), and released on the 2001 Brain imprint. These presses are all inferior to the originals (and the covers are dull). The '81 press (black label) is a single sleeve, but uses the desirable yellow cover. And now the Long Hair release finally replicates the Brain "original" in its full glory - and is the first modern reissue. Since I already have that on LP, I went forward with the CD. It does feature very good sound, but is taken from vinyl (they did a great job though). The liner notes are excellent, but frustrating, as is often the case with Long Hair. They don't provide much detail at all regarding the release itself, and this is a story that needs to be told! What we do get is the story of Wolfgang Dauner and some of the participants from that era of his band. I did learn, however, what the story behind the "Sounds" label on the front cover means (it's also on Guru Guru's 4th). It was a "seal of approval" from the magazine of the same name. Interesting. Oh, one other thing about the CD - they inexplicably reversed the sides of the recording so that it starts with Side 2. Why they did this we'll never know. Perhaps the goal here was to ensure the release remains in a confused state.
Unencumbered Music Reviews
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Wolfgang Dauner - 1969 - The Oimels

February 2, 2017, 6:43 pm
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Wolfgang Dauner 
1969 
The Oimels




01. Oh Baby I Don't Love You Anymore4:20
02. Take Off Your Clothes To Feel The Setting Sun4:00
03. My Man's Gone Now3:30
04. Come On In On In3:32
05. Dig My Girl7:32
06. Greensleeves3:55
07. Uwiii2:56
08. A Day In A Life2:57

Bass, Cello, Vocals – Eberhard Weber
Drums, Vocals – Roland Wittich
Guitar – Pierre Cavalli
Guitar, Sitar – Siegfried Schwab
Piano, Organ, Vocals – Wolfgang Dauner





This 1969 record has more in common with the Beatles and sixties psychedelic pop-rock than that period’s jazz. The Oimels also highlights three internationally acclaimed eclectic European musicians: keyboardist Wolfgang Dauner is a German jazz institution; fellow Stuttgarter bassist Eberhard Weber is known for his band Colours with Charlie Mariano, and his work with Jan Garbarek, while guitarist Sigi Schwab’s career spans work with a host of headliners, film, theatre, and TV music, and his own projects. Oh Baby I Don’t Love You Anymore starts out with an old-fashioned honky-tonk blues before electric guitar distortions take the music to the edge. With Schwab’s sitar and the band vocals, Take Off Your Clothes To Feel The Setting Sun shows its Beatles influence. Gershwin’s My Man’s Gone Now is reinterpreted in a Latin-rock feel with lots of affects. Come On In On In starts off with Weber’s electrified cello melding into an Indi-country-rock rhythm guitar riff and a raga-like vocal line before ascending into chaos. Dig My Girl moves to the mysteries of India, with sitar and vocals ala George Harrison. Dauner takes an acidic electric organ solo and the guitar is ablaze with distortion. The Traditional English ballad Greensleeves is given the Latin treatment. Uwii has a funk groove with Dauner scatting along with his solo. Rolling Stone rated A Day In The Life as the Beatles’ greatest song. Dauner and Co. rework it into a minimalistic masterpiece. Dauner in the Sky with Diamonds.

Wolfgang Dauner, one of the few internationally renowned German jazz musicians, was born in Stuttgart on Dec. 30, 1935. Oddly enough, having learnt to play the piano as a child, he eventually graduated from the conservatory in Stuttgart with a major in “trumpet”. Yet, it is the piano that remains his great love. He fancied contemporary jazz and, in 1963, founded his first own band: The Wolfgang Dauner Trio, with Eberhard Weber playing the bass and Fred Braceful on the drums. He would continue playing with these musicians well into the 1970ies. Dauner is extremely important with regard to modern jazz and jazz rock in Germany, and his efforts can be compared to the spade work Miles Davis did for jazz and jazz rock in the USA.

Having participated in various jazz bands in the early 1960ies, Dauner was already a jazz veteran before he founded his own band. His first albums belong to the genre of experimental modern jazz, influenced by Bill Evans, Steve Lacy, Sun Ra etc. The albums he published until 1969 will primarily appeal to “pure” jazz fans.

The acme of psychedelic music in 1968/69 created new possibilities. Dauner and several other excellent young jazz musicians were sick of the jazz of the time turning increasingly cliché, and decided to disregard all existing rules. They did to jazz what Faust was going to do to rock music a couple of years later. A first result was the extraordinary album FÜR, released in the summer of 1969, which can hardly be called jazz, but is much rather an experiment aimed at overcoming limitations. Musical revolution for its own sake. This was also expressed in the cover notes, where the musicians explained what the album was about, e.g. the record had to be played inside out and was going to destroy itself when played.

THE OIMELS, the album the Wolfgang Dauner Quintet presented to their fans in early 1970, was even more radical than the previous productions. Here, Wolfgang Dauner and his band surprised as a psychedelic-jazz-pop-band. To top it all, the album con-tained a version of the Beatles’ title “A Day in The Life” of the Sgt. Pepper’s album, along with several other more or less “weird” songs that remind one of pop or beat with a pinch of jazz and ethnic sounds. Apart from the distorted guitar, sitar sounds and other freak-outs so beloved by fans of psychedelic music, the five musicians really pulled out all the stops in order to demonstrate their idea of what psychedelic pop had to sound like. An extraordinary album in every respect. 1969 and 1970 were a musical Fountain of Youth for Wolfgang Dauner and his alternating band members. They published eight albums on different labels and under various band names (Wolfgang Dauner Quintet, Wolfgang Dauner or Et Cetera). For progressive rock enthusiasts we particularly recommend the albums RISCHKAS’S SOUL (recorded in 1969, published on Brain in 1972), and ET CETERA (1971 on Global). Fans of progressive rock will also love the LP KNIRSCH (with participation of Jon Hise-mann and Larry Coryell) published on BASF/MPS in 1972, and the 1973 live double album also published on BASF/MPS under the band name ET CETERA. Readers of the Sounds magazine voted Dauner musician of the year 1972. In 1971 he had won the “star of the year” award by the Münchner Abendzeitung, and before that, in 1969, he had been appointed head of the radio-jazz-group Stuttgart. It is not an exaggeration to call Dauner one of the most productive and versatile musicians, particularly with regard to the subsequent years. During the 1970ies and 1980ies he was involved in innumerable projects, both his own and as guest musician (between 1970 and 1990 he participated in no less than 49 record productions). Apart from the above mentioned productions he was keyboarder with the “New Violin Summit”, played with the United Jazz and Rock Ensemble, worked with Dieter Süverkrüp and Konstantin Wecker, whose producer and musical director he became in 1986, the Kolbe-Illenberger duo, Charlie Mariano, Albert Mangelsdorff and many others. His discography is so vast it would go beyond the scope of this booklet. In 1977 he co-founded Mood records, and recently, in 2001, was responsible for three record productions. In addition to this he did commissioned compositions for various symphony orchestras, composed the chamber opera “Die verwachsene Froschhaut” for the State Theatre Stuttgart, created the laser show music for Germany’s cultural contribution to the Olympics in Barcelona in 1992, as well as the world championship fanfare and a composition for the awards ceremony of the athletics world championship in Stuttgart in 1993. In 1999 he toured Chicago, New Orleans and the Bahamas with the German Allstars-Old-Friends (K. Doldinger, A. Mangelsdorff, M. Schoof, W. Haffner and E. Weber). In 2004 the tour was continued with concerts in Southern America. A typical feature of Wolfgang Dauner’s musical production is that he doesn’t make a distinction between serious and light music. Although always open for any kind of musical influence, he nonetheless kept his distinctive Wolfgang-Dauner style, which can be easily spotted in the many soundtracks he composed in the course of his creative work. His compositions for TV- and film adorned Courths-Mahler productions, the TV series about defence lawyer Abel and even a production by the animal film maker Horst Stern (Remarks on butterflies), etc.

Wolfgang Dauner, who has received countless awards and distinctions, is still musically productive. In 1997 he received the Medal of Merit of the State of Baden Württemberg, and in 2003 the German Jazz Trophy – A Life For Jazz. In 2005 he was awarded the 1st class Order of Merit of the Federal Republic, and in 2006 the Citizen Medal of Stuttgart. Since 2004 he has been member of the jury of the new jazz centre at the Columbus Circle in New York, the “Jazz at the Lincoln Centre.”

In a personal comment Wolfgang Dauner told us how impressed he had been with the Beatles’ unconventional approach to pop music, which he thought had been rather refreshing. He mentioned, too, that he has always taken an interest in the entire diversity of music development, both contemporary and popular. In his opinion, all genres contained innovative and interesting elements, ranging from the Beatles, Pink Floyd, Zappa or Ligeti to instrumental theatre. Personally, he had never accepted musical boundaries. For an extensive discography, a survey of his compositions for film and TV and a history of his career in tabular form please visit his website www.Jazzpages.com/Dauner. Our special thanks go to Wolfgang Dauner for letting us republish the album THE OIMELS on CD.

Siegfried (Sigi) Schwab, born 5.8.1940 in Ludwigshafen on the Rhine, developed a desire for making music at an early age and started playing bass and guitar. At the age of 16 he took up studies for both instruments at the conservatory in Mannheim. He was interested both in classical music and jazz, and very soon, Laurindo Almeida, the Brazilian guitarist, became his musical role model. To begin with, Schwab played in local bands, worked as a studio musician early on (e.g. with Wolfgang Laudt and Erwin Lehn) and, after moving to Berlin, became a permanent member of the Rias-Berlin Big Band. In 1967 his first solo album was published in the USA and Europe. For the studio specialist Schwab gaining experience in an entirely different music scene had been an interesting experience. Before taking part in THE OIMELS, he had played with the band on the GULDA festival in Ossiach, Kärnten, Austria. At that time the band consisted of Jean Luc Ponty, Sigi Schwab, Wolfgang Dauner, Eberhard Weber and Fred Braceful. They had recorded THE OIMELS on request of their producer, head of MPS-Records Hans Georg Brunner-Schwer, who had asked them to break new grounds in music. Sigi Schwab was also member of ET CETERA, the successor band, so to speak, of the Wolfgang Dauner Quintet. Today Schwab feels that the Oimels was a very important step on the way to ET CETERA, the first jazz-free rock-band in the tradition of 1968 and the most modern and provocative ensemble at that time.

Apart from doing his own projects and participating in various formations (among others Embryo “Father, Son and Holy Ghost“,1972 and „Rocksession“, 1973) as a constant band member Sigi Schwab was involved as a studio musician in countless productions (every-thing from pop song to experimental jazz). Besides he composed music for television, film and the stage. His film music for Vampyros Lesbos- Erbin des Dracula (1971) was successfully re-released on CD in the late 1990ies, subtitled Sexadelic Danceparty, while his piece The Lion & the Cucumber was used by Quentin Tarantino in his film Jacky Brown. The recordings for The Vampire of Dartmoor are still exceedingly popular in fan circles. In 1987 Schwab composed the very successful song “My love is a tango” for the ZDF Christmas TV-series about ballet dancer Anna.

Currently Sigi Schwab is very busy doing various musical projects. The balancing act between classic scene and modern improvised music has remained his theme of life. Like Dauner, he refuses to make a distinction between serious and light music: “There is only a universal music language, although it has multiple branches and all sorts of axes.” For further information on his various musical projects, CD publications, books etc. please visit his homepage on www.melosmusik.de. We would like to thank Sigi Schwab for his valuable support.

Eberhard Weber, another outstanding and internationally renowned, personality of the jazz-scene was born in Stuttgart on January 22, 1940. He has played, for example, with Gary Burton, the Pat Metheney group and Jan Garbarek. He, too, started making music as a child. At the age of 6 his father taught him to play cello. At school, where he was member of the school orchestra, his music teacher encouraged him to change over to the bass. Although he initially learnt to play the bass the classical way, i.e. with a bow, he eventually practised plucking the instrument since he had developed an increasing interest in jazz. Weber played in several school bands and finally decided to give up the cello altogether in favour of the bass.

In 1960 Weber met Wolfgang Dauner, with whom he recorded numerous albums. Hence it was only logical he would participate in the ground breaking projects The Oimels and, later on, ET CETERA. From 1973 on, however, when Weber’s successful album “The Colours of Chloe” was released, the two of them cut their own paths and only got together for joint projects on rare occasions. In spite of this, their cooperation has never stopped altogether. Weber worked with the guitarist Volker Kriegel and temporarily with the New Dave Pike Set. Following the release of his solo album “The Colours of Chloe” he founded the band Colours with Rainer Brüninghaus and Charlie Mariano. After nearly eight successful years with Colours Weber no longer saw a possibility for continuing the band’s creative musical discourse. He commented that he hated repetitions just for the sake of keeping the band alive. Colours split up in 1981. In 1982 Weber joined Jan Garbarek’s band as a permanent member and worked with the Norwegian saxophone player until the end of the 1990ies. Since 1985 Weber has also been giving solo concerts, where he uses electric sound multipliers to record his play and recreate it in a different speed and modulation.

Weber’s discography is impressive, and he has taken part in all sorts of productions as a guest musician ( e.g. with Kate Bush). For further information including a detailed discography please visit his website on mysite.verizon.net, ( put in Eberhard Weber in the search function.) In 2007 he published the CD Stages Of A Long Journey.

Piere Cavalli, also guitarist with The Oimels, stayed true to music as well and has published further LPs and CDs. Most recently he has played on Django, published by Universal Music France 2002. Roland Wittich, drummer with The Oimles, is working as an architect.In retrospect the most striking feature about the extraordinary production The Oimels is, that the three musicians who participated in it, i.e. Wolfgang Dauner, Siegfried Schwab and Eberhard Weber, have all pursued a musical career that has gained them international renown.


Manfred Steinheuer, May 2007
Translation: Dr. Martina Häusle
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Wolfgang Dauner - 1970 - Music Zounds

February 2, 2017, 6:52 pm
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Wolfgang Dauner 
1970 
Music Zounds




01. Leap Tick4:03
02. The Things We Did Last Summer4:35
03. Diäthylaminoäthyl5:30
04. Es Läuft3:45
05. Here Come De Honey Man6:17
06. Blue Light7:48
07. Golden Green6:05

Bass – Eberhard Weber
Drums – Roland Wittich
Piano – Wolfgang Dauner

Recorded at MPS-Studio, Villingen, Febr. 1970



Krautrock monster alert, folks! Comprised of the trio of Wolfgang Dauner on ringmodulated clavinet and piano, Eberhard Weber on bass, cello and guitar and Fred Braceful on percussion and voice, this is a coruscating masterstroke of hard burning acidic fusion at the point of implosion into the freeform. Released on ECM Records in their nascent days, before the house aesthetic calcified into something much more reserved, Output unfurls itself on a slipstream of droning and groaning spectral esoterica before exploding into the title track's hailstorm of outrageously overdriven ringmodulated clav, octopoidal percussive splatter and fuzz bass fusillades. Output represents Dauner at his most out-on-a-limb, frequently deploying strategies that he and Braceful would explore at greater length on the eponymous first Et Cetera LP (reissued as "Lady Blue", in which form it can be found elsewhere on MS), which is merely one of the top 5 krautrock albums of all time, in my humble opinion. Utterly essential.
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Wolfgang Dauner - 1975 - Output

February 2, 2017, 7:36 pm
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Wolfgang Dauner 
1975 
Output





01. Mudations5:45
02. Output7:42
03. Bruch4:15
04. Nothing To Declare10:40
05. Abraxas4:24
06. Brazing The High Sky Full4:25

Recorded September 15 and October 1, 1970 at Tonstudio Bauer, Ludwigsburg

Wolfgang Dauner piano, effects (ring modulator), keyboards (Hohner Electra-clavinet C)
Eberhard Weber bass, cello, guitar
Fred Braceful percussion, voice




An early outlier in the ECM catalog, Output convulses with as much lively originality as it did when it was first released. Wolfgang Dauner, perhaps better known as founder of the United Jazz + Rock Ensemble (which saw ECM greats Eberhard Weber, Kenny Wheeler, and Charlie Mariano pass through its hallowed halls), assembles a modest trio of talent for this classic 1970 studio free-for-all. The end result is humor, provocation, brilliance, and chaos all rolled into one. Most of the album flirts with any number of possible paths, the sole exception being “Nothing To Declare,” a relatively straight-laced tangent into jazzy territory in which Dauner has a field day with his modulator. “Mudations” and “Brazing The High Sky Full” serve as cryptic bookends, while tracks like “Abraxas” whet our appetite with more provocative flavors. Superb, if jumbled, musicianship and a strong attention to detail make for a unique experience all around. Dauner does wonders with limited means, Braceful sheds his skin at every turn, and this is a far cry from the Weber of the languid orchestral suites. Not an easy listen for the faint of heart, but one that will give back what’s put into it and, like the fully opened cover, gathers its power from another dimension.

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Wolfgang Dauner - 1979 - Solo Piano

February 3, 2017, 7:10 am
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Wolfgang Dauner 
1979 
Solo Piano



01. Wendekreis Des Steinbocks4:57
02. Die Wiederkehr Des Gleichen3:27
03. Nachmittag Über Den Dächern Von Stuttgart (Für R.)5:25
04. In Koma Veritas4:26
05. Sendepause Der Gefühle3:48
06. Don't Change Me4:43
07. Traumläufe5:27
08. Pamukkale6:09
09. Bindungen - Samt Den Fügungen Des Zufalls, Die Es Dahin Gebracht...5:45

Piano, Composed By, Arranged By – Wolfgang Dauner
Recorded in Wolfgang Dauner's apartment



Dauner, although not as rampaging as Don Pullen or Cecil Taylor, still takes things out on this 1979 solo session issued on a European import label. There's nothing sedate or predictable about these selections; Dauner romps, stomps, breaks off and changes tempos, slashes, and attacks in non-stop fashion.

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The Section - 1972 - The Section

February 3, 2017, 7:15 am
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The Section 
1972 
The Section




01. Second Degree5:02
02. Same Old Same Old4:45
03. Sporadic Vacuums Of Thought5:25
04. Sitting On The Dock Of The Bay3:52
05. Holy Frijoles2:57
06. Doing The Meatball2:50
07. Swan Song6:26
08. Thing What Is4:10
09. Mah-Hoo-Dah-Vah5:50
10. Zippo Dippo2:00

Bass – Leland Sklar
Drums, Percussion – Russ Kunkel
Flute – Michael Brecker
Guitar – Danny Kortchmar
Keyboards – Craig Doerge




The Section are a US instrumental rock band formed in the early 1970s by musicians Danny Kortchmar, Craig Doerge, Leland Sklar, and Russ Kunkel. They are best known for both studio and stage work in support of some of the best selling solo singers of that decade. Their frequent appearances on the records of artists signed to Asylum Records made them the label's de facto house band. Their close association with the singer-songwriter and soft rock genres of the 1970s also led to their alternate moniker of "The Mellow Mafia."

They appeared together and individually on albums by Linda Ronstadt, Crosby & Nash, James Taylor, Carole King, Jackson Browne, Warren Zevon, and acted as back-up band on their tours. Other musicians closely associated with The Section include guitarist Waddy Wachtel, bassist Tim Drummond and multi-instrumentalist David Lindley.

By the 1980s, the group stopped working together collectively, though as individuals they continued to play prominent roles in the studio and on tour with many of the most popular solo acts of the decade, including Phil Collins (who collaborated with Sklar frequently starting with 1985's No Jacket Required album and subsequent tour), Stevie Nicks (whose landmark Bella Donna album features guitar work from Wachtel, who continues to work with her as her musical director), and Don Henley (who used Kortchmar's skills on numerous instruments on his Building the Perfect Beast album).

Beside their supporting work for other musicians, The Section also released three albums of their own, consisting of mostly instrumental music.

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The Section - 1973 - Forward Motion

February 3, 2017, 7:29 am
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The Section 
1973
Forward Motion



01. Smilin' Ed
02. El Mirador Bolero
03. A Kind Of Albatross
04. One Drum
05. Bullet Train
06. Forward Motion
07. Baby Lame
08. Burning Bush
09. Get Down, Piltdown
10. The Garden Of Ryoanji

Bass – Leland Sklar
Drums – Russ Kunkel
Guitar – Danny Kortchmar
Keyboards – Craig Doerge



I get a strong Brand X vibe from listening to this. Understandably, the chops of the band aren't nearly as acrobatic as with their British peers, but that's not always a detrimental factor. Clearly the band has an ear for great melodies and understands the concept of stimulating phrasing which often gets lost in technical display of virtuosity in some cases. These guys have nice balanced-relaxed approach to their core sound that is a refreshing listen. It does have it fair share of filler though in the existence of some of these short interludes. "One Drum" is a pointless drum workout and I don't understand the need for the dissonant drone of "Get Down, Piltdown". Also "A Kind of Albatross" is an odd classical coated slab of piano-pop that got lost here as well.

The first funkier minutes of the album didn't really imply to me that I would get much kicks out of it, but once they get their soulful phrasing engine running in the middle of "Smilin' Ed" it's clear there is something worth keeping here. Their keyboardist probably wrote the bulk of the material as he's usually leading the duo with the guitarist towards some sharp sonic ground without getting too over the top. The title track is just a fantastic piece of work that's on par with anything I've heard from Brand X so far. The weird harmonies on "Baby Lame" reinforce the notion of quirky songwriting so familiar to British musicians. Not a very typical thing to hear from the states, deserves a bigger audience.


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The Section - 1977 - Fork It Over

February 3, 2017, 7:37 am
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The Section 
1977 
Fork It Over




01. Suckers On Parade3:47
02. L.A. Changes5:25
03. Street Pizza4:07
04. Hamsters Of Doom4:30
05. Bad Shoes2:49
06. Moon Over Fontana5:30
07. Rainbows4:34
08. White Water2:55
09. Magnetic Lady5:41

Bass – Leland Sklar
Drums – Russ Kunkel
Flute – Jim Horn (tracks: B2)
Guitar – Danny Kortchmar
Keyboards – Craig Doerge
Percussion – Joe Lala (tracks: B2), Steve Forman (tracks: A2)
Producer – The Section
Saxophone – David Sanborn (tracks: B3), Jim Horn (tracks: A3)
Trumpet – Chuck Findley (tracks: A3)
Vocals – David Crosby (tracks: B4), James Taylor (tracks: A5)



Imagine the Atlanta Rhythm Section doing Jan Hammer/Jeff Beck collaboration instrumentals.
This is fantastic music,  very pleasant,  very funky.  
Creative  simple production that is very airy.  All the instruments are very discrete.
The musicianship is fantastic as well,  not over the top  "lets see how many notes I can cram into the smallest time slot" type of stuff.       The creativity takes precedence over   any attempt to do fingerboard acrobatics.
One of the best things I have heard in years,  I don't know how I missed these guys back in the day.


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Jiro Inagaki - 1970 - Head Rock

February 3, 2017, 7:45 am
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Jiro Inagaki
1970 
Head Rock




01. The Vamp (5:23)
02. Twenty One (5:33)
03. Spoonful (9:18)
04. Back to Rack (3:31)
05. High Jack (4:16)
06. The Ground for Peace (7:43)
07. Head Rock (4:21)

Jiro Inagaki - alto saxophone, tenor saxophone
Tetsuo Fushimi - trumpet
Masaru Imada - organ
Yasuo Arakawa - bass
Ryo Kawasaki - guitar
Sadakatsu Tabata - drums




Ultimate & most wanted japanese rare groove recorded by the saxophonist Jiro Inagaki, one of the main actor of the Japanese Jazz Rock & Progressive scene. In 1963, Jiro Inagaki was recruited by Helen Merrill for her first album recorded in Japan, "In Tokyo" with the Takeshi Inomata's West Liners group, and later formed various jazz band as the All-Stars, The (Black) Rhythm Machine or, of course, The Soul Media. Recorded in 1969 and released under the famous Takt Jazz Series from Nippon Columbia, Head Rock includes psychedelic guitar effects, great drum breaks, acid & electronic organ sounds, performed by The Soul Media, featuring some future japanese jazz great names, such as Ryo Kawasaki (in his first professional appearance), Yasuo Arakawa, Masaru Imada or Tetsuo Fushimi. Titles includes cover & original songs from Hal Galper (The Vamp),  and Willie Dixon (an amazing version of Spoonful), five composed by Ryo Kawasaki (Twenty One), Masaru Imada (High Jack), Yasuo Arakawa (The Ground For Peace) and Jiro (Head Rock). All tracks arranged by Jiro Inagaki.
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Jiro Inagaki & Soul Medium - 1970 - Woodstock Generation

February 3, 2017, 9:23 am
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Jiro Inagaki & Soul Medium 
1970 
Woodstock Generation



01. Opening
02. Woodstock
03. I Want To Take You Higher
04. Mama Told Me
05. Summertime Blues
06. Spoonful
07. The Ground For Peace
08. Head Rock
09. Knick Knack

Jiro Inagaki saxophone
Masaru Imada organ
Ryo Kawasaki guitar
Yasuo Arakawa bass
Sadakatsu Tabata drums
Tetsuo Fushimi & Shunzo Ohno trumpet




Great japan Psych' Jazz Rock tribute album to the Woodstock Festival released on Union label. Behind The Soul Medium hides the name of famous japanese saxophonist, Jiro Inagaki, iconic member of the japanese Jazz Rock scene during the seventies. He plays tenor & soprano sax with musicians which later formed his Psychedelic Jazz Rock and Funk band 'Soul Media' based around Ryo Kawasaki, Yasuo Arakawa, Masaru Imada and Sadakatsu Tabata. Titles include three Woodstock performances by Sly & Family Stone (I Want To Take You Higher), The Who (Summertime Blues) and Ten Years After (Spoonful) but also Woodstock (written by Joni Mitchell in honor of the Festival), Rock 'N' Roll cover Mamma Told Me (Not To Come) by The Animals, Yasuo Arakawa' The Ground For Peace (composed especially for Inagaki), Knick Knack by Masahiko Sato and two originals composed by Jiro (Openning & Head Rock). All tracks arranged by Jiro Inagaki.
Well, this LP from 1970 by Jiro Inagaki & His Soul Media must be one of the grooviest and hippest albums ever from Japan, It's a dazzled mix of soul jazz, funk and a touch of rock, especially the psychedelic guitar effects (handled by Ryo Kawasaki). This LP is Inagaki's most sought after, and you know why when you hear it. So, put on your groovy shirt and do some funky mooves!
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Jiro Inagaki & Soul Medium - 1971 - Wandering Birds (Featuring Sammy)

February 3, 2017, 9:47 am
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Jiro Inagaki & Soul Medium
1971
Wandering Birds (Featuring Sammy)



01. Wandering Birds (Interlude) (6:41)
02. After Noon (6:06)
03. Parajika (5:31)
04. Do It! (7:29)
05. On the Grass (3:35)
06. Hyakunen Tattara (3:05)
07. Wandering Birds (5:39)


Jiro Inagaki _tenor & soprano saxophone, flute
Tsunehide Matsuki & Kimio Mizutani _guitar
Hiro Yanagida _organ
Hideaki Takebe _bass
Kiyoshi Tanaka _drums
Masahiko Sato _moog synthesizer
Sammy & Sawada Yasushi _vocal




Heavy funk from Japan's Soul Media combo – and one of the group's great 70s outings with the engimatic Sammy on vocals! Sammy's got this raw, raspy style that might owe a bit to Janis Joplin at times – but also nods strongly to the work of the American underground at others – more than able to stretch out with the fierce sounds of the group on the record, especially when they take on some trippy or more freaked-out styles! The drums are often nice and bold, and the electric instrumentation is very well integrated with a tight horn section that gives the tunes plenty of punch – and titles include "After Noon", "On The Grass", "Wandering Birds", "Parajika", and "Hyakunen Tattara
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